Prairie Research Institute

blog posts

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  Study reconstructs 232-year history of prairie fire in Midwestern U.S.

  Oct 19, 2021 11:15 am

  Researchers combed through thousands of historical documents for first-person accounts of fires occurring between 1673 and 1905 in the Midwestern tallgrass prairie. Their study is the first systematic analysis of the timing, causes and consequences of prairie fires in this part of the world. They report their findings in Natural Areas Journal.

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  Team discovers invasive-native crayfish hybrids in Missouri

  Oct 8, 2021 7:00 am

  In a study of crayfish in the Current River in southeastern Missouri, researchers discovered that the virile crayfish, Faxonius virilis, was interbreeding with a native crayfish, potentially altering the native’s genetics, life history and ecology. Reported in the journal Aquatic Invasions, the study highlights the difficulty of detecting some of the consequences of biological invasions, the researchers say.

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  Prescribed fires affect wild turkey habitat selection

  Oct 5, 2021 1:30 pm

  Prescribed fires used to improve the health of forests influence where wild turkeys choose to nest and roam, according to recent research at the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS). It turns out that turkeys prefer a variety of forest conditions, from non-burned plots to forests burned each year.

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  PRI projects and data boost agricultural producers’ productivity

  Sep 9, 2021 9:15 am

  With some of the best farmland in the country, Illinois has a competitive advantage over other states in the agriculture sector. The Prairie Research Institute (PRI) at the University of Illinois is leveraging this advantage, investing in Illinois’ agriculture economy by offering programs, tools, and research projects to support producers and address current farming issues.

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  INHS entomologists identify new family of stoneflies

  Aug 18, 2021 3:15 pm

  Entomologists at the Illinois Natural History Survey have discovered a new family of stoneflies, a finding that helps scientists studying the insects organize information and distinguish the species that need protecting.

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  Illinois team reports results of Earth BioGenome pilot project

  Aug 4, 2021 12:45 pm

  The Earth BioGenome Project aims to sequence, catalog, and characterize the genomes of all of Earth’s eukaryotic biodiversity over a period of 10 years. With seed funding provided by the Illinois Innovation Network, the University of Illinois’ Prairie Research Institute and Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology have completed a year-long pilot study to demonstrate the potential for Illinois to join a global network of communities engaged in genome sequencing and the conservation of biodiversity. 

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  How can the world prevent emerging infectious diseases, protect food security?

  Jul 20, 2021 10:00 am

  According to a new report co-written by Illinois Natural History Survey postdoctoral researcher Valeria Trivellone, climate change, poverty, urbanization, land-use change and the exploitation of wildlife all contribute to the emergence of new infectious diseases, which, in turn, threaten global food security. Trivellone spoke with News Bureau life sciences editor Diana Yates about how global authorities can tackle these intertwined challenges.

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  Working with scientists better informs managers’ decisions on bird conservation

  Jun 9, 2021 10:45 am

  Scientists studying birds have the data, and conservation managers make the decisions in the field, but if the two groups collaborate, together they can form the best outcomes on real-world bird conservation issues.

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  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.

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  Spring forest flowers likely a key to bumble bee survival, Illinois study finds

  Apr 28, 2021 9:30 am

  For more than a decade, ecologists have been warning of a downward trend in bumble bee populations across North America. While efforts to preserve wild bees in the Midwest often focus on restoring native flowers to prairies, a new Illinois-based study finds evidence of a steady decline in the availability of springtime flowers in wooded landscapes. The scarcity of early season flowers in forests – a primary food source for bumble bees at this time of year – likely endangers the queen bees’ ability to start their nesting season and survive until other floral resources become available, researchers say. They report their findings in the Journal of Applied Ecology.

• PRI experts help assess climate change impact on Illinois

  Apr 21, 2021 2:15 pm

  Illinois is undergoing a rapid change in weather patterns that has started to transform the state, according to a new scientific assessment by The Nature Conservancy in Illinois. Scientific experts from across PRI contributed to the report, including Illinois State Climatologist Trent Ford; Water Survey scientists Daniel Abram, Walt Kelly, Momcilo Markus, Sally McConkey, and Ashish Sharma; and Natural History Survey scientists Sergiusz Czesny, Jim Ellis, Chris Stone, and John Taft.

  Read more about the report and its findings from the Nature Conservancy.

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  Translocation is a viable option for problem bears

  Apr 2, 2021 9:00 am

  One way to manage bears who damage property and crops is to move them to a different area within their geographic range. Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) scientists studying translocation have found that capture and release does not lower bears’ survival rates, so it’s a good option for handling nuisance bears.

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  Study: Black bears are eating pumas' lunch

  Mar 19, 2021 8:15 am

  A camera-trap study in the Mendocino National Forest in Northern California reveals that black bears are adept at finding and stealing the remains of adult deer killed by pumas. This “kleptoparasitism” by bears, as scientists call it, reduces the calories pumas consume in seasons when the bears are most active. Perhaps in response to this shortage, the pumas hunt more often and eat more small game when the bears are not in hibernation.

