. Critical trends in Illinois ecosystems. Ecological assessment (Biology); Environmental impact analysis; Nature; Pollution; Conservation of natural resources; Environmental quality. Critical Trends in Illinois Ecosystems Forest monitoring data show evidence of disturbance in Illinois forests and ivoodlands. • The Kaskaskia watershed scored low on virtually every biological >» Two hundred years ago, 38% of Illinois was forested. Today, 14% of the state's land area remains in forest. Forest cover is now slowly increasing, but the plant species composition of our oak and hickory d
. Critical trends in Illinois ecosystems. Ecological assessment (Biology); Environmental impact analysis; Nature; Pollution; Conservation of natural resources; Environmental quality. Critical Trends in Illinois Ecosystems Forest monitoring data show evidence of disturbance in Illinois forests and ivoodlands. • The Kaskaskia watershed scored low on virtually every biological >» Two hundred years ago, 38% of Illinois was forested. Today, 14% of the state's land area remains in forest. Forest cover is now slowly increasing, but the plant species composition of our oak and hickory dominated forests is changing due to fire suppression, habitat frag- mentation, and the introduction of non-native species. Forest monitoring data show evidence of disturbance in Illinois forests and wood- lands. • The average CTAP monitoring site con- tains 58 native plant species and only three introduced species, but where they are found non-natives tend to crowd out native species. • The most important species in the ground cover layer include Virginia creeper, red maple, sugar maple, grass-leaved sedge, wild geranium, wood nettle, clearweed, mayapple, black snakeroot, and poison ivy. In the shrub layer they include spicebush, Missouri gooseberry, black raspberry, bristly greenbriar, and poison ivy as well as saplings of sugar maple, paw paw, bitternut hickory, rough-leaved dogwood, white ash, green ash, hop hornbeam, black cherry, and American elm. • The shrub layer is the layer most dominat- ed by introduced plants. More than 70% of shrub stems counted at ForestWatch sites are in\'asive, generall)' introduced species. The most dominant are buckthorn and shrub honeysuckle in the north, Japanese honeysuckle in southern and central Illinois, and multi-noni rose throughout the state. • Invasive ground cover plants, such as garlic mustard and ground ivy. cover more than two and one-half times the area of distur- bance-sensitive indicator species such as Dutchman's br
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