Western Reserve Land Conservancy | Our Region: Natural Features

UNIQUE NATURAL FEATURES

We are in awe of the unique and important natural features of our great region.

The Land Conservancy serves a region of northern Ohio, which covers more than four million acres, spans 165 miles of Lake Erie shoreline, includes 14 counties and 356 distinct municipalities and is home to more than four million people.

Our region enjoys wonderfully diverse habitats, including mature forests, natural areas, prime agricultural land, and scenic landscapes within rural, semi-rural, and urban areas. We have important migratory bird flyways and significant coastal butterfly breeding habitats.

Across this diverse region, we coordinate with a diverse group of people. We work closely with farmers; people who love to fish, bird watch and explore; businesspeople; ecologists and naturalists; and government officials. We see, in large part because of the diversity of our landscapes, that the diversity of our people has remained largely intact and quite amazing. Our mission is to work with all of these people to preserve the unique features of our region’s amazing landscapes.

Water

Our Great Lake

western reserve land conservancy map The Great Lakes are the most important freshwater ecosystem on the planet, providing more than 20 percent of the world's surface fresh water supply and 95 percent of the surface fresh water in the United States. Lake Erie is the smallest and shallowest of the Great Lakes. And, because of its fertile soils, the Lake Erie watershed provides excellent agricultural land. As a result, it is the most densely populated of the five Great Lake basins. Because of the combination of agricultural land use and high population density, Lake Erie can be more susceptible to the effects of urbanization and agricultural runoff than any other of the Great Lakes. In fact, northern Ohio represents a unique confluence of urban and rural land use, where agricultural communities are often located right next to heavily populated areas.

The Lake Erie watershed is the largest watershed in northern Ohio. A watershed is an area of land that drains into alake, river or stream. As rainwater and melting snow run downhill, they carry sediment and other materials into our streams, lakes, wetlands and groundwater. Healthy watersheds are vital for a healthy environment and economy. Our watersheds provide water for drinking, irrigation, and industry. They also provide food and shelter to wildlife.

Many people also enjoy lakes and streams for recreational activities. Our lakes and rivers are home to world-class fishing, boating, and other activities that serve to strengthen our communities and our economy.

Clean, healthy water is a true asset for our region. At the Land Conservancy, we believe that preserving water quality today and for future generations is a great investment.

forests & Wetlands

...and rivers and streams

Ohio’s landscape is incredibly diverse, with amazing glacial features and mature forests, coastal areas along Lake Erie and some of the nation’s best prime agricultural soils. Across our region, glacial features and natural processes have given us diverse and rich wetland areas. These include:

Vernal pools

Vernal pools are wetlands that fill up annually, but typically dry out in the summer. Vernal pools are often small but always rich with diverse life forms. They are important and special because they improve water quality by acting as filters for rivers and streams. They also slow the flow and flooding of waters and provide excellent habitat to hundreds of important species.

Kettle holes

Kettle holes are shallow, sediment-filled bodies of water formed by retreating glaciers or draining floodwaters. Here in northern Ohio, they were formed thousands of years ago when glaciers moved out of our region and left a trail of melting ice behind. Kettle holes are a wonderful repository of specialized plant life and require very specific conditions to develop and are susceptible to any ecological changes.

Peat bogs

Peat bogs are acidic wetlands, generally with no outlet for water. Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation. Over time, sphagnum mosses grow and decay, forming layers of peat, then deep peat mounds. Peat bogs usually grow slowly, at the rate of about a millimeter per year, which is why sustainable large-scale peat extraction i s not realistic, since extraction is always faster than growth. Most modern peat bogs formed after the retreat of the glaciers at the end of the last ice age about 9,000 years ago. These areas are often habitat for rare plant and animal species that are specially adapted for life in the acidic environment of a bog. Because of their sogginess, peat bogs are able to retain and store carbon. This ability to absorb carbon dioxide can be a real gift to our environment.

Fast Facts

Ohio has lost more than 90 percent of its original wetlands over the past several centuries.
Ninety-five percent of Ohio used to be covered by forests. Forest cover dropped to just 10 percent in the early 1900s. Currently, 30 percent of the state is forested, mostly in the hill country.
More than 90 percent of all trees in Ohio are on private land
Salamanders and frogs breeding in vernal pools need the surrounding forest to survive. Most of them use an area up to 200 meters from the pond as feeding and overwintering grounds, and for this reason forest and wetland protection need to be integrated.
The distribution of species adapted to vernal pools, such as wood frogs and spotted salamanders, has decreased recently in agricultural and urban areas. It could be only a matter of time before many denizens of vernal pools are on the Ohio endangered species list.

Source: Ohio Vernal Pool Partnership

Working Farms

Our region’s farms are some of the best and most productive in the country, with prime agricultural soils.

Click here to learn more about these vital regional resources.

nature

Wildlife

In our region, there are some animals that are indicators of the quality of our water, soils, and open spaces.

Birds

Our shoreline is one of the most important stopovers for birds making their way from Canada to the South and back again. Where we have healthy open spaces, these birds will stop to rest or even to breed.

Butterflies nature

Our coastal breeding habitats are very significant. Monarch butterflies aresoparticular about where theybreed that they help us see identify places with the best ecological soils. Where we havebutterflies breeding on the coast, we know we have healthy soils.

Dragonflies

Like butterflies, dragonflies can be a great indicator of environmental health. Where we see strong dragonfly larvae growth, we know we have healthywater quality.

Click here to learn more about how you can get involved to preserve our region’s most special and important natural areas and working lands.