ANALYZING CHANGE IN PINE ABUNDANCE IN A SEDIMENT CORE FROM GREMEL WILDLIFE SANCTUARY

Prior to the 1900s no pine trees were found in Lee County, Illinois. The anthropogenic introduction of pine (genus Pinus) in the following century damaged critical nesting habitats for amphibians, reptiles, and avian species. Recent attempts at removing this species in Lee County, on land managed by the Illinois Audubon Society, are aimed at rehabilitating these environments. While some vague historical records of the introduction of pine – and subsequent biotic effects – exist, conservation efforts would be aided by more detailed information about this significant transition, its effects, and especially the floral composition prior to anthropogenic impacts. Temporal records of biotic composition are best obtained by examining microfossils that have accumulated in sedimentary catchments. The goals of this research, therefore, were to a) analyze pollen in a sediment core to determine whether it captured the time of pine introduction and subsequent removal, and b) examine whether any vegetation transitions occurred that may be associated with this species. A 73 cm sediment core was taken from Main Pond at Gremel Wildlife Sanctuary, near Amboy, IL, on September 6^th, 2021 using a Livingstone gravity piston coring device. Seven subsamples were taken at sediment transition zones and/or every 10 cm of the core. Subsamples were sent to the Continental Scientific Drilling Facility in Minneapolis, MN, where the pollen spores were isolated from the core sediments. The pollen spores were identified under a Nikon lab photo pol microscope using pollen databases and cross-referencing known ranges of plant species. Results show that there has been a decrease in pine abundance throughout the 73 cm sediment core from a high of ~45% at the bottom to <3% at the top. This suggests that the sediment core captured the removal of pine. If true, this may be a positive turning point for the restoration of Gremel Wildlife Sanctuary.