Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden

The Zoological Society of Cincinnati will improve the long-term storage environment of 201 genetically unique tissue samples of five endangered plant species maintained as culture lines for propagating plants for conservation projects. This project will cryogenically preserve these tissues in liquid nitrogen for storage in the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden's Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife Frozen Garden. This will provide an alternative to seed banking and maintain these unique tissue lines as a back-up for endangered plants in the wild. This project will also support improvements in the data system for the Frozen Garden, which will make tracking and reporting on the collection easier and more efficient.