TBG_Cochrane Memorial_RFQ Appendix C_Living in the Oak Openings.pdf

1O A K O P E N I N G S

A G U I D E T O O N E O F T H E

W O R L D ’ S L A S T G R E A T P L A C E S

L I V I N G I N T H E

O A K O P E N I N G S

2 1I N T R O D U C T I O N O A K O P E N I N G S

J E N N I F E R T H I E M E , E D I T O R

L I V I N G I N T H E O A K O P E N I N G S A G U I D E T O O N E O F T H E

W O R L D ’ S L A S T G R E A T P L A C E S

J E N N I F E R T H I E M E , E D I T O R

L I V I N G I N T H E O A K O P E N I N G S

A G U I D E T O O N E O F T H E W O R L D ’ S L A S T G R E A T P L A C E S

GEOLOGY

PA G E 6

MAMMALS

PA G E 2 8

PL ANT

COMMUNITIES

PA G E 1 0

AMPHIBIANS

& REPTILES

PA G E 3 4

R ARE PL ANTS

PA G E 1 6

INSEC TS

& SPIDERS

PA G E 4 0

BIRDS

PA G E 2 2

THE OAK

OPENINGS

AT RISK

PA G E 4 6

TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S

INTRODUC TION

PA G E 2

The Green

Ribbon Initiative

PA G E 5 0

Where to Begin Saving

The Oak Openings

PA G E 5 6

How to Save

The Oak Openings

PA G E 6 0

10 11

APPENDIX

PA G E 6 4

REFERENCES

PA G E 7 2

T. CRAIL

F O RWA R D

Welcome to the third edition of the Living in the Oak Openings homeowner’s guide. For over a decade, this guide has been bringing the Oak Openings Region and all its natural wonders into the homes and schools of residents and neighbors. Its purpose has been, and continues to be, to inform, inspire and empower the people fortunate enough to live and travel within this unique landscape. With that in mind, the Green Ribbon Initiative, which is the collection of agencies working to protect and restore the Oak Openings, found it important to share with you the substantial new information and activities arising in the region since the second edition published in 2009.

One of the most notable changes you will find in this edition involves its maps: the Oak Openings Region appears to have doubled in size!

This, however, is not exactly the case. For generations, the Oak Openings has attracted researchers and naturalists to explore its thousands of native plants and animals. Most of these researchers were from Ohio, and most studies ended arbitrarily at the state line, resulting in a perspective of the region that was very Ohio-centric. However, a broader look at Oak Openings plant communities, soils and geologic history reveal the true extent of this system and the full extent of the Green Ribbon

Initiative’s focal area. This full extent of the Oak Openings is now reflected throughout this guide.

Additionally, all chapters have been updated to include the most relevant information, from changes in the listed status of a species to new research shaping the way we understand the system. Callout

Boxes offer an in-depth look at important species, events and research.

Expanded photo spreads give you a head start on identifying the great diversity of flora and fauna just outside your door. Finally, this guide empowers you to make a positive impact on the landscape through its new Call to Action Boxes and How to Save the Oak Openings chapter.

One factor that has not changed is the importance of this region to the health and survival of hundreds of rare and endangered species as well as the area’s residents. If you live or play within the Oak Openings, you are part of one of the rarest natural areas in the Midwest. If you read this guide, you are part of the team that has the power to preserve this gem.

And if you accept your Call to Action, you become a part of the movement to revitalize our human and natural communities. Thank you for doing your part.

© 2016, Third Edition, All rights reserved

Funds for the design of this publication were provided to The Nature

Conservancy by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation via the

Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, and by Madhouse Creative, LLC.

COMBINING FORCES TO SAVE THE OAK OPENINGS:

2 3I N T R O D U C T I O N O A K O P E N I N G S

I N T R O D U C T I O N

T H E O A K O P E N I N G S :

I T ’ S I N Y O U R B A C K Y A R D

E VERY UNDE VELOPED

ACRE, WHETHER

A METROPARK OR A

BACK YARD, C AN HOST

R ARE SPECIES

SUNSET AT IRWIN PRAIRIE STATE NATURE PRESERVE

T. CRAIL

B Y A R T W E B E R

We call it the Oak Openings or, simply, the Oaks. Biologists call it oak savanna.

The Nature Conservancy has anointed it as “One of America’s Last Great

Places,” putting it on par with Florida’s

Everglades and the temperate rain forests of the Northwest as one of earth’s rarest habitats. This long and relatively narrow band of sandy soil just west of Toledo, Monroe, and Detroit that so many people call home is also home to dozens of rare species.

To be sure, the Oak Openings is not a land of mountaintop vistas and vast canyons. Its beauty is in the details, the incredible richness of species teeming in a rich variety of habitats.

The Oak Openings must have been a welcome sight to the early pioneers of northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan. After wallowing and hacking their way through the dense woods and mire of the Great Black Swamp— it could take nearly a week to traverse the 25 or so miles between Fremont and Perrysburg—the Oak Openings would have been like a dream come true to those early travelers. There, on the high sandy dunes, tall prairie grasses grew under an open canopy of widely spaced oak trees. They could easily zigzag their wagons through the dry open woodland without even having to cut a path.

Some of these early pioneers eyed the open woods and drooled at the prospect of easily cleared farmland. Their excitement was brief. The land was easy to clear, all right, and the sandy soil turned easily to the plow. But the soil was poor and unproductive, and farming was unprofitable.

A. WEBER

A TIGER SWALLOWTAIL NECTARS ON DENSE BLAZING STAR

PRAIRIE DOCK AND DENSE BLAZING STAR

A. WEBER

4 5I N T R O D U C T I O N O A K O P E N I N G S

To the naturalist, though, the Oak Openings is a treasure to be nurtured and protected, a rich land dotted with rare jewels. In the early 1900s, Edwin Lincoln Moseley, naturalist and faculty member of Bowling

Green State University, found more than 100 species of plants that were more abundant in the Oak Openings than anywhere else in Ohio. Years after Moseley, researchers continue to discover new species as well as rediscovere species seen by Moseley but thought to have disappeared.

Today, within the Oak Openings, nearly one-third of all Ohio’s endangered plant species can be found, along with a host of rare animals, many of them birds and butterflies.

