Spring Grove Cemetery Prairie Nature Preserve
Warren County, Illinois
Spring Grove Cemetery Prairie Nature Preserve Plants and Wildlife
In the table below:
Click on the Plant, Bird, Reptile and Amphibian, Insect and Arachnid, and Mammal tabs at the bottom of the table to scroll through the lists.
These lists are based on species identified during site visits and sightings submitted using the link in the sub-bullet point below. Submitted species are added to the table as time allows.
Click here if you would like to submit records of plants or wildlife you have seen at this location.
Bloom periods are based on those provided by the Illinois Plants Database.
About the Spring Grove Cemetery Prairie
Spring Grove Cemetery Prairie Nature Preserve is managed and used for occasional education programs by the faculty and students of Monmouth College. The site was originally deeded for church use in 1859, thereby protecting it from cultivation or grazing. The cemetery prairie is preserved today as a remembrance of those buried there and of our prairie heritage. The mesic black soil prairie site is dominated by Indian grass and big bluestem, with over fifty-five prairie species protected in all.
Click here to read more of the IDNR webpage for this site.
Amenities
None.
How to Get There:
From the intersection of US Rt 67 and US Rt 34 on the north edge of Monmouth - travel north on Rt 67 approximately 6 miles; then left (west) on gravel road (2600N) 1/8 mile. Cemetery is on the north side of the road.
Literature and links:
Click here to view a Google Scholar search for additional literature using the pre-filled search terms of "Spring Grove Cemetery Prairie Nature Preserve Warren County Illinois"
Protecting Pioneer Cemetery Prairies: Balancing the Need to Preserve Cultural and Natural Heritage Values. 2004 Moorehouse and Hassen. Proceedings of the 19th North American Prairie Conference. Pgs 163-167.
Click here to view the Wild Ones webpage for this site.
A little history on the prairie: Pioneer cemeteries show us what Illinois looked like before European settlers. Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune. Pellsville
Click here to listen to the In Defense of Plants Ep. 51podcast on cemetery prairies.
Click here to view additional information from the book, “Prairie Directory of North America: The United States, Canada, and Mexico.”
Click here to see Warren County's webpage for this site.
Panzer, Ron. (2002). Compatibility of Prescribed Burning with the Conservation of Insects in Small, Isolated Prairie Reserves. Conservation Biology. 16. 1296 - 1307. 10.1046/j.1523-1739.2002.01077.x.