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Habitats of the Great Lakes Region What's New | Overview | General Resources | Education | Related Resources 
What's New Restoring an ancient Great Lakes fish WMUK – Kalamazoo, MI (5/22) Sturgeon have lived in the Great Lakes longer than humans have walked the earth, but the ancient fish now need our help to stay here. A new project is trying to do that by rebuilding habitat for lake sturgeon in Michigan’s Kalamazoo River. Wisconsin replicates Michigan’s certified natural shoreline program Great Lakes Echo (5/14) In 2014, the Wisconsin Lakes Partnership will begin training and certifying shoreline contractors to create natural shorelines that provide wildlife habitat, fight erosion from waves and filter runoff. State rejects dune road request WZZM-TV – Grand Rapids, MI (5/13) A western Michigan lawmaker says the state Department of Environmental Quality has rejected a proposal to build a 1,200-foot private driveway across a strip of government-owned Lake Michigan dune habitat. Restoring wetlands step in Lake Erie plan The Columbus Dispatch (5/6) A project restoring 2,500 acres into wetlands along western Lake Erie is a small but important step toward creating a new home for wildlife and cleaning water runoff from farm fields that feeds harmful algae, conservation organizations say. Rare bald eagle hatching on Lake Ontario signals revival of habitat CTV News (4/5) For the first time in decades, bald eagles have successfully hatched on the north shore of Lake Ontario - news that has bird enthusiasts flocking to the Hamilton area to spot the eaglets. Great Lakes salmon are the focus of new video series (4/4) Underwater footage of wild-spawned salmon in Michigan streams show the challenges faced by young fish. Participants in MDNR’s Salmon in the Classroom program can use this series as a refresher on the salmon’s life cycle and Great Lakes ecology.
Overview The Great Lakes ecosystem's sand dunes, coastal marshes, rocky shorelines, lakeplain prairies, savannas, forests, fens, wetlands and other landscapes contain features that are either unique to or best represented within the Great Lakes Basin, according to a 1994 biodiversity report by The Nature Conservancy. For example, the Great Lakes sand dunes are one of the largest systems of freshwater sand dunes in the world, ranging from high, forested dunes and linear dune ridges commonly backing sand beaches, to active dune fields covering thousands of acres, such as those near Ludington, Michigan. Native dune species include the dune thistle (Cirsium pitcheri), Houghton's goldenrod (Solidago houghtonii) and the Lake Huron locust (Trimerotropis huroniana). Some of the last, best examples of the continent's most imperiled savanna communities lie along the lakeplains of the southern Great Lakes, near Windsor, Ontario, and along the southern shores of Lake Michigan, in particular. Also occurring in the lakeplains is a unique community of arctic and prairie species that persists from the colder, then dryer climatic periods following glaciation. Often called by the Scandinavian name "alvar," these communities are scattered in an arc that follows the Niagaran Escarpment from upper Michigan through southern Ontario and to northwestern New York. Never widespread, this remarkable open bedrock landscape remains intact in only a handful of places. The extensive freshwater marshes of the Great Lakes coasts also are unique in ecological character, size and variety. They range from small wetlands nestled in scattered bays to extensive shoreline wetlands such as those of southwestern Lake Erie, freshwater estuaries such as the Kakagon Sloughs of northern Wisconsin and the enormous freshwater delta marshes of the St. Clair River. References: Biological Diversity in the Great Lakes Ecosystem, The Nature Conservancy, 1994
General Resources Canada's Aquatic Environments: Habitats University of Guelph Includes more than 9,000 pages of information on aquatic animals and habitats. EPA Great Lakes Restoration Initiative U.S. Environmental Protection Agency This U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office webpage provides up-to-date information on the President's budget proposal to allocate $475 million towards an EPA-led interagency Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Habitat Advisory Board Great Lakes Fishery Commission The Great Lakes Fishery Commission has long recognized that habitat quality and quantity relates directly to determining which measures will ensure maximum sustained productivity of Great Lakes fish. Habitat Management Programs U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service This index provides information about the various habitat management programs in the National Wildlife Refuge System. NOAA Restoration Center National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) The NOAA Restoration Center enhances living marine resources to benefit the nation's fisheries by restoring their habitats. Prairies in the Prairie State Presented by the Openlands Project and the Illinois State Museum, this exhibit discusses the environment, plants and animals, and human interaction of the Midewin Tallgrass Prairie Prairies of Illinois Illinois Department of Natural Resources Illinois is known as the "Prairie State," part of the vast grassland in central North America. Learn about the remnants of tallgrass prairie and related flora and fauna through this series of maps, photos and historic overviews. The Conservation of Biological Diversity in the Great Lakes Ecosystem: Issues and Opportunities The Nature Conservancy This 1994 document provides a "first look" at the special biological diversity of the Great Lakes basin ecosystem and at those human activities that place it at risk.
Education Habitattitude U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Adopt a conservation mentality: Protect our environment by not releasing unwanted fish and aquatic plants into the wild. Find out what you can do to help this growing problem on this site. Living By Water Project The mission of the Project is "working towards healthier human and wildlife habitat along the shorelines of Canada", and to help shoreline residents obtain information to protect their property, prevent problems like erosion, and protect water quality, fish and wildlife habitat.
Related Resources GLIN: Agencies and Organizations, Environment GLIN: Biodiversity in the Great Lakes Region GLIN: Land Use in the Great Lakes Region GLIN: Sanctuaries and Reserves in the Great Lakes Region GLIN: Wetlands in the Great Lakes Region GLIN: Wildlife of the Great Lakes Region
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