W H AT I S T H E OA K

O P E N I N G S R E G I O N ?

To many people, the Oak Openings means Oak Openings Preserve

Metropark, largest of the Metroparks of the Toledo Area. The Oak

Openings, though, is a much larger geologic region of which the

Preserve is only a part.

The Oak Openings Region is a sandy five-mile-wide swath that stretches southwestward over 80 miles through Wayne and Monroe counties in

Michigan and Lucas, Henry, Fulton and Wood counties in Ohio. As the last of the great mile-thick glacier—the Wisconsinan—receded from our region some 15,000 years ago, it left in its wake Lake Warren, one of the many stages of ancestral Lake Erie. Lake Warren built up sand bars and beaches in what is now the Oak Openings. They were left high and dry as the waters progressively dropped to today’s lake levels.

Wind whipped these sandy lake deposits into ridges and dunes.

Underneath is a nearly impervious layer of clay, cradling the water year round. In places the sand can be 50 feet thick, and in other places the underlining clay is nearly exposed. On the dunes where the sand is deep the conditions are arid and harsh, but ideal for the plants of the tallgrass prairie and the large spreading oaks.

In between the sparsely wooded dunes and ridges are swales where the sand layer is thin, and water can stand year-round and suppress the growth of woody plants. Wet prairies formed there, dominated by sedges and grasses. These wet prairies and occasional small lakes were extensive enough that Native American hunters and gatherers could canoe uninterrupted for miles.

Wildflowers grew in such profusion in those early days that there are stories of farmers taking wagonloads of orchids to market with their produce.

Only the trained eye of a naturalist would now recognize much of the

Oak Openings. Many of the wetlands have been drained and most of the towering oaks cut down. Dense, stunted second-growth forests now fill many of the “openings” that gave the area its name.

T. CRAIL

J. RICH

PRAIRIE GENTIAN

The Oak Openings is one of the few places in Ohio where prairie gentian is found

AMERICAN BADGER

Much rarer today than it was historically, the badger remains an icon of the Oak Openings

It’s difficult to imagine the Oak Openings that existed as recently as the early 1900s. The labyrinth of ditches designed in the early 1900s changed the face of the Oak Openings forever. Water disappeared from the land and with it the waterfowl. If you doubt how wet the area once was, wait for a big rainstorm and drive some of the rural roads of the

Oak Openings that traverse what was once wet prairie. Roads through these former wetlands can be rendered impassable in spite of the extensive drainage system.

The suppression of fire, both natural and otherwise, also dealt a blow to the Oaks. Fire historically suppressed the growth of many shrub and tree species, maintaining expansive openings, the very essence of the region, on the landscape.

Removing water and fire, it turned out, was like a one-two punch to the

Oak Openings. Without these two natural interventions, remnants of the Oak Openings that haven’t already been altered by agriculture or suburban expansion have been largely overtaken by a denser oak forest, and the sun-loving species that characterized the Oak Openings have greatly declined. Though they are still hanging on, these sun-dependent rare plants and animals are being shaded out.

Only in the last three decades has the importance of fire and water to the

Oak Openings been realized. Natural area agencies have been working to restore the landscape by selectively reintroducing these natural processes.

We’re also now understanding the greater importance of prudent management in the Oak Openings as a critical component to protecting and replenishing the waters of the Maumee River and beyond, into

Lake Erie. Preservation and management that benefits a private well in

Swanton positively impacts our shared Lake Erie. Those shared benefits extend to such key concerns as ground water absorption, abatement of storm run-off, air quality, and carbon sequestration of wetlands, to name just a few.

Fortunately the land is resilient. We’ve learned that the Oak Openings responds well to prudent management. Good news for private landowners, too, is that the Oak Openings responds whether the management is on a large or small scale.

In a very real sense, everyone can be part of the fight to save the

Oak Openings. So take a seat under a 400 year-old oak and contemplate your place in one of earth’s rarest habitats.

Read on—this is our backyard.

A. WEBER

T. CRAIL

WOODLAND STREAM

Natural areas help protect the region’s water quality

EXPLORE, LEARN, AND PLAY IN THE OAK OPENINGS

06 07C H 1 : G E O L O G Y O A K O P E N I N G S

C H A P T E R O N E

G E O L O G Y O F T H E O A K O P E N I N G S

WESTERN WINDS

PERPETUALLY SHIFT

SAND DUNES ACROSS

THE OAK OPENINGS

L ANDSC APE

BLUE LUPINE IN SAND DUNES

T. CRAIL

B Y T I M O T H Y F I S H E R , P h . D . Much of the Oak Openings Region in northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan is former beach, reflecting higher lake levels in ancestral Lake Erie at the close of the last ice age.

The sand was reworked by the wind to form sand dunes over broad areas when water levels dropped. Also at about this time, rivers began to dig themselves into the landscape as glacial waters drained away.

The landforms representing the surface geology of the Oak Openings

Region are subtle. Such subtly reflects past activity of glaciers and lake currents abrading away high points on the landscape and infilling low points. The unique plants and animals of the region reflect the area’s sandy soils and adaption to these subtle differences in topography.

G L A C I AT I O N A N D

G L A C I E R L A K E S

The last ice age to impact northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan was the

Wisconsin glaciation, when ice advanced nearly as far south as Cincinnati.

Passage of the glacier is recorded in the stony, clay-rich sediment called till that was deposited at the base of the glacier, and by striations—linear scratches and gouges—cut into bedrock by stones carried at the bed of the glacier. Striations can be observed in the upper parking lot of the

Bluecreek Soccer Fields in Whitehouse, Ohio, and on bedrock at Fossil

Park in Sylvania, Ohio.

Water of ancestral Lake Erie was trapped between higher ground on the west and the margin of the glacier retreating northeast within the Lake

Erie basin (Fig. 1). Ancestral Lake Erie extended from the Niagara River in New York on the east to Fort Wayne, Indiana, on the west. Evidence of the former lake remains in its historic shorelines, which extend across

Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York and Ontario, (Fig. 2). One of these ancient shorelines, called the Warren Beach, forms an important sand ridge extending through the Oak Openings Region that formed about 14,000 years ago. It is important to note, however, that the

Oak Opening Region is not just defined by the Warren Beach shoreline, but by wherever there is thick enough sand to maintain the hydrological properties required by the unique vegetation of the Oak Openings Region.

