The Port Huron Times Herald has a nice report on the globally significant oak openings and lakeplain prairie present at Algonac State Park along the St. Clair River.  Excerpt and link:

The state recently acknowledged the plant and animal communities in the park by setting aside 1,244 of its 1,500 acres to be permanently protected from development per Michigan’s wilderness and natural areas statute.

The designation protects two land features and natural plant and animal communities known as lakeplain prairies and lakeplain oak openings, said Josh Cohen, an ecologist with the Michigan Natural Feature Inventory.

Lakeplain prairies and lakeplain oak openings — a savanna-type landscape marked by large oak trees — were only found before settlement in areas around the Saginaw Bay, the St. Clair River delta and western Lake Erie, Cohen said. Seasonal flooding and fires help maintain the unique plant communities, he said, which usually are adjacent to one another.

Fire suppression, changes in hydrology due to draining or other causes and invasive species are the greatest threats to the systems, he said.

Algonac State Park, Higman said, “supports 22 endangered, threatened or special concern plant and animal species.

Full story:

http://www.thetimesherald.com/article/20081029/NEWS01/810290323/1002/rss

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