The Mammals of Warren Woods, Berrien County, Michigan: Occasional Paper of the Museum of Zoology, Number 86Dice, Lee R. (Lee Raymond)
Science
The Mammals of Warren Woods, Berrien County, Michigan: Occasional Paper of the Museum of Zoology, Number 86
Dice, Lee R. (Lee Raymond)
Mammals -- Michigan -- Berrien County
Produced by Larry B. Harrison and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
NUMBER 86 JUNE 24, 1920
OCCASIONAL PAPERS OF THE MUSEUM OF
ZOOLOGY
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY
THE MAMMALS OF WARREN WOODS, BERRIEN COUNTY, MICHIGAN
BY LEE RAYMOND DICE
Few detailed studies of the mammal associations of the forests of the
United States have been made. But if we are ever to know, for our
different species of mammals, the natural environments under which
their evolution and differentiation occurred, we must study and
describe their habitats and habitat limitations before all the native
areas in the country have been altered by the activities of mankind.
As a contribution to this subject the following paper is presented.
The Warren Woods are a state preserve under the Edward K. Warren
Foundation. They are located in Berrien County, Michigan, about three
miles north of Three Oaks. The preserve consists of about two hundred
acres, of which somewhat less than half is in clearing and the
remainder mostly covered by forest, much of it still nearly in its
primitive condition.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--Sketch map of Warren Woods Preserve. The
distribution of the various mammal habitats is indicated.]
The topography is nearly level, though the area is cut by a number of
ravines draining to the Galien River, which flows through the
preserve. Along the river and in its bends there are moderate-sized
flood-plains.
On the flood-plains a few small buttonbush swamps occur; and along the
margins of the river a few freshly formed mud bars have not yet become
forested; but most of the flood-plains are covered by heavy forest.
The higher ground, except that in the clearing, is covered by heavy
beech-maple forest.
Several types of habitats are represented in the clearing: in a few of
the cleared ravines a thick growth of sedges and iris occurs; on the
higher ground small areas are dominated by rushes, other areas by
sedges, while the greater part is covered by grass. In parts of the
clearing blackberries and other shrubs have grown up to form thickets,
and in many places, especially along the edges of ravines,
second-growth trees of oak, maple, or beech grow in the thickets or
form small groves.
The mammal habitats found on the preserve may be listed as follows:
_Natural habitats_
Aquatic habitat
Buttonbush-swamp habitat
Shore habitat
Mud-bar herbage habitat
Flood-plain forest habitat
Beech-maple forest habitat
Aerial habitat
_Modified and artificial habitats_
Second-growth, forest and scrub habitat
Cleared-ravine sedge habitat
Cleared-upland rush habitat
Cleared-upland sedge habitat
Cleared-upland blue-grass habitat
Cultivated field habitat
Orchard habitat
Edificarian habitat
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account