Targets
2005 WAP
Conservation
Action
Streams
Protect, restore
and enhance
near-stream and
in-stream
habitats and
processes.
Farmland Restore and
&
manage native
Prairies
prairie
communities
and populations
of imperiled and
extirpated
prairie wildlife.
Forests
Maintain and
enhance the
composition of
Illinois‟
forested
habitats.
Climate Change
Consideration
(Walk et al. 2011 update
report)
Riparian vegetation that
shades streams can
minimize increases in water
temperature; restoring
stream habitat and a variety
of depth creates
microclimate refugia.
Not all currently or
historically-occupied
locations may remain
appropriate for imperiled
species. Consider
maintaining populations
based on sustainable, viable
population networks and
long-term stewardship and
monitoring capacity.
Efforts to re-establish trees
tolerant of more xeric
conditions (e.g., oaks and
hickories) are especially
important, considering that
mesophytic species which
have increased in recent
Who Will Benefit & Where
The blacknose dace, southern redbelly dace and
smallmouth bass are fishes dependent upon the cool
groundwater flowing into the Mackinaw River. Many
stream segments lack riparian trees to shade the stream and
prevent rapid temperature increases. Sedimentation has
filled many deeper water pools. Restoration can reduce
erosion, benefit water quality, and enhance the
smallmouth bass fishery.
Although the ornate box turtle has several small, disjunct
populations in the state, these are profoundly isolated by
extensive conversion of prairies to cropland. The network
of protected sand prairies in NW Illinois’ Mississippi
River Sand Area currently hosting robust box turtle
populations, with movement possible between populations,
likely offers the best chance for long-term persistence.
The slender glass lizard and timber rattlesnake are
dependent on forest openings with ample sunlight for
thermoregulation, and could benefit from the restoration of
open oak woodlands. They also rely on rocky outcrops for
hibernacula - features common in the Shawnee Hills of
southern Illinois and unglaciated Driftless Area in the
Wetlands
Construct and
restore wetlands
to provide
additional
wildlife habitat
and improve
water quality.
Green
Cities
Minimize the
adverse effects
associated with
development on
wildlife and
habitats, and
integrate
wildlife and
habitat
conservation in
developed areas,
as possible or
appropriate.
decades (e.g., sugar maple)
may not be able to tolerate
conditions in Illinois by
mid-century
Since more precipitation
and high rainfall events are
anticipated, engineering
standards for constructed
wetlands should be updated
to ensure drainage
structures and spillways are
designed to accommodate
greater flows.
Green infrastructure that
preserves ecological
connectivity is designed to
help slow or absorb run-off
from more frequent highrainfall events and will be
increasingly important.
Urban residents are likely to
experience the most lethal
effects of climate change
during heat waves, and
Increasing tree cover in can
help moderate
temperatures.
northwest corner of the state. Choose oak opening
restoration sites in places where rocky outcrops also occur.
Most natural wetlands have been lost to drainage and
development in the Northeastern Moraine Area near
Chicago. Maintaining the hydrology of constructed and
restored wetlands in spite of changes in precipitation
patterns will be essential for conservation of marsh-nesting
birds like king rails, common moorhens, and marsh
wrens, and the wetlands’ proper functioning to improve
water quality and store flood waters.
Many species of wildlife have adapted to living in
developed areas near people. One surprising discovery has
been the prevalence of Franklin’s ground squirrels in
‘rails to trails’ sites in several communities in the Grand
Prairie region of central Illinois. Developed as an amenity
for people, in part to reduce travel-related green house gas
emissions, these trails provide a refugia for the squirrels
after their shrub-grassland habitat has been virtually
eliminated from the surrounding rural areas.