Conservation work protects our planet’s natural resources — air, water, soil, plants, and animals — from being degraded or disappearing altogether. Policymakers and managers need data to decide how to preserve these resources for future generations.

PRI scientists have studied Illinois’ natural resources for more than 100 years. Long-term monitoring of species and ecosystems gives researchers and decision-makers the information they need to track trends, identify changes, and make thoughtful policy.

Habitat & Wildlife Monitoring Programs

Effective conservation begins with understanding the landscape — where habitats and wildlife populations are found, their status, and how they are changing over time. Land and wildlife managers depend on data to direct limited funds and resources where they are most needed.

PRI’s numerous long-term, large-scale monitoring programs supply this vital information.

Some PRI programs, such as the Critical Trends Assessment Program, collect data on both habitats and wildlife. CTAP staff monitor forests, wetlands, and grasslands across Illinois to help stakeholders understand their past and present conditions. Supported by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, CTAP is the first statewide comprehensive assessment of its kind. Since 1997, CTAP scientists have surveyed plants, birds, and arthropods at more than 600 randomly selected sites on both public and private lands.

Other PRI monitoring focuses on a specific group of animals, such as bats, birds, and fish.

Bats

Bats provide an essential ecosystem service by consuming insects that can spread disease, damage crops, or become a nuisance. Unfortunately, bat populations in Illinois have declined drastically over the last decade and currently six of its 13 species are listed as state threatened or endangered.

Biologists with PRI’s Illinois Bat Conservation Program are gathering a long-term dataset detailing where different bat species are found, where they reproduce, and population trends over time. Staff intend to track how bat populations fare in response to protection and management efforts and new challenges, such as diseases and landscape-level changes, such as wind and energy facilities.

Read more about PRI’s work on bats and other mammals.

Birds

PRI supplies wildlife professionals with actionable information they can use to better protect and manage Illinois’ bird populations, from songbirds to sought-after game species.

PRI ornithologists coordinate two annual, statewide, volunteer-driven surveys aimed at monitoring Illinois birds — the Spring Bird Count (SBC) and the Monitoring of Owls and Nightjars (MOON) program.

Captured over 50 years across Illinois’ varied habitats, SBC data have proved particularly valuable for identifying species of conservation concern and future candidates for state and federal listing. With more than 15 years of data, MOON has provided much-needed insight into the distribution and population trends of Illinois’ secretive nocturnal bird species. MOON also investigates potential causes for the species’ decline, such as decreased habitat availability and food sources.

Biologists at PRI’s Forbes Biological Station conduct aerial inventories of waterfowl along the Illinois and Mississippi rivers, which are major migration and wintering areas for nearly 30 species of waterfowl.

With support from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, these surveys have continued since 1948, amassing over 75 years of data about fall-migrating waterfowl that has vastly improved our understanding of migration timing, the effects of refuge habitats, and the distribution of waterfowl in Illinois.

Aerial inventory data are used by state, federal, and private-sector entities to direct waterfowl management, conservation planning for habitat acquisition, ecological research, and education. IDNR, for example, relies on these inventories to guide the establishment of hunting season dates, zones, and other regulations and to prioritize wetland habitat acquisitions.

Read more about PRI’s bird research.

Fish

PRI facilitates responsible management actions, habitat restoration, and policy decisions that help ensure healthy native fish populations and sustainable recreational fishing opportunities now and into the future.

Biologists at PRI’s Great Rivers Field Station and Illinois River Biological Station conduct long-term fish monitoring in key areas across Illinois through two programs — the Long Term Resource Monitoring (LTRM) component of the Upper Mississippi River Restoration Program and the Long Term Survey and Assessment of Large River Fishes in Illinois (LTEF).

The LTRM program has been collecting fish samples and data for more than 20 years with the goal of identifying trends in sampled species over time. The program collects hundreds of samples and data on approximately 50,000 fish per year.

LTEF is a collaboration that brings together the work of researchers from PRI, Eastern Illinois University, Southern Illinois University, and Western Illinois University. The project began monitoring Illinois River fish in 1957 and today also monitors the Mississippi, Ohio, Wabash, Kankakee, and Iroquois rivers, providing vital data used by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Read more about these long-term efforts as well as other PRI fish research.

Threatened & Endangered Species

PRI biologists conduct surveys, long-term monitoring, and research to inform the management of numerous state and federally listed species, including amphibians, reptiles, birds, fish, mammals, crustaceans, mollusks, insects, and plants.

Notably, PRI biologists conduct field surveys of plants and animals at sites proposed for Illinois Department of Transportation and Illinois State Toll Highway System projects to identify endangered species and high-quality natural communities. PRI’s work helps to ensure that imperiled animals, plants, and habitats are protected during construction phases.

When INHS scientists detect a protected plant or animal along transportation corridors — or anywhere in Illinois — they also update the Illinois Department of Natural Resources’ Natural Heritage (Biotics 4) Database, which contains occurrence information for all of Illinois’ threatened and endangered species.

The Illinois Endangered Species Board and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service depend on the Natural Heritage Database to make informed decisions on which plants and animals should be included in the state and federal endangered species lists.

Many PRI scientists also assist directly with listing decisions in Illinois by serving on Illinois’ Endangered Species Technical Advisory Committees (ESTACs).

Learn more about PRI’s work on threatened and endangered species.

Infectious Diseases

PRI research informs control and management strategies for infectious diseases that can impact native habitats and wildlife as well as humans, pets, and livestock. Staff assess the distribution and abundance of disease-causing pathogens and their vectors, genetic and environmental factors underlying disease susceptibility, and the impact these infectious diseases have on populations.

For example, scientists with PRI’s Wildlife Veterinary Epidemiology Lab study how chronic wasting disease (CWD), a slow, deadly, incurable neurological disease, spreads among deer and how state wildlife biologists can control it. Their work has uncovered genetic factors that affect how susceptible each deer is to the disease and the influence of soil properties and landscape factors in understanding where the disease has become prevalent. They have also demonstrated the effectiveness of the state’s strategy in maintaining low prevalence of CWD in herds where it has become established.

Read more about PRI’s work on infectious diseases.

Invasive Species

PRI collects the long-term monitoring and research data needed to combat numerous invasive species, which wreak havoc on natural areas, native plant and animal populations, and economically important industries such as commercial fishing and agriculture.

Invasive bigheaded carp species, for instance, threaten the future of sport fish populations and the fishing industry in Illinois and beyond due to their voracious appetites, high reproductive rates, and lack of natural predators.

PRI biologists have studied these destructive fishes for almost three decades. Armed with its expertise and long-term datasets, PRI serves as an integral partner in the multi-state, multi-agency effort that seeks to prevent invasive carp from colonizing the Great Lakes. Currently, PRI biologists are using the latest genetic and modeling techniques to monitor bigheaded carp reproduction and assess methods aimed at halting their spread, as well as identifying, managing, and predicting the ecological impacts of these invasive carp on native fisheries.

Read more about PRI’s research on bigheaded carp and other invasive species.