Plants of Concern volunteers restore habitat for rare species

A focused group of citizen scientists with the 15-year-old Plants of Concern program were on a mission this fall to protect local plant species that grow only in northern Illinois. Through a series of programs including a monitoring foray and workday, these volunteers learned new technologies, collected vital data about existing plants, and prepared habitats for the return of missing species.

Plants of Concern, a model citizen-science program, is a regional rare plant monitoring collaboration designed to assess long-term trends in struggling species. Based at the Chicago Botanic Garden, it is a flexible collaboration of public and nongovernmental conservation agencies, landowners and volunteer groups. The data collected by volunteers since the program began in 2000 provides some of the most comprehensive information available on 280 local struggling species across 1,100 populations in 15 counties, covering 13 habitat types in the Chicago Wilderness region. This information is used by researchers as well as land managers to benefit the future of the species.

Through 2014, Plants of Concern has collected data on 70 percent of the populations of listed (endangered and threatened) species known in Illinois, and on populations of 100 non-listed, regionally rare species. More than 800 volunteers have been trained in protocol over the life of the program, and this number grows every year.

Rare plants native to northern Illinois face steep challenges in the highly urbanized area. However, the valuable natural areas that remain provide hope and support for their continued existence.

"Monitoring data is needed by land managers and state agencies so that they can make decisions about how they should protect and restore rare plant populations. Leveraging the energy and expertise of trained citizen scientists allows us to provide large-scale, long-term data to our partners," Program Manager Rachel Goad said.

In early October, volunteers gathered at Illinois State Beach Park for a long-anticipated monitoring foray. The plant data collected by volunteers included information about the habits and preferences of rare species that are small in number or lack enough of their preferred habitat.

A volunteer crew then assembled in mid-October for a unique chance to mend the habitat of a rare species that is no longer seen.

"We've never hosted workdays before," Goad said. "However, we wanted to empower our volunteers, who do so much to track populations and identify threats, to also have opportunities to address those threats and improve habitat for rare plants," she explained.

The workday is sponsored by a grant from Toyota TogetherGreen by Audubon.

Also a part of the grant, Plants of Concern is sharing stories of rescued species and evolving plant stories on a new website at PlantsofConcern.org. The website is helpful to the public as much as it is to volunteers, according to Goad, who is especially delighted to share success stories about the effects of this volunteer work, which often results in significant impacts as data is used by land managers.

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