The sand acts as a sponge, holding onto water where it can’t infiltrate further downwards into the ground because the till or clay-rich lake sediment is impermeable. While the surface of the sand ridge and dunes may be dry, lower down the sand may be saturated with water, nourishing the wet prairies located in depressions between the ridges and dunes.

Maumee ~17,000 years ago

Whittlesey

Arkona

Warren

Wayne

Grassmere

Lundy ~13,900 years ago

Maumee

Maumee

River

River

Lake Erie

FORT W

AYNE M

ORAIN

E

FO

RT W

AYN

E M

O

RAIN

E

W

ABASH

M O

RAIN

E

FORT WAYNE MORAINE

W A

BASH

M

O

RAINE

DEFIA

N

C E

M

O R

A

IN

E

Wabash R.

As the Ice margin (blue line) of the Huron-Erie lobe retreated eastwards, Lake Maumee formed where water is trapped between the retreating ice margin and higher land to the west.

Dashed line is where the ice paused during retreat to form the De�ance Moraine.

OUTLET

N

LAKE

MAUMEE

DEFIANCE

R E

T R

E A

TI

N

G

IC

E

10 MILES

SYLVANIA

TOLEDO

Ti ffi n R

Au gl ai ze R

BEACH RIDGE

As the glacier continued to recede eastwards uncovering lower elevation outlets, laFigureke letvel dropped forming the beaches of Ancestral Lake Erie across northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan.

Figure 1

Figure 2

FORT WAYNE

173 m

280 m

380 m

475 m

ELEVATION

BOWLING GREEN

FORT WAYNE

DEFIANCE

As the ice margin (blue line) of the Huron-Erie glacial lobe retreated east, Lake Maumee formed where water was trapped between the retreating ice and higher land to the west. Dashed line is where the ice paused during retreate to form the Defiance Moraine, and white arrow represents direction of water flow.

FIGURE 1 : RECEDING GLACIERS PAUSED AT FORT WAYNE,

INDIANA AND AGAIN AT DEFIANCE, OHIO

08 09C H 1 : G E O L O G Y O A K O P E N I N G S

Maumee ~17,000 years ago

Whittlesey

Arkona

Warren

Wayne

Grassmere

Lundy ~13,900 years ago

Maumee

Maumee

River

River

Lake Erie

FORT W

AYNE M

ORAIN

E

FO

RT W

AYN

E M

O

RAIN

E

W

ABASH

M O

RAIN

E

FORT WAYNE MORAINE

W A

BASH

M

O

RAINE

DEFIA

N

C E

M

O R

A

IN

E

Wabash R.

As the Ice margin (blue line) of the Huron-Erie lobe retreated eastwards, Lake Maumee formed where water is trapped between the retreating ice margin and higher land to the west.

Dashed line is where the ice paused during retreat to form the De�ance Moraine.

OUTLET

N

LAKE

MAUMEE

DEFIANCE

R E

T R

E A

TI

N

G

IC

E

10 MILES

SYLVANIA

TOLEDO

Ti ffi n R

Au gl ai ze R

BEACH RIDGE

As the glacier continued to recede eastwards uncovering lower elevation outlets, laFigureke letvel dropped forming the beaches of Ancestral Lake Erie across northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan.

Figure 1

Figure 2

FORT WAYNE

173 m

280 m

380 m

475 m

ELEVATION

BOWLING GREEN

FORT WAYNE

DEFIANCE

As the glacier receded east uncovering lower elevation outlets, lake level dropped, forming the beaches of ancestral Lake Erie across northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan.

FIGURE 2: FALLING WATER LEVELS LEFT THEIR MARK IN THE FORM OF SANDY BEACH RIDGES.

S A N D D U N E S

Scattered across northwest Ohio and concentrated in the Oak Openings

Region are parabolic, or parabola-shaped, sand dunes that developed when the past climate was drier, cooler, and windier. The dunes are commonly only a few meters high and appear as low hills throughout the

Oak Openings Region. The parabolic dunes all point to the east, recording winds from the west. The dunes are always to the east of the sources of sand, and dating of the sand dunes indicates that they were last active between 15,000 and 8,000 years ago. This tells us how long the soils and vegetation have been evolving. Because the dunes cannibalize the sand from older landforms, it is difficult to recognize some of the older landforms made of sand. In southeast Michigan, the Oak Openings

Region is not clearly delineated by a topographic ridge as in Ohio.

Instead it forms a broad plain of sand dunes with unrecognizable shoreline features that were likely the source of the sand. Since formation of these sand dunes, the landscape remained relatively unchanged.

T H E F U T U R E

Future geologic events in the Oak Openings Region are expected to be minimal. With ongoing global climate change and changes in land use, rivers will likely be further entrenched in place from spiky run-off events, and may shift in their channels due to higher-intensity precipitation events. Projections for the future generally call for warmer conditions, which could lead to more drought. Drought in the region could lead to more bare sand patches with some minor reactivation of small sand dunes, such as is happening at the Girdham Road dunes in the Oak

Openings Preserve Metropark. These dunes are dry and exposed, shifting slowly east as winds from the west transport sand across their tops. Glaciation is not expected for a very long time, thus rising lake levels will not be a problem. Of more immediate concern though, is the falling ground water level due to ditching of fields, the drainage of wetlands, and possibly global climate change. There is a strong relationship between vegetation and the surface geology, and while the latter is subtle, its impact is significant.

high-water table low-water table

Oak Savanna

Dune Dune Dune

Bedrock

Clay con�ning layer (till or lacustrine mud)

Saturated sand annual range

Muck aquitard

Ephemeral wetland groundwater �ow

OA K S AVA N N A S

BY TODD CR A IL, Ph.D

Oak savanna ecosystems are characterized by low densities of trees among grassland communities. The processes that create oak savanna are largely abiotic factors of geology, water and fire. In the Oak Openings, sand features such as dunes, swales and plains sit over dense clay material that confines groundwater from quickly dissipating.

As precipitation arrives, the surface of the ground water, called the water table, rises, saturating the sand layer, and then falls as water flows out of the system. In many places, the water table will rise high enough that it periodically sits above the surface, forming an ephemeral wetland. This annual process shapes oak savanna, as very few tree species are able to tolerate extreme wet followed by extreme dry.

