Northeastern Illinois Research Articles

A Preliminary Assessment of Habitat Partitioning in a Freshwater Turtle Community at an Isolated Preserve

Understanding species–habitat relationships is important for achieving effective habitat management goals, but few studies have evaluated habitat use in co-occurring turtle species. We examined habitat partitioning among five species of freshwater turtles at an isolated preserve in northeastern Illinois. From May–September 2006, we conducted a radio-telemetry study to determine differences in macro- and microhabitat use, niche breadth, and niche overlap of 50 turtles representing rare (Emydoidea blandingii, Clemmys guttata) and common species (Chrysemys picta, Chelydra serpentina, Sternotherus odoratus). Both levels of habitat analysis showed strong partitioning between C. guttata and the common species as well as marked overlap in habitat use between E. blandingii and C. serpentina. Use of mesic dolomite prairie was greater in C. guttata compared to S. odoratus. Further, use of pond was greater in all common species compared to C. guttata and E. blandingii. Species strongly partitioned microhabitat along...

Crossing-scale hydrological impacts of urbanization and climate variability in the Greater Chicago Area

Summary This paper uses past hydrological records in Northeastern Illinois to disentangle the combined effects of urban development and climatic variability at different spatial scales in the Greater Chicago Area. A step increase in annual precipitation occurred in Northeastern Illinois during 1965–1972 according to climate records. Urbanization has occurred as a gradual process over the entire Greater Chicago Area, both before and after the abrupt annual precipitation increase. The analysis of streamflow trends at each gaging station is supplemented by the comparison of the evolution of streamflow indicators in a group of urban and agricultural watersheds, thanks to an original use of the Mann–Whitney test. Results suggest that urban expansion in the Greater Chicago Area has led to widespread increases in a wide variety of streamflow metrics, with the exceptions being spring flows and some of the peak flow indicators. The increases detected in small ( 200 km2) ones, over which the changes in streamflow are relatively homogeneous. While the impacts of land-use change are identified across a wide range of flow indicators and spatial scales, there are indications that some of these effects are mitigated or made negligible by other factors. For example, while impervious surfaces are found to increase flooding, stormwater management facilities, an adaptation to increased flooding, mitigate their impacts at a wide range of scales. While impervious surfaces are known to reduce infiltration and baseflow, a low flow increase was triggered by water withdrawals from Lake Michigan, as a response to a rising water demand which made on-site groundwater extraction unsustainable. Our analysis thus highlights the impacts of adaptive planning and management of water resources on urban hydrology.

Evaluating Restoration Baselines for Historically Fire-Protected Woodlands within a Northeastern Illinois Prairie Peninsula Landscape

The forests and woodlands of the Prairie Peninsula region in the Midwestern USA have been heavily impacted by human influences over the past ∼150 years. Current composition, structure, and dynamics in forest communities across the region lie outside the historical range of variability. However, areas along major waterways were afforded greater fire protection historically than the landscape as a whole (and are common locations for modern natural areas), and historical and modern conditions may be more analogous in these locations. This study assessed composition and structure of woodlands in a series of natural areas along the Des Plaines River in Lake County, Illinois, and related current conditions to historical baselines for the locality and region. Modern composition and structure in even these fire-protected habitats appear to lie outside the historical range of variability. High canopy cover, stem density, and dominance by sugar maple (Acer saccharum Marsh.) and European buckthorn (Rhamnus cathartica L.) are especially inconsistent with historical conditions. Current structure suggests a continued trajectory toward homogenized, closed-canopy ecosystems with increased dominance by mesophytic and invasive species and decreased importance of historically-dominant oak (Quercus spp.) species. Community-specific management strategies focused on modifying canopy structure and composition will be necessary to shift these communities toward conditions of increased light availability, structural complexity, and biological diversity. Strategies to achieve these goals are currently not well established, especially those that could be applied in urban natural areas. Implementation of multiple approaches in an adaptive management framework would aid in developing best management practices for wooded ecosystems in the region.

