From 1997 – 2001 the Critical Trends Assessment Program (CTAP) has used morphospecies/indicator taxon approach to compile data on terrestrial arthropod ecology, distribution, and diversity from Illinois ecosystems. Quantitative sampling of arthropods consisted of two 50-m linear sweep transects (100 sweeps each) at each site. Auchenorrhynchous (AH) Homoptera were selected as the indicator taxon and positively identified to species, all other arthropods were identified to order, then to morphospecies. Coefficient of conservatism (AHI’), Shannon-Wiener index (H’), functional diversity index (F’), and complementarity (C’) were calculated to assess habitat quality. Data from 1997 - 1998 indicated positive correlations between mean AH and non-AH arthropod species richness and abundance in 1998. Overall mean species richness was greater in forests than in grasslands and wetlands in 1997, whereas, in 1998 mean species richness was greater in grasslands. 1998 results indicated that H’ and AHI’ were significantly greater in forests than wetlands and grasslands. Similarly, 1997 forested sites had significantly higher H’, AH’, and AHI’ than both wetlands and grasslands. F’ was not statistically significant among all three habitat types in 1997 and 1998. C’ had little overlap of unique species for all three habitat types, whereas in 1997, forests had a substantially higher number of unique species. The vast majority of sites sampled lacked most of the AH species expected to occur in high-quality native Illinois ecosystems. Finally, we are in the process of analyzing the 1999 – 2001 data to determine if these patters are the norm in Illinois ecosystems.
Keywords: biodiversity, monitoring
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