Ecoregions and
watersheds are methods to divide up a place using natural means rather than the
human based divisions which use town or county boundaries. Of the six
characteristics comprising sense of place – geology, weather, seasons,
Indigenous story, water and wildlife, which ones are considered? Ecoregions consider
the geology, water, weather, wildlife (just the plant aspect, not animals) of a
place, whereas watershed only consider waterways and how water flows to divide
up an area.
Because an ecoregion
considers the ecology of a place, you get a broad based view, seeing many
natural elements coming together and relating to each other. For instance, I
live in the ecoregion known as northern lakes and forests which has sandy soil.
The combination of being in a northern area of the state and also having sandy
soil would support those plants which can survive in both sand and cold
climates such as Quaking Aspens, which in turn would support those animals who
use aspens for survival.
Ecoregions look at the
broader picture of a place whereas watersheds only consider how water drains in
an area and is a less encompassing view for purposes of sense of place. It is
important though to understand watersheds because whatever activity happens on
a watershed – industry, golf course chemical use etc…ultimately impacts the
quality of water flowing off that land and into the local waterways.
ECOREGIONS
If you are interested in
determining your ecoregion, here is the EPA breakdown for the 120 ecoregions
within the United States:
EPA Ecoregions
There are five
ecoregions in Michigan as shown at the following link:
All of the information
from this point through the descriptions of the ecoregions were taken from the
above link.
The five Michigan
ecoregions are:
50. NORTHERN LAKES AND FORESTS - The Northern Lakes and Forests is a region of
nutrient poor glacial soils, coniferous and northern hardwood forests,
undulating till plains, morainal hills, broad lacustrine basins, and extensive
sandy outwash plains. Soils in this ecoregion are thicker than in those to the
north and generally lack the arability of soils in adjacent ecoregions to the
south. The numerous lakes that dot the landscape are clearer and less
productive than those in ecoregions to the south.
51. NORTH CENTRAL HARDWOOD FORESTS - The North Central Hardwood Forests is
transitional between the predominantly forested Northern Lakes and Forests to
the north and the agricultural ecoregions to the south. Land use/land cover in
this ecoregion consists of a mosaic forests, wetlands and lakes.
55. EASTERN CORN BELT PLAINS - The Eastern Corn Belt Plains is primarily a
rolling plain with local end moraines; it had more natural tree cover and has
lighter colored soils than the Central Corn Belt Plains. The region has loamier
and better drained soils than the Huron/Erie Lake Plain, and richer soils than
the Erie/Ontario Hills and Lake Plain. Glacial deposits of Wisconsin age are
extensive. They are not as dissected nor as leached as the pre-Wisconsin till
which is restricted to the southern part of the region. Originally, beech
forests were common on Wisconsin soils while beech forests and elm-ash swamp
forests dominated the wetter pre-Wisconsin soils.
56. SOUTHERN MICHIGAN/NORTHERN INDIANA
DRIFT PLAINS - Bordered by Lake
Michigan on the west, this ecoregion is less agricultural than those to the
south, it is more well drained and contains more lakes than the flat
agricultural lake plain to the east, and its soils are not as nutrient poor as
the region to the north. The region is characterized by many lakes and marshes
as well as an assortment of landforms, soil types, soil textures, and land
uses. Broad till plains with thick and complex deposits of drift, paleobeach
ridges, relict dunes, morainal hills, kames, drumlins, meltwater channels, and
kettles occur.
57. HURON/ERIE LAKE PLAIN - The Huron/Erie Lake Plain is a broad, fertile,
nearly flat plain punctuated by relic sand dunes, beach ridges, and end
moraines. Originally, soil drainage was typically poorer than in the adjacent
Eastern Corn Belt Plains, and elm-ash swamp and beech forests were dominant.
Oak savanna was typically restricted to sandy, well-drained dunes and beach
ridges.
I live the section listed as #50 on the map, northern lakes and
hardwoods and will use this information to piece together information on the
geology and wildlife of my area.
WATERSHEDS
In regard to watersheds
for Michigan, the Department of Environmental Quality has put together a map
for the hydrology of Michigan at this link:
An interesting thing
about the watershed map is it only features the watersheds for the largest
bodies of water in Michigan. Remember within those watersheds there are many
other smaller watersheds moving the water toward the main river or lake
featured on the watershed map. The Cheboygan watershed has many lakes and
rivers, all with their own watersheds, moving the water ultimately toward the
Cheboygan river. This link from the Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council talks all
about the Cheboygan watershed:
It looks like my house
is right on the border between the Lake Michigan and Cheboygan River watershed
so I am going to have to search for a more detailed map which superimposes the
Cheboygan watershed over a street map in order to determine which watershed I
am in.
After a bit of
searching, I found a Trout’s Unlimited map of the Cheboygan watershed which is
really pretty cool because I was right, the watershed boundary literally
crosses my road two houses down from me. So those on my side of the street are
in the Cheboygan watershed and the folks down the road and across are in the
Lake Michigan watershed. Really weird to think the rain falling on my property
moves in a different direction than the water just down the road. Which really
doesn’t make sense to me because the road in front of me moves downhill toward
that watershed which makes me think the water falling on my property would move
toward the Lake Michigan watershed. But then as I rethink what I am saying, I
realize that yes, the road in front of my house goes downhill but then flattens
out and the flat part is still in the Cheboygan watershed so it could
essentially flow down the hill and then move back toward my watershed.
Confusing to think about. So this talk of watersheds and how water moves gets
me to thinking about the water which flows in the aquifers beneath the ground.
Do they also flow in tandem with the watersheds? So would the water in my
watershed flow toward the Cheboygan River and the water in the Lake Michigan
aquifer flow toward Lake Michigan? Well before I research that question, let me
add the link to the Cheboygan watershed boundary here:
After doing just a bit
of research, I am pretty sure aquifers do move in conjunction with the
watersheds. I based my information on these two sites from the US Geological
Survey:
So now I have another
question. If I am living on the boundary between two watersheds, does that mean
the water flowing in the aquifers below my house are always flowing away from
my house, one toward Lake Michigan and the other toward the Cheboygan River? If
so, does that mean the water from my community well is pulling up mainly water
that falls onto this area directly? Obviously I am going to have to pay the
Watershed Council a visit to get that answer.
OK, so I certainly have
a better understanding of the ecoregion and watershed I reside within and find
it interesting that one set of questions leads to many others. I think that is
the way it is with the natural world. Just about the time you figure one thing
out, another layer presents itself to you to pull back. But for now I need to
draw the line here and move on the do the work of looking at the six different
areas that make up sense of place.
For the purposes of
discovering my sense of place, I am going to be studying my ecoregion (which
encompasses my watershed) rather than my watershed. I feel the area of my
ecoregion is more representative of where I live. Because I live on the
boundary between two watersheds, it would be weird to not consider factors that
are just down the street from myself.