Casinos, Gambling, and Economic Development: An Introduction to the Special Issue

Growth and ChangeVolume 45, Issue 1 p. 1-4 INTRODUCTION TO THE SPECIAL ISSUE Casinos, Gambling, and Economic Development: An Introduction to the Special Issue Michael Wenz, Michael WenzSearch for more papers by this author Michael Wenz, Michael WenzSearch for more papers by this author First published: 03 March 2014 https://doi.org/10.1111/grow.12037Citations: 1 Michael Wenz is an assistant professor at the Department of Economics, Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago, IL, USA. His e-mail address is: m-wenz@neiu.edu. Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Citing Literature Volume45, Issue1Special Issue: Casinos, Gambling and Economic Development. Guest Editor: Michael WenzMarch 2014Pages 1-4 RelatedInformation

Ecosystem Changes Following Restoration of a Buckthorn‐Invaded Woodland

AbstractShifts in plant‐community composition following habitat degradation and species invasions can alter ecosystem structure and performance of ecosystem services. In temperate North American woodlands, invasion by aggressive Eurasian shrubs has produced dense thickets with depauperate understory vegetation and increased rates of litter decomposition and nutrient cycling, attributes that could impair storage of carbon as soil organic matter (SOM). It is important to know if such impairment has occurred and, if so, the extent to which restoration can return this service. We used an oak‐woodland restoration chronosequence in northeastern Illinois to contrast structural and functional attributes of unrestored areas dominated byRhamnus cathartica(common buckthorn) with areas that had undergone buckthorn removal and ongoing, active management for less than 1 to 14 years. With increasing age, restored areas had higher understory plant diversity and cover (p < 0.0001 and 0.005, respectively) and higher litter mass (p= 0.018). These structural differences were associated with some evidence of reduced soil erosion (p= 0.027–0.135) but greater soilCO2efflux (p= 0.020–0.033). Total particulate organic matter (POM) in the soil increased with restoration age, which was driven by increases in the slow‐turnover, mineral‐associatedSOMfraction. However, variance was high and relationships were only weakly significant (p= 0.082 and 0.083 for totalPOMand mineral‐associatedSOM, respectively). Our results suggest that, in addition to better documented biodiversity benefits, beneficial changes to ecosystem properties and processes may also occur with active, long‐term restoration of degraded woodlands.

Genetic evaluation of remnant and translocated shiners, Notropis heterodon and Notropis heterolepis

Population and conservation genetics of two freshwater fish species, Notropis heterodon and Notropis heterolepis, were evaluated in north-eastern Illinois, U.S.A., where both species have severely declined. Fishes were sampled from two remnant populations occurring in small glacial lakes (source samples) and from two man-made ponds that had been stocked with fishes from those same lakes (sanctuary samples). The goal was to obtain information that would help inform conservation programme planning to reintroduce sanctuary fishes to areas where both species are extirpated. Microsatellite data showed that the two species were genetically quite distinct and there was no evidence of hybridization in either source or sanctuary samples. Within each species, source and sanctuary samples had moderate levels of heterozygosity and were not significantly different from each other. Many alleles observed in the source samples, however, were not detected in the sanctuary samples, indicating that translocation had resulted in reduced allelic diversity of the sanctuary samples. Sibship analysis indicated that full and half sibs occurred within source-lake samples, thus reducing the effective population size of the reintroduced stock. Taken together, these results suggest that source-lake stocks rather than sanctuary stocks are more appropriate for future reintroductions of both species in their native range, unless sanctuary populations can be established with hundreds of fishes. Also, fishes should be harvested from multiple locations in source lakes to avoid over-representation of family groups.

Disruptive Influences of Drought on the Activity of a Freshwater Turtle

Drought is an ecological challenge for turtle species worldwide and can be exacerbated by habitat fragmentation and loss, especially for small populations. We studied the activity of 16 Blanding's turtles Emydoidea blandingii using radio-telemetry from 2005-2006 during consecutive drought and normal hydrological years at a fragmented preserve in northeastern Illinois, U.S.A. The preserve experienced drought conditions during 2005 with precipitation levels 20% below the 60 y average. Fine scale measures of activity (i.e., mean water depth at locations, proportion of unique locations, and proportion of locations in dry habitat) differed between years, whereas broad scale measures of activity (i.e., home range, movement distance) did not. On average only 41.3% of 2005 home ranges overlapped with 2006 home ranges suggesting space use shifted between years. Although most proportional habitat use remained unchanged between years, several individuals increased their use of riverine habitats when other wetland habitat dried. Our study underscores the need to examine the risks of severe environmental events on vulnerable populations.

