blog posts

• Decades-old amber collection offers new views of an ancient world

  Jul 30, 2015 1:45 pm
• 

  Decadeslong effort revives ancient oak woodland

  Oct 29, 2020 9:30 am

  Vestal Grove in the Somme Prairie Grove forest preserve in Cook County, Illinois, looks nothing like the scrubby, buckthorn-choked tangle that confronted restoration ecologists 37 years ago. Thanks to the efforts of a dedicated team that focused on rooting up invasive plants and periodically burning, seeding native plants and culling deer, the forest again resembles its ancient self, researchers report in the journal PLOS ONE.

• 

  Data analysis paints a clearer picture of translocation success among black bears

  Aug 25, 2020 11:00 am

  Javan Bauder and Max Allen analyzed data from 1,462 translocations of 1,293 black bears in Wisconsin from 1979 to 2016, evaluating translocation success of black bears across Wisconsin.

• 

  Danville, crow capital of the world

  Feb 1, 2013 8:00 am

  INHS Ornithologist Steve Bailey told the Chicago Tribune that Danville has "the largest winter roost of crows that we know about in the U.S. and Canada." Christmas Bird Counts found 121,500 crows, whereas a year ago, the count was 238,000. INHS Affiliate Mike Ward added that the drought caused a resurgence of West Nile virus, to which crows are particularly vulnerable. Crows rebound well, which might be bad news for the residents of Danville who have unsuccessfully tried many things including trucks with a "cannon" booming to scare the birds.

• 

  Cultivating Innovation: The Intersection of Geography, Climate, and Agricultural Research in Illinois

  Jan 31, 2024 8:45 am

  Since its inception in 2008, the Prairie Research Institute has conducted long-term monitoring of Illinois’ water, soil, and climate. These data, including growing and pest degree days, soil temperature and moisture, water table levels, and in-stream sediment, are used every day by thousands of Illinoisans and by the state’s agriculture, renewable energy, and construction industries.

• 

  Culling maintains low prevalence of Chronic Wasting Disease in deer populations

  Oct 21, 2013 8:00 am

  INHS Wildlife Epidemiologist Nohra Mateus-Pinilla and postdoctoral researchers Mary Beth Manjerovic and Michelle Green conducted research on the effectiveness of culling deer to prevent the spread of Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD). CWD is a 100% fatal disease in deer, likened to Mad Cow Disease. Their paper compared the culling strategy used in Illinois to the two different management strategies used in Wisconsin over a decade. Listen to the interview on Focus 580.

• 

  Crows are back, but West Nile Virus here to stay

  Dec 13, 2011 11:00 am

  During the years following the discovery of West Nile Virus in Illinois, Crow populations dropped from 300,000 to 110,000 birds. According to INHS Ornithologist Mike Ward, crows were highly susceptible to West Nile Virus, possibly because of their specialized immune systems and social lifestyle.  The cause of the rebound is not fully understood, but Ward stated that antibodies to fight off the virus have been discovered recently. Wet conditions during the summer may have also decresed breeding of the mosquito species that carries West Nile Virus.

• 

  Craig Miller describes risks of lead ammunition

  Nov 13, 2020 12:15 pm

  Illinois Natural History Survey human dimensions scientist Craig Miller spoke to News Bureau life sciences editor Diana Yates about the risks associated with using lead ammunition in hunting.

• 

  Cowbirds change their eggs’ sex ratio based on breeding time

  Jun 24, 2020 9:15 am

  Brown-headed cowbirds show a bias in the sex ratio of their offspring depending on the time of the breeding season, researchers report in a new study. More female than male offspring hatch early in the breeding season in May, and more male hatchlings emerge in July.

• 

  Cowbirds aren't just deadbeat parents

  Sep 10, 2015 8:00 am

  A new study from INHS graduate student Matthew Louder, and INHS Ornithologists Wendy Schelsky, Jeff Hoover, and Amber Albores found that female cowbirds monitor nest success of their offspring and will lay their eggs in the most successful host nests. This, combined with previous work by Jeff Hoover and colleagues, shows that female cowbirds aren't just abandoning their eggs in a host nest. Nests that fledged cowbirds were much more likely to be parasitized by cowbirds again than those that failed to fledge cowbirds.

