Institute of Natural Resource Sustainability
at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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John B. Taft
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1816 S. Oak Street Champaign, IL 61820 MC–652 Phone: 217-244-5046 Fax: 217-333-4949 Email: taft@inhs.uiuc.edu Title: Plant Ecologist/Botanist Unit: DBEE–SBSM Office Location: NRB | ||
| Activities | Senior Research Scientist. Principal duties include coordinating a biotic surveys program supported by contracts with the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) Illinois State Toll Highways Authority and supervising botanists supported on the contracts. Duties include performing surveys for threatened and endangered plants and natural areas in IDOT project areas; also, report review and development. Teaching activities: Serve on graduate committees and help direct student research projects, occasional guest lecturer. Outreach activities: I give numerous presentations annually to public and professional groups with a focus on the vegetational ecology of Illinois. |
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| Research |
Main research topics include: vegetational ecology and fire effects in oak woodland communities including flatwoods and barrens, development and analysis of a method for assessing floristic integrity for the Illinois flora, vegetation ecology of grasslands including prairies of Illinois and steppes of Kyrgyzstan in central Asia, and floristic surveys of unique habitats in Illinois. |
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| Professional affiliations |
International Association of Vegetation Scientists, Illinois Native Plant Society, Torrey Botanical Society, Southern Appalachian Botanical Society | ||
| Selected publications |
Taft, J. B., C. Hauser, and K. R. Robertson. 2006. Estimating floristic integrity in tallgrass prairie. Biological Conservation 131:42-51. Taft, J. B. 2005. Fire effects on structure, composition, and diversity in a flatwoods remnant in south-central Illinois. Castanea 70:298-313. Taft, J. B. 2003. Fire effects on community structure, composition, and diversity in a dry sandstone barrens. Journal of the Torrey Botanical Society 130:170-192. Taft, J. B. 2003. Composition and structure of an old-growth floodplain forest of the lower Kaskaskia River, Illinois. Pages 146-158 in: Van Sambeek, J. W.; Dawson, J. O.; Ponder, F., Jr.; Loewenstein, E. F.; Fralish, J. S., eds. Proceedings of the 13th Central Hardwoods Conference. USDA Forest Service General Technical Report from the USDA Forest Service North Central Forest Experiment Station (146-158). Taft, J. B., and Solecki, M. K. 2002. Vegetation composition, structure, and diversity patterns of two dry sandstone barrens in southern Illinois. Castanea 67:343-368. Taft, J. B., G. S. Wilhelm, D. M. Ladd, and L. A. Masters. 1997. Floristic Quality Assessment for vegetation in Illinois, a method for assessing vegetation integrity. Erigenia 15: 3-95. Taft, J. B. 1997. Savannas and open woodlands. Pages 24-54 in: M. W. Schwartz (editor). Conservation in Highly Fragmented Landscapes, Chapman and Hall Press. Taft, J. B., M. W. Schwartz, and L. R. Phillippe. 1995. Vegetation ecology of flatwoods on the Illinoian till plain. Journal of Vegetation Science 6: 647-666. Taft, J. B., and M. K. Solecki. 1990. Vascular flora of the wetland and prairie communities at Gavin Bog and Prairie Nature Preserve, Lake County, Illinois. Rhodora 92: 142-165. Taft, J., and D. Bissing. 1988. Developmental anatomy of the horned oak gall induced by Callirhytis cornigera on Quercus palustris. American Journal of Botany 75(1): 26-36. |
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| Program Affiliates |
Adjunct Professor in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences and the Department of Plant Biology |
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| Education | PhD, Natural Resources & Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois, 1999 MS, Botany, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, 1982 BS, General Agriculture, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, 1979 | ||