University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

A Regional Monitoring Plan for Chicago Wilderness

Levin, Geoffrey A.; Ward, Michael

Content Files
INHS2009_18data.xls
INHS2009_18.pdf

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/12982

Description

Title
A Regional Monitoring Plan for Chicago Wilderness
Author(s)
  • Levin, Geoffrey A.
  • Ward, Michael
Issue Date
2009-06-26
Keyword(s)
  • Monitoring
  • Chicago
  • Plant
  • Bird
  • Chicago Wilderness
  • Ecosystem Management and Conservation
  • Invasive Species Prevention, Management and Control
Date of Ingest
2009-06-30T17:06:57Z
Abstract
Although the Chicago Wilderness (CW) consortium has long recognized the need for regional ecological monitoring to address the consortium’s goals, it has proven difficult to establish a regional monitoring program. This report builds on a CW workshop in 2005 that identified specific goals for regional monitoring and provides recommendations for monitoring terrestrial ecosystems. As a first step toward developing this plan, an extensive inventory of current monitoring programs in the CW region was undertaken. This inventory demonstrated that although many organizations are conducting ecological monitoring in the region and are willing to share their data, non-random site selection and variation among protocols, in addition to more minor issues, make many of these data sets difficult to combine to gain a regional perspective. After extensive discussions with a wide range of CW member organizations, we recommend that CW: •concentrate on monitoring plant and bird communities because these are widely accepted as good measures of ecosystem health and can be monitored with a reasonable investment. •monitor these communities using the protocols currently being used for CTAP statewide monitoring. •monitor rare plant communities, for which the CTAP protocols cannot be expected to provide data, using qualitative assessments of threats using the Plants of Concern protocols. •encourage expansion of other regional monitoring programs already in place, including Plants of Concern, the Calling Frog Survey, the Bird Conservation Network, and the Butterfly and Dragonfly monitoring networks.•expand resources for data analysis, interpretation, and dissemination.
Type of Resource
  • text
  • dataset / spreadsheet
Genre of Resource
  • technical report
  • Data
Permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/2142/12982
Sponsor(s)/Grant Number(s)
Chicago Wilderness Grant/Contract No: AG ICF FS0505 (A5577, 492490)
Copyright and License Information
This document is a product of the Illinois Natural History Survey, and has been selected and made available by the Illinois Natural History Survey and the University Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It is intended solely for noncommercial research and educational use, and proper attribution is requested.

Owning Collections

Technical Reports - Illinois Natural History Survey PRIMARY
Reports produced by INHS staff, usually as deliverables for assessment projects funded by federal or state agencies or non-governmental organizations.