• 

  Cowbird chicks do best with two warbler nest mates – not four, not zero, study finds

  Sep 15, 2022 10:15 am

  A new study seeks to understand the strategies cowbird chicks use to survive in prothonotary warbler nests when they hatch with different numbers of warbler nestlings. The study reveals that a cowbird chick does better with two than with four or zero warbler nest mates. 

• 

  Could Asian carp be competing for food with eagles?

  Feb 1, 2010 2:30 pm

  INHS Scientists Dr. Gregg Sass and Dr. John Chick were interviewed by Chris Young for an article that questions the cause of the decline of the Bald eagle, and other birds, at the Starved Rock Lock and Dam. One of the possible contributors to the decline may be due to the presence of Asian carp.

• 

  Corn rootworm on the rebound?

  Jul 18, 2011 9:00 am

  After a couple of years with low levels of damage from Western Corn Rootworms, INHS Insect Behaviorist Joe Spencer and his colleagues have found significant damage to roots and a higher level of adult emergence compared to last year. For more information, visit Farms.com.

• 

  Corn rootworm management webinar

  Feb 25, 2014 8:00 am

  INHS Behavioral Entomologist Joe Spencer presented a talk on "Rootworm Biology and Behavior" in the webinar "Corn rootworm Management in the Transgenic Era." Over 300 people attended this webinar, archived at the link below.

• 

  Cornboy vs. the Billion-Dollar Bug

  Feb 21, 2017 3:45 pm

  There is, despite the name, nothing urban about Piper City, Ill. It is a farm town with a skyline of grain elevators, a tidy grid of pitch-roofed houses and, a few blocks beyond, endless fields: corn, soybean, corn, soybean, corn, corn, corn, perfectly level, perfectly square, no trees, no cows, no hedgerows, no bare land. In late August of 2013, a man named Joseph Spencer followed a corn-flanked county road northwest from Piper City until his GPS advised him to leave the road altogether and turn onto a gravel track. Spencer, an entomologist who studies farm insects, was looking for a farmer named Scott Wyllie.

• Contaminated sediments affecting wetland mice

  Feb 21, 2008 12:00 am

  Jeff Levengood and Ed Heske recently published an article entitled "Heavy metal exposure, reproductive activity, and demographic patterns in white-footed mice (Peromyscus leucopus) inhabiting a contaminated floodplain wetland" in Volume 389, Issues 2-3 of Science of the Total Environment.The article discusses the effects of using contaminated sediments from Lake DePue, Illinois to create a wetland that is home to white-footed mice. View the Science of the Total Environment article at ScienceDirect. Accessible through subscription only.

• Conservation efforts work to improve migratory bird habitat

  Jun 6, 2011 12:00 pm

  INHS Ornithologist TJ Benson was quoted in a Chicago Tribune article about migratory birds and bird habitat restoration projects in the Chicagoland area. Benson says that there has been a decrease in shrub land birds over the past century and that studies are currently being done with miniature video cameras to document predation on these birds.

• 

  Conservation efforts help some rare birds more than others, study finds

  Jan 23, 2019 9:30 am
• 

  Congratulations to Sarah Douglass, 2024 Chancellor's Staff Excellence Award Winner

  Sep 13, 2024 8:45 am

  Sarah Douglass, an associate research scientist at the Prairie Research Institute since 2008, has significantly contributed to malacology and freshwater mussel conservation. As the head of the mollusk research program, she leads federally listed mussel research and employs eDNA methods for detecting rare species, tracking mussel movements, and long-term monitoring of mussel populations. Sarah's initiatives have enhanced lab efficiency, improved safety measures, and supported student and staff training. Douglass contributes to the university’s research and conservation efforts through her work, presentations, and involvement in statewide and regional conservation committees, supporting the Illinois Natural History Survey’s role in freshwater ecology. See Sarah talk about her work.

