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The culmination of three decades of work by Michigan Natural Features Inventory ecologists, this essential guidebook to the natural communities of Michigan introduces the diverse terrain of a unique state. Small enough to carry in a backpack, this field guide provides a system for dividing the complex natural landscape of Michigan into easily understood and describable components called natural communities. Providing a new way to explore Michigan’s many environments, this book details natural communities ranging from patterned fen to volcanic bedrock glade and beyond. The descriptions are supplemented with distribution maps, vibrant photographs, and comprehensive lists of characteristic plant species. The authors suggest places to visit to further study each type of natural community and provide a comprehensive glossary of ecological terms, as well as a dichotomous key for aiding field identification. An invaluable resource, this book is meant to serve as a tool for those seeking to understand, describe, document, conserve, and restore the diversity of natural communities native to Michigan.

Discover Michigan’s rich ecological diversity with this indispensable field guide. Updated to reflect a decade of additional ecological surveys, continued learning, and new scientific discoveries, the second edition of A Field Guide to the Natural Communitiesof Michigan incorporates the latest understanding of the state’s natural landscapes. This revised edition adds three newly recognized natural community types; updates scientific nomenclature, photographs, distribution maps, species lists, and community descriptions; and refines the dichotomous keys to make field identification more accessible than ever. Drawing on more than four decades of intensive research by ecologists at the Michigan Natural Features Inventory, this essential guidebook introduces readers to Michigan’s remarkable ecological biodiversity.  Compact enough to carry in a backpack, this field guide provides a practical framework for dividing Michigan’s complex natural landscape into easily understood and describable components called natural communities. Providing an enlightening way to explore Michigan’s many environments, this book details natural communities ranging from patterned fen to volcanic bedrock glade and beyond. The descriptions are supplemented with distribution maps, vibrant photographs, and comprehensive lists of characteristic plant species. The authors suggest places to visit to further study each natural community type and provide a comprehensive glossary of ecological terms, as well as dichotomous keys for aiding on-site classification. An invaluable resource, this book is meant to serve as a tool for those seeking to understand, describe, document, conserve, and restore the diversity of natural communities native to Michigan.