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Restoring the American Chestnut

Category(-ies): Plant Conservation , Plant Diseases and Pests

Once an estimated 4 billion trees strong, the American chestnut was almost wiped out by chestnut blight. Efforts are underway to help partially restore the species, by interbreeding the American chestnut with its disease-resistant Chinese relative. The end result of a hybridization program yielded a "new" American chestnut that contains approximately 94% genetic similarity to the original American parent, but confers resistance to the blight. Tens of thousands of the trees have been planted, with (so far) an 80-90% survival rate.

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 3:39 PM

 


Within One Cubic Foot

Category(-ies): Botanical Art , Plant Conservation

In this photo essay, renowned ecologist E.O. Wilson writes about the importance and magnificence of the smaller organisms on the planet. Photography by David Liittschwager highlights 5 different ecosystems, including a coral reef and deciduous forest, representing the many different creatures that inhabit 1 cubic foot of the earth.

Links:

And another thank you to Claire Thompson for again contributing a weblog entry.

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 12:00 PM

 


Lose Biodiversity, Increase Diseases?

Category(-ies): Plant Conservation , Plants, Food and Medicine

Thank you again to Claire Thompson, UBC BG work-study student, for contributing to Etaerio.

For the first time ever, scientists have linked a rise in infectious diseases with biodiversity loss and extinction. A team of seven researchers reviewed studies on newly discovered diseases, and have shown that emergence or reemergence of many diseases is linked to biodiversity loss. From one study in Amazonian Peru, it was found that the loss of structural diversity among trees resulting from deforestation caused higher densities of mosquitoes that transmit malaria. EPA Researcher Montira Pongsiri suggests that these findings may mark the beginning of a movement to bring epidemiology and ecology together.

Links and resources:

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 3:35 PM

 


Assisted Migration - the Answer to Climate Change?

Category(-ies): Climate Change , Other Botanical Gardens , Plant Conservation

Thank you to Claire Thompson, UBC BG work-study student, for writing this entry.

Scientists at the Chicago Botanic Garden are sending teams of people out across the Midwest and northern Great Plains of America to collect seeds from 1500 prairie species before 2010.

The collections are part of a project to preserve species and investigate assisted migration of plants as a response to climate change. Researchers are planning to test this idea with Pitcher's thistle, a native plant to sand dunes along several of the Great Lakes.

Assisted migration is a controversial issue among scientists, as it has risks associated with interfering with complex habitats and uncertainties surrounding climate change. Scientists at the botanic gardens in favor of assisted migration have recently finished a paper outlining a strategic framework for collecting and prioritizing seeds from species that are most likely to go extinct under climate change, and for predicting where species should be relocated.

Links:

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 7:00 AM

 


Wild Banana Plant Marks Milestone for International Seed Bank

Category(-ies): Plant Conservation

...and another entry by Claire, UBC BG work-study student:

A seed bank at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew has collected 10% of the world's wild plants in its attempt to secure seeds from a quarter of the world's flowering plant species by 2020. The latest species addition is a wild banana, Musa itinerans, an important plant for wild elephants in Asia and currently under threat from agriculture. The seed bank is a partnership between more than 120 organizations in 54 countries. Stephen Hopper from the Royal Botanic Gardens describes the seed bank as an "insurance strategy" against future biodiversity losses.

Links:


Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 7:00 AM

 


Urban Plant Extinctions Pose Threat to Global Biodiversity

Category(-ies): Plant Conservation

Another thank you to Claire Thompson for providing a write-up. Claire is a UBC Botanical Garden work-study student. Claire writes:

Botanists from 5 countries have compiled data on plant extinctions from 22 cities around the world. According to their study, both the pace of urban change and the proportion of native plants remaining in a city influence the variation in extinction rates. Modern cities were found to carry a large extinction debt. For example, Melbourne, Australia is expected to lose half of its native plants species over the next 100 years. These urban plant extinctions are a threat to worldwide biodiversity, highlighting the need for protection of native flora.

Links:

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 2:59 PM

 


Climate Change and Gardening

Category(-ies): Climate Change , Plant Conservation , Plants in the Landscape

What will be impact of climate change on gardening? A New York Times article addresses both the good and the bad. The good: different plant choices due to warmer weather & a longer growing season and raising awareness about environmental issues. The bad: increased pests and new weedy invaders, a changing native flora (and for some US states, the potential extirpation of state flowers and trees), and all of the associated cultural and biological consequences.

Feeling Warmth, Subtropical Plants Move North via the New York Times

Gardener's Guide to Global Warming (US-based) from the US National Wildlife Federation

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 9:47 AM

 


A Blooming Crisis

Category(-ies): Plant Conservation

Over-exploitation and destruction of habitat are noted as two of the primary causes for the potential extinction of 131 of the 245 species of Magnolia.

Magnolias Face ‘Perilous Future’ – BBC

Magnolias - Bloom and Doom? from Global Trees Campaign

The Red List of Magnoliaceae report (PDF) – note the acknowledgment to Peter Wharton.

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 4:14 PM

 


Svalbard International Seed Vault

Category(-ies): Plant Conservation , Plants, Food and Medicine

The design for the Svalbard International Seed Vault, a “Living Fort Knox”, has recently been shared. Three million seed samples of the world's agricultural crops will be stored in the Arctic vault, due to be completed in 2008. The vault will be The seed vault will be built inside a mountain on Spitsbergen, an island one thousand kilometres north of mainland Norway.

Thank you to Stannous F and Aussiebob@UBC Botanical Garden Forums for suggesting the link!

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 5:06 PM

 


Battle for Protection of Giant Sequoias Continues

Category(-ies): Plant Conservation

Although a dozen groves of giant sequoias were protected through the designation of the US Giant Sequoia National Monument in 2000, pre-2000 timber sales of non-sequoias have resulted in the logging of forests surrounding the protected groves. This article tells the story of Martin Litton, a conservationist attempting to change current practices in the area.

From the article: "If we don't save them, they'll disappear from the Earth," Litton said, adamant that logging near the sequoias endangers the shallow-rooted giants by exposing them to wind as well as drying out the forest floor.

A Matter of Grove Concern by Bettina Boxall of the Los Angeles Times

Sequoia ForestKeeper, an advocacy group on the issue.

Thank you to Tom Wheeler of UBC Botanical Garden for suggesting this article.

Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 4:46 PM