Sugar Grove Nature Center

Prairie Examination |Field Report

Prairie Jackson
Examination
|Field
Report
Pavithra Kannan, Sita Vakkalanka,
Wilson,
Carlos
Ortiz

SUGAR GROVE NATURE CENTER | History and Data

Sugar Grove is a subsidiary of Funks Grove, a nationally acclaimed
natural landmark. Though Funks Grove has been famous for its maple
trees and their syrup for a few decades now, Sugar Grove was recently
established in 2006 as a center to showcase the exciting flora and
fauna of the prairie and woods surrounding it. Located in central
Illinois, in McLean County, southwest of Bloomington, it is home to a
tall grass prairie, home to over 82 different species of vegetation and
hundreds of different types of animals.
The temperature in this area is consistent with that of typical Midwestern states: cold, snowy winters,
moderate spring and summer with consonant precipitation. The average precipitation for the colder months
(October-February) is around 2.55 inches or 6.477 cm. As for the warmer months (May-September), the
average resides at 4.24 inches or 10.72 cm. Temperature followed the standard bell curve, peaking during
the summer months. The average temperature from October to February was at a 39.5F or 4.16C and the
warmer May through September had an average of 65.8F or 18.77C.

In 2016, the weather has made some

striations away from the average trend lines,
normally going above average rather than
below. To the left is a graph showing average
climate data from the past 5 years. Below is a
compilation of the weather for the month of
September as compared to the averages found
in past years.

On the day of the study, September 23,

2016,, the high temperature was 77F and
the low at 66F. However, historical
averages for that day are 72F (high) and
52F (low). Cloud cover upon arrival was
50/50 and 60/40 (clear/cloudy) at the time
of departure. There was no rainfall on that
day.

A HEALTHY PRAIRIE

A prairie is an ecosystem that contains grasses,

forbs, shrubs, animals, and microorganisms. It is
considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas,
and shrublands biome. It is specifically characterized by
moderate temperature and rainfall, and a composition
of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the
dominant vegetation type.
A healthy prairie, just as any other ecosystem, has a
high biodiversity. Measuring species diversity is based
on two concepts: species richness and species evenness.
The purpose of this field data collection is to measure
biodiversity by finding those two factors as well as
assess other biotic and abiotic factors such as fungi, water, and temperature that may affect the ecosystem.

METHODS

As a group, a ten meter by ten meter boundary

was established. This portion of the prairie was the area
that was used to collect the data. Using string, stakes,
and hammers, the area was measured and determined.
There were two groups of two, and each group covered
about half of the area. While one wrote down the
number and tallies of dominant species in a given area,
the other noted down the dominant species on the
given grid. The way in which the species were tallied
and noted on the grid was by taking the most dominant
species in a specific area, which in was a half meter by
a half meter. The plant species as well and bug species
were taken into account and noted down with the other
data.
Once all of the data was collected between the
two individual teams within the group, it was compared
and the data was shared. After the in-group
comparison, all of the other groups added their
individual data into a common spreadsheet and based
on those numbers, the Shannon Index was calculated.

DATA PLANTS

The dominant species found in each 0.5 m x 0.5m area.

Count of the plants in the ten by ten meter environment. Using that data, group and class results both,
density, dominance, and species evenness (ln (pi), and the Shannon Index (H).

DATA ANIMALS

Animals found in the quadrant and their relative position

Count of the animals in the ten by ten meter environment. Using that data, group and class results
both, density, dominance and species evenness (ln (pi), and the Shannon Index (H).

ANAYLISIS AND CONCLUSION

Plants
According to our data, there were 19 different species of plants out of our list containing 26 different
varieties. The class data indicated that there were 21 species present in the entire field. However, a major
consistency between the group data and the class data was that the Indian Grass dominated the field by
a fair amount, at 26.12% for the group and 47.93% for the class, , almost 20-25% more than any other
species. Species evenness is skewed due to this monopoly, there is significantly more Indian Grass present
than any other foliage. The tall goldenrod was the second most abundant species at 15.06% dominance
for the group and 13.27% for class. Other plants ranked around 1-8%. The ShannonWiener (H) index for
the plants was 2.474612429, which is a moderate level of biodiversity.

Animals
An ecosystems biodiversity is not just measured in plants but also the animals. There were 9 species
out of the 13 on the list that were spotted. The class as a whole was able to identify 11 of the species.
The dominating category was ants/bees/flies/mosquitos, with beetles as a close second. Species
evenness is a little bit better than the plants however the Shannon Index was only 1.78673 which isnt
very diverse ecosystem. Counting animals may be slightly variant due to the tall grasses and their
movement in and around the area.

Overall this was moderately healthy prairie. Abiotic factors such as temperature and rainfall are
consistent with that of other prairie studies conducted in places such as Iowa and Indiana. However the
flora and fauna, in terms of biodiversity was under par. Averages ranged from 3-4 in other places. In
other aspects, the lack of disturbance sensitive plants indicates that there has been an interruption in
the prairie life, possibly the same that increased dominance in others such as the Indian Grass.

Sources:
http://www.sugargrovenaturecenter.org/
http://www.biodiversity.ru/coastlearn/bio-eng/boxes/specdiv.html
https://ed.fnal.gov/help/prairie/Prairie_Res/illist.html
http://www.ccfpd.org/nativeplants/Prairie.html
https://www.cbd.int/doc/case-studies/for/cs-ecofor-id-01-en.pdf