Monitoring and Assessment of Aquatic Life in the Kaskaskia River for evaluating IDNR Private Lands Programs: Annual Report 2015

Summer thermal characteristics were monitored at 81 locations in the basin (Figure 3) during the three years of this study. Mean daily summer temperature ranged from 18.9oCto 27.2oC with a mean of 23.5oC. Water quality parameters were measuredduring152site visits in summer and 60 site visits infall between 2013 and 2015. Mean values for these parameters were similar in summer and fall (Table 2) and are characteristic of Midwestern watersheds with high densities of agricultural land use. Fish were collected during123sampling events between 2013 and 2015.Mean standardized abundance (number of individuals per 100m of sampled stream) was 323.3 and mean standardized species richness (number of species per 100m of sampled stream) was 11.8. Index of Biotic Integrity(Smogor 2000)scores calculated from sampled fish assemblages had a range of13 (very low) to 55(moderate) and a mean of 36.3(indicating an average condition within the moderately low category; Table 3).The seven overall most abundant fish species in wadeable streams of the Kaskaskia River watershed were all minnows, but that pattern varies by subwatershed (Table 4). Green sunfish is the most frequently collected species in the watershed and in three of the four subwatersheds; however, frequency of occurrence patterns vary across the subwatersheds amongst the remaining species(Table 5).QHEI scores (OEPA 2006) for the watershed range between 21 (impaired) and 77.5 (excellent) with a mean of 51.8 (moderate, Table 6). IHI scores (Sass et al. 2011) for the watershed range between5 and 24 (which are the minimum and maximum scores possible) with a mean of 18.3, which is near the middle of the index gradient (Table 7).Work conducted during this reporting period was performed primarily by one FTE research scientist aided by the Principle Investigators, two graduate students and three hourly workers. A total of eleven hourly workers (mainly undergraduate students) have assisted staff during the three years of study.IDNR Office of Resource Conservationunpublishednot peer reviewedOpe

Developing a multi-metric habitat index for wadeable streams in Illinois (T-25-P-001), annual segment report to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

USFWS through IDNR State Wildlife Grant Grant/Contract No: T-25-P-001INHS Technical Report Prepared for USFWS through IDNR State Wildlife Gran

Status Revision and Update for Illinois' Fish Species in Greatest Need of Conservation: 2012 Annual Project Report

Work during this reporting period focused on gathering fisheries data relevant to distribution, abundance and ecological characteristicsof fish in Illinois and summarizing those data to reevaluate portions of the Illinois Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Plan and Strategy (IWAP). Fisheries databases and museum collections from seven sources along withsurveys of Illinois fisheries experts have been utilized to conduct a comprehensive quantitative and qualitative assessment of Illinois fish Species in Greatest Need of Conservation (SGNC)to assist with updating and revisingAppendix I and II of the IWAP.This annual progress report summarizes work conducted for the period1 January 2011 –31 December 2011.Illinois Department of Natural Resources State Wildlife Grant / Project Number (T-68-R-001)unpublishednot peer reviewedOpe

Review and Update of Non-mollusk Invertebrate Species in Greatest Need of Conservation: Final Report

This final report includes documentation of the approaches, methods, and results of our efforts to evaluate current and potential Species in Greatest Need of Conservation (IWAP Appendix I). We reviewed 563 taxa and provide draft updates and revisions of the Status, Conservation Objectives, and Stresses for non-mollusk invertebrate taxa in Illinois. We propose listing 166 of these as Species in Greatest Need of Conservation including 129 species from the 2005 list of 375 taxa and 36 of the 188 species newly evaluated in this project. Additionally, we propose a Watch-List of 245 invertebrate species which appear to be rare or declining but that have insufficient information to conduct a thorough conservation assessment at this time.Illinois Department of Natural Resources State Wildlife Grant Program Project Number T-88-R-001unpublishednot peer reviewedOpe

Developing a multi-metric habitat index for wadeable streams in Illinois (T-25-P-001). Annual Segment Report to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Illinois Department of Natural Resources Grant/Contract No: (T-25-P-001)This project was initiated to describe key aquatic habitat characteristics and their association to anthropogenic disturbance by developing a field based, rapid assessment method for qualitatively monitoring instream conditions using a multi-metric habitat index. We have developed and applied a method for rating disturbance in wadeable streams throughout Illinois and collected information on physical habitat at 299 sites to date. Index development is in the preliminary stages with field work to continue during the summer of 2008. This report summarizes work performed for the period ending April 30, 2008 (Appendix A contains Eastern Illinois University subcontract annual report).INHS Technical Report Prepared for Illinois Department of Natural Resource

Hierarchical Framework for Wadeable Stream Management and Conservation: Annual Report 2013

