Plants and Animals in the Lakeshore Nature Preserve

The Lakeshore Nature Preserve supports several biological communities.  Each community is a combination of plants and animals.  The plant community determines what type of animal community will occur. The Preserve plant communities and their quality are heavily influenced by their history of human use that has ranged from farming to restoration.  Each segment of the Preserve has a different history of use.  Two important communities in the Preserve are the marsh community (University Bay and Picnic Point Marsh) and the woodland community (examples include Eagle Heights Woods, Muir Woods, and Bill’s Woods).

For over one hundred years students and researchers have studied the plants and animals of the Preserve.  The highly modified University Bay ecosystem is probably one of the most studied ecosystems in the United States.  Through the years multiple “improvements” and restoration projects have influenced the Preserve plant communities including John Curtis’s restoration of the ground story of Muir Woods and Jim Zimmerman’s restoration of a section of reclaimed cornfield into the Class of 1918 Marsh.  Today students and researchers are attempting to reestablish a prairie community in the old field area at the Biocore Prairie.

Phenology

Phenology is the recording of seasonally recurring events and the comparison of these date records from year to year.  To learn how to keep your own phenological records, see:

• For Everything There Is A Season

 

---

Fungi in the Lakeshore Nature Preserve

Fungi, which are really neither plants nor animals, grow throughout the Preserve. To learn about mushrooms, see:

• Fungus Among Us

---

Plants in the Lakeshore Nature Preserve

Plant Inventories Native Plants Invasive Species Dead Trees

Photo by Glenda Denniston

 

---

Animals in the Lakeshore Nature Preserve

The habitats of the Preserve support a variety of animals.  Mammals include deer, coyote, fox, mink, and muskrat.  A diverse bird population migrates through and resides in the Preserve. Likewise, reptiles and amphibians make use of the area.  Many species of butterflies, dragonflies, and other insects also live there. Some are invasive.

When Picnic Point was acquired, Aldo Leopold, as part of University Bay committee planning, suggested how the wildlife there could be used for teaching.  In order to learn about some of the animals that lived in the area in 1944, see:

• Wildlife in the Picnic Point Program, Aldo Leopold, 1944