Public Services

In Memoriam

Illinois River

Fish and Widlife Research

Restoration

Understanding Biodiversity

Insect Management Ecology

Invasive Species

Emerging Issues

Credits

Publications Homepage

INHS Homepage

Illinois is a state with high biodiversity. With a long north-south axis and sitting at the edge of eastern deciduous forest, western prairie, and southern floodplain forest, the state is home to thousands of plant and animal species. Yet most of Illinois is highly modified from its natural state; estimates are that less the 0.1% of the land supports high-quality natural habitats. These remaining sites are often threatened by invasive exotic species, which continue to be introduced at an alarming rate. For over 140 years, Illinois Natural History Survey staff have devoted their efforts to understanding our state's biodiversity, documenting its changing status, and developing methods to protect our natural heritage.

Survey staff use several approaches to understanding biodiversity. Biotic surveys document the status and distribution of native and introduced species and communities. Through our contracts with the Illinois Department of Transportation, we have numerous biologists traveling throughout the state inventorying the lands near existing or proposed highways. We are also in the third year of the ecosystem monitoring program for the innovative Critical Trends Assessment Programs. This project, unparalleled in the U.S., involves professionals and trained volunteer citizen-scientists in monitoring the biodiversity and ecosystem health of hundreds of sites across the state. By employing standardized sampling techniques and revisiting the same sites on a defined schedule, the program promises to document how the state's biodiversity is changing over time. Other smaller-scale projects have long been part of the Survey's mission, notably fish surveys that span more than 100 years (see article below on fishes of Illinois).

Jamie Ellis, botanist with the Critical Trends Assessment Project, records data at a site in Whiteside County.








Other studies focus on the ecology and systematics (classification and evolutionary history) of specific plants, animals, and habitats. We have expertise in all major groups of organisms and employ both proven traditional methods and new approaches, many of which apply the tools of biotechnology. Over our long history, we have amassed scientific collections that contain over 9 million specimens (see separate article). We are now applying tools from information technology to compile the data from these collections in computerized databases and then link them to geographic information systems (see inset on EPT Databasing, p. 23). The combination of these approaches allows INHS to provide unparalleled documentation and understanding of our state's rich but threatened biodiversity.

Fishes of Illinois: 100 Years of Change

Lawrence M. Page, Michael E, Retzer, Mark H. Sabaj

Documenting the state's biota has been the focus of the Illinois Natural History Survey for over 140 years. Our work on fishes is especially exemplary: the third statewide fish survey in 100 years is currently being conducted by Survey scientists in collaboration with biologists at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Division of Fisheries. The first survey of Illinois fishes was initiated by Survey staff in the 1870s, and the results were published in 1909. It documented the presence of 187 native and one non-native species. The second survey, conducted primarily during the 1960s and early 1970s, was published in 1979. By then, the number of native species reproducing in Illinois had dropped to 179, and 8 species could no longer be found in the state (Table 1). Furthermore, the number of non-native species had risen to 8 (Table 2). Data obtained during the current survey suggest that only 177 species of our native fishes remain and that many surviving species are undergoing major changes in their distributions. In contrast, the number of non-native species reproducing in Illinois has increased to 15 and many have become more widespread.

The distributions and abundances of a few native species are increasing, but several species survive only as small populations in highly fragmented habitats. Isolation and further loss of suitable habitat will likely lead to a dramatic increase in the loss of species in the near future unless effective measures are taken to protect the fishes and their habitats. The 23 species of fishes listed as threatened and endangered by the State of Illinois are especially vulnerable and in need of protection.

Most of the changes in distributions and abundances of fishes are the results of anthropogenic effects, such as increased sedimentation, channelization, pollution (particularly from nonpoint sources such as agricultural fertilizers and pesticides), drainage of bottomland lakes, impoundments, and introductions of non-native species. Our continuing history of detailed statewide surveys provides the scientific knowledge needed to protect rare species and biologically significant watersheds, manage populations of game fishes, and restore aquatic communities in areas where environmental conditions improve.

