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Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness
The Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness is a listed wilderness area within the Manistee National Forest. It is located north of Ludington, Michigan, and is best known for its 4 miles (6.4 km) of undeveloped Lake Michigan shoreline. Geology The lake levels of the upper Great Lakes have fluctuated sharply over the past 4,000 years, with a temporary high-water mark, the Nipssing stage, achieved about 3,500 years before the present. During the Nipissing stage, Lake Huron and Lake Michigan were interconnected as they are today, but the two lakes brimmed over with fresh water 605 feet (184 m) above sea level. As the lakes fell back toward their current level of 580 feet (177 m) above sea level, large quantities of sand were exposed. Subsequent work by lake-effect winds shaped this exposed sand into sand dunes. The Lake Michigan sand-dune shoreline around Big Sable Point was reshaped into the Big Sable Dunes complex, a 6,270-acre (25.4 km²) area of sandy hills, dunal moraines, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mason County, Michigan
Mason County is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 29,052. The county seat is Ludington. Mason County comprises the Ludington, MI Micropolitan Statistical Area. History The county is named for Stevens T. Mason, Governor of Michigan from 1835 to 1840. It was created by the Michigan Legislature in 1840 as Notipekago County, then renamed Mason County in 1843. The county was administered by Ottawa County prior to the organization of county government in 1855. Mason County, does not have an official flag. Geography According to the US Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (60%) is water. Major highways * – runs east–west through central part of county. Runs from Ludington through Amber, Scottville, Custer, and Branch. * – enters Mason County at 2 miles (3.2 km) east of SW corner; runs north to intersect US-10 near Ludington. Runs concurrent with US-10 east for 5 miles (8&nb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ludington State Park
Ludington State Park is a public recreation area located two miles north of Ludington, Michigan, occupying between the shores of Lake Michigan and Hamlin Lake. The state park is crossed by a one-mile stretch of the Big Sable River and is home to the Big Sable Point Lighthouse, which dates from 1876. Ecology The state park encompasses multiple ecosystems including sand dune, forest, wetlands, and marshlands. The park contains the southern 2,820 acres (11.4 km²) of the Big Sable Dunes complex, with the Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness, immediately north of the park, preserving the northern half of the complex. History The park began through the efforts of the Isaac Walton League to have 800 acres held by the federal government as a lighthouse preserve transferred to the state of Michigan for the purpose of creating a state park. The park was established in 1927 after the U.S. Congress authorized the transfer. During the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps was active in the pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Threatened Species
Threatened species are any species (including animals, plants and fungi) which are vulnerable to endangerment in the near future. Species that are threatened are sometimes characterised by the population dynamics measure of ''critical depensation'', a mathematical measure of biomass related to population growth rate. This quantitative metric is one method of evaluating the degree of endangerment. IUCN definition The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is the foremost authority on threatened species, and treats threatened species not as a single category, but as a group of three categories, depending on the degree to which they are threatened: *Vulnerable species *Endangered species * Critically endangered species Less-than-threatened categories are near threatened, least concern, and the no longer assigned category of conservation dependent. Species which have not been evaluated (NE), or do not have sufficient data ( data deficient) also are not considered ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pitcher's Thistle
''Cirsium pitcheri'', sometimes called Pitcher's thistle or dune thistle, is a species of thistle native to sand dune shorelines along the upper Great Lakes. It is native to Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Ontario. It is listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a threatened species. Description Pitcher's thistle is a plant of modest appearance through much of its lifespan; it concentrates most of its biomass in a massive taproot that can be 6 feet (2 m) in length. Its long, narrow, gray-green leaves are protected by spines and dense, silvery hairs. Between 2 and 8 years after germination, the juvenile thistle abruptly matures and sends forth a flower stalk of 100 cm (40 inches) or more in height. At the top of the blooming shoot is a spectacular effusive flower head, ranging in color from creamy white to very light pink, and guarded by spines. Some individuals may be quite bushy, and produce numerous flowering heads. Usually at least 5 years are requ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jack Pine
Jack pine (''Pinus banksiana'') is an eastern North American pine. Its native range in Canada is east of the Rocky Mountains from the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories to Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, and the north-central and northeast of the United States from Minnesota to Maine, with the southernmost part of the range just into northwest Indiana and northwest Pennsylvania. It is also known as grey pine and scrub pine. In the far west of its range, ''Pinus banksiana'' hybridizes readily with the closely related lodgepole pine (''Pinus contorta''). The species epithet ''banksiana'' is after the English botanist Sir Joseph Banks. Description ''Pinus banksiana'' ranges from in height. Some jack pines are shrub-sized, due to poor growing conditions. They do not usually grow perfectly straight, resulting in an irregular shape similar to pitch pine (''Pinus rigida''). This pine often forms pure stands on sandy or rocky soil. It is fire-adapted to stand- ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Juniper
Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arctic, south to tropical Africa, throughout parts of West Asia, western, Central Asia, central and South Asia, southern Asia, east to eastern Tibet in the Old World, and in the mountains of Central America. The highest-known juniper forest occurs at an altitude of in southeastern Tibet and the northern Himalayas, creating one of the highest tree lines on earth. Description Junipers vary in size and shape from tall trees, tall, to columnar or low-spreading shrubs with long, trailing branches. They are evergreen with needle-like and/or scale-like leaves. They can be either monoecious or dioecious. The female Conifer cone, seed cones are very distinctive, with fleshy, fruit-like coalescing scales which fuse together to form Juniper berry, a&n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pitchers Thistle Epa
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the pitcher is assigned the number 1. The pitcher is often considered the most important player on the defensive side of the game, and as such is situated at the right end of the defensive spectrum. There are many different types of pitchers, such as the starting pitcher, relief pitcher, middle reliever, left-handed specialist, lefty specialist, setup man, and the closing pitcher, closer. Traditionally, the pitcher also bats. Starting in 1973 with the American League(and later the National League) and spreading to further leagues throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the hitting duties of the pitcher have generally been given over to the position of designated hitter, a cause of som ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eastern White Pine
''Pinus strobus'', commonly called the eastern white pine, northern white pine, white pine, Weymouth pine (British), and soft pine is a large pine native to eastern North America. It occurs from Newfoundland, Canada west through the Great Lakes region to southeastern Manitoba and Minnesota, United States, and south along the Appalachian Mountains and upper Piedmont to northernmost Georgia and perhaps very rarely in some of the higher elevations in northeastern Alabama. It is considered rare in Indiana. The Native American Haudenosaunee named it the "Tree of Peace". It is known as the "Weymouth pine" in the United Kingdom, after Captain George Weymouth of the British Royal Navy, who brought its seeds to England from Maine in 1605. Distribution ''P. strobus'' is found in the nearctic temperate broadleaf and mixed forests biome of eastern North America. It prefers well-drained or sandy soils and humid climates, but can also grow in boggy areas and rocky highlands. In mixed f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Pine
''Pinus resinosa'', known as red pine (also Norway pine in Minnesota), is a pine native to North America. Description Red pine is a coniferous evergreen tree characterized by tall, straight growth. It usually ranges from in height and in trunk diameter, exceptionally reaching tall. The crown is conical, becoming a narrow rounded dome with age. The bark is thick and gray-brown at the base of the tree, but thin, flaky and bright orange-red in the upper crown; the tree's name derives from this distinctive character. Some red color may be seen in the fissures of the bark. The species is self pruning; there tend not to be dead branches on the trees, and older trees may have very long lengths of branchless trunk below the canopy. The leaves are needle-like, dark yellow-green, in fascicles of two, long, and brittle. The leaves snap cleanly when bent; this character, stated as diagnostic for red pine in some texts, is however shared by several other pine species. The cones are sym ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White Oak
The genus ''Quercus'' contains about 500 species, some of which are listed here. The genus, as is the case with many large genera, is divided into subgenera and sections. Traditionally, the genus ''Quercus'' was divided into the two subgenera ''Cyclobalanopsis'', the ring-cupped oaks, and ''Quercus'', which included all the other sections. However, a comprehensive revision in 2017 identified different relationships. Now the genus is commonly divided into a subgenus ''Quercus'' and a sugenus ''Cerris'', with ''Cyclobalanopsis'' included in the latter. The sections of subgenus ''Quercus'' are mostly native to the New World, with the notable exception of the white oaks of sect. ''Quercus'' and the endemic Quercus pontica. In contrast, the sections of the subgenus ''Cerris'' are exclusively native to the Old World. Legend Species with evergreen foliage ("live oaks") are tagged '#'. Species in the genus have been recategorized between deciduous and evergreen on numerous occasions, alt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quercus Rubra
''Quercus rubra'', the northern red oak, is an oak tree in the red oak group (''Quercus'' section ''Lobatae''). It is a native of North America, in the eastern and central United States and southeast and south-central Canada. It has been introduced to small areas in Western Europe, where it can frequently be seen cultivated in gardens and parks. It prefers good soil that is slightly acidic. Often simply called red oak, northern red oak is so named to distinguish it from southern red oak (''Q. falcata''), also known as the Spanish oak. Northern Red Oak is sometimes called champion oak. Description In many forests, this deciduous tree grows straight and tall, to , exceptionally to tall, with a trunk of up to in diameter. Open-grown trees do not get as tall, but can develop a stouter trunk, up to in diameter. It has stout branches growing at right angles to the stem, forming a narrow round-topped head. Under optimal conditions and full sun, northern red oak is fast growing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acer Saccharum
''Acer saccharum'', the sugar maple, is a species of flowering plant in the soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is native to the hardwood forests of eastern Canada and eastern United States. Sugar maple is best known for being the primary source of maple syrup and for its brightly colored fall foliage. It may also be known as "rock maple", "sugar tree", "birds-eye maple", "sweet maple", "curly maple", or "hard maple", particularly when referring to the wood. Description ''Acer saccharum'' is a deciduous tree normally reaching heights of , and exceptionally up to . A 10-year-old tree is typically about tall. As with most trees, forest-grown sugar maples form a much taller trunk and narrower canopy than open-growth ones. The leaves are deciduous, up to long and wide, palmate, with five lobes and borne in opposite pairs. The basal lobes are relatively small, while the upper lobes are larger and deeply notched. In contrast with the angular notching of the silver mapl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
_(27)_(17008356190).jpg "Click for more on -> Quercus Rubra")
