Specialized Databases

After searching general databases, you may want to try a specialized database for the biological sciences or sciences for more research-oriented articles on prairies.

Here are some specialized databases to try:

Biological Abstracts (BIOSIS) (1980 - present) Major database of the life sciences indexing over 6000 journals. This database will provide many citations for prairie articles. Click here for suggested tips and searching strategies from the Biology Library. Sample Searches: do a subject search for Henslow's sparrow or Ammodramus-henslowii to find articles about this grassland bird. do a subject search for prairies and restoration to find articles about prairie restoration do a subject search for prairie animals and Illinois to find articles about prairie animals of Illinois

Current Contents (1984 - present) Indexes tables of contents and bibliographic data from 7500 scholarly research journals and books. Very good coverage of major journals in the life sciences. Current Contents will be most useful to you for finding citations to scholarly and/or technical articles. Sample Searches: search savannas and Africa to find articles on African savannas search rangeland and Kansas to find articles about rangelands in Kansas search grasslands and birds to find articles about marsh birds Wilson Biological and Agricultural Index (1983-present) Indexes over 225 journals from the Biological and Agricultural sciences. In addition to indexing articles this database indexes book reviews, chapters in annual reviews of research, and journal supplements.

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Maps/Directions

Atlas of the Wisconsin Prairie and Savanna Flora
http://www.botany.wisc.edu/wisflora/PSatlas.asp

Bioconservation and Systematics: Proceedings of the Canadian Botanical Association Conference Symposium in London, Ontario, June 2000, 2001.
Location: Natural History -- Call Number: 333.9530971 B52

Biological Resources by Geographic Region (USGS)
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/geograph.htm

Federal Township Plats of Illinois, 1804-1981
http://landplats.ilsos.net/Flash/FTP_Illinois.html

Former range of tallgrass prairies in North America
http://dnr.state.il.us/conservation/naturalheritage/prairie/figure1.htm

Illinois Department of Agriculture Geographic Information System
http://www.agr.state.il.us/gis/

Illinois Nature Preserves Commission's Nature Preserve Directory
http://dnr.state.il.us/INPC/NPdir.htm

Illinois Prairie Cemetery Directions
http://www.prairiepages.com/Cemetery_Prairie.html

Illinois Survey Field Notes, 1849
Location: Illinois Historical Survey--Call Number: FILM 333.0809773 IL6IS

Land Cover of Illinois about 1820, adapted from Anderson 1970 (Figure 1)
http://ifdc.nres.uiuc.edu/publications/pdf/forestresources02/pg18-21.pdf

Natural Divisions of Illinois
http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/cwe/rra/figure13.html

PrairieMap
http://prairiemap.wr.usgs.gov/

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Prairie Directories

Prairie Directory of North America
Location: Biology Ref, Natural History--Call Number: 577.44 Ad33p

Grassland Heritage Foundation - prairie preserves and restoration areas
http://www.grasslandheritage.org/

Prairie Plant Directory
http://www.southwest.msus.edu/wildlife/plantsdir.html

Botanical Clubs and Native Plant Societies of the United States and Canada
http://www.newfs.org/nps.htm

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Web Resources

Web Sites:

The Tallgrass Prairie in Illinois
http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/~kenr/tallgrass.html

Produced by Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS) prairie expert Dr. Ken Robertson, this web site is an excellent starting point for prairie research, with information on prairie history, restoration, landscaping, and biodiversity. Includes color photographs of most prairie plants and is especially rich in information on Illinois prairies. Includes excellent bibliographic sources as well as an annotated list of links to other prairie sites.

Links to Prairie Web Sites
http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/~kenr/prairielinks.html

This page includes a list of prairie web sites compiled by Dr. Ken Robertson of the INHS. The compilation includes over 60 web sites.

Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center (NPWRC)
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/index.htm

This site is operated by the U.S. Geological Survey. Excellent searchable database of publications written by NPWRC personnel, including plant and wildlife topics and a resource finder (http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/resource.htm#RES).

