AN ECOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF THE MARCKWALD PROPERTY IN SECTION 19 T 29 N - R 10W, PENINSULA TOWNSHIP, GRAND TRAVERSE COUNTY, MICHIGAN

Abstract

The following inventory of the fauna and flora of the Marckwald property near Neahtawanta Point was undertaken at the request of the owner and her attorney James M. Olson, and was begun in late August, 1989. The purpose of the inventory was for use in the preparation of a proposal to establish a conservation easement on the property. The field work for this report was conducted on two occasions; the first observation was made on Thursday, August 24, 1989, and the second visit was made on September 12, 1989. The author was accompanied by the owner and several of her family members on the first visits. On each of these occasions plants were identified on sight, and several specimens were collected for laboratory identification by microscope. It should be noted that at the time this assessment was commissioned in late summer, many flowering plants had finished blooming. Consequently, some identifications of such species were based on vegetative parts, seeds, and in some cases on the author’s prior knowledge of this property in the spring. The assessment of wildlife present on the property is based upon the actual evidence seen on the site, and the author's considerable prior experience and knowledge of this area of the Old Mission Peninsula.