Illinois Natural History Survey News

Spawning Bigmouth Buffalo Found in Local Champaign Drainage Ditch

Mon, 06 May 2013 08:00:00 CDT

INHS Fisheries Research Scientist Josh Sherwood was called out by WCIA to catch and identify some large fish found in a drainage ditch. The large fish were Bigmouth Buffalo (Ictiobus cyprinellus), usually found in large rivers, but spawn in tributaries. The flooding caused by the recent heavy spring rains likely allowed the adults to swim up to these ditches where they will lay their eggs before returning downstream.

For more information visit the Sport Fish Ecology Lab or WCIA news video

Skunk cabbage - Illinois' earliest native flower

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 08:00:00 CDT

INHS Botanist John Taft and Outreach Coordinator Jen Mui were quoted in an article in the Chicago Tribune about skunk cabbage. Skunk cabbage, Illinois' earliest flowering native plant, gets its name from the foul odor produced as it generates heat. The heat and odor attract pollinators including flies, carrion beetles and honey bees. A link to a video about skunk cabbage pollination produced by the Outreach Department was also included in the article.

Chicago Tribune

INHS YouTube channel

INHS scientists seek new sites for mussel relocation

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 08:00:00 CDT

INHS Researcher Jeremy Tiemann is part of a team working to relocate endangered mussels from a bridge construction site in Pennsylvania to Illinois rivers. The first mussels (relocated in 2010) were given PIT (Passive Integrated Transponder) tags to allow monitoring and after a year and a half, approximately 80% of the relocated mussels had survived. An additional 1200 were transplanted in 2012, and now, new locations are being sought for additional transplants.

Enquirer Herald

News Gazette

Research on diving ducks continues

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 08:00:00 CDT

Researchers at the INHS Forbes Biological Station have banded lesser scaup over the past two seasons to examine their use of restored habitats. Director Heath Hagy hopes to have funding to continue taking blood samples to look at metabolites and contaminants in the birds.

“There are a lot of scaup here,” Hagy said. “We are catching 200-400 per day and we are only getting 10-20 recaptures, so there are a ton of birds out there."

State Journal Register

Meadowbrook beaver die-off attributed to Tularemi-

Mon, 18 Mar 2013 08:00:00 CDT

INHS Wildlife Epidemiologist Nohra Mateus-Pinilla has been investigating the recent beaver die off at Meadowbrook Park. Although there is no "conclusive evidence," Mateus-Pinilla said, "but it appears that the only thing that could have caused the die-off is an outbreak of tularemia." Toxins from run-off, and other diseases including leptospira and salmonella were ruled out and other evidence pointed to tularemia.

Tularemia are common bacteria. "They are present in rabbits and squirrels," Mateus-Pinilla said. "They are part of the natural ecosystem."

Environmental Almanac