Thomson-Fulton Sand Prairie Nature Preserve
Whiteside County, Illinois
Thomson-Fulton Sand Prairie Nature Preserve - South Unit Plants and Wildlife
Bird Checklist for Thomson-Fulton Sand Prairie Nature Preserve.pdfIn 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, Ebinger et al. (2006), 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 this natural area:
The Thomson-Fulton Sand Prairie Nature Preserve is a 212-acre remnant owned by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. This preserve houses 144 native plant species and a very healthy population of twistspine pricklypear cactus. For more information on the Thomson-Fulton Sand Prairie Nature Preserve, visit the following Illinois Department of Natural Resources website: http://dnr.state.il.us/inpc/Directory/Sitefiles/Area1/THOWH.htm
Click here to see a soils map for the south unit of the Thomson-Fulton Sand Prairie.
How to get there
The Thomson-Fulton Sand Prairie Nature Preserve - South Unit is 14-miles south of Savanna, Illinois, 4.8-miles north of Fulton, Illinois, and 46-miles north of the Quad Cities. From Highway 84, turn west on Lock Road, turn right and continue on Railroad Lane for 1.3 miles, the preserve will be on the left. Remnant sand prairie also occurs on the right-hand side of Railroad Lane in the old railroad right-of-way. This preserve is along The Great River Trail.
Nearby sites of interest
Thompson-Fulton Sand Prairie - North Unit, Thomson, Illinois. Take Highway 84 north 3.2 miles, in Thomson turn west on West Main Street. In approximately .9 miles, the Thomson Sand Prairie will be on the west side of the road.
Palisades State Park, Savanna, Illinois. Take Highway 84 16.6 miles north.
Lost Mound, Hanover, Illinois 28.8-miles. Take Highway 84 north 23.4-miles, take a left onto West Whitten Road and continue for 2.3-miles.
For additional information on this site and nearby parks of interest visit recreationparks.net.
Literature and links:
Click here to view a Google Scholar search for additional literature using the pre-filled search terms of "Thomson Fulton Sand Prairie"
Click here to view the IDNR webpage for this site.
Click here to see the City of Fulton webpage for this site.
US Army Corps of Engineers. Prairies of the Midwest.
Ebinger, J. E., L. R. Phillippe, R. W. Nyboer, W. W. McClain, D. T. Busemeyer, K. R. Robertson, and G. A. Levin. 2006. Vegetation and Flora of the Sand Deposits of the Mississippi River Valley in Northwestern Illinois. Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin Volume 37, Article 6.
Eggemeyer, Jean. 2015.Prickly pears where? Discover a truly unique ecosystem at this nature preserve. Radish Magazine.
Gleason, H. A. 1910. The Vegetation of the Inland Sand Deposits of Illinois. Bulletin of the Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History 9:21-174.
Kolbe, J. J., L. J. Harmon, and D. A. Warner. 1999. New State Record Lengths and Associated Natural History Notes for some Illinois Snakes. Transactions of the Illinois State Academy of Science 92:133-135.
McNicoll, M. B., and C. K. Augspurger. 2010. A Comparison of Vegetation and Seed Bank Community Structure in a Sand Prairie in Illinois, U.S.A. The American Midland Naturalist 164:136-150.
Panzer, R. 2002. Compatibility of Prescribed Burning with the Conservation of Insects in Small, Isolated Prairie Reserves. Conservation Biology 16:1296-1307.
Panzer, R. and D. Stillwaugh. 1996. Second Year Survey of the Insects of the Savanna Army Depot, with Special Emphasis on the Grasshoppers, Katydids, Walkingsticks, Sintkbugs, Carrion Beetles, Leafhoppers, Butterflies, and Macro Moths. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Production Note. 49 pp.
Panzer, R. and D. Stillwaugh. 1995. A Survey of the Insects of the Savanna Army Depot, with Special Emphasis on the Grasshoppers, Katydids, Walking Sticks, Stinkbugs, Carrion Beetles, Leafhoppers, Froghoppers, Butterflies, and Macro Moths. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Production Note. 53 pp.
Spyreas*, G., Pearse*, I.S., Nickrent, D.L., Greenwood, N.M., Epstein, A., and Anders. P., (eds.) 2017. Illinois Plants: a web-based database for the flora of Illinois. https://www.inhs.illinois.edu/data/plantdb
Wenny, D. 2003. Site Fidelity and Return Rates of Grasshopper Sparrows at Three Sand Prairies in Northwest Illinois. Illinois Natural History Survey Center for Biodiversity. Technical Report 2002 (23). 29 pgs.
Wenny, D. and A. Symstad. 2002. Grassland Bird Habitat Selection in Northwest Illinois. Illinois Natural History Survey Center for Biodiversity Technical Report 2002 (19). 33 pp.
Click here to view additional information from the book, “Prairie Directory of North America: The United States, Canada, and Mexico.”
Click here to visit the Thomson-Fulton Sand Prairie Nature Preserve Facebook page.
Wade Ellett. 5 Sites to See along the Great River Trail. Lets Move Quad Cities.