Guide to Significant Wildlife Habitat - Door County Web Map
Guide to Significant Wildlife Habitat - Door County Web Map
Guide to Significant Wildlife Habitat - Door County Web Map
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herbivory, and garlic mustard (Alliaria petiolata) first seen in 1997, and now under active management.<br />
Dunes and beaches on the south shore of the island have been severely degraded by visi<strong>to</strong>rs so that<br />
remnant dune and beach communities are probably no longer viable (Judziewicz and Kopitzke 1999).<br />
• Land use is primarily natural area with low-key recreation and <strong>to</strong>urism.<br />
• Like all previously mentioned islands, soils are of Summerville-Longrie-Omena association (USDA<br />
SCS 1978).<br />
• Vegetation includes old growth beech and sugar maple forests. Hop-hornbeam is a common<br />
unders<strong>to</strong>ry tree along with yellow birch (Betula allgheniensis). Spring ephemeral plants are<br />
predominately wild leeks with interspersed Virginia waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum), Carolina<br />
spring beauty (Clay<strong>to</strong>nia caroliniana) and Dutchman’s-breeches.<br />
• Deer herbivory has selected beech seedlings rather than sugar maple throughout the entire forest. The<br />
northern one-third of the island displays small colonies of broad-leaved wood sedge (Carex<br />
platyphylla).<br />
• West of Fernwood Trail in the center of the island are hardwood seeps, a unique feature <strong>to</strong> the island<br />
as well as <strong>Door</strong> <strong>County</strong>. A small wet clearing in the beech forest contains dense concentrations of<br />
ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) and state threatened drooping sedge (Carex prasina).<br />
Included here are spring ephemerals such as wild leeks, Dutchman’s-breeches, and bishop’s-cap<br />
(Mitella diphylla). Other plants present in this wet clearing are meadow horsetail (Equisetum<br />
pratense), hairy-leaved sedge (Carex hirtifolia), and black snakeroot (Sanicula gregaria).<br />
• Dolos<strong>to</strong>ne escarpments break-up the interior forest. Scree slopes are covered with a variety of ferns,<br />
such as bulblet fern (Cys<strong>to</strong>pteris bulbifera) and marginal fern. Less frequent is walking fern<br />
(Asplenium rhizophyllum) and Steller’s cliffbrake (Cryp<strong>to</strong>gramma stelleri). Climbing fumi<strong>to</strong>ry also<br />
occurs here. The forest canopy contains white cedar, balsam fir, and sugar maple, and dense<br />
concentrations of mountain maple (Acer spicatum) comprise the unders<strong>to</strong>ry. One slope is comprised<br />
of beech and maple, and is carpeted with broad-leaved sedge.<br />
• The north, east, and west shores house white cedar dominated dolos<strong>to</strong>ne cliffs. Other plants found in<br />
such areas include buffalo-berry (Shepherdia canadensis), white camass, ebony sedge (Carex<br />
eburnea), hairy goldenrod (Solidago hispida), rock whitlow-grass, and moss (Hyclominum<br />
splendens).<br />
• The beach ridges inland of the south coast contain white pines, white spruce, blueberries (Vaccinium<br />
spp.), and wintergreen (Gaultheria procumbens). A remnant Great Lakes dune community along the<br />
beach is dominated by beach-grass (Ammophila breviligulata), Canada wild-rye (Elymus canadensis),<br />
and beach-pea (Lathyrus japonicus). Several rare plants found here are thick-spike wheat grass<br />
(Elytrigia dasystachya), dune goldenrod, and seaside spurge. A small abandoned gravel pit located<br />
approximately 100 meters from the old Viking hall contains many calciphilic species. Dominant<br />
plants include cattails, soft-stemmed bulrush, brook lobelia, Ohio goldenrod, and purple false<br />
foxglove (Agalinis purpurea).<br />
• Common exotic plants found in lawns and clearings of the old Thordarson estate don’t seem <strong>to</strong><br />
impact the island. Three dominant exotic plants are “Icelandic” thyme (Thymus praecox), saxifrage<br />
pink (Per<strong>to</strong>rhagia saxifraga), and snow-in-summer (Cerastium <strong>to</strong>men<strong>to</strong>sum) (Judziewicz and<br />
Kopitzke 1999).<br />
Grand Traverse Islands 135