Regional Landscape Ecosystems of Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin
SUB-SUBSECTION VII.5.2. Traverse City
DISCUSSION: Sub-subsection VII.5.2 consists primarily of narrow drumlins. It is divided into several peninsulas by Grand Traverse Bay of Lake Michigan and several large lakes, including Torch, Charlevoix, and Walloon. Lake Michigan has moderated the climate, providing excellent conditions for orchards and vineyards.
ELEVATION: 580 to 1,095 feet (177 to 334 m).
AREA: 749 square miles (1,940 sq km).
STATES: Michigan.
CLIMATE: See subsection.
BEDROCK GEOLOGY: See subsection.
LANDFORMS: The drumlins are long, narrow ridges, about one-fourth mile wide, a mile long, and less than 100 feet high. The slopes are moderate or steep. Narrow depressions between the drumlins account for 6 to 26 percent of the land surface in Leelanau, Charlevoix, and Antrim Counties (Albert 1990).
Narrow, relatively low sand dunes border the western shorelines of the Leelanau Peninsula and Mission Peninsula and those of Charlevoix and Antrim Counties. This dune border is typically less than a mile wide, accounting for only a small percentage of the sub-subsection's surface area.
Small complexes of parallel beach ridges and swales occupy the sandy lake plain along Grand Traverse Bay and at Bowers Harbor; beach ridges are well drained, and the swales vary in drainage condition, from shallow ponds to shallow organic soils supporting swamp forest.
LAKES AND STREAMS: Bays of the lake and several long, narrow inland lakes divide the sub-subsection into narrow peninsulas. Two of the long, narrow lakes, Torch and Elk, were bays of Lake Michigan until they were cut off by sand deposition during Nipissing time (Dorr and Eschman 1984). Other large narrow lakes include Lake Leelanau, Lake Charlevoix, Lake Skegemog, Six Mile Lake, and Walloon Lake. Large streams flowing into these lakes are the Boardman, Jordan, and Boyne Rivers.
SOILS: Most of the soils on the drumlins are well-drained gravelly sand and gravelly sandy loam. Most of the gravel is local limestone. Most of the soils in the narrow depressions between the drumlins are peats rather than poorly drained mineral soils. Although swamps and small lakes are found in depressions between many of the drumlins, some depressions are relatively well drained. In western Charlevoix County, where the drumlin ridges are closely spaced, narrow deposits of thick organic soils, less than 1,000 feet wide, separate adjacent drumlins.
PRESETTLEMENT VEGETATION: The original vegetation of the drumlins was northern hardwood forests of beech, sugar maple, yellow birch, hemlock, basswood, white ash, and hophorn-beam. Northern white-cedar was common in the wetlands between the drumlins.
Upland areas of sand lake plain along Grand Traverse Bay supported forests of white pine and red oak (Comer et al. 1993a). Northern whitecedar was dominant on the sandy lake plain bordering many inland lakes and wetter parts of Grand Traverse Bay. Other wetland species present included balsam fir, hemlock, white pine, white spruce, red maple, American elm, and trembling aspen. Shrub swamps were also found on the sandy lake plain.
The northern hardwood forests that dominated the dunes contained more red maple, red oak, hemlock, and white pine than did the northern hardwoods on the drumlin fields.
NATURAL DISTURBANCE: Windthrows were noted in several swamps close to the shoreline. Surveyors noted wildfires near the shore along the eastern Leelanau Peninsula and behind sand dunes along the east shore of Grand Traverse Bay.
PRESENT VEGETATION AND LAND USE: The drumlin fields have been extensively used for orchards, and many of the depressions between the drumlins have been pastured. Residential development is rapid throughout the sub-subsection.
RARE PLANT COMMUNITIES: None identified to date.
RARE PLANTS: Bromus pumpellianus (Pitcher's thistle), Tanacetum huronense (Lake Huron tansy).
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| Figure 22.—Sub-subsection VII.5.2: Small, steep-sided drumlin ridges remain forested or are converted to pasture land. The larger, more gently sloping drumlin ridges and ground moraine (till plain) have been converted to pasture or crop land. Poorly drained outwash plain surrounds many of the drumlins; poorly drained outwash remains as swamp forest or pasture, whereas well drained outwash is converted to crop land. Photo by D. Albert. |
RARE ANIMALS: Charadrius melodus (piping plover), Falco columbarius (merlin).
NATURAL AREAS: Michigan Nature Association Preserves: Green River, Cedar River; The Nature Conservancy Preserves: Palmer-Wilcox-Gates, Skegemog Swamp; Other: Oyster Bay Nature Preserve, Leffingwell Forest Preserve.
PUBLIC LAND MANAGERS: State Parks: Fisherman Island, Leelanau, Young, Old Mission Peninsula; State Forests: Pere Marquette, Mackinaw; State Game Areas: Petobego; National Lakeshores: Sleeping Bear Dunes; County Parks: Marion Island.
CONSERVATION CONCERNS: Few areas of natural area quality persist; these are primarily wetland areas along lake shores or upland forests on very steep end moraines. Because of the scenic beauty, the orchards and agricultural lands are under tremendous development pressure for second homes.
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