Southern Lake Michigan Coastal Landscape

Map showing the Southern Lake Michigan Coastal Ecological Landscape

General Description

The Southern Lake Michigan Coastal Ecological Landscape is located in the southeastern corner of Wisconsin along Lake Michigan. The landforms in this Ecological Landscape are characteristic of glacial lake influence, with ridge and swale topography, clay bluffs, and lake plain along Lake Michigan. Further inland, ground moraine is the dominant landform. Soils typically have a silt-loam surface overlying loamy and clayey tills.

Vegetation

The historic vegetation in the northern part of this Ecological Landscape was dominated by sugar maple-basswood-beech forests with some oak while the southern part was dominated by oak forest, oak savanna and prairies. Wet, wet-mesic, and lake plain prairies were common in this area. Black ash and relict cedar and tamarack swamps were found in this Ecological Landscape. Today, most of the area is dominated by dairy and cash grain agriculture and intense urban development. Only about 8% of the Ecological Landscape is forested. Maple-beech forests are about half of the remaining forest types with the remainder split equally between oak-hickory and lowland hardwood forest types. There are some areas of wet-mesic and wet prairie but only small preserves remain since the landscape is heavily disturbed and fragmented. Because of this isolation, fragmentation, and high level of disturbance, non-native plants are abundant.

Hydrologic Features

Several rivers cross the Ecological Landscape near Lake Michigan including the Root, Des Plaines, and Pike. The Lake Michigan shoreline is an important ecological area, especially for migratory birds. The watersheds, streams, and lakes of this Ecological Landscape rank as the third most polluted, according to rankings by the Wisconsin DNR.

Land Use

The total land area for the Southern Lake Michigan Coastal Ecological Landscape is 539,824 acres. It has the lowest percent acreage in timberland (8%) of all the Ecological Landscapes. Only 1% is public land.

Socioeconomics

Socioeconomic data are summarized based on county-level approximations of the Ecological Landscape (referred to as a "region"). Economic data are available only on a political unit basis with counties as the smallest unit. The counties included in this socioeconomic region are Kenosha, Milwaukee and Racine ("Southern Lake Michigan Coastal Region"). The counties of the Southern Lake Michigan Coastal Region are highly urbanized. In spite of this, they have very productive agriculture on farms that are comparatively smaller than the other regions. This region is fourth in total market value of agricultural products and leads in market value per acre of farmland. Unfortunately, the amount of farmland is decreasing rapidly. The region has the highest percentage of farmland sold and diverted to other uses, primarily residential construction. As with agricultural lands, a fairly high percentage of forest land is sold and diverted to other uses each year. The region has low acreage in inland water bodies, as well as the second lowest number of fishery and wildlife areas. Per capita water use is very high in this region. The Southern Lake Michigan Coastal Region stands out from the other regions for several socioeconomic indicators, especially population attributes and income. Among all the regions, it has the highest population density but has lost the largest percentage of its population since 1970, especially in Milwaukee County. The population density (1,655 persons/ sq. mile) is much higher than that of the state as a whole (96 persons/ sq. mile). It has the highest percentage of people under 18 and the second lowest median age. The population of nonwhites, especially African American and Hispanic, is higher in this region than elsewhere in the state. Economically, the Southern Lake Michigan Coastal Region is prosperous for most people. Although the average wage is the highest in the state, the per capita income second highest, and the unemployment rates relatively low, the rates of poverty, especially for children, are quite high. In terms of job distribution, the service sector provides more jobs than in any other region. The relative importance of the agriculture and government sector is close to the lowest of all the regions.

For any questions regarding the maps presented on this site or the "DNR Ecological Landscapes of Wisconsin" handbook, please contact Jeff Schimpff at Jeff.Schimpff@wisconsin.gov. Suggested Citation for Handbook: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. In Prep. DRAFT Ecological Landscapes of Wisconsin. State of Wisconsin, Dept. of Nat. Resources, Handbook. 1805.1. Madison, WI.

Last Revised: Thursday February 08 2006