The Tallgrass Prairie Challenge
http://midwest.fws.gov/NorthernTallgrassPrairie/challenge.htm

This Fish and Wildlife Service site highlights the critical elements for protecting what remains of the tallgrass prairie.

Chicago Wilderness Coalition
http://www.chiwild.org/

This alliance of more than 160 public and private organizations works together to protects, restore, study, and manage the precious natural ecosystems of the Chicago region for the benefit of the public.

Illinois Prairies
http://www.prairiepages.com/

Provides historical information on Illinois prairies as well as location lists.

Iowa Prairie Network
http://www.iowaprairienetwork.org/

The Iowa Prairie Network is an all volunteer network of people dedicated to the preservation of the prairie heritage in the state of Iowa.

Prairie Establishment and Landscaping
http://dnr.state.il.us/conservation/naturalheritage/prairie/table.htm

A prairie resource by William E. McClain of the Division of Natural Heritage, Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Springfield, IL (Natural Heritage Technical Publication #2 1997)

Prairiesource.com
http://www.prairiesource.com/

This resource provides information regarding prairies, native grasses, wildflowers and related topics.

Prairies Forever
http://www.prairies.org/

This nonprofit organization is dedicated to promoting the ecological and cultural significance of the American prairie througn education, outreach, and public engagement.

Prairie Nursery - How to establish a prairie
http://prairienursery.com

This 'How To' guide (under the 'How To' tab on this site) provides detailed instructions for successful prairie plantings and wildflower gardening.

Prairie in Illinois
http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/prairie/index.html

This web site, created by the Illinois State Museum, is part of an online education resource called MuseumLink Illinois. Prairie in Illinois provides information about prairie ecosystems, prairie restoration, and planting a prairie garden. Resources and activities are available for educators.

Databases:

Illinois Plant Information Network (ILPIN)
http://www.fs.fed.us/ne/delaware/ilpin/ilpin.html

This database provides information about all of the vascular plant taxa found in Illinois. At this site, you can search on a plant species (by scientific or common name), and retrieve information compiled on the species, as well as a map of its known distribution among the counties in Illinois.

PrairieMap
http://prairiemap.wr.usgs.gov/

This GIS Database for Prairie Grassland Habitats and associated Native Wildlife in the North American Mid-West helps users identify and collect spatial data layers needed for research and management of prairie grassland ecosystems.

USDA Plants Database
http://plants.usda.gov/

This database is maintained by The National Plant Data Center (NPDC) whose responsibility is to acquire, develop, improve, and disseminate plant information to support the USDA's National Resources Conservation Service and other efforts to improve the ecological health of the land. NPDC works with partners to incorporate plant data into the agency's automated tools.

North American Pollen Database
http://www.museum.state.il.us/research/napd/

The database is a research program of the Illinois State Museum. Surface sample raw counts, organized by state/province, are available. Use WebMapper or their search engine to locate files to transfer. More than 2,000 sites have been studied and are potentially available for inclusion in the NAPD. The Unacquired Sites Inventory contains about half of the 2,000 sites. MapPad is the program used for the inventory.

Native Plant Information Network
http://www.wildflower2.org/index.html

This web site includes several databases of interest: the Native Plants Database contains more than 1,800 native plant species; the Image Gallery contains over 15,500 plant images representing 176 plant families and 4,443 individual species; the Clearinghouse Publications contains articles, Propagation Datasheets, and Regional Factpacks tailored to your geographic area; and Nurseries & Seed Suppliers contains more than 700 nurseries and seed suppliers.

Educational sites for teachers:

National Geographic's Xpeditions Prairie Lesson Plan
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/08/gk2/prairiek2.html

In this National Geographic lesson, students can use their prior and newly found knowledge to create their own vision of the prairie by creating a prairie ecosystem mural.

Bell Museum of Natural History's "On the Prairie" project
http://www.bellmuseum.org/mnideals/prairie/

Grade school students can discover the plants and animals that compose the prairie ecosystem with the University of Minnesota's online activities and resources.

