Organization | • | Illinois Natural History Survey Library | [X] |
| | | | Title: | | | | | Volume/Number: | 38 2008 4 June | | | | Issuing Agency: | | | | | Description: | Irregularly published technical series. Abstract: The vascular flora of Middle Fork Woods Nature Preserve, Vermilion County, Illinois, was studied during the growing seasons of 19992002. A total of 376 species were found: 12 ferns, fern-allies, and gymnosperms; 99 monocots; and 265 dicots. The three families with the largest number of species were the Poaceae (44), Asteraceae (39), and Cyperaceae (34, 29 of which were members of the genus Carex). The overstory and woody understory of six forest communities were surveyed: a mature second growth dry-mesic upland forest dominated by Quercus alba (white oak) and Q. velutina (black oak); an old growth, dry-mesic savanna dominated by Q. alba with a dense understory of Acer saccharum (sugar maple); SW-facing and NE-facing forested slopes of a mesic ravine, both dominated by A. saccharum and Q. alba; a southern flatwood forest/ephemeral pond community dominated by Q. bicolor (swamp white oak); and an immature second growth dry-mesic upland forest dominated by Q. alba and Carya ovata (shagbark hickory). Ground layer plants were surveyed in spring and fall in the dry-mesic upland forest communities, and for each species the relative cover, relative frequency, and importance values were determined. The preserve, comprised mostly of oak-hickory forest communities, was found to be in relatively good ecological condition. Mature and maturing second-growth oaks were present throughout much of the preserve. Sugar maples dominated the understory and, along with the dense overstory, were apparently limiting oak regeneration. The non-natives Lonicera spp. (bush honeysuckles), Elaeagnus umbellata (autumn olive), Alliaria petiolata (garlic mustard), and the native sugar maple, will continue to need to be controlled. Prescribed fire is recommended to limit populations of these species. | | | | Date Created: | 06 17 2008 | | | | Agency ID: | | | | | ISL ID: | 000000011324 Original UID: 6038 FIRST WORD: Vascular | |
| | | Title: | | | | | Volume/Number: | 37 2006 6 October | | | | Issuing Agency: | | | | | Description: | Irregularly published technical series. Abstract: This study was undertaken to determine vascular plant species composition, vegetation structure, and floristic quality of the major plant communities in the windblown sand deposits of northwestern Illinois during the growing seasons of 2002 through 2005. The major plant communities of the Ayers Sand Prairie Nature Preserve in Carroll County, Big River State Forest in Henderson County, Lost Mound Unit of the Upper Mississippi River Wildlife and Fish Refuge in Carroll and Jo Daviess counties, and the Thomson-Fulton Sand Prairie Nature Preserve located in Whiteside County were examined and the importance values determined for the plant species present. Located on broad terraces of the Mississippi River, these nature preserves and natural areas are remnants of a larger grassland/savanna/forest complex that contained extensive marsh; wet, mesic, and dry sand prairie; sand savanna; and sand forest communities. Most of the sand deposits are now cultivated and the original vegetation is found only in protected remnants, some of which are relatively large. The mature dry sand prairies were dominated by Schizachyrium scoparium; other important species were Opuntia macrorhiza, Dichanthelium villosissimum, Ambrosia psilostachya, and Tephrosia virginiana. Other assemblages of prairie and exotic species were encountered in successional sand prairie communities. Generally, the mature prairie communities in these preserves and natural areas had 35 or more species present in the study plots. Savanna and closed canopy forest communities were also examined. The dry sand savannas were dominated by Quercus velutina and Q. marilandica, dry sand forests were dominated by Q. velutina, and dry-mesic sand forests were dominated by Q. alba and Q. velutina. | | | | Date Created: | 10 19 2006 | | | | Agency ID: | | | | | ISL ID: | 000000010719 Original UID: 5811 FIRST WORD: Vegetation | |
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