Tiffin River at Goll Woods State Nature Preserve in Ohio

The Oak Openings Region is a globally rare ecosystem composed of over of Michigan and Ohio. The land consists largely of oak savanna and grassland prairie. It is considered by

The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, United States. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in ...

as having a similar ecological importance as the

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

Everglades The Everglades is a natural region of flooded grasslands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orlando with the K ...

and is one of the 200 "Last Great Places on Earth". This unique area was formed after the last ice age when the continental

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

melted leaving behind a large lake called Lake Warren. Over time, this lake was gradually reduced to present day

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

and left behind a large tract of sandy soil to the west. The area was frequented by

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

s that only the thick-barked oak trees could survive. When pioneers arrived after first crossing through the Great Black Swamp they called the area the "Oak Openings" as a comparison to the thick swamp. Today, the Oak Openings Preserve Metropark is the largest intact piece of mostly dry savanna remaining. The largest sections of swamp and savanna, are in the hands of citizens Goll Woods State Nature Preserve also protects a small area of Oak Openings.Goll Woods Walking Guide
OhioDNR.gov. Retrieved 29 March 2016

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Further reading