Preventing Extinctions
Plant Conservation
Science and Action
Preventing Extinctions
Photo by Jeremy Foster
Preventing Extinctions
from threats like human-driven habitat loss, invasive species, and climate change.
Each time a plant species disappears, we lose the relationships it formed with pollinators, wildlife, plants, and people. With fewer species and fewer relationships, our remaining native landscapes struggle to meet our most basic needs—from providing clean air and water to nurturing our connections to nature.
Inspired by this challenge, СÓŶÌÊÓƵ scientists are working hard to help prevent plant extinctions in the Chicago area and beyond.
Photo by Jeremie Fant
Plant Studbook
Rare plant collections at botanic gardens are an important tool for preventing extinctions—but only if they are managed well. Our scientists helped develop the plant studbook, a tool that tracks information about rare plants in collections around the world. When botanic gardens use studbooks to share data, they can maintain healthy, genetically diverse collections that support the reintroduction of rare species to the wild. It’s a strategy that may save thousands of species.
Seed Bank
More than 100 million seeds are frozen in our Dixon National Tallgrass Prairie Seed Bank, waiting to prevent an extinction, support habitat restoration efforts, or contribute to scientific research. By collecting and storing seeds from wild populations of native plants across the Midwest, we preserve their unique ways of surviving on our changing planet. The Seed Bank provides long-term storage for more than 4,200 seed collections from 1,800 species of plants native to the tallgrass prairie, woodland, and wetland ecosystems of the Midwest and beyond.
Photo by Jeremy Foster
Pollen Bank
The Garden’s Pollen Bank is a critical tool for advancing our work to prevent plant extinctions, reintroduce species into the wild, and support habitat restoration. Established in 2023, the Pollen Bank focuses on conserving oaks and orchids of the Great Lakes region and supporting the recovery of rare and endangered plants.
Photo by Grant Fessler
Since 2000, Plants of Concern volunteer community scientists have monitored the rarest native plants in the Midwest—species in danger of disappearing forever. The program maintains the largest collection of rare plant data in Illinois, tracking more than 300 species at nearly 380 sites. Through partnerships with local, state, and federal land managers, our data helps prioritize critical conservation and habitat restoration efforts. From supporting the Illinois Endangered Species Protection Board’s listing decisions to making the case for restoring rare plant habitats, our data makes all the difference.
Photo by Amy Iler
Plant Responses to Climate Change
Climate change is causing plant species to flower earlier around the world, but we’re only starting to understand the consequences of these shifts. Each summer, Garden scientists search for answers in Colorado at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, where rapid shifts in climate and long-term record keeping make it well-suited for studying climate change.
By melting snow earlier in spring, scientists can alter the timing of plant emergence and flowering to see whether plant populations survive, thrive, or go extinct. So far, they’ve learned that some species perform better when emerging earlier because they have more time to grow. But when other species emerge and flower earlier, they’re exposed to a drier period of the growing season and perform worse. Using historical data, field experiments, and population modeling, Garden scientists are building an understanding of what the future holds for plants and their habitats on our changing planet.
Contact: Amy Iler, Ph.D.
Saving Rare Trees with Urban Forests
The trees growing along our urban streets give us so much, providing shade, improving air quality, and helping manage stormwater runoff. But some street trees may be hiding yet another benefit in their DNA—genetic diversity that could help prevent the extinction of their wild relatives.
Diverse street tree populations can serve as genetic backups and potential breeding partners for wild tree populations. But with little known about the genetic backgrounds of urban trees, Garden scientists are studying species—like Kentucky coffeetree and Kentucky yellowwood—that are rare in the wild and commonly planted in urban areas. By understanding the genetic diversity of street trees, Garden scientists can develop best practices for managing diverse urban forests that support conservation efforts in our wild forests.
Contact: Natalie Love, Ph.D.
Herbarium
The Nancy Poole Rich Herbarium is a time capsule that helps us uncover the impacts of climate change, locate rare plant species, and train a new generation of conservation leaders. Each preserved plant specimen tells a story, documenting what plants grew where and when, allowing scientists to investigate questions about the past, present, and future of habitats across the Midwest.
Orchid Conservation
The Garden’s orchid collection is beautiful. It’s also a powerful platform for supporting these important and imperiled plants in the wild. Our orchid program focuses on conserving native orchids of the Great Lakes region, helping botanic gardens manage healthy orchid collections, and assisting land managers as they reintroduce orchids into their prairies, woodlands, and wetlands.