The Great Lakes Coastal Region incorporates the Lake Michigan and Lake Superior coastal ecological landscapes. The biological makeup of these coastal landscapes is largely influenced by the climatic affects of the Great Lakes system. In the coastal landscapes, summers are cooler, winters warmer and precipitation levels greater than at locations farther inland. The dolomite Niagara Escarpment is the major bedrock feature, running across the entire landscape from northeast to southwest. Series of dolomite cliffs provide critical habitat for rare terrestrial snails, bats and specialized plants. Sand spits are a striking feature of the Lake Superior shoreline, typically separating the waters of the lake from inland lagoons and wetlands. The spits support rare and highly threatened natural communities such as beaches, dunes, wetlands and pine barrens, and these in turn are inhabited by specially adapted plants and animals. The mouths of many of the streams entering Lake Superior are submerged, creating freshwater estuaries.

The Kohler Park Dunes State Natural Area along Lake Michigan.

Representative Sites

• 1. Chiwaukee Prairie
• 2. Cedarburg Bog
• 3. Moonlight Bay Bedroc Beach
• 5. Bark Bay Slough
• 13. Tellock's Hill Woods