Critical trends assessment Program 2002 report

102 Pages·2003·2.7 MB·English

by  Illinois. Dept. of Energy and Natural Resources

333.91009773
H62c
2002
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Critical Trends
Assessment Program
2002 Report
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Critical TrendsAssessment Program
2002 Report
Illinois Department ofNatural Resources
OfficeofRealtyandEnvironmental Planning
OneNatural ResourcesWay
Springfield,Illinois 62702
OfficeofScientificResearchandAnalysis
NaturalHistory SurveyDivision
607 EastPeabodyDrive
Champaign,Illinois61820
July 2003
200
Printedbytheauthorityofthe StateofIllinois

Med. V\r>. 5wv.
other CTAP Publications
CriticalTrendsinIllinoisEcosystems
IllinoisLandCover,AnAtlas, plusCD-ROM
InventoryofEcologicallyResource-RichAreasinIllinois
Illinois GeographicInformationSystem, CD-ROMofdigitalgeospatialdata
Regionalassessments(geological,water,biological, andsocio-economicresources)
forthefollowingareasorwatersheds:
BigMuddyRiver LowerDesPlainesRiver
CacheRiver LowerSangamonRiver
CalumetArea LowerRockRiver
ChicagoRiver/LakeShore MackinawRiver
DriftlessArea PrairieParklands
DuPageRiver SinkholePlain
EmbarrasRiver SpoonRiver
FoxRiver Sugar-PecatonicaRivers
IllinoisBigRivers ThornCreek
IllinoisHeadwaters UpperDesPlainesRiver
IllinoisRiverBluffs UpperRockRiver
KankakeeRiver UpperSangamonRiver
KaskaskiaRiver VermilionRiver
KinkaidArea VermilionRiver(IllinoisRiverBasin)
KishwaukeeRiver
AllCTAPdocumentsareavailablefromtheDNRClearinghouseat(217) 782-7498orTTY(217) 782-9175.
Selectedpublicationsarealsoavailableonthe WorldWide Webathttp://dnr.state.il.us/orep/ctap.
FormoreinformationaboutCTAP. call(217)[email protected].
EqualopportunitytoparticipateinprogramsoftheIllinoisDepartmentofNaturalResources(IDNR)andthosefunded
bytheU.S.FishandWildlifeServiceandotheragenciesisavailabletoallindividualsregardlessofrace.sex.national
origin,disability,age,religionorothernon-meritfactors.Ifyoubelieveyouhavebeendiscriminatedagainst,contact
thefundingsource'scivilrightsofficeand/ortheEqualEmploymentOpportunityOfficer.IDNR. OneNaturalResources
Way.Springfield.III. 62702-1271;217/785-0067: TTY217/782-9175. Thisinformationmaybeprovidedinan
alternativeformatifrequired. ContacttheDNRClearinghouseat217/782-7498forassistance.

Table ofContents
Introduction
1
Creating a Report Card for RiverWatch Stream Quality: Multi-Metric Biological Score 3
Creating a Report Card for RiverWatch Stream Quality: Multi-Metric Habitat Score 16
Aquatic Insects Report: Biological and Habitat Condition of Illinois Streams 28
WhatAretheDiscardedSitesofCTAPTerrestrialMonitoringTellingUsAboutIllinoisHabitats? 38
OrnithologicalReport:TheDepauperateNatureoftheAverageIllinoisBirdCommunity:
A CTAP Study from 1997-2001 48
ForestWatch Fall 2001 - Spring 2002 61
PrairieWatch 2001 and 2002 73
RiverWatch Data Summary Results for 2002 78
BotanicalReport:FloristicQualityAssessment(FQA)asaMeasureoftheNaturalness
of the Grasslands and Wetlands of Illinois 85
TerrestrialInsectReport:TheImportanceofLeafhoppers(Hemiptera:Cicadellidae)
collected by the Critical Trends Assessment Program 9^

