Download the Southern Lake Michigan Coastal chapter [PDF] of the Ecological Landscapes of Wisconsin. This chapter provides a detailed assessment of the ecological and socioeconomic conditions for the Southern Lake Michigan Coastal. It also identifies important planning and management considerations and suggests management opportunities that are compatible with the ecology of the landscape. The tabs below provide additional information.
Please note that each of these topics is covered in much more detail in the Southern Lake Michigan Coastal chapter [PDF].
Physical & Biotic Environment | Socioeconomic Conditions | Considerations for Planning & Management
| Physical & Biotic Environment | |
|---|---|
|
Size |
843 square miles (539,830 acres). 1.5% of the area of the state. |
|
Climate |
The climate is moderated by Lake Michigan. The mean growing season is 169 days and the mean annual temperature is 47.2deg. F, the longest and warmest of any Ecological Landscape in the state. The mean annual precipitation is 34 inches, the second most precipitation in the state. The mean annual snowfall is 41.9 inches similar to other southern Ecological Landscapes. Lake effect snows occur in areas adjacent to Lake Michigan. The climate (temperature, growing degree days, and precipitation) is suitable for agricultural row crops, small grains, and pastures, which are prevalent land uses in the non-urbanized parts of this Ecological Landscape. Learn more from the chapter [PDF] |
|
Bedrock |
Predominately Silurian dolomite, generally covered by deposits of glacial drift from 50 to over 100 feet in depth. Learn more from the chapter [PDF] |
|
Geology & Landforms |
Inland the primary landform is level to gently rolling ground moraine. Near Lake Michigan, landforms include subdued ridge and swale topography, beach and dune complexes, and wave-cut clay bluffs. The river mouths within large cities have all been heavily modified. Learn more from the chapter [PDF] |
|
Soils |
In the uplands, soils are primarily moderately well drained brown calcareous silty clay loam till. In the lowlands, soils are primarily very poorly drained non-acid mucks or silty and clayey lacustrine types. Learn more from the chapter [PDF] |
|
Hydrology |
Lake Michigan is the dominant aquatic feature; 26 named lakes (>5,000 total acres); around 1,500 unnamed lakes (most of these are very small ponds, as these waterbodies total only around 1800 acres). Important rivers include the Milwaukee, Menomonee, Kinnickinnic, Root, Des Plaines, Southeast Fox, and Pike. 4% of the Ecological Landscape is open wetland. Learn more from the chapter [PDF] |
|
Current Landcover |
This is the most urbanized Ecological Landscape in state. Primarily agricultural (39%) and urban (24%), with 16% grassland and 12% upland and lowland forest. Learn more from the chapter [PDF] |
|
Socioeconomic Conditions
(based on data from Kenosha, Milwaukee and Racine county.) |
|
|---|---|
|
Population |
1,278,572, 23.8% of the state total |
|
Population Density |
1,655 persons/ sq. mile |
|
Per Capita Income |
$27,837 |
|
Important Economic Sectors |
These include service-based sectors (education services, administration and support services, health care and social services, transportation, and arts, entertainment, and recreation) and some resource based sectors (manufacturing, utilities, agriculture, and secondary wood products). Federal, state, county and town governments all have offices in this Ecological Landscape. Agriculture and urbanization are having the largest impacts on the natural resources in the Ecological Landscape. |
|
Public Ownership |
