NATIONAL TALLGRASS PRAIRIE SEED BANK
AT THE CHICAGO BOTANIC GARDEN

A Native Seed Collection Program for the Tallgrass Prairie and Surrounding Midwest Ecoregions

The National Tallgrass Prairie Seed Bank, in association with the national Seeds of Success (SOS) program, is part of an international seed conservation initiative collectively known as the Millennium Seed Bank Project (MSBP), originally developed by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in the United Kingdom. This global program aims to bank 10 percent of the world’s flora by 2010 for long-term storage and conservation.

Between 2003 and 2010, the Chicago Botanic Garden has committed to collect seeds from 1,500 native species across the Midwest, with an emphasis on tall grass prairies species, with the goal of conserving prairie plants before they become imperiled. Due to massive land-use changes the tallgrass prairie, which used to be an endless ocean of grass, has been reduced to less than 0.01 percent of its former range — making it one of the world's most threatened habitats.

Seed banking — conserving and storing species away from their original habitats — enables plants to escape threats imposed by destructive habitat changes including urbanization, climate change, invasive species, overharvest, and pollution. A single seed holds the potential for a living and functioning plant, and once dried and frozen, they can remain viable for 200 years or more. For every 1 percent reduction in seed moisture content, the lifespan of a seed is doubled, making seed collection an efficient and cost-effective way to conserve the diversity of plant species for generations to come.

Additionally, the Chicago Botanic Garden is expanding the original MSBP goal — which banks one population per species — to become a repository for multiple populations of each of our target species. Initially focusing on collecting species of high restoration importance from each eco-regions of the tallgrass prairie system, the seed bank can then serve as a valuable restoration collection for conservation purposes and as a resource for a wide community of scientists and land managers.

The Chicago Botanic Garden's National Tallgrass Prairie Seed Bank collects in states across the Midwest and northern Great Plains. For more information on the Garden's National Tallgrass Prairie Seed Bank, visit http://cbgseedbank.org or call (847) 835-6861.