Friends of Nachusa Grasslands 2018 Scientific Research Grants – $40,000

To support scientific endeavors, Friends of Nachusa Grasslands awards monetary grants to qualified candidates conducting scientific research significant to Nachusa Grasslands.

Research projects focus primarily on prairie, savanna, wetland, woodland, and stream habitat management such as prescribed fire, seed collection, weed control, general or specific flora or faunal populations, and natural areas restoration.

Thanks to a challenge grant and the generous support of individual donors, Friends once again increased our grant total and awarded $40,000, divided in varying amounts among 15 researchers.

---

Donations to Friends can be designated to Scientific Research Grants.

---

2018 Grant Recipients, Projects, and Amounts

Laura Adamovicz, DVM, PhD graduate student, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  “Continued Health Assessment of Nachusa’s Ornate Box Turtles.”  Dr. Adamovicz is going to continue her last two years’ work assessing the health of the ornate box turtles (Terrapene ornata) at Nachusa.   This work will help direct conservation strategies for the species at the preserve.  It will also provide baseline data for use with other populations of this species in other preserves.  This grant will specifically pay for the measurement of erythrocyte sedimentation rate which is a measure of inflammation ($2,227).

Nathalie Baena-Bejarano and Catherine Dana, PhD graduate students, Illinois Natural History Survey, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  “Documenting Rare and Habitat-Specific Orthopterans and True Bugs in the Nachusa Grasslands.”  The purpose of this study is to survey the presence of habitat-specialized orthopterans (with an emphasis on pygmy grasshoppers and pygmy mole crickets) and true bugs (with an emphasis on cicadas) at Nachusa.  In addition to the survey, molecular techniques will be used to measure the populations’ genetic divergence from other populations in the state.  This study will fill a void in the knowledge of insect species known to exist at Nachusa and serve as a baseline for future comparative studies ($5,000). Caelifera of Nachusa Grasslands (MS Excel file)

Bethanne Bruninga-Socolar, PhD graduate student, Rutgers University.  “Native bees of restored tallgrass prairie: impacts of management actions on diversity and species abundances.”  Funding for this year will be used to complete the data analyses and publications using the 2013-2017 dataset (funded in part by Friends Science grants in 2015 & 2016).  Long term data collection on the diversity and abundance of native bees at Nachusa by this researcher is anticipated, and this five-year dataset provides the baseline for that anticipated data collection ($,1598).

Xiaoyong Chen, PhD. and Mary Carrington, PhD., Governors State University. “Quantifying Soil Organic Carbon Fractions under Main Land Use/Land Cover Types in Nachusa Grasslands.”  Drs. Carrington and Chen and their graduate students will be measuring soil organic carbon in the varied habitats of Nachusa.  Soil organic carbon is an important indicator of soil quality, health, and productivity, and it has not been measured in previous soil studies at Nachusa.  This study will provide a better understanding of the influence management practices have on soil health ($3,000).

Anna Farrell, M.S. graduate student, Northern Illinois University. “Effects of Management on Functional Diversity in Restored Tallgrass Prairie Plant Communities.”  Funds from this grant will be used to analyze C and N content in leaf samples for 10 species at 15 sites varying in age and management regimen.  Measuring C and N content will provide functional trait data that relates to ecosystem processes, including primary productivity and nutrient cycling providing insight into restoration management strategies.  This study is part of the NIU ReFuGE Project initiated by researchers at Northern Illinois University encompassing long-term ongoing research at Nachusa ($1,500)
Effects of Management on Functional Diversity in Restored Tallgrass Prairie Plant Communities Master's Thesis.

Megan Garfinkel, PhD graduate student, University of Illinois Chicago.  “Prairie Birds in Agriculture:  Examining the Use of Surrounding Agricultural Habitat by Birds That Live in Prairies.”  This ongoing study provides insight into the pest control services and disservices prairie birds provide in nearby agricultural fields.  This year’s work will focus on when birds move from prairies to forage within nearby crop fields, how far they go into the fields, and what they eat while there.  This grant will help support the unique and novel DNA analyses of bird fecal samples being developed at UIC for this study ($3,000).

Sean Griffin, PhD graduate student, Michigan State University.   Two projects: 1) “Landscape Genetics of Prairie Bees at Nachusa Grasslands” and 2) “Uncommon and Previously Uncollected Bee Species at Nachusa Grasslands.”  This grant will support 1) the completion of lab work from Mr. Griffin’s 2017 study of native bee genetics at Nachusa, and 2) the collection of sample bees using active methods from target sites at Nachusa in the hopes of finding uncommon bees that may have been missed in previous sampling over the last five years.  He will be collaborating with Laura Anchor of the Cook County Forest Preserve District in this second effort.  Both of these studies will provide information important for management decision-making regarding native bee pollinators at Nachusa ($2,918).

