Ecology of Minnesota

The Ecology of Minnesota covers many plant and animal species. The mid continental location of Minnesota influences its plant and animal life. Three of North America's biomes converge in Minnesota: prairie grasslands in the southwestern and western parts of the state, the Big Woods deciduous forest of the southeast, and the northern boreal forest.cite web | title = Biomes of Minnesota | publisher = Minnesota Department of Natural Resources | url = http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/biomes/index.html | accessdate = 2006-11-13 ]

Flora

Three of North America's biomes converge in Minnesota: prairie grasslands in the southwestern and western parts of the state, the Big Woods deciduous forest of the southeast, and the northern boreal forest. The northern coniferous forests are a vast wilderness of pine and spruce trees mixed with patchy stands of birch and poplar. Much of Minnesota's northern forest has been logged, leaving only a few patches of old growth forest today in areas such as in the Chippewa National Forest and the Superior National Forest where the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness has some 400,000 acres (1,600 km²) of unlogged land.cite book | title = The Boundary Waters Wilderness Ecosystem | last = Heinselman | first = Miron | publisher = University of Minnesota Press | location = Minneapolis, Minnesota | date = 1996 |id = ISBN 0-8166-2805-X ] Although logging continues, regrowth keeps about one third of the state forested. [cite book | last = Bewer | first = Tim | title = Moon Handbooks Minnesota | publisher = Avalon Travel Publishing | year = 2004 | edition = First edition | id = ISBN 1-56691-482-5]

Fauna

While loss of habitat has affected native animals such as the pine marten, elk, and bison, [Bison disappeared in the mid 1800s; the last bison was reported in southwest Minnesota in 1879. cite book|title=Big Game in Minnesota, Technical Bulletin, no. 9|last=Moyle|first=J. B.|publisher=Minnesota Department of Conservation, Division of Game and Fish, Section of Research and Planning|year=1965|pages=p. 172 As referenced in cite book|title=Southwestern Minnesota Archaelogy|last=Anfinson|first=Scott F.|publisher=Minnesota Historical Society|location=St. Paul, Minnesota|year=1997|isbn=0-87351-355-X|pages=p. 20] whitetail deer and bobcat thrive. The state has the nation's largest population of timber wolves outside Alaska, [cite web |url= http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/NatureServe?searchName=Canis+lupus |title= Comprehensive Report Species - Canis lupus |accessdate=2007-05-07 |format= |work= ] and supports healthy populations of black bear and moose. Located on the Mississippi Flyway, Minnesota hosts migratory waterfowl such as geese and ducks, and game birds such as grouse, pheasants, and turkeys. It is home to birds of prey including the bald eagle, red-tailed hawk, and snowy owl. The lakes teem with the sport fish such as walleye, bass, muskellunge, and northern pike, and streams in the southeast are populated by brook, brown, and rainbow trout.

References