Wildlife Habitat Council - The St. Clair River Basin Project

Explore our Natural World: A Biodiversity
Atlas of the Lake Huron to Lake Erie Corridor

'Region's biodiversity is on display in atlas' - The Daily Oakland Press

Click above to download the Biodiversity Atlas.

The Biodiversity Atlas is an interpretive guidebook to the natural communities of the St. Clair River, Lake St. Clair, and Detroit River watersheds. It is designed to cultivate a greater awareness among the public of the region’s natural resources and the steps that can be taken to protect them.

Support for the development of the book came from a grant by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Great Lakes National Program Office and from the conservation community.

Learn more about the partnership behind the atlas.

Through engaging text and colorful pictures, the Biodiversity Atlas tells the story of the natural communities found in the Lake Huron to Lake Erie corridor. It focuses on natural areas including coastal wetlands, forests, and the rare tallgrass prairie and oak savannah ecosystems of the lakeplain. Additionally, it gives examples of protected natural areas where biodiversity thrives today.

Water in the corridor flows from the mouth of Lake Huron through the St. Clair River, into Lake St. Clair, the Detroit River, and then into Lake Erie. The tributary rivers, creeks, streams and drains in the watersheds connect the surrounding lands to these waterways.

The atlas is organized according to elevations above sea level -- from the open waters and tributaries to the shoreline and lakeplain, and finally to the ecosystems of the interior lands that drain into this part of the Great Lakes. A wide variety of life forms -- biodiversity -- make the corridor unique. The glacial history, climate, soils and water resources have created a landscape that is home to an incredible diversity of natural communities: forests, savannas, grasslands and wetlands. Within these natural communities live species that have global ecological significance.

The publication touches on the sociological aspects of the region, including the pressures of development on natural areas. Land-use demographics illustrate how the area has changed since pre-settlement days. The atlas also highlights how corporations are making a difference in the amount of habitat available to wildlife through their work with the Wildlife Habitat Council. Michigan and Ontario science standards have been incorporated, where possible, into the publication to maximize its benefit to students and teachers.

Divider Birds

This book is dedicated to all of the plants and animals that live in this region and the people who have yet to learn about them.

Project Designer, Manager and Researcher – Lisa M. Appel
Contributing Writers – Lisa M. Appel, Julie A. Craves, Mary Kehoe Smith,
Bob Weir and John M. Zawiskie
Editors – Mary Kehoe Smith and Bob Weir
Graphic Design – Peter Schade/Schade Design, Inc.

Funding for this project was provided by the U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office to the Wildlife Habitat Council. Thank you to the following contributors who supported the publication of this book:

BP, DTE Energy, Ford Motor Company Fund, Lafarge North America Inc., Lake Erie West, La-Z-Boy Incorporated, Ontario Power Generation, Pfizer Inc, U.S. EPA Great Lakes National Program Office and Visteon Corporation.