AQUATIC BIODIVERSITY IN ILLINOIS SPRINGS

Springs in Illinois are located in the Mississippian, Devonian, and Pe nnsylvanian limestone and sandstone of the Shawnee Hills and the weste rn border of Illinois. Seven springs in southern Illinois were studied to obtain baseline data on their hydrogeology, water chemistry, and t he spatial and temporal distribution of their fauna and flora. These s prings were selected because they were located outside areas of intens ive agriculture. Hydrogen ion concentrations ranged from 6.9 to 8.0; o xygen levels ranged from 0.5 to 10.8 mg/liter; and total dissolved sol ids ranged from 139 to 17,167 mg/liter. Nitrate levels were found to b e extremely low or below the levels of detection, indicating no contam ination from agricultural runoff. Over 85 taxa of animals and two spec ies of plants were collected. Turbellarians and amphipods were the mos t abundant organisms throughout the year, although the oligochaete wor ms with 24 taxa proved to be the most diverse group of organisms. Vari chaetadrilus augustipenis, a rare species in Illinois, was recorded fr om six of the seven springs. The collection of Allonais paraguayensis in Old Driver Spring was the most interesting of the taxa collected. O ld Driver Spring with 46 taxa displayed the greatest diversity of macr oinvertebrates.