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  New atlas website maps crayfish locations across the U.S.

  Feb 9, 2021 1:30 pm

  Researchers at the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) have developed the new American Crayfish Atlas, the first website to provide nationwide coverage of crayfish distributions, showing where crayfish species have been found and the extent of their ranges.

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  Improved pest degree day calculators are available for the 2021 growing season

  Feb 4, 2021 10:45 am

  Two updated pest degree day calculators from the Prairie Research Institute (PRI) are now available for commodity and specialty crop growers in Illinois, featuring seven-day weather forecasts, graphs, and insect emergence maps to track accumulated degree days and light for the most notorious pests.

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  50 million-year-old fossil assassin bug has unusually well-preserved genitalia

  Jan 19, 2021 10:45 am

  The fossilized insect is tiny and its genital capsule, called a pygophore, is roughly the length of a grain of rice. It is remarkable, scientists say, because the bug’s physical characteristics – from the bold banding pattern on its legs to the internal features of its genitalia – are clearly visible and well-preserved. Recovered from the Green River Formation in present-day Colorado, the fossil represents a new genus and species of predatory insects known as assassin bugs.

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  Warmer springs mean more offspring for prothonotary warblers

  Dec 9, 2020 8:30 am

  Climate change contributes to gradually warming Aprils in southern Illinois, and at least one migratory bird species, the prothonotary warbler, is taking advantage of the heat. A new study analyzing 20 years of data found that the warblers start their egg-laying in southern Illinois significantly earlier in warmer springs. This increases the chances that the birds can raise two broods of offspring during the nesting season, researchers found.

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  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.

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  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.

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  Project succeeds in increasing east-central Illinois bat population

  Oct 27, 2020 8:00 am

  Thirty minutes before sunset, Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) scientists and volunteers set up chairs in the prairie grass at Coles County’s Warbler Ridge Nature Preserve, look up at the summer twilight sky, and wait for the bat show to begin. Soon, the bats emerge from their bat houses to feed and fly off into the night. A good showing of bats is exciting news for the scientists: bat-focused habitat conservation efforts have proven to be effective in attracting and nurturing bat populations, but this work can take time to pay off.

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  Scientists call for global effort to monitor odonate populations

  Sep 22, 2020 10:15 am

  INHS ecologist Jason Bried and more than 30 co-authors published an article calling for a worldwide effort to monitor not just locations but also quantities of Odonata species.

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  Illinois researcher warns of growing corn rootworm threat

  Sep 15, 2020 7:15 am

  Corn rootworms inflict more than $1 billion annually in lost revenue and control costs. PRI insect behaviorist Joseph L. Spencer regularly travels across Illinois collecting corn rootworms and studying their behavior, ecology, and their growing resistance to pest management, particularly resistance to Bt corn hybrids and crop rotation.

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  INHS among collaborators on NSF-funded project to digitize bryophytes and lichens

  Sep 8, 2020 9:30 am

  The Illinois Natural History Survey is among 25 institutions across the U.S. that will image and digitize associated metadata for close to 1.2 million lichen and bryophyte specimens thanks to a $3.6 million grant from the National Science Foundation.

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  Study finds Serengeti leopard population densities vary seasonally

  Aug 31, 2020 8:30 am

  A study of camera-trap data from Serengeti National Park in Tanzania found that leopard population densities in the 3.7-million-acre park are similar to those in other protected areas but vary between wet and dry seasons. The fluctuations appear to be driven by the abundance of prey and how this affects interactions with other large carnivores like lions.

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  30 years of data show spotted turtle communities are still vulnerable

  Aug 27, 2020 9:30 am

  Populations of the endangered spotted turtle in Illinois are holding up better than those in other states, based on 30 years of data at the University of Illinois. Still, only two populations remain, and the predictions are poor.

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  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.

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  Scientists use modeling techniques to tease out coyote and fox population trends in Illinois

  Aug 5, 2020 11:30 am

  Asking licensed Illinois trappers about their experiences and the numbers of coyotes and foxes they harvest is one way to discover animal population trends. The trick, though, is to account for trappers’ motivations that can be swayed by economic factors and weather.

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  Lone Star ticks in Illinois can carry, transmit Heartland virus

  Jul 23, 2020 9:45 am

  Researchers have confirmed that Heartland virus, an emerging pathogen with potentially dire consequences for those infected, is present in Lone Star ticks in two Illinois counties hundreds of miles apart. The findings are reported in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

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  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.

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  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.

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  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.

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  Researchers find that data from hunters can help assess bobcat population

  Jun 11, 2020 12:00 pm

  Wildlife managers track animal groups to control populations and determine the number of permits provided to hunters and trappers each year. Whether data are taken from the forest or from hunter surveys, their accuracy is necessary to inform conservation, according to Javan Bauder, post-doctoral researcher at the University of Illinois’ Illinois Natural History Survey.

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  Asian tiger mosquito gains ground in Illinois

  Jun 4, 2020 8:15 am

  Researchers report that the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, has become more abundant across Illinois in the past three decades. Its spread is problematic, as the mosquito can transmit diseases–like chikungunya or dengue fever–to humans.

