Nezewabegon Barrens

Place

Coordinates

45.7244° N, 85.6720° WGoogle Maps: Nezewabegon BarrensDownload KML

Eras

Modern era

Concepts

environmentgeologysoilsdunesforeststreesvegetationplantsconservationstewardshipinvasive-species

Within

High Island

Summary

Nezewabegon Barrens is a source-defined 19-acre Great Lakes barrens occurrence on High Island (MNFI EO 20454, rank AB, G3/S2; Report 2017-11, pp. 53–54). The barrens occupies a small dune field between low foredune and sand/gravel beach or limestone cobble shore, with dry-mesic, boreal, and mesic northern forest inland.

The coordinate is the containing High Island locator, not the occurrence boundary or centroid. The MNFI occurrence is not a current legal boundary, ownership determination, or complete survey of High Island.

Ecological profile

The coastal dunes formed from glacial sediment reworked by streams and waves, then transported inland by strong winds. The barrens’ wind-blown and wave-worked dune sands are alkaline, about pH 8.0, with shallow 1–2-centimeter slightly acidic organic layers around pH 6.5–6.7 in places. The site is stable enough for trees to establish while retaining open barrens structure.

The scattered canopy includes white pine, red pine, northern white-cedar, white spruce, red oak, paper birch, and balsam fir. A cored 28.8-centimeter red pine was estimated at 53 years old. Canopy closure is generally 10–25 percent and increases inland; many trees are open-grown with broad, sprawling branches. The understory includes white pine, cedar, spruce, trembling aspen, paper birch, serviceberry, and choke cherry. Common juniper and bearberry dominate the dense low-shrub layer, with creeping juniper, sand cherry, soapberry, red-osier dogwood, choke cherry, and yew.

The sparse to patchy ground layer includes wormwood, starry false Solomon’s seal, white camas, little bluestem, plains puccoon, wild strawberry, silverweed, sand reed grass, marram grass, wheat grass, common milkweed, and bastard-toadflax. Pitcher’s thistle and Lake Huron tansy occur locally and are state-threatened plants.

MNFI identifies invasive plants as a threat, including mossy stonecrop, narrow-leaved cattail, invasive common reed, and white sweet-clover along the nearby shoreline. Its recommendations are to allow natural processes, remove clusters of non-native plants within the barrens and adjacent shore, and monitor both areas for invasion. These observations do not establish current plant occupancy, treatment success, or present barrens geometry.

Added 3 August 2026 · revised 6 August 2026. Recent changes