Variance in soil organic material and water is the secret to the

Oak Openings’ diversity of plant species, as a wide array of soil conditions are created. As water flows from higher ground into lower areas, it carries organic material from the dunes into the wetlands. A muck soil layer, or aquitard, is created that prolongs the time water is present at the surface, but allows the wetland soil to eventually dry in a typical summer.

Where dunes locally supply water, fern-dominated swales form; where regional features (e.g., Lake Warren barrier ridge) supply water, wet prairie community arises.

Fire is the polish on the system. It reduces organic material such as leaf litter through combustion and kills the tops of woody plants that contribute to the organic material.

Without fire, organic material continues to accumulate, eventually homogenizing the wide variety of soil conditions found among this geologic context.

W hi tt le se y s ho re lin e

Rasin

Inset 2

River

Dundee

Sylvania

Monroe

Otta w a R

Swan Ck.

Maumee

River

Huron R.

Ypsilanti

US23

INSET 1

I-75

I-275

I-280

I-475

Toledo

Toledo

W ar re n

W ar re n la go on W a r r e n s p i t st ra nd lin e

175 m 174 m

200 m

202 m

205 m 209 m

210 m 394 m

ELEVATION

5 km

Lake Erie

Michigan

Ohio

N

I-94

INSET 2

Elevation of Oak Openings Region. Lying primarily between an elevation of 200–209 m (highlighted in yellow and green), the historic Warren and Wayne beaches contain sandy soils characteristic of the Oak Openings Region. Inset 1 highlights the parabolic dunes; note how their ends are curved, pointing to the east as a result of prevailing westerly winds. Inset 2 highlights

Warren ridge, extending from Swan Creek to Sylvania.

10 11C H 2 : P L A N T C O M M U N I T I E S O A K O P E N I N G S

C H A P T E R T W O

P L A N T C O M M U N I T I E S O F T H E O A K O P E N I N G S

THE OAK OPENINGS

REGION CONTAINS

SOME OF THE R AREST

PL ANT COMMUNITIES

IN THE WORLD

BLUE LUPINE

BLACK OA K/LUPINE BA RREN

T. CRAIL

B Y R I C K G A R D N E R

FLOWERING SPURGE

BLACK OA K/LUPINE BA RREN

OA K / B L U E B E R RY

F O R E S T

Oak/Blueberry Forest is a frequent community in the Oak Openings.

Stands occur on dunes and are low in species diversity. Black oak and white oak are the dominant canopy trees. The canopy is nearly to completely closed, with filtered sunlight reaching the forest floor. Witch hazel, huckleberry, sassafras, pasture rose and low bush blueberries are frequent in the shrub layer. Pennsylvania sedge, large-leaved aster, wild sarsaparilla, bracken fern and whorled loosestrife are common species in the herbaceous layer. The detritus layer is often several inches thick.

This community is more frequent today than it was historically due to fire suppression.

B L A C K OA K /

L U P I N E B A R R E N

Black Oak/Lupine Barren is the classic “Oak Openings” community that historically covered about 45% of the region. This community is a savanna, where black oak and white oak are widely spaced (about 14 trees/ hectare) and give the community a “park like” appearance. Open stands of these trees occur on the dry sand dunes. Sunlight reaches the surface, which allows for a rich herbaceous layer that includes little bluestem, Pennsylvania sedge, Junegrass, Canada frostweed, blue lupine, plains puccoon, western sunflower, butterfly milkweed, goats-rue, rough blazing star and flowering spurge. The shrub/scrub layer is sparse. Shrubs include

New Jersey tea, pasture rose, sweet-fern and low bush blueberries.

The high frequency of blue lupine provides habitat for the federally endangered Karner blue butterfly. This community is fire dependent, meaning for this community to sustain itself, periodic fires are needed to inhibit woody invasion and stimulate grass and forb growth. Kitty Todd

Nature Preserve and Oak Openings Preserve Metropark of Lucas County, Ohio, have quality examples of this globally vulnerable community.

Five of the six natural plant communities in the region are considered globally rare.

The Oak Openings’ six primary natural plant communities are Black Oak/

Lupine Barren, Mesic Sand Tallgrass

Prairie, Midwest Sand Barren, Oak/

Blueberry Forest, Great Lakes Pin

Oak/Swamp White Oak Flatwoods and Twigrush Wet Prairie.

A plant community is an assemblage of species that interact with one another and their environment within a certain area. Environmental or abiotic factors such as climate, geology, hydrology, soils and topography are important in determining where plant communities occur.

Following are descriptions of natural communities characteristic of the

Oak Openings. Several other communities, such as conifer forests, have been introduced by humans and are discussed briefly in other chapters.

WHORLED LOOSESTRIFE

OA K/BLUEBERRY FOREST

A. COLE

12 13C H 2 : P L A N T C O M M U N I T I E S O A K O P E N I N G S

BLUE VERVAIN

MESIC SA ND TA LLGR ASS PR A IRIE

SHOWY GOLDENROD

MIDW EST SA ND BA RREN

M E S I C S A N D

TA L L G R A S S P R A I R I E

Mesic Sand Tallgrass Prairie is globally vulnerable and is one of the rarest communities in the Oak Openings Region. It was the most common wetland community in the region, but because of development and fire suppression it is now reduced to small patches. Mesic Sand Tallgrass

Prairie is seasonally flooded, holding water from late winter to mid-spring.

This plant community occurs on sand flats between the sand dunes.

Soils often have thick, dark surface horizons. Vegetation composition varies within the community due to slight changes in soil pH and moisture. Trees are scarce, but shrubs can be locally common.

Shrubs include prairie willow, meadow-sweet, steeplebush, dogwoods and black chokeberry. Common grasses include big bluestem, little bluestem and Indian grass. Forbs include dense blazing star, colic-root, tall coreopsis, showy tick-trefoil, yellow wild indigo, Canada goldenrod, showy goldenrod and soapwort gentian. Species often growing in bogs, such as spatulate-leaved sundew, twisted yellow-eyed-grass, grass-pink orchid, rose pogonia orchid and northern bog clubmoss, occur within the low sand flats of the community where pH is between 4 and 5. Kitty Todd

Nature Preserve has quality examples of this community.