Extirpated species of native Illinois fishes

Species lost by 1979

Ohio lamprey, Ichthyomyzon bdellium
Blackfin cisco, Coregonus nigripinnis
Muskellunge, Esox masquinongy
Rosefin shiner, Lythrurus ardens
Gilt darter, Percina evides
Saddleback darter, Percina ouachitae
Crystal darter, Crystallaria asprella
Spoonhead sculpin, Cottus ricei

Additional species lost by 1999 Alligator gar, Atractosteus spatula
Bluehead shiner, Pterontropid hubbsi

Non-native fishes established in Illinois

Species established by 1979

Sea lamprey,Petromyzon marinus
Alewife, Alosa pseudoharengus
Threadfin shad, Dorosoma petenense
Rainbow smelt, Osmerus mordax
Carp, Cyprinus carpio
Goldfish, Carassius auratus
Grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idella
Striped bass, Morone saxatilis

Additional species established by 1999

Bighead carp, Hypophthalmicthys nobilis
Silver carp, Hypophthalmicthys molotrix
Oriental weatherfish, Misgurnus aguillicaudus
Inland silverside, Menida beryllina
Threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus
White perch, Morone americana
Rony goby, Neogobius melanostomus

Mayfly, Stonefly, and Caddisfly Databases

R. Edward DeWalt

The Illinois Natural History Survey maintains some of the largest collections in North America of the aquatic insect orders Ephemeroptera (mayflies), Plecoptera (stoneflies), and Trichoptera (caddisflies), collectively referred to here as EPT. Many of these insects are extremely sensitive to water quality and habitat integrity, so their abundance and distribution are powerful indicators of stream health. Our considerable EPT holdings--approximately 600,000 specimens from Illinois and over 80 countries--result in numerous requests for loans of specimens and information on species distributions. Recognizing the importance of our holdings, the Survey has begun computerizing EPT specimen label data and making the data Internet accessible. All stonefly data (18,486 records, or more than 100,000 specimens) are now available to potential users (www.inhs.uiuc.edu/cbd/EPT/index.html), and computerization of mayfly and caddisfly holdings is under way.

Completion of this database will result in the most comprehensive specimen-level EPT database available anywhere in the world. Accordingly, the National Science Foundation awarded funds to researchers in the Survey's Center for Biodiversity and Center for Wildlife Ecology (R.E. DeWalt, K.R. Zeiders, T.N. Kompare, M.G. Joselyn, J.L. Aycrigg, C.A. Mayer, and D.W. Webb) to support completion of the database, making it fully available over the Internet, and linking it to the Survey's Geographic Information System (GIS).

Compilation of EPT specimen records into one Internet accessible, GIS-linked database will provide a valuable tool for a wide range of research topics. Particularly important is the unique opportunity to assess historical changes in regional fauna. Most specimens were collected before the worst environmental degradation took place. Having these data at our fingertips will facilitate comparisons with contemporary collections on both a site specific and, with data from EPT sampling under the Critical Trends Assessment Project, a statewide basis. Preliminary data suggest that several EPT species have been eliminated from Illinois or have been limited to "islands" of suitable habitat. Computerizing the collections will help confirm these trends, and is crucial for assessing the effectiveness of efforts to conserve the state's aquatic biodiversity.

INHS RESEARCH PROJECTS ON UNDERSTANDING BIODIVERSITY

*Parasitic mites on Diptera
M. Metz, M. Irwin

*Assessing biodiversity
M. Irwin, G. Kampmeier

*Intraspecific variation and natural history of west coast Acrosathe (Diptera: Therevidae)
K. Holston, M. Irwin

*SoilWatch: ecological monitoring of soils in Illinois
E. Zaborski, L. Johns

*Earthworms in Illinois agroecosystems
E. Zaborski, L. Soeken

*Bipalium adventitium, an exotic terrestrial flatworm predator of earthworms newly reported from Illinois
E. Zaborski, L. Soeken

*Soil invertebrate community structure in eastern Illinois oak-hickory forests: effects of prescribed burning
E. Zaborski, L. Soeken

