DBA: Southwestern Illinois Resource
Conservation & Development
406 East Main
Mascoutah, Illinois 62258
Customer Service: (618) 566-4451
Fax: (618) 566-4452
Email: swircd@swircd.org
Conservation & Development
406 East Main
Mascoutah, Illinois 62258
Customer Service: (618) 566-4451
Fax: (618) 566-4452
Email: swircd@swircd.org
© 2010 Southwestern Illinois Resource Conservation & Development All Rights Reserved.
Land Resources
Prime Farmland: Illinois contains some of the most highly productive soils in the world and southwestern Illinois is no exception. Approximately 800,000 acres in agriculture are listed as prime farmland, (recognized by USDA as land that has the best physical and chemical characteristics for producing food, feed, forage, fiber and is available for these uses), and another 400,000 acres are listed as soils of statewide importance (determined by the state and nearly meet the qualifications of prime farmland).
This acreage is important in the production of corn and soybeans. Washington County also boasts the largest winter wheat harvest in the State of Illinois. Much of the world’s supply of horseradish is produced in the Collinsville area, due in part to the high potash content within the soils.
Kaskaskia River Corridor: Running northeast to southwest for a total of 325 miles the Kaskaskia River corridor is a significant migratory and ecological corridor within the state. Of the 59 animal species found in Illinois, 83% reside within the watershed. For reptiles, 60% of the species are represented in the basin. Vascular plants total about 1,100 species in the basin, or 40% of those in Illinois. Of the bird species found in Illinois, 287, or an amazing 96% are found here (including migrants).
The largest bottomland, hardwood forest within Illinois, at 43,000 acres, is located along the Kaskaskia between Carlyle Lake & Fayetteville. One tract within this forest is the single largest contiguous tract in Illinois (7,300 acres) and is approximately two miles wide at certain points. These dense forest blocks are especially important to neotropical songbirds that visit here from Central and South America.
Southern Flatwoods: Post oak flatwoods, also known as southern flatwoods, once covered 1.5 million acres in the southern one-third of Illinois, before European settlement. This region of the state, defined in the Natural Divisions of Illinois as the Southern Till Plain, is the world’s primary home of the post oak flatwoods community. Today, however, this community type continues to disappear. The Illinois Natural Areas Inventory, (INAI), found that only 658 acres of high quality post oak flatwoods remain in all of Illinois. This amounts to little more than .0004 percent of the original post oak flatwoods landscape that existed in Illinois 200 years ago. A majority of the remaining high quality southern flatwoods are located in the southwestern Illinois counties of Clinton, St. Clair and Washington. Relatively few acres are permanently protected.
Karst: The karst topography, located in portions of Madison, Monroe, Randolph and St. Clair Counties contains an estimate 10,000 sinkholes, with as many as 230 per square mile. There are a total of 142 known caves within this region, the largest being Illinois Caverns. These caves are the only place in the world where the Illinois cave amphipod, a small cave-dwelling crustacean, is found.
Hill Prairies: There are several Illinois Natural Area Inventory sites in the bluff corridor between Dupo and Prairie du Rocher that contain prairie complexes. Many of these sites remain today due to the steep slopes preventing their conversion for agricultural purposes. Invasive plant species, including red cedar and bush honeysuckle are actively taking over these sites, leading to the loss of four identified Illinois Natural Area Inventory sites since 1976. Without active resource management many more sites will be lost over the next decade.
American Bottom Ecosystem: The area which lies east of the Mississippi River to the limestone bluffs from Alton south to the mouth of the Kaskaskia River is commonly referred to the American Bottom ecosystem. This area once contained undulating ridges and swales offering a variety of habitat types, including wide bottomland forested corridors and up to 35% wetlands. Since urbanization of this region occurred, much of this land has been levied, drained, leveled and otherwise modified in such a manner that little native habitat remains.
Prime Farmland: Illinois contains some of the most highly productive soils in the world and southwestern Illinois is no exception. Approximately 800,000 acres in agriculture are listed as prime farmland, (recognized by USDA as land that has the best physical and chemical characteristics for producing food, feed, forage, fiber and is available for these uses), and another 400,000 acres are listed as soils of statewide importance (determined by the state and nearly meet the qualifications of prime farmland).
This acreage is important in the production of corn and soybeans. Washington County also boasts the largest winter wheat harvest in the State of Illinois. Much of the world’s supply of horseradish is produced in the Collinsville area, due in part to the high potash content within the soils.
Kaskaskia River Corridor: Running northeast to southwest for a total of 325 miles the Kaskaskia River corridor is a significant migratory and ecological corridor within the state. Of the 59 animal species found in Illinois, 83% reside within the watershed. For reptiles, 60% of the species are represented in the basin. Vascular plants total about 1,100 species in the basin, or 40% of those in Illinois. Of the bird species found in Illinois, 287, or an amazing 96% are found here (including migrants).
The largest bottomland, hardwood forest within Illinois, at 43,000 acres, is located along the Kaskaskia between Carlyle Lake & Fayetteville. One tract within this forest is the single largest contiguous tract in Illinois (7,300 acres) and is approximately two miles wide at certain points. These dense forest blocks are especially important to neotropical songbirds that visit here from Central and South America.
Southern Flatwoods: Post oak flatwoods, also known as southern flatwoods, once covered 1.5 million acres in the southern one-third of Illinois, before European settlement. This region of the state, defined in the Natural Divisions of Illinois as the Southern Till Plain, is the world’s primary home of the post oak flatwoods community. Today, however, this community type continues to disappear. The Illinois Natural Areas Inventory, (INAI), found that only 658 acres of high quality post oak flatwoods remain in all of Illinois. This amounts to little more than .0004 percent of the original post oak flatwoods landscape that existed in Illinois 200 years ago. A majority of the remaining high quality southern flatwoods are located in the southwestern Illinois counties of Clinton, St. Clair and Washington. Relatively few acres are permanently protected.
Karst: The karst topography, located in portions of Madison, Monroe, Randolph and St. Clair Counties contains an estimate 10,000 sinkholes, with as many as 230 per square mile. There are a total of 142 known caves within this region, the largest being Illinois Caverns. These caves are the only place in the world where the Illinois cave amphipod, a small cave-dwelling crustacean, is found.
Hill Prairies: There are several Illinois Natural Area Inventory sites in the bluff corridor between Dupo and Prairie du Rocher that contain prairie complexes. Many of these sites remain today due to the steep slopes preventing their conversion for agricultural purposes. Invasive plant species, including red cedar and bush honeysuckle are actively taking over these sites, leading to the loss of four identified Illinois Natural Area Inventory sites since 1976. Without active resource management many more sites will be lost over the next decade.
American Bottom Ecosystem: The area which lies east of the Mississippi River to the limestone bluffs from Alton south to the mouth of the Kaskaskia River is commonly referred to the American Bottom ecosystem. This area once contained undulating ridges and swales offering a variety of habitat types, including wide bottomland forested corridors and up to 35% wetlands. Since urbanization of this region occurred, much of this land has been levied, drained, leveled and otherwise modified in such a manner that little native habitat remains.