Public ownership is very low, encompassing only 1.1% of the Ecological Landscape. State-owned lands include Bong Recreation Area, Chiwaukee Prairie State Natural Area (in part), several Wildlife Areas and other Natural Areas. Milwaukee County has an extensive park system, and small amounts of county-owned land occur in Racine and Kenosha counties. UW-Parkside has stewardship responsibilities for several tracts in Kenosha County. A map showing public land ownership (county, state, and federal) and private lands enrolled in the Forest Tax Programs in this Ecological Landscape can be found at the end of this chapter. |
|
Other Notable Ownerships |
Several designated State Natural Areas, such as Silver Lake Bog and Renak-Polak Maple-Beech Woods, remain in private ownership, Seminary Woods in Milwaukee County. The Wisconsin Chapter of the Nature Conservancy is active at Chiwaukee Prairie in Kenosha County, and at several other sites in the Southern Lake Michigan Coastal Ecological Landscape. |
| Considerations for Planning & Management | |
|---|---|
This is the most highly populated and heavily developed Ecological Landscape in the state. It has long been a hub of transportation, heavy industry, and commerce, as well as a productive agricultural area, resulting in large and long-term impacts to the land and water. Natural systems are severely fragmented and disturbed by widespread and intensive agricultural, industrial, and residential development. Ongoing development may increase land values, taxes, and costs of public services. All of the formerly extensive plant community groups - forests, savannas, prairies, and wetlands - have been greatly reduced from their historical abundance. Most natural community remnants are small and isolated, occurring within a context of lands and waters that are now dedicated to supporting residential, industrial, and agricultural uses. Invasive species are a major problem here, more so than in other Ecological Landscapes. Wetland and aquatic systems have been significantly diminished or degraded, often leading to serious water management issues that are difficult and expensive to fix. Despite all of the development that has occurred, this Ecological Landscape still supports rare and declining species and communities that occur at few other locations. A 1990s critical features inventory planned and conducted by SEWRPC (1997) and Wisconsin DNR identified more than 18,000 acres of high quality remnant natural communities and critical species habitats throughout a seven county area, including the entire Southern Lake Michigan Coastal Ecological Landscape. Several counties have extensive systems of parklands and green spaces, and conservation-oriented groups dedicated to a wide array of interests, including land stewardship, are well-established and active. Stream restoration has attracted great local support. There may be significant opportunities to re-vegetate areas, especially brownfields, not as natural communities, but to serve as surrogate habitats for wildlife. Urban forestry is important here and could represent ecological as well as socio-economic opportunities. Learn more about management opportunities from the chapter [PDF] |
The following species are listed according to their probability of occurring in the Southern Lake Michigan Coastal Ecological Landscape, based on the findings in Wisconsin's 2015 Wildlife Action Plan.
See the key to association scores [PDF] for complete definitions.
(Please see also the Significant Flora [PDF] and the Significant Wildlife [PDF] sections in the Southern Lake Michigan Coastal chapter).
| Amphibians | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| Blanchard's Cricket Frog | Acris blanchardi | 1 |
| Four-toed Salamander | Hemidactylium scutatum | 1 |
| Pickerel Frog | Lithobates palustris | 1 |