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  Blood markers predict Humboldt penguin nest type, reproductive success

  Jun 2, 2020 8:45 am

  Researchers looked at metabolic markers in the blood of 30 Humboldt penguins nesting in the Punta San Juan Marine Protected Area in Peru, finding that penguins in guano-rich burrows and unsheltered locations had consistent – and distinct – patterns of several sugars in their blood. 

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  Learn to Hunt Program bases hunter recruitment on science

  Mar 26, 2020 8:45 am

  Today’s hunters are more diverse and more likely to hunt for the meat than for the camaraderie of fellow hunters than in generations past. Understanding these motivations and constraints with scientific data helps staff of the Illinois Natural History Survey’s (INHS) Learn to Hunt Program draw new hunters to the activity.

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  Grad student names new treehopper species after Lady Gaga

  Mar 16, 2020 9:00 am

  The insect now known as Kaikaia gaga represents a new genus and species of treehopper.

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  Disease-carrying coastal tick established in Illinois

  Mar 12, 2020 8:00 am

  Researchers at the Illinois Natural History Survey and Southern Illinois University have new evidence of the Gulf Coast tick becoming established in Illinois. They also have found that it often harbors a pathogen that can make people sick. 

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  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.

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  Researchers describe crayfish conservation concerns and strategies

  Jan 30, 2020 8:45 am

  Whether you call them crayfish, crawfish, or crawdad, this creature needs protection nationwide to prevent extinction, according to Chris Taylor, Illinois Natural History Survey curator at the University of Illinois. In a recent article published in the journal Hydrobiologia, Taylor and colleagues have outlined possible strategies for conservation practices to protect crayfish from invasive species, habitat changes, and potential overexploitation.

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  INHS staffer makes massive contribution to species name index

  Nov 22, 2019 2:30 pm

  In a project to build an index containing the names of all biological species found on earth, Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) informatician Dmitry Mozzherin and the HathiTrust team scanned one-tenth of all published human knowledge on occurrences of scientific names in less than a day.

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  Owls eat roadkill, research finds

  Nov 18, 2019 9:30 am

  Owls have never been known as scavengers that eat decaying flesh, but the behavior is more widespread than once believed, according to University of Illinois researchers at the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) who photographed owls scavenging in the night.

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  INHS joins effort to digitize North American parasite collections

  Nov 5, 2019 7:00 am

  The Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) joins Purdue University and 25 other institutions to lead an effort to modernize the world’s knowledge of arthropod parasites by digitizing more than 1.3 million specimens using a three-year, $4.3 million National Science Foundation (NSF) grant.

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  Severe drought shuts down reproduction in copperhead snakes, study finds

  Oct 29, 2019 8:15 am

  A long-term study of copperhead snakes in a forest near Meriden, Connecticut, revealed that five consecutive years of drought effectively ended the snakes' reproductive output.

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  Fire-spawned forest fungi hide out in other organisms, study finds

  Oct 25, 2019 6:45 am

  When a wildfire obliterates a forest, the first life to rise from the ashes is usually a fungus – one of several species that cannot complete its life cycle in the absence of fire. Scientists have long argued about where and how such pyrophilous (fire-loving) fungi survive, sometimes for decades, between fires. A new study finds that some of these fungi hide out in the tissues of mosses and lichens.

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  Scientists foretell the fate of Illinois’ threatened and endangered plants in a changing climate

  Oct 11, 2019 8:00 am

  Scorching summers are predicted for Illinois’ future, threatening already vulnerable plant species. University of Illinois scientists have presented a new way to prioritize restoration efforts, not necessarily focusing on the most precarious plants.

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  Illinois study finds surprising level of monogamy among cowbirds

  Oct 2, 2019 9:00 am
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  Purple martin migration behavior perplexes researchers

  Sep 30, 2019 9:15 am

  Purple martins will soon migrate south for their usual wintertime retreat, but this time the birds will be wearing what look like little backpacks, as scientists plan to track their roosting sites along the way.

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  How are Illinois birds faring?

  Sep 30, 2019 8:00 am

  According to a new study reported in the journal Science, bird populations in North America have experienced a troubling decline in the past five decades. The scientists estimate the continent has lost close to 3 billion birds, roughly 29% of their total numbers in 1970.

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  Bass learn from experience not to take the bait

  Sep 27, 2019 2:15 pm

  Largemouth bass apparently don’t learn to avoid fishing lures from other bass but instead from their own past experiences, according to University of Illinois research.

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  Survey shows species of marsh birds that decline when nearby cities thrive

  Sep 17, 2019 10:30 am

  Wading into the springtime muddy marshland, pushing aside a wall of plants taller than her head, ornithologist Anastasia Rahlin looks and listens for signs of black terns and yellow-crowned night herons. She plays a recording, waits 30 seconds, and listens for a return call. The species of birds that she doesn’t find in the marsh are the ones she doesn’t want scientists to forget.