Biodiversity

"Biodiversity" means biological diversity. It describes the variety of all the genes, species and natural communities that exist within a particular place.

For more on the biodiversity of the Lake Huron to Lake Erie corridor, download Wildlife Habitat Council's publication:

Explore Our Natural World
A Biodiversity Atlas of the Lake Huron to Lake Erie Corridor

by Lisa M. Appel, Julie A. Craves, Mary Kehoe Smith,
Bob Weir and John M. Zawiskie

BIODIVERSITY WORTH PROTECTING
from Explore Our Natural World: A Biodiversity Atlas of the Lake Huron to Lake Erie Corridor

When considering biodiversity conservation, most people think of tropical rainforests around the equator. However right here in the middle of North America, the Lake Huron to Lake Erie Corridor is home to a biodiversity that is unlike anywhere else in the world.

With its fascinating open waters, lush freshwater wetlands along the coast, tallgrass prairie and savanna ecosystems near the shoreline, and woodlands that once existed across much of its inland area, the Lake Huron to Lake Erie Corridor is a uniquely beautiful part of Earth.

What happens in this region can have an impact on other parts of the world. The Corridor provides important habitat for more than 90 species of migratory birds as they fly in autumn and spring to destinations as far away as the Arctic and South America. Thus, loss of habitat here affects not only resident wildlife but also those traveling through from elsewhere.

The Corridor possesses certain qualities that have global significance. For example, Lake St. Clair and the Detroit River have some of the best fisheries for smallmouth bass and muskellunge in the world.

Another example of a globally significant feature is the St. Clair River Delta, which is one of the largest freshwater deltas on Earth. The Great Lakes coastal marshes have a biological productivity rivaling that of the tropical rainforests. Despite significant losses of these coastal marshes, the Corridor still has enough to be considered one of the largest and most productive feeding and spawning grounds for ducks and fish in the midwestern United States.

Moving away from the water, lands bear tallgrass prairie and oak savanna ecosystems. The luxuriant growths of grasses and wildflowers in prairies contain some of the Corridor’s greatest biodiversity, with as many as 200 plant species inhabiting a single remnant prairie. Today, less than one percent of the original prairie and oak savanna communities exist in Michigan and Ontario. The extensive loss of these special ecosystems and their unique character leave them at risk of global extinction.

Abundant natural resources were the foundation of the economic prosperity of southern Michigan and southwestern Ontario. Unfortunately, much of this natural heritage has given way to development. Habitat loss from human settlement has resulted in the extirpation of many wildlife species from the region. Buffalo, elk, moose, black bear, lynx, bobcat and grey wolf all disappeared in the middle of the last century. Viewing the landscape now, it is hard to imagine that this area was once a great wilderness.

Despite humans’ dramatic alteration of the landscape, wildlife continues to persist. Fortunately there are protected lands that contain examples of the Corridor’s rich natural heritage.