Tuesday, September 6, 2022 - 1:45pm -2:00pm
Presented by: - Chel Anderson, Botanist, Plant & Forest Ecologist, Author and Retired, MN Biological Survey
- Michael Lee, Botanist & Plant Ecologist MN Biological Survey
- Fred Harris, Botanist & Plant Ecologist, MN Biological Survey
Abstract: A Quick Tour of Minnesota‘s Natural Diversity At the intersection of the Canadian Shield and the Interior Plains, Minnesota straddles the extreme edge
s of three major North American biomes: the Great Plains, the Eastern Deciduous Forest, and the Boreal Forest. Minnesota hosts a broad diversity of native landscapes, which range from open prairie grasslands in the state‘s southwest, to deciduous forests and savannas along a broad transition zone in the central and southeastern parts of the state, to the conifer-dominated boreal forest in the northeast like those found in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, the most visited wilderness area in the nation. Water plays a key role in much of the state‘s biodiversity. This includes the most extensive peatlands in the continental United States, tens of thousands of freshwater lakes, a major portion of the shoreline of one of the world‘s largest lakes, Superior, and the upper reaches of one of the world‘s largest rivers, the Mississippi. Three biologists who spent decades cataloguing the state‘s natural heritage will give you an introduction to Minnesota‘s wild landscapes, with a somewhat deeper focus on the Superior Highlands, where we find ourselves gathered today.