Prairie Restoration and Prairie Ecology Lesson Plan
http://www.accessexcellence.org/AE/AEC/AEF/1996/latta_prairie.html

High school students will be exposed to various sampling techniques, population density and statistics, library research of local land history, various plant propagation methods and outside field work in this activity supported by the National Health Museum Activities Exchange.

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Historical Information on Prairies

Books

Commerce of the Prairies: Life on the Great Plains in the 1830's and 1840's
Location: Stacks, Undergrad--Call Number: 917.89 G86 1966

Critical Trends Assessment Program: Regional Assessments of Illinois River Areas
Volume 5 of this publication includes early accounts of the ecology of 16 regions in Illinois. Eg. Title: Early Accounts of the Ecology of the Kankakee River Area
Location: Natural History--Call Number: 333.91 K132x

The Flora of the Prairies - Thesis (1901) / Glasson, Henry
Location: Natural History--Call Number: 581.9773 G473F

Forest Resources of Illinois: An Atlas and Analysis of Spatial and Temporal Trends / Iverson, Louis R.
Location: Natural History--Call Number: 333.75 Iv3x

Letters to a friend, written to Mrs. Ezra S. Carr, 1866-1879 / Muir, John
Location: Undergrad--Call Number: B.M953 MIL

A Natural History of the Chicago Region / Greenberg, Joel
Location: Biology, Natural History, Map & Geography--Call Number: 508.77311 G829N

Pioneer Women and the prairies: impressions of a new land - Thesis (1994) / Loechl, Suzanne F. Keith
Location: City Planning--Call Number: Q.977L822P

Stories from where we live: The Great North American Prairie
Location: Natural History--Call Number: 978 St745

Historical Web Resources

History of the Konza Prairie
http://www.educ.ksu.edu/konza/web/history.htm

History of the Missouri Tallgrass Prairie
http://www.conservation.state.mo.us/nathis/natcom/prairies/pubprairies/history.htm

Indian Boundary Prairies
http://chicagowildernessmag.org/issues/summer1998/IWindianboundary.html

Jewish Women on the Prairie
http://www.jewishwomenexhibit.org/

Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie
http://www.fs.fed.us/mntp/visiting/tours.htm

Prairie Settlement - Library of Congress/Nebraska State Historical Society
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award98/nbhihtml/pshome.html

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Books and Other Print Sources

Prairie references - Dr. Ken Robertson, INHS botanist, maintains this extensive list of references on the general topic of prairies.

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Journals

American Midland Naturalist
Location: Biology, Natural History, Online--Call Number: 505 AME

One of the most frequently cited journals in publications on ecology, mammalogy, herpetology, ornithology, ichthyology, parasitology, aquatic and invertebrate biology and other biological disciplines.

Biological Conservation
Location: Biology, Natural History, Online--Call Number: 33.905 BI

Provides a wide dissemination of original papers dealing with the preservation of wildlife and the conservation biological and allied natural resources. Focuses on plants, animals and their habitats in a changing and increasingly man-dominated biosphere.

Conservation Biology
Location: Natural History, Online--Call Number: 639.05 CONB

This journal includes groundbreaking papers instrumental in defining the key issues contributing to the study and preservation of species and habitats.

Ecological Restoration
Location: City Planning, Natural History, Online--Call Number: 333.7305 RE1

Owned by the University of Wisconsin Arboretum and edited by personnel of the Arboretum who are also members of SER. It is made available to SER members by special arrangement with the Arboretum. It is published quarterly -- subscription now includes both print and online versions -- and covers a broad range of topics, including progress reports on current restoration projects, topical and regional reviews of restoration activities, philosophical discourses on environmental ethics, descriptions of new restoration techniques, reviews of conferences and books, op-ed pieces, and letters from readers. A few of the more technical articles are peer-reviewed. Otherwise, manuscripts are meticulously reviewed by Ecological Restoration's editor Dave Egan, for a crisp and literate journalistic style. [includes many links for invasive species]

Ecology
Location: Biology, Natural History, Online--Call Number: 570.5 EC

Ecology publishes research and synthesis papers on all aspects of ecology, with particular emphasis on papers that develop new concepts in ecology, that test ecological theory, or that lead to an increased appreciation for the diversity of ecological phenomena.