| Ants, wasps, and bees | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| American Bumble Bee | Bombus pensylvanicus | 2 |
| Silphium Terminal Gall Wasp | Antistrophus silphii | 2 |
| Confusing Bumble Bee | Bombus perplexus | 1 |
| Rusty-patched Bumble Bee | Bombus affinis | 1 |
| Yellow Bumble Bee | Bombus fervidus | 1 |
| Yellowbanded Bumble Bee | Bombus terricola | 1 |
| Aquatic and terrestrial snails | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| Cherrystone Drop | Hendersonia occulta | 1 |
| Dentate Supercoil | Paravitrea multidentata | 1 |
| Beetles | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| A Colaspis Leaf Beetle | Colaspis suggona | 3 |
| A Hydroporus Diving Beetle | Heterosternuta wickhami | 3 |
| A Predaceous Diving Beetle | Laccornis deltoides | 3 |
| A Predaceous Diving Beetle | Matus ovatus | 3 |
| Hairy-necked Tiger Beetle | Cicindela hirticollis rhodensis | 3 |
| A Pear-shaped Weevil | Fallapion bischoffi | 2 |
| Sandy Stream Tiger Beetle | Ellipsoptera macra | 2 |
| A Leaf Beetle | Altica litigata | 1 |
| A Predaceous Diving Beetle | Agabus discolor | 1 |
| A Water Scavenger Beetle | Agabetes acuductus | 1 |
| Ghost Tiger Beetle | Ellipsoptera lepida | 1 |
| Birds | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| Black Tern | Chlidonias niger | 3 |
| Bobolink | Dolichonyx oryzivorus | 3 |
| Dickcissel | Spiza americana | 3 |
| Eastern Meadowlark | Sturnella magna | 3 |
| Forster's Tern | Sterna forsteri | 3 |
| Henslow's Sparrow | Ammodramus henslowii | 3 |
| Peregrine Falcon | Falco peregrinus | 3 |
| Purple Martin | Progne subis | 3 |
| Vesper Sparrow | Pooecetes gramineus | 3 |
| American Bittern | Botaurus lentiginosus | 2 |
| American Woodcock | Scolopax minor | 2 |
| Bell's Vireo | Vireo bellii | 2 |
| Black-crowned Night-Heron | Nycticorax nycticorax | 2 |
| Common Nighthawk | Chordeiles minor | 2 |
| Grasshopper Sparrow | Ammodramus savannarum | 2 |
| King Rail | Rallus elegans | 2 |
| Least Bittern | Ixobrychus exilis | 2 |
| Piping Plover | Charadrius melodus | 2 |
| Red-headed Woodpecker | Melanerpes erythrocephalus | 2 |
| Rusty Blackbird | Euphagus carolinus | 2 |
| Short-eared Owl | Asio flammeus | 2 |
| Yellow-crowned Night-Heron | Nyctanassa violacea | 2 |
| Yellow-headed Blackbird | Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus | 2 |
| Acadian Flycatcher | Empidonax virescens | 1 |
| Caspian Tern | Hydroprogne caspia | 1 |
| Common Goldeneye | Bucephala clangula | 1 |
| Least Flycatcher | Empidonax minimus | 1 |
| Loggerhead Shrike | Lanius ludovicianus | 1 |
| Red-shouldered Hawk | Buteo lineatus | 1 |
| Rufa Red Knot | Calidris canutus rufa | 1 |
| Upland Sandpiper | Bartramia longicauda | 1 |
| Western Meadowlark | Sturnella neglecta | 1 |
| Yellow-breasted Chat | Icteria virens | 1 |
| Butterflies and moths | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| Liatris Borer Moth | Papaipema beeriana | 3 |
| Silphium Borer Moth | Papaipema silphii | 3 |
| A Noctuid Moth | Dichagyris reliqua | 1 |
| Gray Copper | Lycaena dione | 1 |
| Swamp Metalmark | Calephelis muticum | 1 |
| Crustaceans | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| Prairie Crayfish | Procambarus gracilis | 3 |
| Dragonflies and damselflies | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| Double-striped Bluet | Enallagma basidens | 3 |
| Plains Emerald | Somatochlora ensigera | 3 |
| Swamp Darner | Epiaeschna heros | 3 |
| Painted Skimmer | Libellula semifasciata | 2 |
| Pronghorn Clubtail | Gomphus graslinellus | 2 |
| Slaty Skimmer | Libellula incesta | 2 |
| Smoky Rubyspot | Hetaerina titia | 2 |
| Delta-spotted Spiketail | Cordulegaster diastatops | 1 |
| Hine's Emerald | Somatochlora hineana | 1 |