M I D W E S T S A N D B A R R E N

Midwest Sand Barren is an open, dry habitat that is harsh—so harsh that trees are rare or absent. Bare sand is frequent and blowouts, or bowl-shaped areas of exposed sand, are not uncommon. The well-drained, sandy soils and open conditions make it very difficult for plants to survive.

Many of the species growing in this habitat have adapted to the harsh conditions by covering leaves and stems with hairs to hold moisture and shade their surfaces. These desert-like conditions are ideal for the prickly pear cactus, the region’s only native cactus. Grasses and sedges are the most common vegetation and include species such as purple three-awned grass, little bluestem, Junegrass, low sand sedge, slender umbrella-sedge, panic grasses, Greene’s rush and Muhlenberg’s sedge.

Other forbs growing with prickly pear cactus include hairy pinweed, flowering spurge, rough blazing star, porcupine grass, dwarf dandelion, round-headed bush clover and gray goldenrod. Sand cherry is one of the few shrubs of this community. Fire is important in maintaining this community. Kitty Todd Nature Preserve and Oak Openings Preserve

Metropark have excellent examples of this community.

T. CRAIL

A. COLE

T W I G RU S H

W E T P R A I R I E

Twigrush Wet Prairie is unique to the Great Lakes. In Ohio, it is only known from the Oak Openings Region. In Michigan, this community may be called Lakeplain Wet Prairie, and is limited to lakeshore counties near

Lake Erie and Saginaw Bay. Twigrush Wet Prairies once covered miles of lowlands before the construction of ditches that lowered the water table, hastening woody invasion. Today, small remnants are seasonally flooded with water levels reaching two or more feet deep from late fall to late spring. The seasonal ponding of water slows tree and shrub invasion of the prairie. Grasses and sedges are the dominant vegetation. Twigrush and wiregrass, also called slender sedge, are the two dominant species.

Sartwell’s sedge, tussock sedge, northern reedgrass, yellow-seeded spike-rush , Canada bluejoint and brown bog sedge are locally common in this type of prairie. Big bluestem, Indian grass and switchgrass may also occur. Forbs include dense blazing star, Great Lakes goldenrod, tall ironweed, cowbane, spiked lobelia, Riddell’s goldenrod, northern blue flag iris, fringed gentian and Virginia mountain-mint. Shrubs such as Kalm’s St. John’s-wort, beaked willow and slender willow are scattered throughout the prairie. The wettest areas are species-poor and contain over-aquatic species such as false mermaidweed, grass-leaved arrowhead and pondweeds. Periodic fires are also important in maintaining Twigrush

Wet Prairies. Irwin Prairie State Nature Preserve in Lucas County, Ohio, is a great example of this community.

G R E AT L A K E S

P I N OA K / S WA M P W H I T E

OA K F L AT W O O D S

Great Lakes Pin Oak/Swamp White Oak Flatwoods is a seasonally flooded, wet forest community. The tree canopy is dominated by pin oak and swamp white oak. The abundance of the herbaceous layer varies depending on water levels and the amount of sunlight. The most frequent plants in this layer include Canada bluejoint, common lake sedge, cinnamon fern, royal fern and fowl manna-grass. The diversity of this layer increases with the amount of sunlight reaching the ground. Shrubs are frequent and can form dense thickets. Shrubs include winterberry, swamp rose, spicebush, dogwoods and black chokeberry. Typically there is a layer of muck over the sand. This community was common and today it is the most frequent wetland community in the Oak Openings. The Mesic Sand

Tallgrass Prairies and Twigrush Wet Prairies succeed into this community where fire is suppressed and water levels are reduced.

CARDINAL FLOWER

GREAT LA KES PIN OA K/SWA MP W HITE OA K FLAT WOODS

T. CRAIL

A. WEBER

TWIGRUSH

T W IGRUSH W ET PR A IRIE

14 15C H 2 : P L A N T C O M M U N I T I E S O A K O P E N I N G S

FRINGED GENTIAN

R. YOUNG

BLACK OAK/LUPINE BARREN OAK/BLUEBERRY FOREST MIDWEST SAND BARREN

BLUE LUPINE

BUTTERFLY MILKWEED

NEW JERSEY TEA

PLAINS PUCCOON

BLACK OAK

WILD COLUMBINE

WITCH HAZEL

LOW BUSH BLUEBERRY

LITTLE BLUESTEM

PRICKLY PEAR

WESTERN SUNFLOWER

DOTTED HORSEMINT

T. CRAIL

T. CRAIL

R. YOUNG

A. COLE

J. THIEME

G. SYDLOWSKI J. THIEMEA. WEBER

R. YOUNG

A. COLE

J. THIEME

J. THIEME

A. COLE

J. THIEME

A. COLE

MESIC SAND

TALLGRASS PRAIRIE TWIGRUSH WET PRAIRIE

GREAT LAKES PIN OAK/SWAMP

WHITE OAK FLATWOODS

BIG BLUESTEM

SHOWY TICK-TREFOIL

YELLOW WILD INDIGO

COLIC ROOT

TALL IRONWEED

GRASS-LEAVED ARROWHEAD

VIRGINIA MOUNTAIN MINT

REDOSIER DOGWOOD

R. YOUNG

J. THIEME

T. CRAIL

R. YOUNG

T. CRAIL

C. HELZER

R. YOUNG

CINNAMON FERN

A. COLE

SWAMP ROSE

T. CRAIL

NORTHERN BLUE FLAG IRIS

T. CRAIL

TOLEDO METROPARKS

J. THIEME J. THIEME

J. THIEME

16 17C H 3 : R A R E P L A N T S O A K O P E N I N G S

C H A P T E R T H R E E

R A R E P L A N T S O F T H E O A K O P E N I N G S

NE ARLY ONE THIRD OF

OHIO’ S R ARE PL ANTS

ARE FOUND IN THE

OAK OPENINGS

WOOD LILY

T. CRAIL

B Y T I M O T H Y L . WA LT E R S , P h . D . Since the earliest naturalist explored this area, the Oak Openings Region has been famous for the diversity and rarity of its local plant life.

The region has gained global attention, especially by The Nature Conservancy, as a matrix of rare global communities.

