Monitoring & protocols

CTAP Sampling Design

  • Spatially balanced, random sampling
  • Sampling units are based on 36-square-mile townships; there are 1,765 of these townships within Illinois
  • Each “habitat type” in a township is given random numbers and sites are sampled sequentially until a suitable site, based on protocol parameters, is found.
  • Initial selection was prior to the 1997 field season.
  • Site sampling is on a 5-year rotation.

Sampled to date

  • Forests: 156
  • Grasslands: 185
  • Wetlands: 180