Regional Landscape Ecosystems of Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin
SUBSECTION X.1. Bayfield Barrens
DISCUSSION: Subsection X.1 is an interlobate area with extensive areas of pitted outwash. Barrens dominated by jack pine and northern pin oak cover most of the subsection.
SUB-SUBSECTIONS: None.
ELEVATION: 760 to 1,505 feet (232 to 459 m).
AREA: 2,141 square miles (5,546 sq km).
STATES: Minnesota and Wisconsin.
CLIMATE: Growing season ranges from 120 to 140 days (Reinke et al. 1993). Extreme minimum temperature ranges from -40½F to -45½F. Annual precipitation averages 30 to 32 inches (Wendland et al. 1992). Annual snowfall ranges from 48 inches at the southern edge of the subsection to 68 inches in the north along Lake Superior.
BEDROCK GEOLOGY: Precambrian and Cambrian bedrock are covered with 100 to 600 feet of glacial drift; thickest deposits are in the northern half of the subsection (Trotta and Cotter 1973). The underlying bedrock is Cambrian (undivided) quartzose and glauconitic sandstone and siltstone at the southern edge (Morey et al. 1982). Farther north the bedrock is Precambrian basalt, lithic conglomerate, sandstone, and shale, and feldspathic to quartzose sandstone.
LANDFORMS: A large plain of pitted outwash (Hole 1976, Hadley and Pelham 1976). The landscape consists of two distinctly different landforms: the flat plains or terraces (outwash) formed from sediments of proglacial meltwater rivers, and the hummocky sediments deposited by proglacial meltwater rivers on masses of stagnant glacial ice (Clayton 1984). The hummocky collapsed "outwash" is lower in elevation than nearby uncollapsed plains and is scattered throughout the subsection. One of the most conspicuous Pleistocene landforms in Wisconsin, the spillway of Glacial Lake Superior, is now occupied by the St. Croix and Brule Rivers.
LAKES AND STREAMS: Several hundred kettle lakes on the pitted outwash plain.
SOILS: Deep loamy sands, low in organic material, are common throughout the barrens, both on upper slopes and in depressions (Hole and Germain 1994). These soils are classified as Psamments and Orthods.
PRESETTLEMENT VEGETATION: Barrens of jack pine and northern pin oak were the dominant vegetation on the southern two-thirds of the subsection, where the landscape was least broken by lakes and streams (Sweet 1880). Red and white pine grew on parts of the landscape that were both hilly and broken by lakes, and therefore more protected from extreme fires.
White pine-red pine forest dominated the northern end of the subsection, where the combination of an east-west-trending end moraine and hillier outwash may have reduced fire intensity; even here, jack pine barrens occupied close to half of the land surface. Local areas of oak forest or savanna of white oak, red oak, and bur oak occurred. There were extensive sedge meadows in western Burnett County.
NATURAL DISTURBANCE: Fire occurred commonly and was important for maintaining the conifer-dominated upland forests (Murphy 1931, Curtis 1959).
PRESENT VEGETATION AND LAND USE: Large areas remain as barrens, which are managed by the Wildlife Bureau of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources for sharp-tailed grouse. Because of the heavy burn regime on these barrens, little timber remains; they are actually more like brush prairies. Large areas are also managed as jack pine plantations for pulpwood. Some wetlands are used for cranberry production (Hole 1976).
RARE PLANT COMMUNITIES: Wisconsin has several large jack pine barrens within this subsection. A fairly sharp climatic break appears to strongly influence the prairie component in the barrens understory. North and east of Namekagon barrens in northern Burnett County, the prairie flora is depauperate; the barrens to the south and west have a rich prairie flora and fauna, including herptiles and invertebrates.
RARE PLANTS: Botrychium ternatum (ternate grape fern), Liatris punctata var. nebraskana (dotted blazing star).
RARE ANIMALS: Insects: Lycaeides melissa samuelis (northern blue butterfly); Birds: Ammodramus caudacutus (sharp-tailed sparrow), Coturnicups noveboracensis (yellow rail).
NATURAL AREAS: Wisconsin: State Natural Areas: Crex Sand Prairie, Brant Brook Pines and Hardwoods, Ekdall Brook Conifer Swamp, Kohler-Peet Swamp Hardwoods, St. Croix River Barrens and Cedar Swamp, Sterling Barrens, St. Croix River Swamp Hardwoods, Lampson Moraine Pines, Totagatic Highlands Hemlocks, Solon Springs Sharptail Barrens, Upper Brule River, Bois Brule Conifer Bog, Sajdak Springs, Moquah Barrens, Kissick Alkaline Bog Lake.
PUBLIC LAND MANAGERS: Wisconsin: National Forests: Chequamegon; Scenic Riverways: St. Croix, St. Croix-Namekagon; State Forests: Governor Knowles, Brule River; State Parks: Lucius Woods; Wildlife Areas: Crex Meadows and Fish Lake.
CONSERVATION CONCERNS: Planting of pine monocultures, wetland alteration, fire exclusion, and recreational development. The St. Croix-Namekagon River system is a high conservation priority in Wisconsin.
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| Figure 29.—Subsection X.1: Solon Springs Sharptail Barrens, Douglas County, Wisconsin. The flat to rolling outwash sands of the subsection support extensive areas of open jack pine barren, with sedge meadows in shallow depressions. Prescribed burns are being conducted to improve habitat for sharptail grouse. Photo by E. Epstein. |
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