Eastern Great Lakes and Hudson Lowlands (ecoregion)

The Eastern Great Lakes and Hudson Lowlands region extends along the south shores of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River to Lake Champlain, and south down the Hudson River. It is primarily within the state of New York. In the north it meets the Mixedwood Plains Ecozone of Canada. It is mostly temperate deciduous forest and agricultural land.

It is one of the 104 Level III ecoregions that occur within the United States, and one of the 35 that comprise the Eastern Temperate Forest Level 1 Ecoregion. This classification system was developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

This region was glaciated during the last ice age, and contains prominent glacial features including till and drumlins, as well as the valleys containing the Finger Lakes. Part of the area was covered by Glacial Lake Iroquois, while regions further to the east were flooded under the Champlain Sea. At one point during the melting of the glaciers, the Great Lakes drained down the Hudson River to the Atlantic Ocean.

This area is mostly temperate deciduous forest, dominated by trees including maple, beech and oak. Unlike forests further to the north, southern tree species such as hickory also occur (see Bitternut hickory, Shagbark hickory). Many other plant and animal species reach their northern limits in this ecoregion. A few more examples follow. The wetland plant, Arrow arum (Peltandra virginica) reaches the St. Lawrence River and the Richelieu River. The Bog Turtle (Clemmys muhlenbergii) reaches the southern shores of Lake Ontario, while the Eastern Box Turtle reaches the southern shores of Lake Erie. Along the shores of the lakes and rivers, there are significant areas of wetland, principally marshes and swamps. Some of the many significant natural areas include El Dorado Beach Preserve on Lake Ontario, the Chaumont Barrens alvar grassland, and the Rome Sand Plains.

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