Vol. I6, No. 1 
Page 2 
nursing during the 4 weeks of September ranged from 8.1 to 12.0 percent each week. 
The incidence of nursing females in the hunter's bag declined to near zero 
after September 28. Among 82 adult female fox squirrels reported bagged after 
September 28, only one was lactating and one was pregnant (one embryo). There 
were no pregnant or lactating females in the sample of 28 adult female gray 
squirrels bagged after September 28. 
Responses of Bobwhites to Habitat Manipulation J. A. Ellis 
Quadrat samples of vegetation were made in five different cover types on 
the experimental management zone on Forbes in 1971 and 1972. These cover types 
in 1971 were 1- and 2-year-old unharvested corn and 1-year-old oat stubble. In 
1972 these cover types included 1- and 2-year-old oat stubble. Importance values 
were calculated for plant species found in the quadrats. The importance values 
represented the average of total vegetation for a given species times its 
frequency of occurrence (as a decimal) over all quadrats for a given cover type. 
To compare the species composition of plants among various cover types, indices 
of similarity were calculated for the 10 most important plants of each cover type. 
The 1-year-old oat stubble in 1972 contained the most diverse flora, 46 
species, and the least amount of bare ground, 14 percent. In 1971 > the 2-year- 
^ old unharvested corn contained the fewest plants, 35, and the 1-year-old 
unharvested corn contained the most bare ground, 34 percent. 
The most similar cover types were 1- and 2-year-old oat stubble sampled in 
1972, 82 percent. The least similar cover types were the 1- and 2-year-old 
unharvested corn sampled in 1971; 18 percent. The latter represented the 
influence of edaphic and climatic conditions rather than general cover type. 
Responses of Prairie Chickens to Habitat Manipulation 
R. L. Westemeier, 
D. R. Vance 
A recent development planned for the area immediately west of the Bogota 
Study Area has the possibility of benefiting prairie chickens or of doing them 
considerable harm. Central Illinois Public Service Company (CIPS) is now 
purchasing land for an 8,000-acre, steam-powered generating complex and cooling 
lake. The Nature Conservancy is directly involved, because CIPS wants to 
purchase 10 acres off the west end of the Fuson Farm sanctuary. The $140,000,000 
plant will initially generate 600,000 kilowatts and burn approximately 2,000,000 
tons of coal annually. 
This project could conceivably double the present 960 acres available for 
prairie chicken management in Jasper County. Approximately 1,000 acres of the 
land acquired is gray prairie farmland that would be suitable for prairie 
chicken management. At this point, we do not know whether the opportunity for 
management will be presented. 