| Lilypad Forktail | Ischnura kellicotti | 1 |
| Spangled Skimmer | Libellula cyanea | 1 |
| Spatterdock Darner | Rhionaeschna mutata | 1 |
| Springwater Dancer | Argia plana | 1 |
| Unicorn Clubtail | Arigomphus villosipes | 1 |
| Fishes | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| Striped Shiner | Luxilus chrysocephalus | 3 |
| Lake Sturgeon | Acipenser fulvescens | 2 |
| Longear Sunfish | Lepomis megalotis | 2 |
| Redfin Shiner | Lythrurus umbratilis | 2 |
| American Eel | Anguilla rostrata | 1 |
| Lake Chubsucker | Erimyzon sucetta | 1 |
| Least Darter | Etheostoma microperca | 1 |
| Pugnose Shiner | Notropis anogenus | 1 |
| Starhead Topminnow | Fundulus dispar | 1 |
| Grasshoppers and allies | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| Blue-legged Grasshopper | Melanoplus flavidus | 2 |
| Bog Conehead | Neoconocephalus lyristes | 2 |
| Club-horned Grasshopper | Aeropedellus clavatus | 2 |
| Delicate Meadow Katydid | Orchelimum delicatum | 2 |
| Handsome Grasshopper | Syrbula admirabilis | 2 |
| Seaside Grasshopper | Trimerotropis maritima | 2 |
| Ash-brown Grasshopper | Trachyrhachys kiowa | 1 |
| Black-striped Katydid | Scudderia fasciata | 1 |
| Clear-winged Grasshopper | Camnula pellucida | 1 |
| Grizzly Spur-throat Grasshopper | Melanoplus punctulatus | 1 |
| Huckleberry Spur-throat Grasshopper | Melanoplus fasciatus | 1 |
| Mermiria Grasshopper | Mermiria bivittata | 1 |
| Scudder's Short-winged Grasshopper | Melanoplus scudderi | 1 |
| Short-winged Grasshopper | Dichromorpha viridis | 1 |
| Speckled Rangeland Grasshopper | Arphia conspersa | 1 |
| Spotted-winged Grasshopper | Orphulella pelidna | 1 |
| Stone's Locust | Melanoplus stonei | 1 |
| Leafhoppers and true bugs | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| A Leafhopper | Memnonia panzeri | 3 |
| A Leafhopper | Destria crocea | 3 |
| A Planthopper | Myndus ovatus | 3 |
| Acuminate Water Boatman | Ramphocorixa acuminata | 3 |
| Piglet Bug | Aphelonema simplex | 3 |
| A Leafhopper | Flexamia prairiana | 2 |
| Red-tailed Prairie Leafhopper | Aflexia rubranura | 2 |
| A Leafhopper | Limotettix elegans | 1 |
| Mammals | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| Big Brown Bat | Eptesicus fuscus | 3 |
| Franklin's Ground Squirrel | Poliocitellus franklinii | 3 |
| Little Brown Bat | Myotis lucifugus | 3 |
| Prairie Deer Mouse | Peromyscus maniculatus bairdii | 3 |
| Eastern Pipistrelle | Perimyotis subflavus | 2 |
| Northern Long-eared Bat | Myotis septentrionalis | 1 |
| Prairie Vole | Microtus ochrogaster | 1 |
| Silver-haired Bat | Lasionycteris noctivagans | 1 |
| Water Shrew | Sorex palustris | 1 |
| Woodland Vole | Microtus pinetorum | 1 |
| Mayflies | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| A Flat-headed Mayfly | Maccaffertium pulchellum | 1 |
| Mussels and clams | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| Ellipse | Venustaconcha ellipsiformis | 3 |
| Rainbow Shell | Villosa iris | 3 |
| Slippershell Mussel | Alasmidonta viridis | 3 |
| Elktoe | Alasmidonta marginata | 1 |
| Reptiles | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| Blanding's Turtle | Emydoidea blandingii | 3 |
| Butler's Gartersnake | Thamnophis butleri | 3 |
| Eastern Massasauga | Sistrurus catenatus | 2 |
| Plains Gartersnake | Thamnophis radix | 2 |
| Queensnake | Regina septemvittata | 2 |
The Natural Heritage Inventory has developed scores indicating the degree to which each of Wisconsin's rare plant species is associated with a particular natural community or ecological landscape. This information is similar to that found in the Wildlife Action Plan for animals. As this is a work in progress, we welcome your suggestions and feedback.