Influence of landscape factors on density of suburban white-tailed deer

Resource management agencies and urban planners require information from large-scale assessments of factors affecting suburban white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) density to guide deer management and urban development. We assessed the influence of landscape factors on density of suburban deer on 40 forest preserves in northeastern Illinois during 1999–2002. We created candidate model sets for 3 spatial scales: preserve (15–1238ha; 29 models), buffer-only (132–1335ha; 24 models), and total area (147–2322ha; 33 models). We selected models using AICc and obtained 3–10 top models for each model set which constituted 50–89% of the Akaike weights. Using supported variables in these model sets, we created a new final model set (35 models) in which 8 models contributed to 95% of the top Akaike weights. Patch density of agricultural land within preserve borders (ω=0.95; β′=0.47), the mean nearest neighbor distance between all cover patches within preserve borders (ω=0.95; β′=0.38), the diversity of patch types within preserve borders (ω=0.66; β′=−0.24), and the percent core area of forested land within preserve borders (ω=0.52; β′=0.21) were the strongest predictors of suburban deer density. Natural resource managers should limit agricultural practices, reduce core areas of forest patches, and increase diversity of land cover patches within preserve borders to potentially reduce deer densities and limit deer population growth.

Rising up from Indian country: the battle of Fort Dearborn and the birth of Chicago

In August 1812, under threat from the Potawatomi, Captain Nathan Heald began the evacuation of ninety-four people from the isolated outpost of Fort Dearborn to Fort Wayne, hundreds of miles away. The group included several dozen soldiers, as well as nine women and eighteen children. After traveling only a mile and half, they were attacked by five hundred Potawatomi warriors. In under an hour, fifty-two members of Heald's party were killed, and the rest were taken prisoner; the Potawatomi then burned Fort Dearborn before returning to their villages. These events are now seen as a foundational moment in Chicago's storied past. With Rising Up from Indian Country, noted historian Ann Durkin Keating richly recounts the Battle of Fort Dearborn while situating it within the context of several wider histories that span the nearly four decades between the 1795 Treaty of Greenville, in which Native Americans gave up a square mile at the mouth of the Chicago River, and the 1833 Treaty of Chicago, in which the American government and the Potawatomi exchanged five million acres of land west of the Mississippi River for a tract of the same size in northeastern Illinois and southeastern Wisconsin. In the first book devoted entirely to this crucial period, Keating tells a story not only of military conquest but of the lives of people on all sides of the conflict. She highlights such figures as Jean Baptiste Point de Sable and John Kinzie and demonstrates that early Chicago was a place of cross-cultural reliance among the French, the Americans, and the Native Americans. Published to commemorate the bicentennial of the Battle of Fort Dearborn, this gripping account of the birth of Chicago will become required reading for anyone seeking to understand the city and its complex origins.

Evidence of blue coloration in a population of prairie crayfish (Procambarus gracilis (Bundy, 1876) (Decapoda, Cambaridae)) in northeastern Illinois, U.S.A.

Unique color variations, including the presence of blue coloration, have been documented in individuals of a number of species of crayfish. Color variation in crayfish has largely been attributed to genetic factors, although changes in environmental factors, such as background coloration, water chemistry, light, or diet have also been believed to influence coloration. This study documents the presence of blue coloration in a population of Procambarus gracilis (Bundy, 1876) in northeastern Illinois, U.S.A., and examines possible causes for the blue color in this species. To my knowledge, this is the first documentation of the occurrence of blue coloration in P. gracilis.

Fire History and Stand Structure of High Quality Black Oak (Quercus velutina) Sand Savannas

ABSTRACT: We surveyed high quality, remnant black oak sand savannas across four sites in northeastern Illinois to compare characteristics of stand structure and tree vigor with fire history. Dendrochronological methods were applied to 289 dated fire scars identified on 60 Quercus velutina trees. Stand structure was characterized using 30 circular plots (0.04 ha each) per stand during summer 2007. Tree recruitment dynamics differed among the four stands, suggesting that canopy decline dynamics among them is likely to differ in coming decades. Frequent fire intervals (less than two years) were associated with canopy openness, but also a paucity of future canopy trees. Under these frequent fire regimes, we predict a loss of canopy cover, as no smaller trees were present to assume dominance. Fire intervals longer than two years were associated with transition to closed canopy forests. These results suggest that savanna managers should consider other disturbances, such as selective cutting and or grazing, alon...

Effects of Ultracentrifugation on Plasma Biochemical Values of Prefledged Wild Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus) in Northeastern Illinois

Centrifugation is performed on whole blood samples to obtain serum or plasma for biochemical analysis. Although blood samples centrifuged in a microhematocrit tube may maximize recovery of plasma from small-volume samples, plasma biochemical values from such samples have been implicated as causing erroneous results. To compare blood biochemical values obtained by microhematocrit centrifugation and centrifugation with a commercial tilt-rotor machine, blood samples were collected from peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus) eyases aged 32-40 days (n=51). The samples were separated into 2 equal aliquots with 1 aliquot centrifuged in a tilt-rotor machine and the other aliquot ultracentrifuged in microhematocrit tubes. Separated plasma from both processes was sent to a commercial veterinary reference laboratory for routine clinical biochemical analysis. No significant differences were found in the biochemical results of the paired samples by the 2 centrifugation methods. These results show that the centrifugation method has no effect on the plasma quality for biochemical analysis in young peregrine falcons.

