When the pioneers began rolling into the land now called Illinois, they were met by a seemingly endless expanse of grass. Indeed, prairie covered about two-thirds of our state. How ironic that today prairie habitat occupies the smallest amount of the Prairie State's acreage. It survives only in abandoned cemeteries, railroad rights-of way, and a few scattered preserves.

The majority of Illinois prairie was eliminated in a short sixty years, after the invention of the steel plow in 1837. It was a swift, hard blow to some wildlife dependent on this habitat. Fortunately part of the prairie was converted to other types of grassy cover, such as pastures and hay fields. For many wildlife species, like the eastern meadowlark, dickcissel, thirteen-lined ground squirrel, and others, the exchange of one type of grassland for another was acceptable.

Table 3.2 "Native Prairie Grasslands"

Wildlife that depend on grassland habitat face four problems today:

1. The overall amount of grasslands has declined.
2. The size of our existing grasslands and their interspersion on the landscape have changed.
3. Many existing grasslands are of poor quality in terms of plant species and vegetative cover.
4. Grasslands are often managed to the detriment of wildlife. For example, they are mowed or sprayed with pesticides during the critical reproductive period for wildlife during spring and summer.

Less Grassland

Wildlife species that made themselves at home in the "new" Illinois grasslands after destruction of the prairie have been dealt another blow in recent times. Since the 1960s, the acreage of pasture and haylands in Illinois has been steadily decreasing, declining an estimated 50%. Overall, the total acreage of grassland native and introduced, is only a small fraction of our original twenty-one million acres. There is simply less grassy cover for wildlife to inhabit. The populations of many Illinois grassland birds, such as grasshopper sparrows, eastern meadowlarks, and bobolinks, have declined 75% to 95% in the last half-century.

Different Size and Interspersion

The original Illinois prairie stretched for miles with hardly a tree in sight. Many species, including bam owls, prairie chickens, and upland sandpipers, used these vast stretches of grassland for breeding and foraging. Not surprisingly, these are birds that have nearly vanished from Illinois.

The remaining grasslands are greatly fragmented and isolated. Only a few-Goose Lake Prairie, Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie, Prairie Ridge State Natural Area, and Nachusa Grasslands -are large enough to support species needing expansive areas. And not only are most grassland tracts much smaller, the parcels are widely scattered on the landscape.

Poor Quality

Many of today's Grasslands both cool-season and warm-season, are not in optimal condition for wildlife. The problem is twofold: the composition of plant species is undesirable, and what would otherwise be good-quality grassland is poorly managed.

The modern-day idea of what constitutes a grassland is quite different from the original grassland ecosystem. Grasslands historically were diverse vegetative communities, some with two to three hundred different plants in a given location. Today, one or two grasses, and maybe a couple of broad leaf plants-usually legumes make up the entire grassland community in many areas. These near monoculture grasslands typify our pastures and hay fields as well as our ball diamonds, yards, and parks. Some wildlife that evolved with and depend on diverse grassy and broadleaf vegetation struggle to meet their needs.

Some grasslands with only three or four plants can have value to wildlife, but it depends on the plant species. For example, a brome and alfalfa field has high value as nest cover to several species, such as dickcissels, ring-necked pheasants, and meadowlarks, but fescue is universally poor habitat for Illinois wildlife. Unfortunately, it is one of our most widely planted grasses.

Another factor affecting grassland quality is the invasion by aggressive exotic plants. Crown vetch, for example, a legume widely planted in the 1970s to control erosion along roadsides and pond banks, has spread to various grasslands. Its aggressive nature causes it to smother out other plants, essentially forming a mono culture with little value to wildlife.

Other non-native species-bluegrass, for one - may provide good habitat in some situations but may be detrimental to remnant and restored natural prairie communities if they get a foothold. Without proper management, bluegrass, a cool-season species that grows profusely in the spring, may invade and out compete summer thriving prairie grasses before they have a chance to grow.

Poor Management

Many grasslands that could provide quality habitat are being managed to the detriment of wildlife, with either too much disturbance or disturbance at the wrong time. A case in point is the mowing of roadsides during the peak nesting period of ground nesting birds and mammals. Hay fields are also usually cut in the same months, further reducing potential habitat.

Another illustration of poor management is the complete lack of disturbance in some grasslands. The original prairie flourished with periodic disturbance, such as fire and grazing. Today's landowners may misinterpret the concept of letting nature take care of itself and thus not do any mowing or burning. Grasslands depend on occasional disturbance to remain healthy. The areas left untouched may become too thick and matted, and of less value to wildlife.

Also, many grasslands will eventually succeed to woody cover if no disturbance is applied. This result can be seen on our state's remnant hill prairies. On sites where no prescribed burning has been conducted, eastern redcedar and other woody species have invaded, in some cases entirely replacing the prairie grass communities.