Ecology

Historical Vegetation

Although historical inventories of the Oak Openings Region are scarce, the map The Vegetation of the Oak Openings of Northwest Ohio at the Time of Euro-American Settlement (Brewer, Vankat and Walser, Figure 3,1993) provides a plausible estimate. Compiled from survey records obtained from 1817 -1832, this map indicates the region was a mosaic of vegetation types, often influenced by topography. It is important to note that although Brewer’s map and Edwin Moseley’s map from 1928 delineate the same general region, Brewer’s area is over 50 square miles larger. This is likely because by 1928 a significant portion of the area that the surveyors had noted as “savanna” had already been modified. Read more…