Regional Overview

Vegetation and Habitat

The region's moderate consistent precipitation-averaging 39 inches of rainfall annually—and the influence of the lakes in tempering extreme temperatures make it possible for a diverse collection of plants and animals to live in the area.

Abundant wetlands, especially in the flat, often flooded lake plains, support large populations of fish and waterfowl. The Niagara River provides a wide variety of wildlife habitats, bird nesting and feeding areas, and fisheries. Because of the falls, the river also serves as a barrier to the migration of fish and other aquatic life from the ocean to the upper Great Lakes.

Before European settlement and land clearing, the Buffalo Niagara region was dominated by two types of hardwood forest. The lake plain areas, with heavier clay soils and relatively little drainage, still hold forests of sugar and red maples, northern red oak, beech, and black cherry trees, with lesser numbers of elms, basswood, and tulip trees. The higher and slightly cooler Allegheny Plateau has a mixture of beech, sugar maple, yellow birch, northern red oak, and hemlock. Within these main forest types are pockets of other forest communities, such as floodplain and swamp forests.

Rich soils in the Buffalo Niagara region contribute to some of the world's best farmland and support an array of agricultural uses, including orchards, vineyards, and grain fields. The region also has vast mineral and other environmental resources, including petroleum and peat on the Niagara Peninsula.