Late Ordovician–Early Silurian δ13C chemostratigraphy in the Upper Mississippi Valley: implications for chronostratigraphy and depositional interpretations

ABSTRACTA pioneer study of the previously unknown δ13C chemostratigraphy in the Ordovician/Silurian boundary interval in eastern Iowa and northeastern Illinois resulted in the discovery of the Hirnantian Isotope Carbon Excursion (HICE). The presence of this major isotope excursion in the Mosalem Formation in Iowa and the Wilhelmi Formation in Illinois, which indicates that the excursion interval in these units is of Hirnantian (latest Ordovician) rather than Early Silurian age, necessitates a revised chronostratigraphic classification of these units. Although the precise level of the Ordovician/Silurian boundary remains somewhat uncertain in the absence of the diagnostic graptolites, it is herein placed in the upper part, but well below the top, of the Mosalem Formation and at the top of the Wilhelmi Formation. During a major regression following the deposition of the Maquoketa Shale, the upper part of the latter clastic unit was in some places deeply eroded, resulting in a topographically dissected landscape with upland areas separated by wide incised valleys. During a subsequent late Hirnantian transgression, these palaeovalleys were gradually filled with marine sediments, but the upland areas were not transgressed until earliest Silurian times. The new chemostratigraphical evidence is in good agreement with the available biostratigraphical data, especially from corals, conodonts, and brachiopods. A preliminary chemostratigraphical study of the presumably coeval Edgewood Group successions in Pike County, northeastern Missouri failed to document any heavy δ13C values characteristic of the HICE and some, or all, of the Hirnantian values obtained there may be diagenetically overprinted.

Speaking Up

School nurses provide an important role in the continuity of health care especially for adolescents who are at high risk for significant health concerns. The purpose of this study was to assess adolescents' health information needs and identify their preferences for accessing health information. Using an inductive qualitative research design, 11 focus groups were conducted with a convenience sample of 101 junior high and high school students in suburban northeastern Illinois. The students identified a variety of health concerns and emphasized the need for accessible, high-quality, and personally relevant information. Most students favored taking an active role in learning about their health. They preferred to directly access information from qualified individuals within comfortable, trusting, and respectful relationships or to indirectly retrieve information from reliable resources. Finally, students emphasized the need for privacy and a variety of learning options depending on the specific health topic.

Correlates of health and financial literacy in older adults without dementia

BackgroundRecent research has begun to recognize the important influence of literacy levels and how they affect health and wellbeing, especially in older adults. Our study focuses on health and financial literacy, two domains of literacy which previous research has suggested may be significantly related to health and wellbeing. Our study examines the relation of health and financial literacy with health promoting behaviors and health status among community-based older persons.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study using data from the Rush Memory and Aging Project, a community-based cohort study of aging in northeastern Illinois. The study consisted of 556 older persons without dementia, each determined by a clinical evaluation. Health and financial literacy were measured using a series of questions designed to assess the ability to understand and process health and financial information, concepts, and numeracy; the two scores were averaged to yield a total literacy score. Health promoting behaviors, including engagement in cognitive, physical, and social activities, were assessed using self report measures. Indicators of heath status, including cognition (global cognition and five specific cognitive abilities), functional status (basic and instrumental activities of daily living, mobility disability), and mental health (depressive symptoms, loneliness) were assessed.ResultsIn a series of regression models adjusted for age, sex, and education, higher total literacy scores were associated with more frequent participation in health promoting behaviors, including cognitive, physical and social activities (all p values <0.05). Higher total literacy scores were associated with higher cognitive function, less disability, and better mental health (all p values < 0.05). Literacy remained associated with health promoting behaviors and health status in fully adjusted models that also controlled for income and the number of chronic medical conditions. Most of the findings were similar for health and financial literacy except that health literacy was more strongly associated with health promoting behaviors whereas financial literacy was more strongly associated with mental health.ConclusionsHealth and financial literacy are associated with more frequent engagement in health promoting behaviors and better health status in older persons without dementia.

