A complex interplay of disturbance factors has shaped the patterning of ecosystems across Grand Island. In 2023, Michigan Natural Features Inventory launched a three-year effort to survey islands in Lake Superior. In this presentation, we will provide an overview of our ecological surveys of Grand Island, a National Recreation Area managed by the Hiawatha National Forest, a key partner for this endeavor. We will describe our methods for prioritizing surveys in the ecologically most significant places and how we employ the latest technology to inform this process. The presentation will offer a glimpse of the ecological splendor of Grand Island including the mind-boggling vertical gardens of the sandstone lakeshore cliffs, the majestic old-growth forests, and the amazing complexity of the tombolo. We will conclude the presentation with lessons learned from our intensive island experience.
Tuesday, January 30th, 2024
3:10 pm - 4:10 pm
Presenters
Joshua CohenMichigan Natural Features Inventory
| Joshua Cohen has worked for the past 24 years as an ecologist with Michigan Natural Features Inventory. His primary duties involve refining and revising the natural community classification through ecological inventory and sampling, literature research, and data analysis. He is responsible for classifying conservation targets and prioritizing areas for conservation and restoration; creating and delivering biodiversity and ecosystem management trainings; and designing and conducting vegetative sampling, ecological mapping and modeling, monitoring, and surveys for natural communities and rare species. Cohen is the lead author of A Field Guide to the Natural Communities of Michigan and a recent article in Diversity entitled “Assessing the Ecological Need for Prescribed Fire in Michigan Using GIS-Based Multicriteria Decision Analysis: Igniting Fire Gaps”. His presentation focuses on recent ecological surveys of Grand Island, an island befitting of its name. |
Jesse LincolnMichigan Natural Features Inventory
Jesse has spent 14 seasons as an ecologist at Michigan Natural Features Inventory. The work takes him all over the state to some of our most unique and intact natural places. It is a perspective not always available to most people and he enjoys sharing images and lessons learned from our wildest places.
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