Keeping it natural: Botanist speaks to local guardians group about Plants of Concern program

MORRISON – Grant Fessler, a botanist with the Chicago Botanic Garden’s Plants of Concern, spoke to the Whiteside County Natural Area Guardians on June 12 about his work with the Plants of Concern program.

Plants of Concern, a community-based rare plant monitoring program, collects data on rare, threatened and endangered plants. The program focuses on regional plants in Illinois that often are federally listed and helps keep track of how land management impacts those populations.

Fessler’s presentation, which took place at the Odell Public Library, focused on the ways natural area guardians can support native populations.

The program’s data collection includes GPS location, plant count, native species associated, invasive species, impacts to population and management.

The program shares information with partners to the program such as Land Managers, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Natural Heritage Database and the Illinois Endangered Species Protection Board, which help track the state of the plants in Illinois, Fessler said.

The core of the group’s mission is to connect people and plants with a reach of Northeast and Northwest Illinois and the southern region of the state. As of 2024, the program cites 252 community scientists, 317 sites, 1,159 reports and 314 species being tracked.

“If we care about our local heritage and biodiversity, we often have to step in to help make sure these species don’t blink out,” Fessler said.

The Plants of Concern program was launched in 2001 through the Chicago Botanic Garden to track the status of rare, threatened and endangered species in Northeast Illinois.

“A landmark program at the time of its conception, Plants of Concern has remained a model for long-term, collaborative community science and still represents one of the only programs of its kind in the world,” according to the Chicago Botanic Garden’s website.

More information on the program can be found at PlantsofConcern.org.