We have consolidated and mapped biological information associated with existing criteria for INAI listing of wadeable streams. Threatened and Endangered species locations, fish Index of Biotic Integrity and Mussel Community Index values, and Mussel Species Richness from recent statewide surveys that meet existing criteria for INAI listing have been consolidated and mapped. Additional efforts were made toward developing standard methods for classifying and rating INAI Category I and Category VI sites.Work on this project continued with one full time research scientist and one part-time research scientist during the reporting period. We hired and added a second full time staff member nearthe end of the reporting period to focus on completion of Jobs 2 and 3.Our part-time graduate student worker completed georeferencing and quality assurance of Illinois EPT collections data that is now available for our use.Efforts to define AES polygons uncovered two unexpected but related issues with our existing GIS database system. A large number of very small areas (often < 1 meter wide but sometimes miles long) within the state had not been incorporated into the system. Secondly, some watershed polygons were found to have been misattributed to adjacent watersheds. These areas were generally at the boundaries of the processing units that were used in the initial database development. Identifying, incorporating, and attributing these areas has taken considerable time and delayed work on defining AESs (Job 3)Illinois Department of Natural Resources State Wildlife Grant Program (Project Number T-75-R-001)unpublishednot peer reviewedOpe

Evaluating Streams in Illinois Based on Aquatic Biodiversity

Annual Project Report 2006, Project #: T-20-P-001, July 30, 2005 - July 29, 2006INHS Technical Report prepared for Illinois Department of Natural Resource

Conservation guidance for Illinois Chorus Frog (Pseudacris illinoensis)

Illinois Natural History Survey has undertaken a project producing documents that provide conservation guidance for listed species in Illinois for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The project is titled: Conservation Guidance for Species in Greatest Need of Conservation (SGNC) T-96-R-001. The primary purpose of guidance documents is to provide various project developers/land managers with information on the species, how their actions may impact the species, and how they can minimize/mitigate/monitor those impacts. In addition, the documents may be useful for identifying research needs to direct various funds, as a first step towards recovery planning, or for informing the general public. We intend the documents to be comprehensive and inclusive of scientific and experiential knowledge of the species and its conservation. The documents incorporate information on current conservation efforts, conservation opportunities and research needs. Interviews with stakeholders were held to identify information that should be included in conservation guidance documents. We prioritized document production for species that were frequently the subject of Incidental Take Authorizations or were consulted on in the IDNR’s EcoCat program. Initial literature reviews was conducted to produce first draft documents. Then a list of potential document reviewers, including academic taxa experts, conservation organizations, private consultants, and government agency staff, was compiled for each species. The documents underwent two rounds of review and revision. What follows is the final document providing conservation guidance for Illinois Chorus Frog, which was reviewed by 20 individuals.Illinois Department of Natural Resources, State Wildlife Initiative Grants Programunpublishednot peer reviewedOpe

Conservation guidance for yellow-headed blackbird (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus)

Illinois Natural History Survey has undertaken a project producing documents that provide conservation guidance for listed species in Illinois for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The project is titled: Conservation Guidance for Species in Greatest Need of Conservation (SGNC) T- 96-R-001. The primary purpose of guidance documents is to provide various project developers/land managers with information on the species, how their actions may impact the species, and how they can minimize/mitigate/monitor those impacts. In addition, the documents may be useful for identifying research needs to direct various funds, as a first step towards recovery planning, or for informing the general public. We intend the documents to be comprehensive and inclusive of scientific and experiential knowledge of the species and its conservation. The documents incorporate information on current conservation efforts, conservation opportunities and research needs. Interviews with stakeholders were held to identify information that should be included in conservation guidance documents. We prioritized document production for species that were frequently the subject of Incidental Take Authorizations or were consulted on in the IDNR’s EcoCat program. Initial literature reviews was conducted to produce first draft documents. Then a list of potential document reviewers, including academic taxa experts, conservation organizations, private consultants, and government agency staff, was compiled for each species. The documents underwent two rounds of review and revision. What follows is the final document providing conservation guidance for Yellow-headed Blackbird, which was reviewed by at least 8 individuals.Illinois Department of Natural Resources, State Wildlife Initiative Grants Programunpublishednot peer reviewedOpe

Monitoring and Assessment of Aquatic Life in the Kaskaskia River for Evaluating IDNR Private Lands Programs: Annual Report 2016

Work during this period continued monitoring efforts to characterize fish assemblages, benthic macroinvertebrate assemblages, physical habitat and water quality in streams within the Kaskaskia basin. During summer of 2015, 48 locations were surveyed(a survey event includes physiochemical and biological evaluations), bringing the total locations over three survey seasons to 139 . Several of these locations have been surveyed in multiple years to evaluate interannual variation of stream characteristics or to compliment concurrent studies, and therefore the total number of monitoring events (i.e., efforts to characterize the physiochemical and biological attributes of a stream) is 179. Progress was made in assembling and evaluating relevant information from outside sources (e.g., Illinois Department of Natural Resources [IDNR], Illinois Environmental Protection Agency [IEPA]) during the reporting period.Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Office of Resource Conservation RC13CREP01unpublishednot peer reviewedOpe