*Energy and nutrient budgets and sustainability of agriculture in central Illinois
D. Onstad, E. Ballard, D. Cavanaugh-Grant (U of I), R. Herendeen, G. Letterly, M. Murphy, A. Winter-Nelson, E. Zaborski

*Relationship of male and female genitalia in the genus Ozodiceromyia (Diptera: Therevidae)
M. Metz, S. Gaimari, M. Irwin

*Biosystematics of Therevidae (Insecta: Diptera) and phylogeny of the Asiloidea
M. Irwin, G. Kampmeier, D. Webb, S. Gaimari, K. Holston, M. Metz, M. Hauser, J. Mullett (U of I)

*Development of Mandala, a specimen-based systematics database
G. Kampmeier, M. Irwin, K. Holston, F. C. Thompson (USDA)

*Systematics of the Phylum Microsporidia
L. Solter, J. Maddox

*Phasmarhabditis sp., a new nematode parasite of earthworms
E. Zaborski, L. Soeken

*Post- impoundment study of Kinkaid Creek fishes
C. Taylor, J. Knouft

*Leafhopper diversity of Illinois remnant prairies
C. Dietrich

*Multistate prairie insect inventory
C. Dietrich, D. Voegtlin, J. Bouseman, K. Zeiders

*Inventory of the terrestrial arthropods and vascular plants of the montane, steppe, and semidesert grasslands of the Kyrghyz Republic
C. Dietrich, K. Robertson, J. Taft, L. Phillippe

*Breeding bird survey of Snakeden Hollow, Knox County
D. Wenny

*Biodiversity, hydrogeology, and water quality of Illinois springs
D. Webb, M. Wetzel, P. Reed, L. Phillippe, T. Young

*Biota of Illinois caves
D. Webb, S. Taylor, J. Krejca

*Distribution and abundance of Franklin's ground squirrel in east- central Illinois
J. Hofmann

*Fungi of the southern swamps
J. Crane, J. Schoknecht

*Freshwater mussels of the upper Mackinaw River
K. Cummings, C. Mayer

*Freshwater mussels of the Aux Sable River
K. Cummings, C. Mayer

*Biological inventory of C2000 Ecosystem Program aquatic sites
K. Cummings, C. Mayer, L. Page, C. Phillips

*Freshwater mussels of Middle Branch North Fork Vermilion River
K. Cummings, C. Mayer, R. Szafoni (IDNR)

*Site inventory of the Vermilion River Observatory, Vermilion County, Illinois
L Phillippe

*The fishes of Illinois: 100 years of change
L. Page, M. Retzer, M. Sabaj, B. Burr (SIUC), R. Heidinger (SIUC)

*The status of Illinois' rarest fishes and crustaceans
L. Page, M. Retzer, M. Sabaj, C. Taylor

*Fishes of the Essequibo River, Guyana, 90 years after Eigenmann's expedition
L. Page, R. Schmidt, J. Armbruster, M. Sabaj, J. Knouft, M. Hardman

*Site inventory of the Momence Wetlands, Kankakee County, Illinois
L. Phillippe, W. Handel

*Site inventory of Long Branch Sand Prairie and Matanzas Prairie, Mason County, Illinois
M. Feist, L Phillippe

*Illinois status survey of the redside dace, Clinostomus elongatus: a new addition to the state's native fauna
M. Sabaj

*Annelida associated with cave habitats in Illinois
M. Wetzel, S. Taylor, D. Webb

*Biodiversity of aquatic macroinvertebrates, especially caddisflies, in Split Rock Brook, Blackball Mine, and Pecumsaugan Creek Nature Preserve, Utica, Illinois
R. DeWalt

*Comparison of contemporary and historical EPT distributions in Illinois
R. DeWalt, D. Webb

*Summer Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT) species richness and community structure in the lower Illinois River Basin of Illinois
R. DeWalt, D. Webb, M. Harris (USGS)

*Site inventory of Middle Fork Woods Nature Preserve, Vermilion County, Illinois
R. Larimore, L Phillippe

*Inventory of the water striders of the lower Illinois River basin
S. Taylor

*Subterranean Amphipoda (Crustacea) of Illinois' Salem Plateau: spatial and temporal components of microdistribution
S. Taylor, D. Webb

INHS researcher Steve Taylor calibrating equipment in Fogelpole Cave, Monroe County, Illinois.