Impacts of agricultural to urban land-use change on floristic quality assessment indicators in Northeastern Illinois wetlands

Northeastern Illinois is under heavy urban sprawl pressure leading to changes in land-use and negative impacts on existing wetlands directly adjacent to these new developments. Determining the impact of land-use changes on wetlands is important as it can have management and preservation implications within this region. One tool to evaluate these changes is the Floristic Quality Assessment (FQA), a method based on plant species composition at a site and the individual species habitat affinity and disturbance tolerance. The objectives of this study were to: 1) determine how wetland size, impervious surface, and distance from development influence FQA indicators and 2) determine if period (before/after development) and buffer size affect FQA indicators. Fourteen wetlands located in Northeastern Illinois were surveyed during 2004 through 2006 (prior development) and revisited in 2008 (post development). Positive correlations between wetland size and FQA indicators and between impervious surface and percent native species were found. In addition, species richness increased after development occurred and wetlands with larger buffers had higher percentages of native species. This study has demonstrated that larger wetlands are more diverse and land-use changes may not decrease wetland plant diversity in the short term in an urban setting.

Effects of White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus Zimm.) Herbivory in Restored Forest and Savanna Plant Communities

Abstract Despite the widespread interest in plant community restoration, few studies have assessed white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus Zimm.) herbivory on herbaceous species and even fewer studies have focused on deer herbivory in restored plant communities. During 2007–2009, we investigated the effect of deer density and associated deer browse on two restored forest and three restored savanna plant communities in Lake County, Illinois. We used 300 small (1.4 m diameter × 1.6 m height) exclosed plots and 1-m2 unexclosed plots to compare the effects of deer herbivory on forbs. We quantified and compared percent non-herbaceous ground cover, species diversity, species evenness, and floristic quality between exclosed plots and unexclosed plots, as well as among preserves within each plant community type. Species diversity and floristic quality of forbs may be maximized at a deer density between 6–22 deer km2 in restored forest communities in northeastern Illinois. Floristic quality was higher in exclose...

Fostering Collaboration Between Hospital and Community Pediatric Palliative Care Programs (757)

Fostering Collaboration Between Hospital and Community Pediatric Palliative Care Programs (757) Kathie Kobler, MS APN PCNS-BC CHPPN, Advocate Lutheran General Hospital, Advocate Lutheran General Children’s Hospital, Park Ridge, IL. Henry Mangurten, MD, Hospice and Palliative Care of Northeastern Illinois, Park Ridge, IL. Carrie Alani, RN MA, Hospice and Palliative Care of Northeastern Illinois-Hope’s Friends, Barrington, IL.

Population Status and Habitat Associations of the King Rail in the Midwestern United States

The migratory population of the King Rail (Rallus elegans) has declined dramatically during the past 50 years, emphasizing the need to document the distribution and status of this species to help guide conservation efforts. In an effort to guide King Rail breeding habitat protection and restoration, a landscape suitability index (LSI) model was developed for the Upper Mississippi River and Great Lakes Region Joint Venture (JV). To validate this model, 264 sites were surveyed across the JV region in 2008 and 2009 using the National Marshbird Monitoring protocol. Two other similarly collected data sets from Wisconsin (250 sites) and Ohio (259 sites) as well as data from the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology's eBird database were added to our data set. Sampling effort was not uniform across the study area. King Rails were detected at 29 sites with the greatest concentration in southeastern Wisconsin and northeastern Illinois. Too few detections were made to validate the LSI model. King Rail detection sites tended to have microtopographic heterogeneity, more emergent herbaceous wetland vegetation and less woody vegetation. The migrant population of the King Rail is rare and warrants additional conservation efforts to achieve stated conservation population targets.

Asset Condition Assessment at Regional Transportation Authority in Chicago, Illinois

Traditionally, transit systems managed their assets on an as-needed basis, but the urgency of overcoming deferred maintenance in the 1980s brought about an interest in capital programming to systematize the modernization of the physical plant better. Since the early 21st century, efforts to plan for capital maintenance needs have taken the form of the more ongoing process of asset management. Responding to several critical needs in the transit infrastructure of the Chicago, Illinois, area since the late 1980s, the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) commissioned an asset condition assessment for transit in northeastern Illinois. The resulting study, released in 2010, is an industry leader in taking stock of an entire region's transit capital assets. The study establishes an estimated replacement cost for the system and 10-year state-of-good-repair needs. RTA intends to make an annual revision of this assessment into an ongoing process and is using the data as part of its overall performance measurement process. A decision tool is being developed in cooperation with other transit systems to help prioritize investments on the basis of the condition, importance, and impact of different assets.