Wet Prairie CommunityWet Abstract Prairie, Page 1 Historical Range Prevalent or likely prevalent Infrequent or likely infrequent Photo by Adrienne L. Bozic Absent or likely absent Overview: Wet prairie is native wetland grassland that classified as lakeplain wet prairie (Albert and Kost occurs on frequently saturated, occasionally inundated 1998a, Kost et al. 2007). soils on outwash plains and outwash channels and in depressions on ground moraines, end moraines, and Rank Justification: Analysis of General Land Office ice-contact features. Soils range from loam to loamy (GLO) survey notes in Michigan reveals that graminoid- sands and sandy clays, typically with neutral pH and dominated wetlands, broadly classified as “inland wet high organic content. Cordgrass (Spartina pectinata) prairie,” covered approximately 220,000 acres (89,000 and bluejoint grass (Calamagrostis canadensis) are the ha) circa 1800. Nearly all of this acreage occurred in dominant or subdominant grasses, often associated with southern Lower Michigan (Comer et al. 1995). Wet several sedges (Carex spp.). Fluctuating water levels and wet-mesic prairie on glacial lakeplain covered an and fire are important natural disturbances. additional 160,000 ac (65,000 ha), and is described by Albert and Kost (1998a, 1998b) and Kost et al. Global and State Rank: G3/S2 (2007). Acreage mapped as “inland wet prairie” was comprised of several natural communities, including Range: Wet prairie is broadly distributed throughout wet prairie, wet-mesic prairie, southern wet meadow, the central Midwestern United States and adjacent and prairie fen. The extent of wet prairie circa 1800 is Canadian provinces, occurring in Montana, Manitoba, difficult to determine because GLO notes do not contain North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, sufficient detail to assign specific natural community Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, types to acreage mapped broadly as “wet prairie.” and Ohio (NatureServe 2009). Species composition The majority of inland wet prairie acreage in southern and dominance patterns vary throughout this range. Lower Michigan occurred in Jackson County (49,000 In Michigan, wet prairie occurs south of the climatic ac or 20,000 ha), representing over 10% of the county’s tension zone in the southern Lower Peninsula, where land surface. Inland wet prairie was also common it was likely prevalent historically in subsection VI.2 in Washtenaw (37,000 ac or 15,000 ha), Livingston (Kalamazoo Interlobate), and infrequent in subsections (34,000 ac or 14,000 ha), Oakland (21,000 ac or 8,500 VI.1 (Washtenaw), VI.3 (Allegan), and VI.4 (Ionia) ha), Shiawassee (14,000 ac or 5,700 ha), Cass (11,000 (Albert et al. 2008). Currently, high quality occurrences ac or 4,500 ha), Lenawee (8,000 ac or 3,000 ha), of wet prairie have been documented from all four Ingham (8,000 ac or 3,000 ha), Calhoun (8,000 ac or subsections within which it was historically distributed 3,000 ha), Hillsdale (7,000 ac or 3,000 ha), and Genesee (MNFI 2010). Wet prairie on the glacial lakeplain is (6,000 ac or 2,000 ha) counties (Comer et al. 1995). Michigan Natural Features Inventory P.O. Box 30444 - Lansing, MI 48909-7944 Phone: 517-373-1552 Wet Prairie, Page 2 Ecoregional map of Michigan (Albert 1995) depicting historical distribution of wet prairie (Albert et al. 2008) Michigan Natural Features Inventory P.O. Box 30444 - Lansing, MI 48909-7944 Phone: 517-373-1552 Wet Prairie, Page 3 Wet prairie likely occurred throughout southern Lower on ground moraine, end moraine, and ice-contact Michigan as rings around lakes and wetlands, along features. Historically, the largest areas of wet prairie rivers and streams, and as depressional wetlands, but may have occurred in association with extensive may have not totaled a large number of acres relative to southern wet meadows, prairie fens, and forested southern wet meadow and prairie fen. wetlands in ice-contact terrain in the Jackson Interlobate (Sub-subsection VI.1.3) and Cassopolis Ice-Contact Since the early 19th century, wet prairie has been Ridges (Sub-subsection VI.2.2) (Albert 1995, Comer significantly impacted by drainage and conversion for et al. 1995). Elsewhere in southern Lower Michigan, agriculture. Drainage networks lowered regional water wet prairie was likely more limited in extent, occurring tables and allowed extensive agricultural development, along stream headwaters, floodplains of larger streams reducing wet prairie to small, isolated patches, often and rivers, and lakeshores (NatureServe 2009). at the margins of unfarmed wetlands (MNFI 2010; see also Urban 2005 for a discussion of wet prairie Wet prairie occurs on mineral soils, ranging from settlement in Illinois). Currently, eight occurrences of loams and sandy loams to loamy sands and sandy clays wet prairie have been documented statewide, totaling (Sytsma and Pippen 1981, Chapman 1984, Kost et al. approximately 160 ac (65 ha) (MNFI 2010). Only five 2007). The top layer of the soil is often rich in