• 

  Coming back strong: Illinois Bald Eagle populations on the rise

  Feb 7, 2012 8:00 am

  Bald Eagle populations in Illinois are on the rise. In 1980, Bald Eagles were found breeding only in extreme Southern Illinois, but in surveys during 2008, nesting pairs were found in 67 Illinois counties. Part of the increase is attributed to the ban of DDT in 1972, but according to INHS Ornithologist Mike Ward, that was just the beginning. Environmental regulations have led to cleaner waterways (enabling eagles to more easily catch fish) and eagles have become more comfortable around humans. Being able to be near people gives them a lot more places to breed in Illinois, Ward said.

• Citizen scientists invited to participate in bioblitz

  May 25, 2015 8:00 am

  INHS scientists will be participating in a Bioblitz organized by The Wetlands Initiative (TWI) at Sue and Wes Dixon Waterfowl Refuge at Hennepin and Hopper Lakes in Putnam County on June 13-14. Citizen scientists are invited to help document all of the flora, fauna, and fungi of the area over the course of 24 hours.

• 

  'Citizen scientists' help track foxes, coyotes in urban areas

  Jun 4, 2019 12:45 pm

  As foxes and coyotes adapt to urban landscapes, the potential for encounters with humans necessarily goes up. A team of scientists is taking advantage of this fact to enlist the eyeballs and fingertips of humans – getting them to report online what they see in their own neighborhoods and parks.

• 

  Citizen scientist mussel survey finds 14 species

  Oct 1, 2012 8:00 am

  INHS Field Biologist Sarah Bales accompanied a group to survey mussels at Lake of the Woods. The group of citizen scientists found 314 individual mussels of 14 native and one introduced species. According to Bales, only one species that was previously found there was not found by this group, and that species is rare. She also said that the range of sizes found indicates the mussels are reproducing and that the habitat had not been degraded significantly.

• 

  Chronic wasting disease in Illinois: resources and disease dynamics

  Sep 13, 2017 5:30 pm

  Protecting the deer herd from chronic wasting disease has economical value to the State of Illinois, recreational value to deer hunters, and a health value for CWD-susceptible animals. Currently, there is no treatment or vaccination against CWD. Management based on removal of infected deer in areas where disease is present is the only known strategy to control the spread of CWD.

• 

  Chronic wasting disease: hunters' perceptions and attitudes

  Aug 1, 2022 9:45 am

  For Outdoor Illinois Journal, INHS scientists describe what their surveys have revealed about deer hunters'perceptions and attitudes toward the management of chronic wasting disease in Illinois' deer population.

• Chinese researchers visit INHS field station

  Aug 18, 2009 2:00 pm

  Dr. John Chick, Director of INHS' Great Rivers Field Station, spent the first part of August with Yangtze River researchers. Chick first met the researchers while visiting China last year. The Chinese researchers were particularly interested in learning about the methodology and techniques used in the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program on the Upper Mississippi River. A long-term goal of these exchanges is to have comparable monitoring programs set up on large rivers around the globe, which would provide an excellent opportunity to advance both the scientific understanding and management of large rivers.
  
  In addition, both Chinese and American researchers at the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center were interested in learning about Asian carp habitat. The Asian carp is native China, but invasive in the United States. To read more about this exchange, please read the August 7th article in the Belleville News-Democrat entitled, "Chinese Scientists Studying in Area."

• 

  Check in with INHS online before heading out to hunt or fish

  Apr 30, 2021 8:30 am

  Whether it’s for hunting or fishing, the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) collects data and provides information and education to support hunters and anglers in exploring Illinois and its many biological resources.

• 

  Chasing bumble bees on a patch of prairie

  Jul 21, 2020 8:00 am

  Illinois Natural History Survey insect collection manager Tommy McElrath conducts surveillance for bees at the prairie near the University's Trelease Woods. Only 11 of the 18 bumblee bee species historically collected in Illinois have been seen in the last 15 years. Of those remaining here, three are endangered or threatened.

