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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• Near the lighthouse and north end of the island are a variety of wildflowers including great flowered<br />
trillium and great-flowered bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora). Where dolos<strong>to</strong>ne gravel wash up on<strong>to</strong><br />
the shoreline, buffalo-berry and herb-robert (Geranium robertianum) occur.<br />
• Sand Point and North Bay harbor remnants of a Great Lakes barren community, possibly the best<br />
example of this community type in the state. Typical plants include juniper, beach-grass, white and<br />
red pines, little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), Indian-grass (Sorghastrum nutans), needle-andthread<br />
grass (Stipa spartea), Muhlenberg’s sedge (Carex muhlenbergii), New Jersey tea (Ceanothus<br />
spp.) butterflyweed (Asclepias tuberosa), blazing-star (Liatris aspera), hoary puccoon (Lithospermum<br />
caroliniense) and spotted knapweed (Centaurea maculosa) an aggressive exotic.<br />
• A related natural community is Great Lakes beaches that occurs on three parts of the island.<br />
Dominant species are cocklebur (Xanthium strumarium), evening primrose (Oenothera spp.),<br />
knotweed (Polygonum ramossimum), and state special concern species the American sea-rocket<br />
(Cakile edentula) and seaside spurge (Euphorbia polygonifolia) (Judziewicz and Kopitzke 1999).<br />
• White-tailed deer have been absent on the island for approximately 10 years, allowing for tree<br />
regeneration (Judziewicz and Kopitzke 1999). Many species of songbirds are common on the island.<br />
• Mackaysee Lake contains excellent populations of largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides),<br />
smallmouth bass, and northern pike. Bluegill (Lepomis macrochirus) and yellow perch are also<br />
present; Lake sturgeon (Acipenser fulvescens) have been reported but have not been documented.<br />
No current records exist for fish in Mud Lake; his<strong>to</strong>rically largemouth bass, and bluegills were the<br />
dominant species (Corbisier 2000).<br />
• Heritage Areas of <strong>Door</strong> <strong>County</strong> (Emmerich 1978) cites the his<strong>to</strong>ric and aesthetic value of Chambers<br />
Island as a wildlife habitat with special forest resources (Zimmerman 1989). Aesthetic value is also<br />
due <strong>to</strong> the absence of invasive exotic plants, lack of deer herbivory, and remoteness from the<br />
mainland.<br />
Cana Island<br />
Cana Island is 8.7 acres located off the coast of the Lake Michigan shore 7 miles northeast of<br />
Bailey’s Harbor. When lake levels are low, the island is connected with the mainland by a causeway.<br />
Cana Island is known for its res<strong>to</strong>red and maintained lighthouse, circa 1870, that is in the National<br />
Register of His<strong>to</strong>ric Places.<br />
• Cana Island is in the Town of Bailey’s Harbor. The federal government owns the island.<br />
• The primary land use is natural area including upland and lowland boreal forest, light residential and<br />
one small animal farm (Zimmerman 1989).<br />
• The shoreline consists of low dolos<strong>to</strong>ne shelves. The island is part of the Niagara Escarpment<br />
composed of dolos<strong>to</strong>ne bedrock and cobble s<strong>to</strong>ne with scattered glacial erratics. There is only a thin<br />
layer of soil covering the bedrock (Hamm 2001).<br />
• There are several small wetlands and wet shore lots on Cana Island (Zimmerman 1989).<br />
• White cedar forests dominate the vegetation cover. Unders<strong>to</strong>ry plants are relatively disturbed. There<br />
are many invasive exotic plants on the island (Judziewicz and Kopitzke 1999).<br />
Grand Traverse Islands 137