*Distribution of Illinois semiaquatic bugs
S. Taylor, J. McPherson (Southern Illinois University)

*Breeding bird survey at Milan Bottoms
S. Robinson, D. Wenny

*Discovery of Rorippa austriaca (Crantz) Besser (field yellow- cress), a new agricultural weed in Illinois
S. Hill

*The flora of Dominica, Lesser Antilles, West Indies
S. Hill

*Site inventory of Richardson Wildlife Foundation, Lee County, Illinois

W. Handel, L Phillippe

*Open sand areas at the Savanna Army Depot: comparisons of plant communities and state threatened and endangered species in blowouts vs. construction areas
A. Symstad

*Blowouts, dunes, and the plants that need them: is there enough habitat to sustain northwestern Illinois populations of open sand specialists?
A. Symstad

*Baseline data collection for prairie restoration at the Savanna Army Depot
A. Symstad

*Gynodioecy in pale spike lobelia, Lobelia spicata (Campanulaceae)
B. Molano- Flores

*Monitoring of the federally endangered Dalea foliosa (Fabaceae)
B. Molano- Flores

*Temporal dioecism in Eryngium yuccifolium (Apiaceae)
B. Molano- Flores

*What happens to heterostylous species in prairie restorations?: the case of Lithospermum canescens (Boraginaceae)
B. Molano- Flores

*Effects of prescribed fire on prairie insects
C. Dietrich

*Habitat selection and reproductive ecology of the Bell's vireo (Vireo bellii)
C. Whelan

*Where have all the birds gone? Consequences of drastic understory clearing on forest songbirds
C. Whelan

*Migrant and wintering bird use of forest, woodland, and grassland habitats at Savanna Army Depot and Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
C. Whelan, D. Wenny

*Life- history characteristics of a rapidly declining species, the Mississippi silvery minnow, Hybognathus nuchalis, in the Wabash River drainage, Illinois
C. Laird, L. Page

*The eastern massasauga (Sistrurus catenatus) at Carlyle Lake: population size and habitat use at South Shore State Park
C. Phillips, M. Dreslik, B. Jellen

*Population viability of the Illinois endangered silvery salamander
C. Phillips, M. Dreslik, J. Johnson, J. Petzing

Silvery salamander (Ambystoma platineum), an endangered species in Illinois.









*Sexual selection in the Redwinged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)
K. Yasukawa (Beloit College), D. Enstrom

*Population dynamics of the Illinois endangered Yellow- headed Blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus)
D. Enstrom, M. Ward, J. Herkert (Illinois Endangered Species Protection Board)

*Song culture and genetic diversity in New World blackbirds
D. Enstrom

*Population density, habitat selection, return rates, diet, and reproductive success of grasshopper sparrows at Ayers Nature Preserve
D. Wenny

*Vegetation ecology and fire effects on community structure, composition, and diversity in a southern flatwoods and a barrens remnant in southern Illinois
J. Taft

*Nitrogen mineralization rates and plant diversity patterns associated with New Jersey tea (Ceanothus americanus) in prairies
J. Taft, A. Symstad

*Monitoring bat diversity and activity at a wetland banking site in Grundy County
J. Hofmann

*Statewide surveys and habitat assessments for threatened and endangered mammals
J. Hofmann

*Roosting behavior of the evening bat in Illinois
J. Hofmann, J. Kath (IDNR Division of Natural Heritage)

*Conservation status of the cricket frog in northern Illinois
J. Petzing, C. Phillips

*Status review of the endangered salamander mussel and mudpuppy
K. Cummings, C. Mayer, C. Phillips, J. Petzing

*Competitive disjunction as a new model of allopatric speciation
L. Page

*Egg mimics in darters
L. Page

*Assessment of the reintroduction potential of federally endangered and threatened plant species to managed sites in Illinois
L. Phillippe, K. Robertson

