Grass River Natural Area: Exploring a Fragile, Diverse World

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Imagine a habitat that was so fragile, so sensitive to human disturbance, that minor impacts could remain visible for months on end. Something as simple as walking along the substrate could leave footprints impressed into the landscape that may not dissipate for weeks. Now imagine that this location is also full of biodiversity, a place that countless different species of all different types call home. You might assume that such a place would be off-limits to people due to the potential for lasting damage to the ecosystem. However, Grass River Natural Area bucks that assumption in favor of providing the general public an intimate window into the composition and beauty of such an ecosystem, and while doing so, continues to ensure that the integrity of the landscape is preserved as much as possible.

Although partially obscured by grass and trees, the bumpy, unstable nature of the substrate is on display. Photo by me, June 2, 2022.


Grass River Natural Area is home to a habitat known as a rich conifer swamp, which is characterized by the dominance of northern white cedars (Thuja occidentalis) growing on a rich organic substrate interlaced with peat moss (genus Sphagnum). The foundation of this ecosystem is the mineral-rich, cold groundwater that’s constantly flowing through the soil, providing a consistent source of moisture for everything living in the area. This, combined with condensation from upland cold air draining down every night, sustains the habitat’s abundant communities of moss, which is itself a driver of the area’s natural processes. In particular, the moss’ insulation allows ice to remain within the soil late into the year, sometimes even up to June or July, but it also has the opposite effect of delaying the freezing of soils, sometimes up until February. This leads to a short, cool, humid growing season and a milder, more even winter than the surrounding landscape, providing conditions unique to the region. This uniqueness is compounded by the structure of the cedars that dominate the habitat, with seasonal water fluctuations leading to the trees sometimes elevating their roots in a mat above the moss carpet, creating a varied microtopography that can contain an abundance of microhabitats. Finally, this shallow root system makes these trees susceptible to windthrow damage, leading to an even greater abundance of microhabitats when tip-up mounds and abandoned root pits are formed, or when woody debris is deposited (MSU, 2018).


Example of a cedar at Grass River Natural Area. Photo by me, June 2, 2022.


This variety of microhabitats and microtopography naturally leads to an abundance of organisms that are suited to inhabit these diverse conditions. Just in our short visit to the site, we were able to come across a vast assemblage of creatures, including (but not nearly limited to) watersnakes (suborder Serpentes), bumblebees (genus Bombus), lady beetles (family Coccinellidae), dragonflies (suborder Epiprocta), a lace bug (family Tingidae), a mayfly (order Ephemeroptera), a caddisfly (order Trichoptera), a swallowtail (family Papilionidae), a possible eagle (family Accipitridae), and even a possible otter (subfamily Lutrinae). The otter is an extremely notable find, as they’re an indicator species that, due to biomagnification, can only tolerate healthy waters, meaning that the efforts of protection at this site are very likely successful. This was just a sampling of the biodiversity we saw, however, and the richness of this area has been confirmed by other means as well. For example, a scientific study, conducted in 2017, found a great diversity of beetle species present in the natural area, with 400 species concretely identified, 18 of which had never been reported in Michigan before, and 1000 estimated to be present (GRNA, 2018; Haack & Ruesink, 2020).


Possible sighting of an otter at Grass River Natural Area. Photo by Matthew Brown, June 2, 2022.


With all of this biodiversity, it would make sense to argue that Grass River should be a totally closed off reserve dedicated solely to preserving nature as it is without any potential human interference. However, the natural area strives to be, “an outdoor, living laboratory to explore and learn,” so it is a place that welcomes visitation. This of course doesn’t mean they leave nature to the whims of human activity, as they take steps to ensure as little damage is done as possible. The most clear example of this, and one unique within our site visits, was the use of boardwalks over the conifer swamp. As was mentioned towards the beginning, the substrate of such a habitat is susceptible to human disturbance, with imprints on the natural beauty persisting long after they’ve been made. The work to put in boardwalks ensures visitors don’t trample on the pristine environment around them, and the placement of many rest and viewing areas eliminates nearly any temptation to leave the trail for any reason. Not only this, but the boardwalks also ensure human safety against uneven surfaces, a shifting water table, or muckiness that could threaten to trip people up. Therefore, evident in the mission and practice of Grass River Natural Area is a consistent effort to protect both nature and people, promoting coexistence between the two in an ecosystem with so much to offer and so much to lose.


Examples of the structures provided to protect both nature and people. Photo by me, June 2, 2022.





Works Cited

Haack, R. A., & Ruesink, B. (2020). Coleoptera Collected Using Three Trapping Methods at Grass River Natural Area, Antrim County, Michigan. The Great Lakes Entomologist, 53, 138–169. https://doi.org/https://scholar.valpo.edu/tgle/vol53/iss2/9/ 


Hiking trails, nature trails, classes, programs, boardwalks: Grass River Natural Area, Bellaire, MI, Antrim County. Grass River Natural Area (GRNA). (2018). Retrieved June 3, 2022, from https://www.grassriver.org/ 


Michigan State University (MSU). (2018). Rich Conifer Swamp. Michigan Natural Features Inventory. Retrieved June 3, 2022, from https://mnfi.anr.msu.edu/communities/description/10652/rich-conifer-swamp

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