Scores: 3 = "significantly associated," 2 = "moderately associated," and 1 = "minimally associated."
| Scientific Name | Common Name | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Arnoglossum plantagineum | Prairie Indian-plantain | 3 |
| Astragalus neglectus | Cooper's Milkvetch | 3 |
| Carex crus-corvi | Ravenfoot Sedge | 3 |
| Carex formosa | Handsome Sedge | 3 |
| Carex gracilescens | Slender Sedge | 3 |
| Carex lupuliformis | False Hop Sedge | 3 |
| Carex swanii | Swan Sedge | 3 |
| Eurybia furcata | Forked Aster | 3 |
| Fimbristylis puberula | Chestnut Sedge | 3 |
| Phlox glaberrima ssp. interior | Smooth Phlox | 3 |
| Plantago cordata | Heart-leaved Plantain | 3 |
| Platanthera leucophaea | Eastern Prairie White Fringed Orchid | 3 |
| Ptelea trifoliata ssp. trifoliata var. trifoliata | Wafer-ash | 3 |
| Sisyrinchium albidum | White Blue-eyed-grass | 3 |
| Solidago caesia | Bluestem Goldenrod | 3 |
| Thalictrum revolutum | Waxleaf Meadowrue | 3 |
| Viburnum prunifolium | Smooth Black-haw | 3 |
| Arnoglossum reniforme | Great Indian-plantain | 2 |
| Asclepias sullivantii | Prairie Milkweed | 2 |
| Botrychium campestre | Prairie Dunewort | 2 |
| Cakile edentula var. lacustris | American Sea-rocket | 2 |
| Carex digitalis var. digitalis | Slender Wood Sedge | 2 |
| Clinopodium arkansanum | Low Calamint | 2 |
| Conioselinum chinense | Hemlock-parsley | 2 |
| Cuscuta coryli | Hazel Dodder | 2 |
| Cuscuta glomerata | Rope Dodder | 2 |
| Cuscuta polygonorum | Knotweed Dodder | 2 |
| Dichanthelium wilcoxianum | Wilcox's Panic Grass | 2 |
| Epilobium strictum | Downy Willow-herb | 2 |
| Erigenia bulbosa | Harbinger-of-spring | 2 |
| Euphorbia polygonifolia | Seaside Spurge | 2 |
| Fraxinus quadrangulata | Blue Ash | 2 |
| Gymnocladus dioicus | Kentucky Coffee-tree | 2 |
| Hydrastis canadensis | Golden-seal | 2 |
| Jeffersonia diphylla | Twinleaf | 2 |
| Nyssa sylvatica | Black Tupelo | 2 |
| Penstemon pallidus | Pale Beardtongue | 2 |
| Quercus muehlenbergii | Chinquapin Oak | 2 |
| Scutellaria ovata ssp. ovata | Heart-leaved Skullcap | 2 |
| Sisyrinchium angustifolium | Pointed Blue-eyed-grass | 2 |
| Spiranthes magnicamporum | Great Plains Lady's-tresses | 2 |
| Triantha glutinosa | False Asphodel | 2 |
| Triglochin palustris | Slender Bog Arrow-grass | 2 |
| Valeriana edulis var. ciliata | Hairy Valerian | 2 |
| Agalinis gattingeri | Roundstem Foxglove | 1 |
| Agalinis skinneriana | Pale False Foxglove | 1 |
| Asclepias hirtella | Green Milkweed | 1 |
| Asclepias purpurascens | Purple Milkweed | 1 |
| Calamovilfa longifolia var. magna | Sand Reedgrass | 1 |
| Carex garberi | Elk Sedge | 1 |
| Echinacea pallida | Pale Purple Coneflower | 1 |
| Eleocharis quadrangulata | Square-stem Spike-rush | 1 |
| Galium brevipes | Swamp Bedstraw | 1 |
| Juglans cinerea | Butternut | 1 |
| Juncus marginatus | Grassleaf Rush | 1 |
| Orobanche fasciculata | Clustered Broomrape | 1 |
| Penstemon hirsutus | Hairy Beardtongue | 1 |
| Polygala incarnata | Pink Milkwort | 1 |
| Scleria verticillata | Low Nutrush | 1 |
| Trillium nivale | Snow Trillium | 1 |
| Trisetum melicoides | Purple False Oats | 1 |
| Verbena simplex | Narrow-leaved Vervain | 1 |
The Southern Lake Michigan Coastal Ecological Landscape contains opportunities to manage for the following natural communities, based on the findings in the 2015 Wildlife Action Plan (originally presented by the Ecosystem Management Team).
