Forest resource trends in Illinois

Abstract

Even though forests occupy only 12% of the land area of Illinois, they play a valuable role in the health of the state's environment and that of its citizens. Many of these benefits have been reviewed in Forest Resources of Illinois: An Atlas and Analysis of Spatial and Temporal Trends (Iverson et al. 1989), and summarized in the Forests of Illinois (Iverson et al. 1991). Readers are encouraged to obtain copies of these documents from the Illinois Natural History Survey. The purpose of this paper is to focus on current trends in Illinois forests and to report information obtained following these earlier publications, specifically, changes in forest cover from 1820 to 1985, current (1990) trends and patterns of forest land for a portion of south-central Illinois, and trends in forest composition and diversity, timber growth and harvest, value for wildlife habitat, and value for carbon sequestration.

Citation

Iverson, Louis R. 1994. Forest resource trends in Illinois. Erigenia 13:4-19