Plants of concern: Education in rare plant monitoring engages citizen scientists in conservation and management in the Chicago region

Background/Question/Methods

Plants of Concern (POC), launched in 2001, is a long-term monitoring program that depends on trained volunteers to census state-listed and locally rare plant species in NE Illinois, NW Indiana, and SE Wisconsin. The three main questions of POC are: 1. What is the status of rare species populations? 2. How does management impact rare species populations? 3. How can educated citizen scientists provide needed data and also become involved conservation advocates?  POC, coordinated through the Chicago Botanic Garden, is designed to assess long-term trends in rare plant populations and report imminent threats to the populations. These alerts can provide land managers with information to aid establishment of management goals for species within a community context and evaluate management practices.   POC runs workshops to train volunteers as citizen scientists. Volunteers then monitor populations annually or on a regular basis using standardized protocols approved by an advisory group of land managers and scientists, collecting data on plant numbers, population area, percent reproductive, invasive species and other threats, and management practices. Results/Conclusions

POC is a gateway into a broader conservation education for citizen scientists. Through workshops and then in-field monitoring, volunteers gain a greater understanding of the threats facing rare and endangered plants. Interactions with land managers engage monitors in the political and logistical aspects of threatened species and natural areas management. Over time, monitors gain an in-depth knowledge of the species they monitor and become mentors for newer volunteers. POC can be just the first step down a long path of conservation education, stewardship and activism. Through 2007, almost 400 volunteers have monitored over 1000 subpopulations of rare species. 48 of these monitors are also stewards of at least one site that they monitor, demonstrating the interplay between heightened knowledge of individual species and heightened concern for natural areas. POC has proven itself a significant conservation education opportunity for Chicago area citizens.