Regional Landscape Ecosystems of Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin
SUBSECTION IV.2. Eau Claire
DISCUSSION: The drier soils of this subsection result in greater fire frequency and more oak dominance than in the other subsections.
SUB-SUBSECTIONS: None.
ELEVATION: 653 to 1,416 feet (199 to 432 m).
AREA: 4,440 square miles (11,504 sq km).
STATES: Wisconsin.
CLIMATE: See section.
BEDROCK GEOLOGY: Large exposures of Cambrian sandstone bedrock, with some dolomite and shale, occur in the steep ravines (Ostrom 1981, Morey et al. 1982).
LANDFORMS: See section.
LAKES AND STREAMS: No natural lakes. The Chippewa, Black, and Baraboo Rivers flow through the subsection.
SOILS: Soils are silt loams and sandy loams over sandstone on a rolling to steep landscape. Surface soil is derived from a mix of leached loess and sandstone residuum (Hole and Germain 1994, Hole 1968). Soils are primarily Udalfs (Hole 1976).
PRESETTLEMENT VEGETATION: The original vegetation was a mosaic of oak forest, dominated by white oak, black oak, and bur oak; oak savanna or oak opening dominated by bur oak, with some white and black oak; and oak brushlands (Finley 1976). The brushlands were more common in this subsection than anywhere else in Wisconsin. Hemlock, rare this far south in Wisconsin, also occurred on north and east sandstone exposures in the southeast.
NATURAL DISTURBANCE: Fire was important in maintaining oak forest and still more important for maintaining the oak savanna. The brushlands were lands that had recently burnt.
PRESENT VEGETATION AND LAND USE: Heavy agricultural land use on the ridge tops and in the alluvial valleys. Steep side slopes remain largely forested.
RARE PLANT COMMUNITIES: None identified to date.
RARE PLANTS: Wisconsin only: Talinum rugospermum (prairie fame-flower), Prenanthes aspera (rough white lettuce), Sullivantia renifolia (kidney-leaved sullivantia), Asclepias lanuginosa (wooly milkweed), Anemone caroliniana (Carolina anemone), Scutellaria parvula var. parvula (small skullcap).
RARE ANIMALS: Wisconsin only: Ammodramus henslowii (Henslow's sparrow), Ammodramus savannarum (grasshopper sparrow), Chondestes grammacus (lark sparrow), Dendroica cerulea (cerulean warbler), Empidonax virescens (Acadian flycatcher), Icterus spurius (orchard oriole), Ophisaurus attenuatus (slender glass lizard), Ammocrypta asprella (crystal darter), Cycleptus elongatus (blue sucker), Polyodon spathula (paddlefish), Lycaeides melissa samuelis (Karner blue butterfly), Ophiogomphus aspersus (brook snaketail (dragonfly)).
NATURAL AREAS: Wisconsin: State Natural Areas: Tamarack Creek Bog, Gullickson's Glen, Putnam Park, La Crosse River Trail Prairie, Fort McCoy, Otter Creek Oak Barrens, Nine Mile Island, Caryville Savanna, Bass Hollow.
PUBLIC LAND MANAGERS:
CONSERVATION CONCERNS:
BOUNDARIES: Boundaries are based on interpretations of soils by Hole (1976) and bedrock geology by Morey et al. (1982).
Previous Section -- Subsection IV.1. Prairie du Chiens
Return to Contents
Next Section -- Subsection IV.3. Maple-basswood Forested River Ravines
