President Richard Nixon signed the Endangered Species Act on Dec. 28, 1973. Over the next 50 years, the effort became associated with protecting endangered animals like the bald eagle — but the act also protects plants.
Matthew Albrecht, director of Missouri Botanical Garden’s Center for Conservation and Sustainable Development, understands the tendency to pay attention to animals when talking about conservation, but he stresses the importance of plant conservation.
“Animals depend on plants, particularly insects depend on plants for habitats,” Albrecht told St. Louis on the Air. “Pollinators depend on nectar from the flowers of plants. [Plants] are the foundation of our ecosystems, and they support all life.”
Becky Sucher oversees the living collections at the garden, which includes 23 species of plants currently on the endangered species list from Missouri and other states. Her duties include tracking propagation data, success and failure rates, and selecting which plants will be added to the collection — a decision largely dependent on the climate in St. Louis.
“We're using the data that we're gathering to perform analyses that help us do our work better, to target more efficiently, to grow things better, and to learn from our successes and our failures,” Sucher said. “We're using that to inform our future acquisition. What will we be able to grow here now in our current climate? What will we be able to grow in St. Louis in a future climate? What we might not be able to grow any longer? And [figure out] what we might need to do to help conserve that species.”
Conservation isn’t a process of quick developments. Changes are often judged in spans of 30 years. While there is still plenty of work to be done to shorten the endangered species list for plants, Albrecht shared that there are some wins to be celebrated. Running buffalo clover — which is native to Missouri, Kentucky and Ohio — was just taken off the endangered list in the last year.
“Biologists discover new populations, then they protect certain locations where this species occurs,” he said. “They’ve been managing the habitat for this species and [the Missouri Botanical Garden] has been able to back up genetic material in our seed bank. All of these efforts contribute to the long-term conservation of the species.”
For more about MoBot’s major role in plant conservation in the U.S. and globally, listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcast, Spotify or Google Podcast, or by clicking the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Ulaa Kuziez is our production intern. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr. Send questions and comments about this story to talk@stlpr.org.
