Regional Landscape Ecosystems of Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin
SUB-SUBSECTION VI.4.1. Lansing
DISCUSSION: This broad till plain has rich, loamy soils that have been largely converted to agriculture. This sub-subsection is the largest in Lower Michigan.
ELEVATION: 640 to 1,122 feet (195 to 342 m).
AREA: 5,053 square miles (13,092 sq km).
STATES: Michigan.
CLIMATE: Growing season ranges from 140 to 160 days and is shortest in the north (Eichenlaub et al. 1990). Snowfall ranges from 40 to 70 inches, increasing to the west, closer to Lake Michigan. Annual precipitation is relatively uniform, ranging from 30 to 32 inches. Extreme minimum temperature ranges from -24½F to -38½F, lowest in the north and in a large frost pocket near the center of the sub-subsection.
BEDROCK GEOLOGY: See subsection.
LANDFORMS: Sub-subsection consists of gently sloping ground moraine, broken by several outwash channels and also by numerous end-moraine ridges, many of which are a little steeper than the surrounding ground-moraine topography. Most of the gently rolling hills of ground moraine are only 40 to 60 feet high, but hills up to 100 feet are found on the east and west edges of the sub-subsection. The topography is gently rolling; typical slopes on the ridges are within the 0 to 6 percent slope class. Local relief of less than 50 feet is found over areas of several miles. The greatest elevation changes in the sub-subsection, accompanied by steep slopes, are along the outwash channels, which are commonly 50 to 100 feet lower than the adjacent ground moraine.
The end-moraine ridges, which cross-cut the till plain, typically form narrow bands 1 to 3 miles wide. Usually the end moraines do not form single, welldefined ridges, but rather groups of low ridges (less than 50 feet high) and swampy depressions. Most of the ridges are too steeply or irregularly sloping for agriculture.
LAKES AND STREAMS: Three large rivers, the Maple, Grand, and Thornapple, and several smaller rivers flow across the broad till plain. Many of the rivers and creeks occupy glacial outwash channels; these channels presently carry much less water and sediment load than the glacial streams that deposited the outwash. The Grand River, which crosses the sub-subsection, occupies a major glacial outwash channel 150 to 200 feet lower than the surrounding till plain. In parts of the sub-subsection, the postglacial drainage system is not well developed, resulting in numerous broad swamps and marshes. The largest of these wetlands have been drained and converted to agriculture. There are a few small lakes, both kettle lakes on the end moraines and lakes occupying more linear depressions on the till plain.
SOILS: The undulating topography of the ground moraine forms alternating well and moderately well drained rises and poorly to very poorly drained linear depressions. Approximately 30 percent of the ground moraine is poorly drained. Many of the depressions and glacial drainageways contain very poorly drained soils.
A small area of sandy ground moraine, surrounded by the loam soils more typical of the sub-subsection, occupies southwestern Shiawassee County. Local areas of sandy upland were farmed in the past; but the farms failed, probably due to droughty, sterile soils. The lowlands remain as swamps and marshes.
Soils are classified by the Soil Conservation Service (1967) as gently sloping Hapludalfs plus Argiaquolls.
PRESETTLEMENT VEGETATION: The presettlement vegetation of the upland ground and end moraines was beechsugar maple forest. Other common species included black maple, basswood, red oak, and white ash. Black maple, now encountered more in this sub-subsection than in any other (possibly because of the wet-mesic conditions and the circumneutral soils on the gently sloping ground moraine), was identified as sugar maple during the original surveys. Some of the drier end-moraine ridges supported oak-hickory forests dominated by red and white oaks. The driest sandy ridges of the outwash deposits supported black oak, white oak, and pignut hickory.
Swamp forests dominated most of the depressions, but wet meadows were also present along streams. Among the common tree species were silver maple, American elm, red ash, and swamp white oak. Hackberry is presently common in the second-growth swamps, but was rarely mentioned by GLO surveyors. Tamarack was also present, especially in very poorly drained outwash channels. A large "wet prairie" was located in Clinton and Shiawassee Counties.
NATURAL DISTURBANCE: Windthrow was probably the most common form of natural disturbance.
PRESENT VEGETATION AND LAND USE: Drainage was necessary for agricultural use of the lowlands and some of the uplands. The number of drainage ditches in the sub-subsection is second only to that of the Maumee Lake Plain and the Saginaw Lake Plain sub-subsections. Tiling was the preferred method of drainage on the moderately well drained soils on uplands, but drainage ditches were necessary on poorly and very poorly drained soils. Organic soils were extensively drained for the production of mint and other specialty crops. The organic deposits are also extensively mined for sedge peat, used in gardening and landscaping.
Most of the uplands have been converted to crop land, while most of the swamp forest has been converted to pasture. Swamp forest and wet meadow persist locally on the landscape. The largest wet prairies have been drained and converted primarily to agricultural use.
RARE PLANT COMMUNITIES: One of the rarest plant communities in the State, inland salt marsh, occurred in saline seepages along the Maple and Grand Rivers; only one of these marshes remains. All the wet prairies have been badly degraded or destroyed by drainage for agriculture.
RARE PLANTS: Arabis perstellata var. shortii (rock cress), Carex typhina (cattail sedge), Eleocharis parvula (dwarf spike-rush), Scirpus olneyi (Olney's bulrush), Trillium nivale (snow trillium), Zizia aptera (prairie golden alexander).
RARE ANIMALS: Asio otus (long-eared owl), Dysnomia triquetra (snuffbox), Falco peregrinus (Peregrine falcon), Lanius ludovicians (loggerhead shrike), Myotis sodalis (Indiana bat).
NATURAL AREAS: The Nature Conservancy Preserves: Bancroft Floodplain; Other: Baker Woodlot, Scott Woods, Sanford Natural Area, Red Cedar Woods, Toumey Woods, Maher Wildlife Sanctuary, Woldumar Nature Study Area.
PUBLIC LAND MANAGERS: State Game Areas: Rose Lake Wildlife Research Area, Portland, Lowell, Dansville, Mason, Flat River, Oak Grove, Maple River, Barry, Cannonsburg, Shiawassee River, Middleville; State Parks: Seven Lakes, Sleepy Hollow.
CONSERVATION CONCERNS: Because of its fertile soils this sub-subsection was cleared early for farming. Few large tracts of forest exist. The original wet prairies were also drained and farmed. Restoration would be required to develop a functional natural landscape. The least developed portion of the sub-subsection is an area of sandy, poorly drained ground moraine in Clinton and Shiawassee Counties, where there is potential for wet prairie.
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