The basis of this attention is the rare and unique flora of the Oak Openings.

Since the first rare plant list was created in early 1980, Lucas County has led the state with more rare plant species than any other county in Ohio. This is primarily because of the presence of the Oak Openings Region and, to a lesser extent, the Lake Erie marshes.

In his 1928 book “The Flora of the Oak Openings,” Edwin L. Moseley introduced the botanical community to the Oak Openings. He listed 715 species that he had found in this region and told of the uniqueness of the inland sand dunes and wet meadows. Since Moseley’s book was written, approximately 1,200 vascular plant species have been found in the Oak

Openings. Of these, 940 are native to the region, and 157 are listed on

Ohio’s 2014-2015 Rare Species List. Unfortunately, 28 rare species are now extirpated (locally extinct) from the region. Almost half of those are from the various types of open wetlands that used to be so prevalent in this area, but are now extremely rare. This leaves 129 Oak Openings rare plant species that are currently listed as endangered, threatened or potentially threatened in Ohio: the highest collection of rare species anywhere in the state.

The pie chart below shows where Ohio’s 157 rare species could be found.

Species that can grow in several communities are listed only once in the community where they are most commonly found. Extirpated species are illustrated with dotted pattern. The chart illustrates that 82% of the state-listed species in the Oak Openings Region either occur or occurred in the dry prairie/savanna areas or the wet meadow/wet prairie communities.

M. GRIGORE

FIREWEED

MESIC SA ND TA LLGR ASS PR A IRIE

OHIO’S RARE SPECIES BY NATURAL COMMUNITY TYPE

Extirpated (locally extinct) species are indicated by dotted pattern

Dry Forest Evergreen Forest Dry Prairie/Barren

Open Water Wet Forest Wet Prairie

33% 36%

9% 7% 2%

2%

4%1%2% 3%

1%

0%

18 19C H 3 : R A R E P L A N T S O A K O P E N I N G S

The wet meadows and wetlands include communities such as Twigrush

Wet Prairie, grass-sedge meadow and the acid and alkaline wet sand prairies. Because these communities are so dependent on the level of the water table, even slight changes could cause the loss of much of the flora.

Not only are 33% of the rare species found in Ohio’s communities, but 9% of the wet prairie species are no longer found in the Oak Openings Region.

Some of the rarest species found in these wet to seasonally wet unshaded communities include grass-leaved arrowhead, little yellow sedge, Long’s sedge, Canadian St. John’s-wort, lance-leaved violet, Virginia meadow beauty, several gentians, orchids, nut-rushes and foxgloves. Many of the most beautiful species like the fringed gentians, grass-pink and orange fringed orchids are found in these communities. Species that have been lost from this community are the showy and white lady’s-slipper orchids and the eastern prairie fringed orchid.

SHOWY LADY’S-SLIPPER

T W IGRUSH W ET PR A IRIE

SPATULATE-LEAVED SUNDEW

PA LUSTRINE SA ND PR A IRIE

The dry prairies and savannas include communities such as Midwest

Sand Barrens, Black Oak/Lupine Barrens, Mesic Sand Tallgrass Prairie and sand prairie. Typical rare species of these communities are the blue lupine, plains puccoon, western sunflower, sweet-fern, dotted horsemint and blunt-leaved milkweed. When compared to the 2008 rare plant list, five of the six new species added to the 2014 list typically were found in these communities. The newly listed species include forked triple-awned grass (first collected in 2006), bushy horseweed (first collected in 2010), low serviceberry (new to the state in 2014), tower mustard and showy goldenrod. The latter two species have always been known to the region, but have recently declined.

A very specific community that was included in the wet prairie category, but sometimes is included within the dry prairie is the palustrine sand plain. This micro-community is a seasonally saturated, mineral sand, water table-driven community. It can be described as an area too wet for most perennial upland species and too dry for most perennial wetland species. These areas are often partially human-induced (drying pond edges, borrow areas and tire ruts) where the dry sand has been excavated to the level of ground water interaction. Species of this specialized community are the northern appressed club-moss, both dwarf bulrushes, spatulate-leaved sundew, narrow-headed panic grass and beak-rush.

The rarest of these, Drummond’s dwarf bulrush, had not been seen for almost 20 years before re-emerging in 2013.

Oak/Blueberry Forest rarities include cow-wheat, spotted coral-root, fringed milkwort and round-leaved dogwood. The moist to wet forests, such as Great Lakes Pin Oak/Swamp White Oak Flatwoods, may contain the long-bracted green orchid, least grape fern and purple fringed orchid.

Seven percent of the rare plants of the Oak Openings have been found in the dry Oak/Blueberry Forest, while another three percent have been in the wet Pin Oak/Swamp White Oak forest areas.

W I L D B L U E L U P I N E

BY TIMOTH Y L. WA LTERS, Ph.D.

The blue lupine is one of the most recognizable species of the

Oak Openings flora. Its papilionaceous (butterfly-shaped) blue flowers and palmately compound leaves are easily identified. The lupine is a 10- to 30-inch high perennial.

Flowers bloom in May and June and are 5 to 10 inches above the leaves. By early July the fruits are ripe and are spread by seed pods that twist and scatter the seeds for several meters.

Lupine can be found from southern Maine to Florida, west to Minnesota and Indiana. In the Oak Openings, lupine is typically found in dry, open woods and clearings in well-drained soil; where you find it, you find oak savanna, often as Black Oak/Lupine Barrens. Lupine is also a keystone species for several endangered species of butterflies—they cannot survive without this plant. These butterflies include the federally endangered Karner blue butterfly, and the

Persius dusky wing and frosted elfin butterflies, which are endangered in Ohio and threatened in Michigan.

One of our earliest naturalists, Edwin Moseley, wrote in his

1928 publication: “On May 28, 1927 we rode thru this region southwest of Neapolis, traversing miles of road bordered by lupine and prairie phlox, which were also abundant along the railroad and in other places, more than I had ever seen before, probably millions of blossoms. The next day we rode for miles thru another part of the Openings where we saw very few of these conspicuous blossoms. The contrast was so marked that I marveled at it, but could not, at the time, explain it. I now think that the difference in flora was due to the difference in the drainage of the two regions and the fact that the water-table was well below the surface in the region traversed on the first day. Over much of the Oak Openings the water table is less than three feet below the surface.”

