Other Biological Features
In spite of massive land conversion, pollution, and exotic species invasion,
the Great Lakes basin contains a wealth of unique biological features. The
Nature Conservancy, using state agency data, identified occurrences of
some 131 globally rare species and natural community types in the basin.31
Sixty-one of these have the global distribution limited to or predominantly
within the basin. The vast majority of these globally significant features are
supported by the basin’s hydrologic regime.