Thompson Lake science lecture at Dickson Mounds
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[March 09, 2012]
LEWISTOWN -- The next Emiquon Partnership monthly science lecture
will be on Sunday at 2 p.m. in the auditorium at Dickson
Mounds Museum. "The Fishes of Thompson Lake" will be presented by T.D. VanMiddlesworth, aquatic biologist at the Illinois Natural
History Survey's Illinois River Biological Station in Havana.
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Historically, Thompson Lake was considered one of the most important
fisheries of the Illinois River. From 1924-2006, the area was
drained and put into agricultural production. The Nature
Conservancy purchased the property in 2000 and began restoration of
Thompson Lake in 2007. Native fishes such as largemouth bass (Micropterus
salmoides), bluegill (Lepomis
macrochirus), and black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus)
were then stocked, based on records of what used to be there.
People attending the talk on Sunday will learn about fish
community monitoring and the current status of native sport fishes
as well as a variety of other native and non-native fishes that are
important to restoration ecology at Thompson Lake.
The purpose of the
science lectures is to give citizens an opportunity to learn more about this central Illinois River
environment. The series will draw on the expertise of a variety of
scientists to talk about topics in geology; the Perseid meteor
shower; plant and animal behavior ranging from mushrooms to bird
migration to the whitetail deer rut; and human history on subjects
such as global climate warming and man's use of the landscape
through time. Topics suggested by the audience will also be
welcomed. The Emiquon Partnership is a consortium of Dickson Mounds Museum,
The Nature Conservancy, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and
University of Illinois Springfield. These organizations have joined
in efforts to restore wetland habitats along this stretch of the
Illinois River, to understand how wetlands work, and to enrich the
public's knowledge and understanding about their natural world.
The lecture series is free and open to the public.
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The Illinois State Museum branch at Dickson Mounds is located
between Lewistown and Havana, off Illinois Routes 78 and 97. The
museum is open free to the public from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. every
day. Tours and special programs are available for groups with
reservations.
For more information, call 309-547-3721 or TTY 217-782-9175, or
visit the museum's website at
www.museum.state.il.us/ismsites/dickson/
or www.ExperienceDicksonMounds.com. Also check out weekly updates on
Facebook at "Illinois State Museum – Dickson Mounds."
[Text from file received from
Dickson Mounds Museum]
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