He later listed lupine as one of the species that he felt may have more individuals living in the Oak Openings than in all the remainder of the state of Ohio. Now these large patches of lupine are restricted to protected areas, principally at

The Nature Conservancy’s Kitty Todd Nature Preserve, the Metroparks of the Toledo Area’s Oak Openings Preserve

Metropark and Michigan DNR’s Petersburg State Game Area.

T. CRAIL

Pine woods and ponds, although not part of the original Oak Openings landscape, also support rare plant species. Marsh cinquefoil and a couple of pondweeds have been found in a few human-created ponds or deeper water areas of marshes. Also, the common oak fern, shinleaf and very rare one-flowered wintergreen are all found in the pine-dominated forests.

Due to the management of this non-native community, none of these species still reside in the region.

The most evident trend from the above comparisons is the importance of the dry prairie and wet prairie communities for the preservation of the high diversity of plants that we enjoy in the Oak Openings. Today, members of the Green Ribbon Initiative, as well as private individuals, are restoring their lands to a more natural state. Part of this restoration effort includes the reintroduction of native plants that helps to re-create the diversity of these areas.

Oak Openings native plants have been adapting to the conditions of northwestern Ohio and southeast Michigan for close to 10,000 years.

These adaptations are most notable with the highly drought-tolerant species such as blue lupine, prairie dock, little bluestem grass and prickly pear cactus. Root systems of prairie plants can reach up to ten feet deep.

The prickly pear has large fleshy stems that conserve water. Other species such as black-eyed Susan and western sunflower have coarse hairs that insulate the plant from the sun, helping to prevent excess drying.

Whatever the case, native plants have developed a strategy for survival in this area that is unmatched by horticultural hybrid species.

E. L. Moseley wrote after listing over 100 plants, that he felt there were more species in the Oak Openings than all the remainder of the state of

Ohio: “When we consider that the total area of the Openings is not 1/3 as great as that of an average Ohio county, it seems rather remarkable that more than half of all the plants of certain kinds to be found in the state live in this small area.” It is up to us to keep this statement true.

C A L L T O A C T I O N

Participate in prescribed fire to help promote the conditions that these rare plants need to survive.

Call 419-867-1521 to be directed to a volunteer prescribed fire program near you.

Volunteer with an agency listed in the Appendix to learn about native plants, preserving local genotypes, and collecting seeds for habitat restoration.

T. CRAIL

20 21C H 3 : R A R E P L A N T S O A K O P E N I N G S

G. SYDLOWSKI A. WEBER

BLACK OAK/LUPINE BARREN OAK/BLUEBERRY FOREST MIDWEST SAND BARREN

KALM’S ST. JOHNS-WORT

CROSS-LEAVED MILKWORT

BLUNT-LEAVED MILKWEED

BIRDSFOOT VIOLET

FRINGED MILKWORT

SPOTTED CORAL-ROOT

SWEET-FERN

SPRENGEL’S SEDGE

CANADA FROSTWEED

SCALY BLAZING STAR

DWARF DANDELION

ROUND-HEADED BUSH CLOVER

T. CRAIL

T. CRAIL

T. KEMMERER

G. SYDLOWSKI

R. JACKSY

D. IVERSON

M. GRIGORE

T. WALTERS

A. COLE

T. CRAIL

T. CRAIL

R. YOUNG

J. THIEME

ORANGE FRINGED ORCHID

T. CRAIL

GRASS-PINK ORCHID

T. CRAIL

MESIC SAND

TALLGRASS PRAIRIE TWIGRUSH WET PRAIRIE GREAT LAKES PIN OAK/SWAMP

WHITE OAK FLATWOODS

PRAIRIE THIMBLEWEED

RATTLESNAKE MASTER

OHIO SPIDERWORT

TWISTED YELLOW-EYED-GRASS

ATLANTIC BLUE-EYED GRASS

LANCE-LEAVED VIOLET

LONG-BRACTED GREEN ORCHID

YELLOW LADY’S-SLIPPER

BACKWARD SEDGE

PURPLE FRINGED ORCHID

R. YOUNG

A. WEBER

R. YOUNG

T. CRAIL

A. COLE

T. CRAIL T. CRAIL

T. WALTERS

T. CRAIL

T. CRAIL

TOLEDO METROPARKS

22 23C H 4 : S I G N I F I C A N T B I R D S O A K O P E N I N G S

C H A P T E R F O U R

B I R D S O F T H E O A K O P E N I N G S

THE OAK OPENINGS

IS HOME TO BIRDS

T YPIC AL OF

NORTHERN FORESTS,

WESTERN PL AINS,

AND SOUTHERN

HARDWOODS

RED-HEADED WOODPECKER

OA K/BLUEBERRY FOREST

B. ZWIEBEL

B Y E L L I O T J . T R A M E R , P h . D .

The Oak Openings is a prime destination for bird watchers, especially during the spring and summer.

The unusually diverse array of plant communities attracts a wide variety of bird species to the Oak Openings, and a remarkable feature of the area’s bird life is the occurrence in summer of species many miles from their normal geographic limits.

Here are some examples:

•• Lark sparrow: Although pairs show up occasionally elsewhere in Ohio, there are no other established populations of this western prairie bird in

Ohio or Michigan.

•• Golden-crowned kinglet: Their normal breeding range extends northward from central lower Michigan, but several times during the past 20 years, they have nested in conifer plantings near Oak Openings

Preserve Metropark.

•• Summer tanager: Several pairs nest each year in the Oak Openings;

their normal summer range extends from southern Ohio southward.

•• Blue grosbeak: Another southern species, these are now a regular summer resident in Oak Openings Preserve Metropark and have also been recorded at Kitty Todd Nature Preserve and Whiteford Township Park.

•• Red-breasted nuthatches, pine warblers, and blue-headed vireos:

A few pairs nest annually in conifer plantings in the Openings. It is at least 100 miles to the next established breeding populations of these species.

