The Gensburg-Markham Prairie, also known as Markham Prairie, is a high-quality

tallgrass prairie The tallgrass prairie is an ecosystem native to central North America. Historically, natural and anthropogenic fire, as well as grazing by large mammals (primarily bison) provided periodic disturbances to these ecosystems, limiting the encroach ...

located in

Markham Markham may refer to: It may also refer to brand of of clothing which originates from South Africa which saw it's establishment in 1873. Biology * Markham's storm-petrel (''Oceanodroma markhami''), a seabird species found in Chile and Colombia * ...

in the

Chicago metropolitan area The Chicago metropolitan area, also colloquially referred to as Chicagoland, is a metropolitan area in the Midwestern United States. Encompassing 10,286 sq mi (28,120 km2), the metropolitan area includes the city of Chicago, its suburbs and hi ...

. It is part of the larger Indian Boundary Prairies managed by

Northeastern Illinois University Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) is a public university in Chicago, Illinois. NEIU serves approximately 9,000 students in the region and is a Hispanic-serving institution. The main campus is located in the community area of North Park wi ...

and

The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in 1951, The Natu ...

. Described by the

Illinois Department of Natural Resources The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) is the code department of the Illinois state government that operates the state parks and state recreation areas, enforces the fishing and game laws of Illinois, regulates Illinois coal mines, ...

as "an unusual example of sandy loam prairie," it is a

National Natural Landmark The National Natural Landmarks (NNL) Program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only national natural areas program that identifies and recognizes the best ...

Ecology

The Gensburg-Markham Prairie dates its origins back to the closing years of the

Wisconsin glaciation The Wisconsin Glacial Episode, also called the Wisconsin glaciation, was the most recent glacial period of the North American ice sheet complex. This advance included the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, which nucleated in the northern North American Cor ...

, when postglacial

Lake Chicago Lake Chicago was a prehistoric proglacial lake that is the ancestor of what is now known as Lake Michigan, one of North America's five Great Lakes. Fed by retreating glaciers, it drained south through the Chicago Outlet River. Origin The cit ...

deposited a large sand beach in what would later become a section of southern

Cook County Cook County is the most populous county in the U.S. state of Illinois and the second-most-populous county in the United States, after Los Angeles County, California. More than 40% of all residents of Illinois live within Cook County. As of 20 ...

. The poorly drained, damp, sandy soil resisted successful farming, and early pioneer settlers left patches of tallgrass prairie grasses and forbs alone.

History

Much of the prairie area was annexed by the municipality of Markham, Illinois, a suburb located south of Chicago. In Illinois, annexations of this type were a precursor to

real estate development Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw Real Estate, land and the sale of developed land or parcels ...

. However, the prairie patch's relatively poor

drainage Drainage is the natural or artificial removal of a surface's water and sub-surface water from an area with excess of water. The internal drainage of most agricultural soils is good enough to prevent severe waterlogging (anaerobic conditio ...

made it less attractive to land development. Furthermore, in the years after World War II Markham became an economically troubled and relatively slow-growing community. Finally, in 1971, the Gensburg family, owners of a key parcel at the heart of the prairie, donated the parcel to Northeastern Illinois University. The prairie's current name, ''Gensburg-Markham Prairie'', commemorates this donation.

Restoration and today

At the time of donation in 1971, the Gensburg-Markham Prairie had become deeply degraded by

invasive exotic An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

plants. Decades of

prairie restoration Prairie restoration is a conservation effort to restore prairie lands that were destroyed due to industrial, agricultural, commercial, or residential development. For example, the U.S. state of Illinois alone once held over of prairie land an ...

work, begun by

's Robert Betz, have cleared away some of the brush and allowed much of the original prairie's tallgrass flora to re-establish itself.

Controlled burn A controlled or prescribed burn, also known as hazard reduction burning, backfire, swailing, or a burn-off, is a fire set intentionally for purposes of forest management, farming, prairie restoration or greenhouse gas abatement. A control ...

s have played a key role in this work. The prairie was listed as an

Illinois Nature Preserve The Illinois Nature Preserves Commission (INPC) is a state organization, established by the Illinois Natural Areas Preservation Act, to identify, protect, steward, and defend high quality natural areas in the state of Illinois. Its mission is: to a ...

in September 1980. More than of tallgrass prairie within the larger grassland are now classified as high-quality tallgrass prairie. The grassland is owned by Northeastern Illinois University with a few small inholdings owned by the Nature Conservancy. Northeastern Illinois University manages the preserve. Characteristic tallgrass prairie fauna, such as the

Henslow's sparrow __NOTOC__ Henslow's sparrow (''Centronyx henslowii'') is a passerine bird in the family Passerellidae. It was named by John James Audubon in honor of John Stevens Henslow. It was originally classified in the genus ''Emberiza'' and called ''Hen ...

, have been sighted at the prairie.

References

External links

Nature ConservancyIllinois Department of Natural Resources
{{authority control Prairies Grasslands of the North American Great Plains Protected areas of Cook County, Illinois Nature reserves in Illinois Nature Conservancy preserves National Natural Landmarks in Illinois Grasslands of Illinois 1971 establishments in Illinois Protected areas established in 1971