• Champaign Couunty mosquito sample tests positive for West Nile Virus

  Jul 15, 2009 11:00 am

  Mosquito samples taken during the month of June have tested positive for the West Nile Virus (WNV). The samples were collected and processed by the Illinois Natural History Survey's medical entomology program, headed by Dr. Barry Alto. Interestingly, this is the first positive sample for WNV since October 2007. Since surveillance started this year in May, positive samples for WNV has been found in eight other counties throughout Illinois, including: Adams, Bureau, Cook, DuPage, Knox, LaSalle, Madison and St. Clair counties. The News-Gazette ran an article about the WNV sample in the July 8, 2009 edition. The article was titled, "Champaign mosquito sample tests positive for West Nile."

• Champaign County confirms West Nile in samples

  Sep 10, 2010 1:00 pm

  Richard Lampman, an INHS entomologist, was interviewed by the Daily Illini about West Nile's appearance in Champaign County. Lampman said that this summer's hot, dry weather was perfect for the spread of mosquitoes.

• 

  Center for Digital Agriculture, Prairie Research Institute partner to support joint agriculture research

  May 5, 2025 10:00 am

  The Center for Digital Agriculture and the Prairie Research Institute have partnered to offer seed funding for joint research projects.

• 

  Celebrated squirrel’s legacy lives on for visitors

  Apr 18, 2023 3:00 pm

  Pinto Bean, the beloved piebald squirrel that lived and died on the University of Illinois campus, is back. The squirrel’s taxidermied remains are now on display at the Forbes Natural History Building lobby, where visitors can see its rare gray and white coloration that attracted fans and followers at the university.

• 

  Cave microbe produces compound that inhibits the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome

  Jul 21, 2015 1:00 pm

  A new study from INHS Mycologist Andrew Miller and grad student Daniel Raudabaugh has found that the yeast Candida albicans produces a compound: trans, trans-farnesol, that inhibits growth of Pseudogymnoascus destructans, the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome in bats.

• 

  Cats pass disease to wildlife, even in remote areas

  May 13, 2011 1:00 pm

  INHS Wildlife Veterinary Epidemiologist Nohra Mateus-Pinilla and graduate students Shannon Fredebaugh recently published a study that found that even in remote parts of a natural area, cats spread disease to wildlife. Their study, Allerton Park in Monticello, does not have bobcats which strongly suggests feral house cats are responsible for spreading the feline dependent Toxoplasma gondii parasite.  Infection by the parasite causes neurological problems and possible death in humans and other animals. "If one infected cat defecates there, any area can become infected," Fredebaugh said. "It just takes one cat to bring disease to an area."

• 

  Cat disease Toxoplasmosis found in muskrats and minks

  Jan 28, 2015 8:00 am

  INHS Graduate student Adam Ahlers led a study on the prevalence of Toxoplasmosis, a disease spread by cats. The researchers found antibodies for Toxoplasma gondii, the parasite that causes toxoplasmosis, in 18 of 30 muskrats and 20 of 26 minks tested for the disease in central Illinois.

• 

  Casting a net for conservation

  Mar 22, 2017 8:00 am

  Go Behind the Scenes with graduate research assistant Benjamin Williams as he catches ducks and records data along the Wabash River.

• 

  Carp play a role in disseminating plant seeds in the Illinois River

  Feb 28, 2018 10:15 am
• 

  Camera trap study reveals the hidden lives of island carnivores

  Dec 21, 2018 11:30 am
• 

  Camera-trap study provides photographic evidence of pumas' ecological impact

  Jan 23, 2023 10:45 am

  A camera-trap study of two ecosystems – one with pumas and one without – adds to scientists’ understanding of the many ways apex predators influence the abundance, diversity and habits of other animals, including smaller carnivores. The study followed multiple members of the order Carnivora, looking at how the largest carnivore in each locale influenced the behavior and presence of other animals in the same vicinity.

• 

  Camera-trap study captures Sumatran tigers, clouded leopards, other rare beasts

  Feb 24, 2020 2:00 pm

  Scientists deployed motion-sensitive camera traps across a 50-square-mile swath of Bukit Barisan Selatan National Park in southern Sumatra and, over the course of eight years, recorded the haunts and habits of dozens of species, including the Sumatran tiger and other rare and endangered wildlife. Their observations offer insight into how abundant these species are and show how smaller creatures avoid being eaten by tigers and other carnivores.