Introduction
TheCriticalTrendsAssessmentProgramwasestablishedin 1992toinformpolicymakersaboutthestateof
Illinois'ecosystems. Duringthedecadesincethen,CTAPhasdevelopedtoolsandprogramstosystematically
monitorchangesinecologicalconditionsinIllinois. Theseprogramsnotonlyhelppolicymakersdetermine
thebestcourseofactiontoprotectournaturalresources,butalsoprovideinformationtostateandlocalland
managersandthepublicasstewardsofIllinoislandsandwaterways.
EachyearCTAPproducesareportthatprovidesthemostcurrentdataandanalysisonIllinoisecosystems.
Thisyeareffortshavefocusedonmakingtheinformationmoreaccessibleandunderstandabletothepublic
andotherusers. TenpaperswrittenbyCTAPandEcoWatchscientistshavebeencompiled. TheCTAP
scientistshavejustcompletedtheirfirstfive-yearcycleofmonitoringstreams,forests,grasslandsand
wetlandsacrossthestate. EcoWatchvolunteershavecompletedanotheryearofstream, forest,andprairie
monitoring.
ThefirsttwopapersarepartofanefforttomakeallofthedatathatRiverWatchvolunteerscollectintelligible.
VirtuallyeverypieceofdataenteredonaRiverWatchdatasheetisboileddownintotwonumbers: a —
biologicalscoreandahabitatscore. Thebiologicalscore—combinesfivemeasuresofbiologicalquality
MBI,EPT,taxarichness,dominance,andpercentworms intoasingleindex. Thehabitatscore
incorporateshabitat-relatedmeasuresshowntobecorrelatedwithbiologicalquality,includingstream
substrate,surroundinglanduses,silt,waterodor,waterappearance,canopycover,andchanneldisturbance.
Nolongerwillvolunteershavetoguesswhattheirresultsmean. Theirstreamreportcardwilltellthem.
Inthethirdpaper,similareffortsweremadewithCTAPstreamdata. Overallqualityrankingsforeachsite
weregeneratedbycombiningEPT,HBI,andHabitat,threemeasuresofstreamquality. Rankingsforthe 149
monitoringsitesvariedsignificantlyacrossthestatewithstreamsintheShawneeHillsshowingthebestHBI
scoresandthehighestproportionofexcellentstreams. Ingeneral,streamswithmeanderingchannelsscored
higher,supporting40%moreEPTtaxaonaveragethanchannelizedstreams. Largerstreamsgenerallyscored
higheraswellbecauseoftheirmorediversehabitats.
Thefourthpapershowsthat,surprisingly,thesiteswedonotmonitoroftentellusasmuchasthosewedo
monitor. Inidentifyingmonitoringsites,CTAPscientistsoftenrejectmanysitesbeforefindingonesuitable
formonitoring. Grasslandsitesaremostfrequentlyrejectedandforestsitesleastoftenrejected. Oneanda
halfforestsitesareevaluatedforeachonethatisfoundtobesuitableformonitoring,whileittakesthree
wetlandsitesandsevengrasslandsitestofindasuitablemonitoringsite. Somesitesdonotmeetthe
monitoringcriteria;generallytheyaretwosmallortoodegraded. Forexample,grasslandsarefrequently
regularlymowedmonocultures. However,nearlyathirdofwetlandandgrasslandsitesnolongerexistasthat
habitateventhoughtheywereidentifiedbytheLandCoverMaportheNationalWetlandInventory. Most
frequentlytheyhavebeenconvertedtorowcrops. Itseemsthatmanygrasslandorwetlandsitesmoveinand
outofcultivationdependingonweatherandeconomics.
ThefifthpaperpresentsresultsfromtheinitialfiveyearcycleofbirdcensusingatCTAPsites,withafocus
onhabitatdependent,areadependent,threatenedandendangered,andexoticspecies. Illinoisforestsseemto
beinthebestconditioncomparedtowetlandsandgrasslands,withafairdiversityofforestbirdspecies.
Grasslandscontinuetobethemostdegradedhabitatforbirds. Almostone-thirdofgrasslandsitescontainno
grassland-dependentspeciesandfour-fifthshavenoarea-dependentbirds. Afewwetland-dependentbirdsare
relativelycommoninmanyIllinoiswetlands(includingWoodDuck,Mallard,andWillowFlycatcher),
althoughhalfofthewetlandsitescontainnowetland-dependentspecies. TheBrown-headedCowbird,anest
parasite,wasdetectedatahighpercentageofsitesacrossallhabitats,rangingfrom53%ofwetlandsitesto
80%offorestsites. Overall,thedataillustratethedegradednatureofIllinoishabitatsandtheavian
communitiestheyharbor.
Thesixthpaperpresentstheresultsfromthe58ForestWatchsitesmonitoredbycitizenscientistsduringlast
year'sfallmonitoringsessionand42sitesmonitoredinthespringsession. One-fourthoftheoak-hickory
uplandsitesshowedsomedegreeofmapletakeover. Halfofthesiteswithfloweringdogwoodsreported
dogwoodanthracnoseduringthe2001 monitoringperiod,anincreaseoverpreviousyears. Morethantwo-
thirdsofsitescontaininvasiveshrubs,suchasmulti-floraroseorbuckthorn. Theycover80timesthearea
coveredbydisturbance-sensitiveplants.
TheseventhpaperhighlightsthedatafromEcoWatch'snewestprogram,PrairieWatch. Ofthe27prairiesites
monitoredin2001 and2002, 11 werereconstructionsandeightwereremnants(theremainderwere
unspecifled). Whilevolunteersencounteredafamiliarexcessofinvasivesanddearthofdisturbance-sensitive
species,theprairiesiteswerehealthierthanthetypicalforestsiteorthetypicalIllinoisgrasslandthatis
dominatedbyintroducedgrasses. Disturbance-sensitiveindicatorplantscoveredone-fourththeareacovered
byinvasives. At 13 sitesPrairieWatchvolunteerscounted735butterflies,halfofthemindicatorspeciesthat
theyhadbeentrainedtoidentify. ThenewIllinoisButterflySiteIndexrequiresfurthertestingtoestablishits
relationshiptoplanthabitatquality.
Theeighthpapersummarizesthefindingsfromthe224sitesthatRiverWatchersmonitoredin2002. Most
streamssupporthighnumbersoftaxathataresomewhattolerantofpollution,suchassowbugsandmidges,
indicatingsomelevelofhabitatdegradationorpollution. However,pollutionintoleranttaxamanageto
surviveinsmallpockets. Somewatershedsareinbetterhealththanothers. TheKaskaskia,forexample,
scoresrelativelylowonmoststreamindicators,whiletheRockRiverscoresfairlyhigh.
ThefinaltwopapersexaminedtheusefulnessofFloristicQualityAssessmentandleafhopperspeciesto
measurethequalityofterrestrialecosystems. FQAwasfoundtobeanexcellentmeasureoftheamountof
degradationanareahadundergone;itwashighlycorrelatedwithnaturalareagrade. Wetlandsgenerally
scoredhigherinfloristicqualitythangrasslandsandsouthernIllinoisscoredhigherthanotherpartsofthe
state. FurtherworkisneededtotakethewealthofleafhopperandotherinsectdatacollectedbyCTAP
scientistsandcreateindicatorsofecosystemquality. Informationonarthropodecology,distribution,and
diversitycanhelptocompletethepictureofthequalityofIllinoisecosystems.