Floristic quality and site assessment of Inverness Mud Lake Bog in Cheboygan County, Michigan

Abstract

Nature conservancy organizations need a standard by which to compare sites in order to protect those with more significance. Mud Lake Bog in Cheboygan County, Michigan is a protected natural reserve. Mud Lake Bog hosts a wide variety of naturally-occurring floral zones that delineate the sequence of wetland regions surrounding the central lake. We divided Mud Lake Bog into three regions: Cedar Swamp, Spruce Muskeg, and Sphagnum mat. In each of these areas we inventoried all the flora species we found. This inventory was collected along a transect extending through all three areas and then in the area surrounding the transect. We then performed a floristic quality assessment on the inventory to assess plant diversity and floristic condition of the entire studied site. We found that Mud Lake Bog has high floristic quality index rating inferring a status very similar to pre-European settlement.