Revision and Update of the Illinois Wildlife Action Plan's Streams Campaign: Final Report

We used new and existing information to revise and update the Streams Campaign of the Illinois Wildlife Action Plan (IWAP). The draft produced is organized around six focalthemes and contains newly articulated goals developed with the assistance of the Streams Campaign Steering Committee. The draft includes sections describing the current status of aquatic habitats, stressors and threats to wildlife and habitats, focal species (selected to act as ecological indicators for effectiveness monitoring), focal areas, and conservation actions. We have also conducted a broad scale priority watershed analysis that identifies areas for protection and enhancement based on their bio logical richness and relative anthropogenic disturbance. Finally, we have identified potential performance measures for each of the Streams Campaign Implementation Goals.IDNR State Wildlife Grant Program Project Number T-97-R-001unpublishednot peer reviewedOpe

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

Conservation Guidance for Species in Greatest Need of Conservation (SGNC): 2016 Annual Report

During this year of work, draft species guidance documents were compiled from primary literature and IDNR documents, were sent to reviewers,such as practitioners, scientists, and stakeholders, and were revised according to their comments and suggestions. Species covered by guidance documents include Illinois Chorus Frog, Blanding’s Turtle, King Rail, Yellow-headed Blackbird, Regal Fritillary Butterfly, Black Sandshell, and Clubshell.The species guidance document template was used to guide document development and is being refined in the process. The Endangered Species Program is actively using the conservation plan template and itis being revised as needed.Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Division of Natural Heritage T-96-R-001unpublishednot peer reviewedOpe

Conservation guidance for Blanding’s Turtle (Emydoidea blandingii)

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 Blanding’s Turtle, which was reviewed by 17 individuals.Illinois Department of Natural Resources, State Wildlife Initiative Grants Programunpublishednot peer reviewedOpe

Conservation Guidance for King Rail (Rallus elegans)

Illinois Natural History Survey has undertaken a project producing documents that provide conservation guidancefor 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 maybe useful for identifying research needs to direct various funds, as a first step towards recovery planning, orfor 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 agencystaff, was compiled for each species. The documents underwent two rounds of review and revision. What follows is the final document providing conservation guidance for King Rail, which was reviewed by 8 individualsIllinois Department of Natural Resources, State Wildlife Initiative Grants Programunpublishednot peer reviewedOpe

Conservation Guidance for Indiana Bat (Myotis sodalis)

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 review and revision. What follows is the final document providing conservation guidance for Indiana bat, which was reviewed by 7 individuals.Illinois Department of Natural Resources, State Wildlife Initiative Grants Programunpublishednot peer reviewedOpe

A mouse model for HIV-1 entry

Passive transfer of neutralizing antibodies against HIV-1 can prevent infection in macaques and seems to delay HIV-1 rebound in humans. Anti-HIV antibodies are therefore of great interest for vaccine design. However, the basis for their in vivo activity has been difficult to evaluate systematically because of a paucity of small animal models for HIV infection. Here we report a genetically humanized mouse model that incorporates a luciferase reporter for rapid quantitation of HIV entry. An antibody’s ability to block viral entry in this in vivo model is a function of its bioavailability, direct neutralizing activity, and effector functions

Trait‐mediated responses to aridity and experimental drought by springtail communities across Europe

1. The capacity to forecast the effects of climate change on biodiversity largely relies on identifying traits capturing mechanistic relationships with the environment through standardized field experiments distributed across relevant spatial scales. The effects of short-term experimental manipulations on local communities may overlap with regional climate gradients that have been operating during longer time periods. However, to the best of our knowledge, there are no studies simultaneously assessing such long-term macroecological drivers with local climate manipulations. 2. We analysed this issue with springtails (Class Collembola), one of the dominant soil fauna groups, in a standardized climate manipulation experiment conducted across six European countries encompassing broad climate gradients. We combined community data (near 20K specimens classified into 102 species) with 22 eco-morphological traits and reconstructed their phylogenetic relationships to track the evolution of adaptations to live at different soil depths, which is key to cope with desiccation. We then applied joint species distribution models to investigate the combined effect of the regional aridity gradient with the local experimental treatment (drought and warming) over the assembly of springtail communities and tested for significant trait–environment relationships mediating their community-level responses. 3. Our results show (1) a convergent evolution in all three major collembolan lineages of species adapted to inhabit at different soil strata; (2) a clear signature of aridity selecting traits of more epigeic species at a biogeographical scale and (3) the association of short-term experimental drought with traits related to more euedaphic life-forms. 4. The hemiedaphic condition would be the plesiomorphic state for Collembola while the adaptations for an epigeic life would have been secondarily gained. Epigeic springtails are not only more resistant to drought, but also have a higher dispersal capacity that allows them to seek more favourable micro-habitats after experiencing drier conditions. The observed relative edaphization of the springtail communities after short-term experimental drought may thus be a transient community response. 5. The disparity between macroecological trends and fast community-level responses after climate manipulations highlights the need of simultaneously assessing long-term and short-term drivers at broad spatial scales to adequately interpret trait–environment relationships and better forecast biodiversity responses to climate change