Upper Eighteen Mile Lake
Location
MI Natural Community Types:
Based on the Michigan Natural Features Inventory natural community types, Upper Eighteenmile RNA is composed primarily of rich conifer swamp, northern shrub thicket, mesic northern forest, and northern fen.
Potential Research Topics:
Recovery of Orchis rotundifolia; effects of climate change on fens and northern wetlands; population dynamics of rare orchids and boreal disjuncts; changes in ecological processes when transitioning from wetland to upland habitats.
Ecological and Physical Description
Upper Eighteenmile Lake RNA provides a relatively unmodified example of a wetland ecosystem associated with northern white cedar (Thuja occidentalis) swamp, northern fen, the Whitefish River stream system, and an upland hardwood forest. The wetlands in Upper Eighteenmile Lake RNA support two rare plant species, Orchis rotundifolia (small round-leaved orchid) and Juncus stygius (moor rush).
Annual rainfall averages 32.2 inches (818.4 cm). Annual snowfall data is not available.
Chatham Experimental Farm Station (station no. 201486, latitude 46°20’N, longitude 86°55’W, elevation 265.2 feet (80.7 meters). Link to station: http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cdo-web/datasets/NORMAL_MLY/stations/GHCND:USC00201486/detail .
The geology is characterized as a bedrock Trenton group with surficial geology of thin to discontinuous glacial till over bedrock with some peat and muck (TNC 2011).
Soils are of the Kalkaska association, described as nearly level to very steep, well drained and moderately well drained, with sandy soils (Soil Conservation Service 1994). The fen soils on the RNA are nearly level and very poorly drained organic soils. The taxonomic class is sandy, mixed, frigid Entic Haplorthods.
The RNA includes a mosaic of wetlands, stream systems, and forested swamp areas.
Flora and Fauna
Common Animal Species
| Scientific Name | Common Name | Category | At Risk | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belted kingfisher | Common Bird Species | |||
| eastern wood-pewee | Common Bird Species | |||
| alder flycatcher | Common Bird Species | |||
| red-eyed vireo | Common Bird Species | |||
| Nashville warbler | Common Bird Species | |||
| hermit thrush | Common Bird Species |