Southern Great Lakes forests
The Southern Great Lakes lowland forests is a temperate broadleaf and mixed forest ecoregion of North America, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund. Located near the Great Lakes, it lies mostly in the central northeastern United States and extends into southeast central Canada. In modern times, little of it remains intact due to land use, including agriculture and urban uses.
Setting
This area includes the southern half of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, and much of Indiana and Ohio. It also extends through the southern half of Southwest Ontario from Windsor to Toronto and into Pennsylvania and New York on the southern rims of lakes Erie and Ontario.
This region is characterized by warm-to-hot summers and mild-to-cold, snowy winters.
Flora
This ecoregion is associated with the temperate deciduous forest with the forest being dominated by Acer rubrum, Acer saccharum and Fagus grandifolia, Prunus serotina, Carya ovata, Quercus alba, and Quercus rubra. Other trees that may be found in the forest include Fraxinus americana, Liriodendron tulipifera, Cornus florida, Sassafras albidum, Juglans nigra, Tsuga canadensis, and Juniperus virginiana. Pure stands of Pinus strobus are sometimes common. In riparian environments Morus rubra and Fraxinus pennsylvanica can be found, though in dwindling numbers, due to Morus alba hybridization, and the emerald ash borer respectively. In more marshy areas, Populus deltoides, Populus tremuloides, Nyssa sylvatica, Betula populifolia, Betula nigra, Larix laricina, and Thuja occidentalis are common.
Fauna
The Southern Great Lakes forests were very rich in wildlife. Birds include cardinals, downy woodpecker, wood duck and eastern screech owl. Large mammals including American black bear, moose, Canada lynx, cougar, caribou, elk and eastern wolf have been mostly or completely extirpated from this ecoregion; remaining mammals include white-tailed deer, coyote, snowshoe hare, eastern chipmunk, American red squirrel and eastern gray squirrel.
Threats and preservation
Because of extensive urbanization and agricultural use very little of this habitat remains intact.