Michigan's Natural Communities

Key to the Communities Ranking Criteria

Natural Community Global and State Ranks
Name	State Rank	Global Rank
Alvar	S1	G2?
Bog	S4	G3G5
Boreal Forest	S3	GU
Bur Oak Plains	S1	G1
Cave	S1	G4?
Coastal Fen	S2	G1G2
Coastal Plain Marsh	S2	G2
Dry Northern Forest	S3	G3?
Dry Sand Prairie	S2	G3
Dry Southern Forest	S3	G4
Dry-mesic Northern Forest	S3	G4
Dry-mesic Prairie	S1	G3
Dry-mesic Southern Forest	S3	G4
Emergent Marsh	S4	GU
Floodplain Forest	S3	G3?
Granite Bedrock Glade	S2	G3G5
Granite Bedrock Lakeshore	S2	G4G5
Granite Cliff	S2	G4G5
Granite Lakeshore Cliff	S1	GU
Great Lakes Barrens	S2	G3
Great Lakes Marsh	S3	G2
Hardwood-Conifer Swamp	S3	G4
Hillside Prairie	S1	G3
Inland Salt Marsh	S1	G1
Interdunal Wetland	S2	G2?
Intermittent Wetland	S3	G2
Inundated Shrub Swamp	S3	G4
Lakeplain Oak Openings	S1	G2?
Lakeplain Wet Prairie	S1	G2
Lakeplain Wet-mesic Prairie	S1	G1?
Limestone Bedrock Glade	S2	G2G4
Limestone Bedrock Lakeshore	S2	G3
Limestone Cliff	S2	G4G5
Limestone Cobble Shore	S3	G2G3
Limestone Lakeshore Cliff	S2	G4G5
Mesic Northern Forest	S3	G4
Mesic Prairie	S1	G2
Mesic Sand Prairie	S1	G2
Mesic Southern Forest	S3	G2G3
Muskeg	S3	G4G5
Northern Bald	S1	GU
Northern Fen	S3	G3
Northern Hardwood Swamp	S3?	G4
Northern Shrub Thicket	S5	G4
Northern Wet Meadow	S4	G4
Oak Barrens	S1	G2?
Oak Openings	S1	G1
Oak-Pine Barrens	S2	G3
Open Dunes	S3	G3
Patterned Fen	S2	GU
Pine Barrens	S2	G3
Poor Conifer Swamp	S4	G4
Poor Fen	S3	G3
Prairie Fen	S3	G3
Rich Conifer Swamp	S3	G4
Rich Tamarack Swamp	S3	G4
Sand and Gravel Beach	S3	G3?
Sandstone Bedrock Lakeshore	S2	G4G5
Sandstone Cliff	S2	G4G5
Sandstone Cobble Shore	S2	G2G3
Sandstone Lakeshore Cliff	S2	G3
Sinkhole	S2	G3G5
Southern Hardwood Swamp	S3	G3
Southern Shrub-Carr	S5	GU
Southern Wet Meadow	S3	G4?
Submergent Marsh	S4	GU
Volcanic Bedrock Glade	S2	GU
Volcanic Bedrock Lakeshore	S3	G4G5
Volcanic Cliff	S2	G4G5
Volcanic Cobble Shore	S3	G4G5
Volcanic Lakeshore Cliff	S1	GU
Wet Prairie	S2	G3
Wet-mesic Flatwoods	S2	G2G3
Wet-mesic Prairie	S2	G2
Wet-mesic Sand Prairie	S2	G2G3
Wooded Dune and Swale Complex	S3	G3

Communities by Ecological Groups

Palustrine
- Bog
  - Bog
  - Muskeg
- Fen
- Forest
- Marsh
- Prairie
- Shrub
Palustrine/Terrestrial
- Wooded Dune and Swale Complex
Subterranean/Sink
- Sinkhole
- Cave
Terrestrial
- Forest
- Prairie
- Savanna
- Primary
  - Bedrock Glade
  - Bedrock Lakeshore
  - Cobble Shore
  - Inland Cliff
  - Lakeshore Cliff

The natural community classification and descriptions are also available as a PDF document (1.2MB).