In modern times, little of it remains intact due to land use, including agriculture and urban uses.
This area includes the southern half of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, and much of Indiana and Ohio.
Other trees that may be found in the forest include Fraxinus americana, Liriodendron tulipifera, Cornus florida, Sassafras albidum, Juglans nigra, Tsuga canadensis, and Juniperus virginiana.
Birds include cardinals, downy woodpecker, wood duck and eastern screech owl.
Large mammals including American black bear (Ursus americanus), moose (Alces alces), Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis), cougar (Puma concolor), caribou (Rangifer tarandus), elk (Cervus canadensis) and eastern wolf (Canis lycaon) have been mostly or completely extirpated from this ecoregion; remaining mammals include white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), coyote (Canis latrans), snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus), eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus), American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) and eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis).