Regional Landscape Ecosystems of Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin
SUBSECTION IX.5. Lac Veaux Desert Outwash Plain
DISCUSSION: Kettle lakes, ponds, and peatlands are common on the pitted outwash. There are also flat plains with few kettles, as well as end moraine of sandy till.
ELEVATION: 1,450 to 1,935 feet (442 to 590 m).
AREA: 2,473 square miles (6,409 sq km).
STATES: Michigan and Wisconsin.
CLIMATE: Continental, with cold winters and warm summers. Extreme low temperatures are between -45½F and -50½F (Wisconsin Statistical Reporting Service 1967). Annual precipitation averages 30 to 34 inches, and average annual snowfall is 50 to 90 inches; both annual precipitation and snowfall increase to the northwest due to the influence of Lake Superior. Growing season ranges from approximately 100 days in the north to more than 120 days in the south.
BEDROCK GEOLOGY: Precambrian bedrock is covered by 100 to 300 feet of glacial drift. In the south, underlying bedrock is Precambrian mafic and felsic metavolcanic rock (Morey et al. 1982). To the north, quartzose sedimentary rock predominates, including mafic metavolcanic rocks and small bodies of granite and pegmatite. There are local areas of gneiss, amphibolite, and foliated granite.
LANDFORMS: Largely pitted outwash plain; also includes coarse-textured end moraines and ice-contact sands and gravels (Simpkins et al. 1987).
LAKES AND STREAMS: Kettle lakes are abundant throughout, especially on the pitted outwash. A few of the larger lakes include Tomahawk, Big St. Germain, Fence, Crawling Stone, Trout, Presque Isle, Star, and Lac Vieux Desert. Many streams originate in this flat outwash plain, including the Wisconsin River. Extensive wetlands occur near the headwaters of these streams.
SOILS: Soils are acidic sands over large areas, often tens of feet thick (Hole 1976). Soil productivity is generally low because of low moisture-holding capacity and loss of soil humus through burning. Throughout the barrens, Omega loamy sands (Spodic Udipsamments) are common on upper slopes, while Vilas loamy sands (Entic Haplorthods) are common in depressions (Hole and Germain 1994). Spodosols will develop where there is stable vegetation (Hole 1976).
PRESETTLEMENT VEGETATION: White pine and red pine forests dominated most of the pitted outwash plain. In the southwest between the Tomahawk and the Wisconsin Rivers, where the outwash plain is rolling and least dissected by kettle lakes, there is a broad area of barrens dominated by jack pine and northern pin oak. Hardwood-conifer swamps are also common along the margins of the subsection. Extensive peatlands occupy kettle depressions and the headwater areas of many streams.
NATURAL DISTURBANCE: GLO surveyors documented many fires in this area of barrens, similar to the levels documented for the Bayfield Barrens (X.1) and Spread Eagle-Dunbar Barrens (IX.1) (Finley 1976). Fire frequency and intensity were greatest in the jack pine barrens, which are concentrated in areas of rolling topography not broken by kettle lakes. Few windthrows occurred on the pine-dominated landscape (Canham and Loucks 1984).
PRESENT VEGETATION AND LAND USE: This subsection is important for recreation, forest products (pulp), and wildlife management (grouse and other upland game birds). Some wetlands are used for cranberry production (Hole 1976). At the turn of the century, white pine and red pine were heavily logged, resulting in conversion of many of these stands to paper birch and aspen.
RARE PLANT COMMUNITIES: Deep sterile seepage lakes with distinctive "rosette" flora; jack pine barrens.
RARE PLANTS: Michigan and Wisconsin: Littorella americana (American shore-grass). Wisconsin only: Eleochris robbinsii (Robbins spike-rush), Oryzopsis canadensis (Canadian rice grass), Ultricularia resupinata (small purple bladderwort).
RARE ANIMALS: Michigan and Wisconsin: Gavia immer (common loon), Haliaeetus leucocephalus (bald eagle), Pandion haliaetus (osprey). Wisconsin only: Aeshna clepsydra (mottled darner, dragonfly), Coturnicops noveboracensis (yellow rail), Oporornis agilis (Connecticut warbler).
NATURAL AREAS: Michigan: Wilderness Areas: Sylvania (Ottawa NF). Wisconsin: State Natural Areas: Trout Lake Conifer Swamp, Bose Lake Hemlock Hardwoods, Rice Lake-Thunder Lake Marsh, Finnerud Pine Forest, Black Tern Bog, Holmboe Conifer Forest, Stone Lake Pines, Wind Pudding Lake, Gobler Lake, Aurora Lake, Plum Lake Hemlock, Bittersweet Lakes, Goodyear Springs East, High Lake Spruce-Balsam Forest, Frog Lake and Pines, Day Lake, Johnson Lake Barrens, Escanaba Lake Hemlocks, Tomahawk River Pines, Patterson Hemlocks, Squirrel River Pines; The Nature Conservancy Preserves: Bass Lake Preserve.
PUBLIC LAND MANAGERS: Michigan: National Forests: Ottawa. Wisconsin: National Forests: Nicolet; State Forests: Northern Highland (includes Manitowish River Wilderness Area), American Legion; Wildlife Areas: Powell Marsh.
CONSERVATION CONCERNS: There is the potential for restoration of pineries within the subsection. The Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest occupies an important location between the Nicolet, Ottawa, and Chequamegon National Forests that allows large-scale biodiversity concerns to be considered in management plans for all of these Forests.
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| Figure 26.—Subsection IX.5: Plum Lake-Star Lake Hemlocks, Vilas County, Wisconsin. The pitted outwash forms a landscape of kettle lakes and fire-dependent forests of white pine, red pine, red oak, and paper birch growing on flat, sandy plains. From the air, this landscape superficially resembles that of the Winegar moraine (sub-subsection IX.3.2) immediately to the north. Upon closer examination, the forests of the steep, irregular Vilas moraine are dominated by northern hardwoods and eastern hemlock. Photo by E. Epstein. |
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