*Life history and conservation genetics of the state- endangered river cooter (Pseudemys concinna)
M. Dreslik, C. Phillips

*Comparison of CTAP scientific and RiverWatch volunteer stream monitoring data from several Watershed Partnerships in Illinois
R. DeWalt

*Current condition and trends in health of Illinois wadeable streams using EPT species assemblage as indicators
R. DeWalt

*Testing congruence of ecoregion boundaries with macroinvertebrate and fish-derived faunal regions in Louisiana
R. DeWalt, K. Brown (Louisiana State University)

*Spatial and temporal analyses of the bacterial fauna and water, sediment, and amphipod tissue chemistry within the range of Gammarus acherondytes
S. Taylor, D. Webb, S. Panno

*Evaluation of the relative efficacy of family, genus, and species level indices of biotic integrity
S. Taylor, R. DeWalt, D. Lenat (North Carolina)

*The status of Boltonia decurrens, a federally and Illinois threatened plant of the Illinois River valley, at three sites in Bureau, Peoria, and Putnam counties, Illinois
S. Hill

*The relict flora of ice ponds in South Carolina
S. Hill

*Phenology of the Blue Ridge flora of northwestern South Carolina
S. Hill

*Assessing the relationship of land cover to the biotic integrity of streams in a highly agricultural landscape
T. Kompare

*The plant communities of Twelve Mile Prairie, Effingham, Clay, Fayette, and Marion counties, Illinois
W. Handel

*Vegetational changes in dry- mesic upland forest after controlled burning in the Mississippi Palisades State Park, Carroll County, Illinois
W. Handel, S. Neuendorf (DNR)

Computerized Databases

*Triannual unionid report on the Web
C. Mayer

*INHS research collections on the Web
C. Mayer

*An illustrated database of world typhlocybine leafhoppers (Homoptera: Cicadellidae)
C. Dietrich

*Freshwater mussel genera on the Web
K. Cummings

*Biographies of freshwater malacologists on the Web
K. Cummings

*Web directory of freshwater mussel researchers
K. Cummings

*Web directory of mollusk collections of the world
K. Cummings, A. Oleinik (Purdue University), J. Slapcinsky (Field Museum), T. Kompare

*Freshwater mussel/host database
K. Cummings, G. Watters (Ohio Biological Survey), C. Mayer

*Bibliographic database of aquatic annelida of North America
M. Wetzel

*Directory of annelid systematists, ecologists, and field zoologists
M. Wetzel

*Database of aquatic Annelida in Illinois
M. Wetzel

*An Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT) Database: Internet access and geographic information system linking of collections at INHS
R. DeWalt, K. Zeiders, J. Aycrigg, T. Kompare, D. Webb

*The organisms of Illinois: a publicly accessible searchable database of the Illinois Natural History Survey
S. Hill

*Illinois roadside prairie database
W. Handel

*Gap analysis for Illinois
P.W. Brown, J.L. Aycrigg, L.W. Schwab, M.G. Joselyn

*An Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, and Trichoptera (EPT) database: Internet access and Geographic Information System linking of collections at the INHS
R.E. DeWalt, J. Aycrigg, M. Joselyn, T. Kompare, C. Mayer, D.W. Webb, and K. Zeiders

*Map Illinois: interactive, Web-based access to natural resource geospatial data, Illinois Council on Food and Agricultural Research (C-FAR) Strategic Research Initiative, Information Systems Technology Competitive Grants Program
M.G. Joselyn, J. Aycrigg

*Critical Trends Assessment Program: mapping and analysis of land cover and sampling programs of CTAP Professional Monitoring, EcoWatch, and Eocsystem Partnerships.
L. Suloway

Cynthia Dassler (left) and Connie Carroll of the INHS
Critical Trends Assessment Project sampling vegetation.