See the key to association scores [PDF] for complete definitions.
The Southern Lake Michigan Coastal Ecological Landscape is the most highly populated and heavily developed Ecological Landscape in the state. Most ecosystems here are severely fragmented and disturbed by widespread and intensive agricultural, industrial and residential development. Nevertheless, this landscape provides some significant management opportunities.
Millions of citizens depend on Lake Michigan for a wide array of ecosystem services, economic uses and social amenities. The lake, its shoreline habitats and its near-shore waters support a unique complex of natural features and are of especially high significance to migratory birds and fish. Management and protection of Lake Michigan and its surroundings is both ecologically and economically important.
Coastal prairies, a rarity in Wisconsin, are now restricted to a single location in the extreme southeastern corner of the state. Chiwaukee Prairie is one of the Upper Midwest's premier coastal wetland complexes featuring prairies. It is the only Wisconsin example of a Great Lakes-influenced coastal wetland composed mostly of tallgrass prairie and fen, and it includes one of Wisconsin's largest and most diverse occurrences of Wet-mesic Prairie. The site is globally significant and harbors numerous rare species, including plants, invertebrates, birds and mammals. It is adjacent to other significant conservation lands just to the south, in northern Illinois. This and other areas in the southeast corner of the landscape offer good opportunities for continued protection and management.
Large Surrogate Grasslands and embedded prairie, sedge meadow and marsh community remnants at sites such as Bong State Recreation Area are important ecologically and for recreation. There may be opportunities to manage agricultural lands adjoining these areas in ways that would increase the amount of suitable habitat for area-sensitive grassland animals, while buffering remnant prairie, meadow, marsh, forest, or other native vegetation.
Restoration and management of major river and stream corridors is a major ecological and socio-economic priority, including the protection and restoration of their hydrological function and riparian corridors. Important rivers and streams here include the Milwaukee, Menomonee, Kinnickinnic, Des Plaines and Root. Inland lakes, despite their generally developed condition, widespread water quality problems and significant habitat losses, continue to provide habitat for native fish, amphibians, reptiles and invertebrates. Many birds and a few mammals are also strongly associated with and, in some cases, dependent on these lakes.
Natural communities here often occur as small, scattered, isolated patches. Wherever possible, the least disturbed and most intact remnants should be embedded within larger management units or corridors of natural cover or greenspace.
Significant portions of this ecological landscape are in urban or other residential development. Use of green infrastructure concepts can help improve the area's residential appeal, lessen the urban "heat sink" effect and contribute to water infiltration, wildlife habitat and other ecological benefits. Urban forestry may also help sequester carbon and improve human habitat.
1. The text presented here is a summarized version of a longer section developed for the Ecological Landscapes of Wisconsin.
Also see the statewide maps.
Landtype Associations (LTAs) are units of the National Hierarchical Framework of Ecological Units (NHFEU), a hierarchical ecological land classification system. LTAs are much smaller than Ecological Landscapes, ranging in size from 10,000 and 300,000 acres. In Wisconsin, they are usually based on glacial features like individual moraines or outwash plains. LTAs can be very useful for planning at finer scales within an Ecological Landscape.
The following are the LTAs associated with the Southern Lake Michigan Coastal Ecological Landscape. The Southern Lake Michigan Coastal LTA map [PDF] can be used to locate these LTAs. Clicking on an LTA in the list below will open a data table for that LTA in PDF format. Descriptions are included, where available.
Map of Wisconsin's 16 Ecological Landscapes