Wauconda Bog Nature Preserve
Encyclopedia
Wauconda Bog Nature Preserve is a tamarack bog
located in Wauconda
, a suburb of Chicago
, located in Lake County, Illinois
. It is a National Natural Landmark
.
created by the Wisconsin glaciation
, the most recent of the so-called ice ages to affect the Illinois landscape. Core samples have been extracted from the peat
layers contained within the bog, and they have told a vivid story of climate change
in central North America during the postglacial period. Different levels of temperature and precipitation encouraged the growth of very different kinds of plant life during this period; these diverse species released large quantitites of characteristic pollen
, which was trapped within the layers of peat preserved here.
Geomorphologists sometimes compare the Wauconda Bog with the nearby Volo Bog, also a National Natural Landmark located about 7 miles (11 km) north of the Wauconda Bog. The two bogs displays different stages of a bog's life cycle. The Wauconda Bog, unlike Volo Bog, no longer has any patches of open water; instead, layers of wet and damp peat support characteristic wetland plant forms such as tamarack, cattails, wetland orchids, yellow birch
, and poison sumac
.
The bog was named as an Illinois Nature Preserve in 1970, and was elevated to the status of a National Natural Landmark in 1974.
Bog
A bog, quagmire or mire is a wetland that accumulates acidic peat, a deposit of dead plant material—often mosses or, in Arctic climates, lichens....
located in Wauconda
Wauconda, Illinois
Wauconda is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 9,448 at the 2000 census, estimated to be 12,614 in 2006, and is projected to reach 13,811 by 2011. It is the site of the Wauconda Bog Nature Preserve, a National Natural Landmark...
, a suburb of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, located in Lake County, Illinois
Lake County, Illinois
Lake County is a county in the northeastern corner of the state of Illinois, on the shore of Lake Michigan. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 703,462, which is an increase of 9.2% from 644,356 in 2000. Its county seat is Waukegan. The county is part of the Chicago metropolitan area...
. It is a National Natural Landmark
National Natural Landmark
The National Natural Landmark program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only natural areas program of national scope that identifies and recognizes the best examples of biological and geological features in...
.
Biological history
The Wauconda Bog is a wetlandWetland
A wetland is an area of land whose soil is saturated with water either permanently or seasonally. Wetlands are categorised by their characteristic vegetation, which is adapted to these unique soil conditions....
created by the Wisconsin glaciation
Wisconsin glaciation
The last glacial period was the most recent glacial period within the current ice age occurring during the last years of the Pleistocene, from approximately 110,000 to 10,000 years ago....
, the most recent of the so-called ice ages to affect the Illinois landscape. Core samples have been extracted from the peat
Peat
Peat is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation matter or histosol. Peat forms in wetland bogs, moors, muskegs, pocosins, mires, and peat swamp forests. Peat is harvested as an important source of fuel in certain parts of the world...
layers contained within the bog, and they have told a vivid story of climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
in central North America during the postglacial period. Different levels of temperature and precipitation encouraged the growth of very different kinds of plant life during this period; these diverse species released large quantitites of characteristic pollen
Pollen
Pollen is a fine to coarse powder containing the microgametophytes of seed plants, which produce the male gametes . Pollen grains have a hard coat that protects the sperm cells during the process of their movement from the stamens to the pistil of flowering plants or from the male cone to the...
, which was trapped within the layers of peat preserved here.
Geomorphologists sometimes compare the Wauconda Bog with the nearby Volo Bog, also a National Natural Landmark located about 7 miles (11 km) north of the Wauconda Bog. The two bogs displays different stages of a bog's life cycle. The Wauconda Bog, unlike Volo Bog, no longer has any patches of open water; instead, layers of wet and damp peat support characteristic wetland plant forms such as tamarack, cattails, wetland orchids, yellow birch
Yellow Birch
Betula alleghaniensis , is a species of birch native to eastern North America, from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, southern Quebec and Ontario, and the southeast corner of Manitoba in Canada, west to Minnesota, and south in the Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia.It is a...
, and poison sumac
Poison Sumac
Poison sumac is a woody shrub or small tree growing to 7 m tall. All parts of the plant contain a resin called urushiol that causes skin and mucous membrane irritation to humans...
.
Today
A 67 acres (271,139.6 m²) parcel that comprises the Wauconda Bog site is owned by the Lake County Forest Preserve District. It is minimally accessible to the public. U.S. Highway 12 adjoins the bog.The bog was named as an Illinois Nature Preserve in 1970, and was elevated to the status of a National Natural Landmark in 1974.