The unglaciated terrain of extreme southern Illinois is home to a variety of plant species not found in the rest of the state, making many of them rare in Illinois. Yet the resources available to monitor and protect them are more limited. To alleviate this, the Plants of Concern (POC) program based out of the Chicago Botanic Garden seeks volunteers to help monitor rare plants. Housed in the Gibson lab at Southern Illinois University, coordinator Chris Benda organizes volunteer community scientists to monitor rare plants and report population data to POC, and ultimately, the natural heritage division at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. Join us as Chris explains the goals of the program and hopes for the future of the effort.