• 

  Butterflies of Illinois field guide is now available from University of Illinois Press

  May 14, 2019 2:15 pm
• 

  Bumper crop of mosquitoes, but not West-Nile Virus, yet

  Jun 7, 2011 8:00 am

  According to INHS Medical Entomology Director Ephantus Juma Muturi, despite the large number of mosquitoes out now, the level of West-Nile Virus is still very low. The optimal breeding environment for West-Nile Virus bearing mosquitoes is dry, warmer weather, when the larvae are not washed away by heavy rains.

• Bumblebee populations declining

  Feb 22, 2008 8:00 am

  The bumblebee crisis was discussed in a February 21, 2008 post to the North Carolina State University Insect Museum blog. The article discusses what factors are contributing to the bumblebee's decline and mentions research done by Solter labs. Lee Solter is an Associate Scientist and Insect Pathology Research Leader with the Illinois Natural History Survey.

• 

  Bullfrogs insensitive to road salt

  Nov 6, 2013 8:00 am

  INHS post doctoral researcher Tanya Hawley Matlaga, INHS Herpetologist Chris Phillips, and INHS Ecotoxicologist David Soucek report that bullfrogs are less sensitive to elevated chloride concentrations than some other amphibian species. The study was designed to mimic the level of salt found in roadside ponds following de-icing events. The study found that bullfrog tadpoles did not experience reduced survival, growth, or ability to evade predation in elevated chloride concentrations, and thus, their populations are not expected to be impacted by road salt. While this is good news for bullfrogs, it's an additional stress for other species inhabiting ponds with these voracious predators.

• 

  Brown Marmorated Stink Bugs are on the Move This Fall

  Sep 30, 2016 8:00 am

  An invasive stink bug species has been found in five newly invaded Illinois counties this year, according to Kelly Estes, Cooperative Agricultural Pest Survey (CAPS) coordinator in the Prairie Research Institute, University of Illinois.

• 

  Brown marmorated stink bug in Illinois

  May 2, 2011 8:00 am

  The Brown Marmorated Stink Bug is a new invasive species being found in Illinois that is getting a lot of media attention. INHS Entomologist Chris Dietrich discussed the bugs in the Geneva Republican, stating that with no natural predators, these bugs can become a nuisance species. He adds that, “They’re actually considered a delicacy in some parts of Mexico.” Illinois Cooperative Agriculture Pest Survey Entomologist, Kelly Estes was interviewed about the bugs on WGLT - Bloomington NPR affiliate and WILL 580. This species has been confirmed in Cook, Kane, Champaign and McLean counties but scientists are still determining the extent of its spread. She asks that if you think you have this (or other pest species) send her a photo or the actual specimen for positive identification. She can be contacted at invasives@inhs.illinois.edu.

• 

  Bringing yesterday's plants to digital life

  Jul 31, 2019 11:00 am
• 

  Brian D. Anderson retires from PRI

  Jul 10, 2017 12:15 pm

  On July 8 Prairie Research Institute staff and supporters gathered to bid a fond farewell to Brian D. Anderson, who retired from PRI at the end of June after serving as director of the Illinois Natural History Survey and interim director of PRI.

• 

  Boom of record breaking bass over?

  Jun 15, 2012 8:00 am

  INHS Conservation Geneticist Dave Philipp studied bass for 20 years, finding that genetics plays a role in which fish are caught. Fish that are more aggressive, thus more likely to bite a hook, pass that trait on to their offspring. As those aggressive fish are caught and removed from the population, the remaining fish are genetically harder to catch. This is one of the theories suggested to explain the mystery of why the Pennsylvania Largemouth Bass State Record has stood for nearly 30 years.

• 

  Bobwhites listen to each other when picking habitat

  Jun 18, 2020 8:00 am

  Northern bobwhites are attracted to a habitat based on whether other bobwhites are present there, research led by Illinois Natural History Survey avian ecologist Michael Ward. This phenomenon, called conspecific attraction, could aid conservation efforts.