*Economic Entomology/Plant Pathology

*Biology of cucumber mosaic virus in southern Illinois
D. Voegtlin

*Epidemiology of cucumber mosaic virus in sweet peppers in southern Illinois
D. Voegtlin, C. D'Arcy, D. Eastburn, J. Masiunas, J. Kindhart, H. Hobbs

*Fungi associated with microsclerotia of Verticillium dahliae
E. Grunden, W. Chen, J. Crane

*Molecular and morphological characterization of Acremonium isolates from soybean
W. Chen, J. Crane

*Identification of a new race of Phialophora gregata pathogenic to soybean containing the Rbs resistance genes
X. Meng, W. Chen

*Improving soybean health using fungal endophytes
Y. Chen, W Chen

Systematics

*Systematics of the crayfish of Orconectes subgenus Crockerinus
C. Taylor

*The crayfishes of Kentucky
C. Taylor, G. Schuster

*Molecular phylogeny of Membracoidea (Insecta: Hemiptera): a test of alternative evolutionary scenarios
C. Dietrich

*Origin of the fruits of Maloidae (Rosaceae)
D. Morgan, K. Robertson, C. Campbell

*A revision of the nearctic species of Ptiolina and Spania (Diptera: Rhagionidae)
D. Webb

*The genus Chrysopilus (Diptera: Rhagionidae) in New Caledonia
D. Webb

*A review of the winter stoneflies in Illinois (Insecta: Plecoptera)
D. Webb

*A revision of the genus Vermileo (Diptera: Vermileonidae) for the world
D. Webb

*Descriptions of extant and fossil species of Chrysopilus from Dominican amber
D. Webb

*A revision of the genus Rhagio (Diptera: Rhagionidae) in North America
D. Webb

*A revision of Tabuda and Tabudamima with the description of a new genus Incoxoverpa (Diptera: Therevidae: Therevinae)
D. Webb, M. Irwin

*A revision of the genus Pandivirilia (Diptera: Therevidae)
D. Webb, M. Irwin

*Systematics of three- seeded mercuries (Acalypha, Euphorbiaceae)
G. Levin

*Coding methods for phylogenetic analysis of morphological data
G. Levin

*Systematics of Illinois fungi
J. Crane

*Systematics of freshwater and marine Ascomycetes
J. Crane

*Nomenclator of sanctioned names of fungi
J. Crane>

*Meliolaceae (Ascomycetes) host index and nomenclator
J. Crane, A. Jones (U of I)

*Systematic studies of Rosaceae
K. Robertson

*Systematic studies of Jacquemontia (Convolvulaceae)
K. Robertson

*Systematic studies of Amaranthaceae
K. Robertson, S. Mosyakin

CTAP researcher Karen Brook pressing collected plants, Fayette County, Illinois.








*Freshwater mussels of Illinois
K. Cummings

*Type catalog of freshwater mussels (Unionoida) of the world
K. Cummings

*Freshwater mussel bibliography
K. Cummings, A. Bogan (North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences), G. Watters (Ohio Biological Survey), C. Mayer

*Phylogenetic relations among darters inferred from molecular sequence data
L. Page, T. Near, M. Hardman

*Identification of species of Lirceus of Illinois
L. Rodman (Univ. Hawaii), L. Page

*Taxonomy and systematics of thorny catfishes, Doradidae
M. Sabaj

*Nomenclature of aquatic Annelida of North America
M. Wetzel

*Review of the taxonomic literature and a checklist of species of the Enchytraeidae (Annelida, Clitellata) of North America
M. Wetzel, K. Coates (Bermuda Biological Station for Research)

*Taxonomy and distributions of South American fishes
M. Sabaj, J. Armbruster (Auburn Univ.), L. Page

*Systematics of the Leuctra ferruginea (Walker) species group in eastern North America
R. DeWalt

*Re-evaluation of the stonefly genera Neoperla and Perlesta (Plecoptera: Perlidae) species complexes in Illinois
R. DeWalt, D. Webb, M. Harris (USGS)

*Phylogenetic relationships of species of Etheostoma using osteological data
R. Stephens (Bradley University), L. Page, M. Retzer

*Monophyly and relationships of the Tabanomorpha (Diptera: Insecta)
S. Tsaur, B. Wiegmann, B. Cassel, D. Webb

*Treatments for the Flora of North America project
S. Hill, K. Robertson