Oak Savannas of Southeastern Michigan: A Reminder of Our Natural Heritage

Taking a much needed break from the Civil War content, and heading back to something a bit more natural, we take a glance at some of the remnants of the savanna landscape which once covered sizable areas of Michigan, Ohio, and Ontario.  Of course, this being the Nearwest, rather than the Midwest, things are far more moist and both the infrequent natural fire regimes and the soils are much more capable of producing full-blown forests.  These were all taken at Island Lake State Recreation Area in Michigan, near Brighton.  Island Lake is a wonderful haven of some of the last remaining "as it was" bit of wildlands in the metro Detroit area.

As you can see, right beside the savanna is a typical mixed deciduous forest full of oaks, hickories, and even a few ashes and maples.  

 Even over the oak savannas, the canopy is exceptionally high and relatively dense.

More into the "thick" of the savanna, we see a semi-open horizon and a rather appealing park-like setting.  We also see a lone Eastern White Pine (Pinus Strobus), which is at the southern edge of its naturally occurring range, at least in present times.  The White Pines, which normally infrequently poke their way up in  sunny gaps in hardwood forests, have much less competition here, and grow quite well in the well-drained soils and sands.

Such a landscape is a rare find these days.  Even when things revert to nature after being abandoned, plants that humans have brought to the lands here often transform the ecosystem.  Setting aside any arguments over the benefits or curses of the trans-formative hand of humanity on the world, these few natural places we do have left, especially in the central eastern part of the continent, usually tend to stand out when they get stumbled across.  Most people would assume a place like Michigan or New York would be a relatively mundane affair of endless, uniform forest.  Instead, our natural landscape shows a much more intelligent design at work, one of astonishing complexity.  The warm season is upon us, readers!  Go outside and try to find some of the primal beauty of North America.  Get to know your state or province or even county or district and what is so great about it, like the post we have today about mine.