Erigenia: Journal of the Illinois Native Plant Society
Location: Natural History--Call Number: 581.05 ER

This Illinois Native Plant Society journal is dedicated to the preservation, conservation, and study of the native plants and vegetation of Illinois.

Journal of Applied Ecology
Location: Biology, Natural History, Online--Call Number: 574.505 JO

This official journal of the British Ecological Society provides articles on ecology with management relevance.

Journal of Range Management
Location: ACES, Online--Call Number: 630.5 JOUR

Serves as a forum for the presentation and discussion of facts, ideas, and philosophies pertaining to the study, management, and use of rangelands and their several resources.

Landscape Ecology
Location: City Planning, Online--Call Number: 333.7205LA

Includes new and innovative papers that improve our understanding of the relationship between patterns and processes, explaining the spatial variation in landscapes at multiple scales as affected by natural causes and human society.

Native Plants Journal
Location: Natural History, Online--Call Number: 635.9517305 NA

A cooperative effort of the USDA Forest Service and the University of Idaho, with assistance from the USDA Agricultural Research Service and the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Goal is to provide technical and practical information on the growing and planting of North American (Canada, US, and Mexico) native plants for restoration, conservation, reforestation, landscaping, roadsides, and so on.

Natural Areas Journal
Location: Natural History--Call Number: 333.731605 Na1

Provides a forum for communication involving the identification, preservation, protection and management of natural areas and elements of natural diversity.

Plant Ecology (formerly Vegetatio)
Location: Biology, Online--Call Number: 581.1505 VE1

Publishes original scientific papers dealing with the ecology of vascular plants and bryophytes in terrestrial, aquatic and wetland ecosystems. Papers reporting on descriptive, historical, and experimental studies of any aspect of plant population, physiological, community, ecosystem and landscape ecology as well as on theoretical ecology are within the scope of the journal.

Prairie Naturalist
Location: Natural History--Call Number: 574.52643 P884

Quarterly Journal of Research on the Natural History of the North American Great Plains.

Proceedings of the Central Illinois Prairie Conference
Location: Natural History--Call Number: Q.574.52643 C333P

Presentations at this conference include an array of topics covering tallgrass prairie ecology, flora, fauna, restoration, stewardship, and education.

Proceedings of the Midwest Prairie Conference
Location: Natural History--Call Number: 574.52 M58P

Presentations at this conference include an array of topics covering ecological studies, restoration management and history, politics and education as it relates to prairies.

Proceedings of the North American Prairie Conference
Location: Natural History--Call Number: 574.52 M58p1

Presentations at this national convention are geared toward those interested in native gardening, prairie restoration, and prairie management.

Restoration Ecology
Location: Natural History, Online--Call Number: 333.715305 RE

Fosters the exchange of ideas among the many disciplines involved in the process of ecological restoration. Addressing global concerns and communicating them to the international scientific community, the journal is at the forefront of a vital new direction in science and ecology. Original papers describe experimental, observational, and theoretical studies on terrestrial, marine, and freshwater systems, and are considered without taxonomic bias.

The primary emphasis of the journal is on ecological and biological restoration, and it also publishes papers on soils, water, air, and hydrologic functions. Edited by a distinguished panel, the journal continues to be a major conduit for research scientists to publish their findings in the fight to not only halt ecological damage, but also to ultimately reverse it.

Transactions of the Illinois State Academy of Science
Location: ACES, Biology, Geology, Natural History, Stacks--Call Number: 506 IL

Includes publications on anthropology, archaeology, botany, cellular, molecular and developmental science, environmental science, and zoology.