Download: Atlas Part I,
Atlas Part II, Atlas
Part III
The Atlas of Biodiversity is a richly illustrated introduction to
the endangered natural communities of the Chicago Wilderness region, which
stretches from northwestern Indiana through northeastern Illinois to
southwestern Wisconsin. The Atlas describes these endangered communities,
how they sustain themselves through ecological processes, and how natural
forces—and people—have shaped them over thousands of years. It also
describes efforts to use land preservation and ecological restoration to
protect and enhance these communities and where interested people can see
them. One of the goals of the Atlas is to increase awareness of the rich
biodiversity in the region and the importance in protecting it.
The Atlas begins with a description of the geology of the Chicago
Wilderness region, how glacial processes and other natural events over
thousands of years shaped the landscape we see today, and the underlying
physical structure and soils that support natural communities. The
following section on living communities describes the variety of
collections of living things in the ecosystem, also known as natural
communities. Through historical survey data and anecdotal accounts from
explorers and others who experienced the landscape in the past, a map of
the historical distribution of natural communities is included in the
Atlas.
Seven different natural community types are then described in detail.
Prairies, once the most prevalent community type in the region, are
explained in terms of their growth and evolution, the structure and
function of plant roots and prairie soils, the different types of
prairies, how prairies change over time, and the variety of animals that
depend on prairies for survival.
The chapter on wooded communities covers a diversity of landscapes:
forests, open woodlands, flatwoods, and savannas are compared and
explored. The birds, mammals, reptiles, and amphibians that call wooded
communities home are also presented.
Wetter communities are explored next. Regional wetland types include
marshes, scrub swamps, sedge meadows, fens, and bogs, and the diversity of
wildlife that depends on wetlands for survival is very rich. Lakes and
ponds make up the section on still waters, and streams and rivers are
covered under moving waters. Two other natural communities that are often
overlooked in considering the Chicago Wilderness region but are covered
here briefly are the dunes systems on the shores of Lake Michigan and Lake
Michigan itself.
The final section of the Atlas describes the interaction of people, both
native and European settlers, with the natural landscape. Native
Americans, settlement, the establishment of the forest preserve system,
and natural area restoration and management practices are explained, as
well as the importance of volunteers in managing such as rich and valuable
diversity of communities.