organic of these occurrences are estimated to be of good (B- matter derived from partially decomposed grass roots rank) viability, totaling just over 40 acres (16 ha). Seven (Curtis 1959). Soils are typically circumneutral, with of the eight wet prairie occurrences were last surveyed an average pH of 6.9 (range 5.5 to 7.7) documented for in or prior to 1990. Many extant occurrences of wet several Michigan wet and wet-mesic prairies (Chapman prairie show signs of past agricultural use (e.g., grazing, 1984). Wet prairie can develop where impermeable plowing), and are currently threatened by shrub and subsurface soil layers perch the water table, or where tree encroachment due to fire suppression, disturbed heavy precipitation events, snow melt, and over-the- hydrology, invasive species, and development. Though bank flooding along streams cause periods of inundation it is difficult to assess the historical distribution and (Curtis 1959). Despite these periods of inundation, the acreage of the community, it is clear that wet prairie has water table drops well below the ground surface over undergone a severe reduction in both total acreage and much of the growing season, permitting decomposition number of occurrences across its range. of organic matter (Curtis 1959). Thus, peat rarely accumulates in wet prairie. Although wet prairie occurs Physiographic Context: The Michigan range of on a variety of soil textures and landforms, a relatively wet prairie is in southern Lower Michigan, south of high water table is characteristic of all sites. the climatic tension zone. This region has a warm, temperate, rainy to cool, snow-forest climate with Wet prairie is associated with a variety of natural hot summers and no dry season. The daily maximum community types. Adjacent uplands typically support temperature in July ranges from 29° to 32° C (85° to 90° fire-dependent systems, including oak barrens, oak F), the daily minimum temperature in January ranges openings, dry southern forest, and dry-mesic southern from -9° to -4° C (15° to 25° F), and the annual average forest. In southwestern Lower Michigan, where upland temperature ranges from 8.2° to 9.4° C (47° to 49° F) prairies were common, wet prairie occasionally graded (Albert et al. 1986, Barnes 1991). The mean number into adjacent upland prairie types such as mesic prairie, of freeze-free days is between 146 and 163, and the mesic sand prairie, and dry-mesic prairie. A variety of average number of days per year with snow cover of open or forested wetland communities occur in adjacent 2.5 cm (1 in) or more is between 10 and 60. The mean lowlands, including southern wet meadow, prairie fen, annual total precipitation for this region is 820 mm (32 wet-mesic prairie, southern shrub-carr, rich tamarack in). swamp, and southern hardwood swamp. Historically, wet prairie on glacial lakeplain was associated with Wet prairie occurs on a variety of landforms, including extensive tracts of emergent marsh, lakeplain wet- poorly drained glacial clay and sand lakeplain (where mesic prairie, lakeplain oak openings, and wet-mesic it is classified as lakeplain wet prairie; see Albert and flatwoods (Comer et al. 1995, Albert and Kost 1998a, Kost 1998a, 1998b, Kost et al. 2007), poorly drained 1998b, Kost et al. 2007). The concentration of wet outwash channels and outwash plains, and depressions prairie in a savanna landscape, instead of a prairie Michigan Natural Features Inventory P.O. Box 30444 - Lansing, MI 48909-7944 Phone: 517-373-1552 Wet Prairie, Page 4 landscape, may account for differences in soils and plant and volume of fuel, topography, presence of natural species composition between wet prairies in southern firebreaks, and density of Native Americans (Chapman Michigan, where savanna was historically dominant, 1984). In general, the probability of wide-ranging fire and those in the “prairie states” to the west (see increases in level topography such as large outwash Vegetation section below). plains (Chapman 1984). Wet prairie associated with upland prairie on gently rolling outwash plains may Natural Processes: The two primary natural have burned more frequently and/or more severely than disturbances integral to the development, structure, small, isolated patches of wet prairie protected from fire and stability of wet prairie are hydrologic fluctuation by water bodies or topographic breaks. The frequency and fire. Wet prairie occurs in several hydrologic and intensity of fire was likely also affected by flooding settings, including surface water depressions, surface and hydrologic dynamics. In the absence of fire, lowland water slopes, and groundwater slopes (Novitzki 1979, grassland may succeed rapidly to savanna or forest due Brinson 1993). Surface water depressions occur above to favorable moisture conditions for the colonization the water table, and receive most of their water from and establishment of shrubs and trees (Curtis 1959, overland flow and precipitation. Water loss is through Faber-Langendoen and Maycock 1994).