The Forest-Prairie Ecotone in Northeastern Illinois

Abstract

This paper describes the vegetation of times in Kane County, Illinois, and discusses its composition and pattern of distribution as shown by the General Land Office Survey notes. The pre-settlement vegetation, or the plant cover which prevailed prior to human modification by settlement, is a strong influence on the land settlement and land use pattern of an area. Kane County is situated in northeastern Illinois about 30 miles west of Lake Michigan and 25 miles south of the Wisconsin border. The county contains 513 square miles and the topography is modified by the irregular deposition of glacial material. A prominent morainal system bounds the Fox River, the main drainage system of the county, creating a narrow, but prominent, valley (Fig. 1). The remainder is, for the most part, gently rolling and well-adapted to farming, although the northern half of the county is hillier and more dissected by ravines than the southern part. Rainfall in the region averages 34 inches a year and the mean annual temperature is about 480F. (U.S.D.A., 1941). The county is located at the edge of Transeau's (1935) 'Prairie Peninsula' in the transition region between the prairie and forest, and it is because of this ecotonal position that the area was chosen for study.