Sheryl Hosler, M.S. graduate student, Northern Illinois University. “Dung Beetle Functional Traits Related to Restoration Management Practices in Tallgrass Prairies.”  This ongoing project is examining how restoration management practices like prescribed fire, grazing, and mesopredator (coyotes, raccoons, etc.) exclosures affect dung beetle functional traits.  The results will provide insight into how management techniques inhibit or promote dung beetle functioning within the ecosystem.  This study is part of the NIU ReFuGE Project ($1,000).

Richard King, PhD., Northern Illinois University, Thomas B. Anton and David Mauger, Independent researchers. “Development and Implementation of Blanding's Turtle Management Strategies within the Franklin Creek Corridor.”  Using inventory methods to determine population status, radio-telemetry to monitor habitat use, and nest protection to promote juvenile recruitment of Blanding's Turtles at Nachusa and adjacent properties within the Franklin Creek corridor, this ongoing effort is designed to develop and implement on-the-ground management strategies to promote the persistence of Blanding's Turtles within the Franklin Creek corridor and north-central Illinois more generally ($4,500).

Emma Leavens, M.S. graduate student, Northwestern University/Chicago Botanic Garden. “Impacts of Mycorrhizal Fungi Abundance and Diversity on Establishment of Comandra umbellata.”  The purpose of this study is to investigate the possibility of a correlation between specific mycorrhizal fungi with the growth and establishment of Commandra umbellata (Bastard toadflax).  This species of plant is found in remnants but has been nearly impossible to grow in restorations so this study’s outcome will be of great interest to Nachusa stewards ($5,500).

Melissa Nelson, M.S. graduate student, Northern Illinois University. “Ground Beetle Trophic Function in Restored and Remnant Tallgrass Prairies.”  This study will quantify the impacts of prescribed fire and bison grazing on ground beetle communities and their roles as seed and arthropod predators in tallgrass prairie.  Specifically, Ms. Nelson will look at how the beetles’ diet preference changes in response to restoration age, fire, and bison and how those changes may influence restoration processes.  This study is part of the NIU ReFuGe Project ($1,800).
 
Michele Rehbein, PhD graduate student, Western Illinois University.  “Identification of Culex and Aedes Mosquito Microbiomes from Wetland and Lower Order Stream Habitats.”  Analyzing DNA from the midguts of trapped female mosquitoes, this research will identify the microbiome (fungi and bacteria populations) living in the mosquitoes of the wetland and stream habitats of Nachusa. There is very little known about this topic generally.  This study will also document the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of these aquatic habitats adding to our knowledge of Nachusa’s aquatic environments, and it will expand our knowledge of Nachusa’s insect inventory by identifying mosquito species that live on site ($3,170).

Nicholas Steijn, M.S. graduate student, Northern Illinois University. “Small Mammal Monitoring and the Effects of Invasive Plant Removal.”  This will be Mr. Steijn’s second year investigating the effects of invasive plant removal via herbicide application on the abundance and diversity of small mammals and the seeds they consume.  The study will provide insight into how this management technique may change community composition and population dynamics of these primary consumers in the ecosystem.  This study is part of the NIU ReFuGe Project ($1,500).

John Vanek, PhD graduate student, Northern Illinois University. “Prairie Engineers: Investigating Species Associations of Burrows in a World Class Prairie Restoration.”  Using infrared, motion-detecting camera traps, Mr. Vanek will be discovering which species are creating, maintaining, and using the numerous burrows found at Nachusa.  This study will answer many questions stewards and visitors have about the burrows, and it will provide important baseline data on the diversity of the mesocarnivores (badgers, foxes, etc.) and other burrow dwelling species on the preserve ($1,847).

Katherine Wenzell, PhD. graduate student, Northwestern University/Chicago Botanic Garden. “Low Pollination of State-Endangered Downy Paintbrush: A Problem for Restored Prairies or for Illinois?”  This study is a followup to the work done on Downy paintbrush (Castilleja sessiliflora) in 2017 which found low fruit set and no observed pollinator visitation in the populations of this Illinois endangered plant at Nachusa.  The same observations were made of another northeastern Illinois population suggesting low pollination as a possible threat to population persistence across the state of Illinois. To investigate whether low pollinator visitation may lead to low reproductive success and the potential for species decline in Illinois, this study will compare pollinator visitation rates at populations of downy paintbrush in Illinois (at Nachusa) to other populations in the region, in states where downy paintbrush is not considered endangered ($1,440).

---

For project descriptions, recipients and award amounts from other years, see Science at Nachusa Grasslands.

To receive information about the grant guidelines and application when available in the late summer, contact [email protected].

---

UPDATED 08/2024