Integration Day 2: Summary

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Our integration day began at around seven in the morning, at which point we partook of a quick breakfast and packed our sack lunches for the day. Following our departure from the Au Sable campus, we traveled south-west for about ninety minutes, with only a brief stop at a nearby rest area.


Eventually, we wound up at Pete’s Woods, a portion of the greater Arcadia Dunes Nature Preserve. It is about one hundred and forty acres in size and features a single enclosed trail loop that stretches about one and a half miles.1 Upon arrival, we were treated to a discussion concerning the preserve’s origins, as well as its legal functionality as opposed to federal reserves. Of particular interest was the concept of a “conservation easement,” which, according to the North American Land Trust, is “a legally binding agreement wherein a landowner donates certain development rights associated with the land to a land trust.”2 In essence, the Arcadia Dunes Nature Preserve consists of land owned by private individuals who have yielded their right to develop it any further than it currently is. Pete’s Woods is one such place, and it is particularly rich in botanical diversity. Among other things along the trail, we observed Columbine, Woodferns, Solomon’s Seal (and False Solomon’s Seal), and Jack-in-the-Pulpit.

We noticed that most of the canopy was composed of Sugar Maples, although various other trees, such as American Beech and a few Dogwoods, could also be observed.

For my part, while there were a number of invertebrates present within the woods, such as snails and spiders, the entire thing seemed positively teeming with flies of all kinds, most notably crane flies. This struck me as rather interesting, and it turns out that there is a reason for their prevalence: their larvae spend most of their time feeding on dead and decaying organic matter.3 Needless to say, such material is thoroughly abundant in a thriving deciduous forest, and it would thus be stranger if crane flies were not present in large quantities. We also saw various fungi growing amidst the dead trees on the forest floor, as well as such insects as shield bugs, moths, and small parasitoid wasps.

  

Upon our departure, we went further west and a bit north to arrive at Baldy Dune, whereupon we ate our lunch on an overlook above Lake Michigan. From there, we walked a small portion of the Overlook Trail, which took us to a moraine of glacial till.


This area veered steeply towards the lake below, and we spent some time there hearing about the moraines, the glacial rocks that compose them, and the role that aesthetic beauty plays in incentivizing conservation.

From there, we wandered off to hear ourselves think. I myself climbed to the top of the dune on which we stood – at least so far as I could tell.

There, I observed several spiders sheltering in milkweed plants, bumblebees feeding on nearby flowers, and, of course, copious amounts of midges.

Although midges were abundant all throughout the dunes, they seemed to increase dramatically in density the further up and into the foliage I went. The dunes in general seemed rich in plant life, something that is evidently attributable largely to the unique layout of the region. Such things as Barberry, Crawling Juniper, and Grapevines could be frequently observed.

The aforementioned Milkweed could be seen scattered throughout, as well as the rare Pitcher’s Thistle. Eventually, we headed back for the vans at around three in the afternoon, taking a different route along the Overlook Trail than we had used to arrive.

We left shortly thereafter, briefly stopping once again for at a rest stop before making the rest of the way back to campus.



 

Bibliography: 

  1. Dreeszen, Paula. “Botanical Field Guide for Pete’s Woods at Arcadia Dunes.” Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy, May 7, 2020. https://www.gtrlc.org/field-guides/botanical-field-guide-petes-woods-at-arcadia-dunes/. 

  1. “Services – North American Land Trust.” n.d. northamericanlandtrust.org. Accessed May 29, 2024. https://northamericanlandtrust.org/services/.  

  1. “Crane Fly.” n.d. Field Guide to Common Texas Insects. https://texasinsects.tamu.edu/crane-fly/.  

 

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