MONITORING THE PHYTOPLANKTON COMMUNITY DURING A WETLAND RESTORATION AT TNC’S  
EMIQUON NATURE PRESERVE, HAVANA, IL

Susan T. Meiers1, Sean E. Jenkins1,  Amber Ruskell1, Sally McClure2, and 
Heath Williamson1

A long-term phytoplankton monitoring project is being conducted in 
conjunction with other monitoring projects (vascular plants, fish, birds, 
mammals, etc.) as a wetland is restored at The Nature Conservancy’s Emiquon 
Nature Preserve near Havana, IL, on the Illinois River.  The area was 
originally the most productive freshwater fishery in the continental US, but 
was drained and converted to farmland in the early 1900’s by the then owners.  
TNC purchased the land over 15 years and is now in the process of restoring 
the wetland.  Various monitoring projects are being carried out to determine 
how the various communities change as the wetland is restored.  Water samples 
from 3 “Thompson Lake” sites, 3 “Flagg Lake sites”, and the Illinois River 
are collected monthly, and the phytoplankton in 1.0 ml are counted and 
identified to genus (and species, when possible).  Data analysis will be 
preformed to determine if and how the communities change across time.