A glance at a satellite photograph of the Oak Openings reveals why this unique and diverse subset of birds nests here: even from space, the

Oak Openings is clearly distinguishable as a green corridor surrounded by an extensive urban/agricultural landscape with far less tree cover. A partial list of additional birds dependent on the habitats in the Openings includes barred owl, broad-winged hawk, Acadian flycatcher, white-eyed vireo, veery, wood thrush, ovenbird, blue-winged warbler, hooded warbler, brown thrasher, yellow-breasted chat, rose-breasted grosbeak and eastern towhee. For all these species, the Oak Openings is their stronghold, and their continued survival as breeders in our region may well depend on the plant cover the Openings provides.

P R I M A RY H A B I TAT S

Black Oak/Lupine Barren: Birds of oak savannas appear to be on the increase since conservation organizations have focused their efforts on restoring this habitat. Signature birds of this open woodland habitat include red-headed woodpecker, eastern bluebird and summer tanager.

The red-headed woodpecker and eastern bluebird nest in cavities of the sparsely scattered trees of this habitat. Eastern wood-pewees, great crested flycatchers, and yellow-throated vireos also thrive in this habitat.

BLUE GROSBEAK

BLACK OA K/LUPINE BA RREN

T. ANDERSON

GOLDEN-WINGED WARBLER

SHRUBLA NDS

B. ZWIEBEL

24 25C H 4 : S I G N I F I C A N T B I R D S O A K O P E N I N G S

Oak/Blueberry Forest: Deciduous forests provide essential habitat for many of our threatened and declining tropical migrant songbirds.

Typical birds include wild turkey; red-shouldered and broad-winged hawks; barred owl; black-billed and yellow-billed cuckoos; pileated, hairy, and red-bellied woodpeckers; great crested flycatchers; red-eyed vireos; veery; wood thrush; ovenbird; hooded warblers and scarlet tanager. However, drier, more open stands of this habitat type have relatively lower bird diversity.

Midwest Sand Barren: This open habitat, maintained by controlled burns, selective herbicide application and cutting of invading woody vegetation, is essential to the continued presence of the lark sparrow. Where sufficient low shrub cover exists, sand barrens are also inhabited by field sparrows, eastern towhees, and (rarely) prairie warblers.

Mesic Sand Tallgrass Prairie: Historically, tallgrass prairie extended for miles through the Oak Openings, but now heavy fragmentation renders remaining patches too small for many grassland bird species. Although the Henslow’s sparrow, dickcissel and bobolink were once widespread, they are now only found in a few of the largest remaining patches. In general, tall dense stands of grass contain relatively low abundance and diversity of birds in summer; they present difficulties for nest placement and mobility. Tallgrass habitat for birds may be enhanced by creating a few openings to increase structural diversity and adding limited shrub cover to act as perches for territory displays and predator surveillance.

Twigrush Wet Prairie: In earlier times, the area between Irwin and

Schwamberger Roads in Swanton, OH, was especially wet, and bird surveys by John Stophlet in the early 1950’s suggest that many wetland species nested there at least into the middle of the 20th century. Birds formerly present in the wet prairies included northern harrier, least and American bitterns, sora, king and Virginia rails, common gallinule, American woodcock, Wilson’s snipe, willow flycatcher, sedge wren, common yellowthroat and swamp sparrow. Although sora and Virgina rails and snipe may nest in exceptionally wet years, only the woodcock, flycatcher, yellowthroat, swamp sparrow, and red-winged blackbirds remain as regular summer residents.

Great Lakes Pin Oak/Swamp White Oak Flatwoods: Where sufficient undergrowth exists, this moist forest type can support many of the neotropical migrant species listed above under Oak/Blueberry forest.

C A L L T O A C T I O N

Leave unmowed areas with native plant cover; mowed grass provides no cover and little food for birds.

Plant shrubs, such as dogwoods and serviceberry, to provide shelter for young birds and food for fall migrants.

Add a bluebird nest box to open yards over an acre in size. Install them 3-6’ above the ground with a 1.5” diameter entry hold.

Add a bird feeder to your yard to increase your enjoyment of these creatures, but make sure it is not accessible to nest predators such as raccoons.

Organized and hosted by Black Swamp Bird Observatory

(Oak Harbor, Ohio), The Biggest Week In American Birding is a 10-day festival featuring some of the most sensational birding North America has to offer. Held in May, and timed to coincide with the peak of songbird migration through the area, the festival helps attract more than 75,000 visitors to northwest Ohio each spring, generating an annual economic impact of more than $37 million.

The festival offers workshops, keynote presentations, a variety of vendors, evening socials, and free workshops on how to get started in birding. Often selling out within minutes after registration opens, the most popular festival activities are the field trips to various birding hotspots. Many birding areas are featured; however, Oak Openings is an event highlight. Daily field trips share this unique ecosystem and the birds mentioned in this chapter with festival participants.

ROSE-BREASTED GROSBEAK

OA K/BLUEBERRY FOREST

B. ZWIEBEL

A D D I T I O N A L H A B I TAT S

Although the habitats below are not the dominant Oak Openings communities, they are very important for the continued welfare of many bird species that depend on them.

Shortgrass meadows and fallow fields: Populations of grassland birds are especially fragile in the Oak Openings, since very few large expanses of grassy meadow exist. Most of the fields extensive enough to provide habitat for grassland birds are in or around airport properties. Typical birds are savannah and grasshopper sparrows, red-winged blackbird, eastern meadowlark, and (occasionally) Henslow’s sparrow and dickcissel. Three other species, sedge wren, upland sandpiper and bobolink, no longer nest in the Oak Openings. Some summer records of the sedge wren at Kitty

Todd Nature Preserve in the 1990’s provide hope that this species might return if more habitat were provided.

Shrublands: This habitat invades when farmland is abandoned, or when prairies and meadows are not maintained by fire and other disturbances. Shrublands often get little love since they tend to be invaded by aggressive non-native species such as buckthorn, multiflora rose and autumn olive. But with management, native plants such as gray dogwood, American hazelnut, New Jersey tea and young oak trees can also provide shrubland habitat. Shrublands are crucial for the continued survival of some declining species, including white-eyed vireo, eastern towhee, brown thrasher, blue-winged and chestnut-sided warblers and yellow-breasted chat.

Conifer plantings: Conifers are not native to this area, but are essential for the continued presence of blue-headed vireo, red-breasted nuthatch, and pine warbler.