James Woodworth Prairie - (312) 996-2994

A remnant, five-acre mesic tallgrass prairie that has never been plowed. It hosts a great diversity of native species.

10 acres of the 140 acre Peacock farm was left in its natural state, mesic prairie, until sold to a developer in 1956. Part was used for residential development, and another part had some commercial development. In 1966 a successful effort to preserve the prairie because it was prairie started. The story of that effort is told in Saving Peacock Prairie by Bernice Popelka (2011, ISBN 978-1-4507-7666-0). The prairie is owned by the Univ. of Illinois at Chicago and has been named the James Woodworth Prairie (JWP) honoring an early IL congressmen and Chicago mayor.

Our mission is to maintain populations of native prairie plants and invertebrate animals with abundances as close as possible to those prior to agriculture, so researchers and interested citizens have a place to study and enjoy what pre-settlement prairie was like.

Research has been done on 1) the role of animals in building soil, 2) reverse fertilization to reduce the impact of atmospheric nitrogen deposition, 3) the reason remnant prairies are so much shorter than restorations, 4) population dynamics of the prairie cicada.

Management activities focus on 1) processes (fire and water), 2) the elimination of non-native species, 3) enhancing abundance of autocthonous species with small population sizes, and 4) controlling overabundant native species.

James Woodworth Prairie (JWP) also plays a role in educating citizens about Illinois prairie.

Tags: