The Plant Press

Abstracts from the speakers of the 21st Smithsonian Botanical Symposium

From Plant Press, Vol. 27, No. 3, July 2024.

The 21^st Smithsonian Botanical Symposium, “Advancing Plant Conservation Through Horticulture,” was held on 17 May 2024. The invited speakers included botanists, horticulturalist, conservation biologists, and scientific curators. Below are the abstracts from the papers that were presented by the invited speakers.

Carlos Magdalena
Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
“The many facets of botanical horticulture”

In this talk, Carlos will draw on his 20 years of experience in botanical horticulture and recount some highlights of his career. In doing so, it will become apparent that the term “botanical horticulture” encompasses far more than meets the eye. While plant cultivation in a botanic garden is at the core of most botanical horticulturists’ job description, the range of skills and activities involved in conservation surpasses this. To safeguard species in a holistic manner, the emphasis cannot and should not be solely on single species conservation, but also consider the wider context that the work is set in. This includes but is not limited to local flora, habitat restoration efforts and practices, and engagement with local partners. Carlos’ talk will challenge what you understand botanical horticulture to be and explore the interdisciplinary links in plant conservation.

Jennifer Cruse-Sanders
State Botanical Garden of Georgia
“From dwarf sumac, Rhus michauxii, to turkey beard, Xerophyllum asphodeloides (and other species in between): How conservation horticulture has helped to preserve imperiled species in the southeastern U.S.”

Globally, plant species diversity is fundamental for supporting ecosystem function, landscape resilience, and food security. And yet, plant species diversity is threatened with some of the highest rates of extinction in our world. It is imperative that conservation horticulture methods for propagation and restoration of species are not only developed widely, but are also shared generously to meet the pressing grand challenges we face. As one example, the southeastern U.S. is a global biodiversity hotspot, recognized as such for high rates of endemism and perceived threats to natural ecosystems. The state of Georgia, in the southeastern U.S., with some of the highest numbers of plant species diversity in the U.S., has more than 700 plant species that are imperiled and facing significant conservation challenges. Even more significant are diverse plants considered common species that are not tracked through conservation programs but are nearly disappearing before our eyes. This program will share highlights from our efforts to conserve rare species through horticultural interventions and our efforts to make common plants even more commonly available for essential conservation needs that anticipate a growing need in our communities.

Colin Khoury
San Diego Botanic Garden
“Distributions, conservation assessments, and conservation action for crop wild relatives”

Crop wild relatives - the wild progenitors and cousins of agricultural crops - are valuable genetic resources used by plant breeders to increase pest and disease resistance, stress tolerance, nutritional value, and other traits critical to productivity, quality, and sustainability. Many of these species are threatened in their natural habitats and are under-represented in seedbanks and other ex situ conservation repositories, limiting the portfolio of useful plant diversity that may be available to present and future generations. In this presentation, I detail efforts at local to global scales to better understand the distributions and conservation status of the wild relatives of important crops, and to take action to address conservation concerns.

Dustin Wolkis
National Tropical Botanical Garden
“Applied seed conservation biology to support seed banking”

Seed banking provides the most efficient means of ex situ plant conservation. Conventional seed banking practices involve desiccating seeds to low moisture contents and storing them at a specific temperature below freezing. However, not all species can be conserved by conventional seed banking methods. Although many species produce desiccation tolerant seeds, some cannot be dried and even some desiccation tolerant species are sensitive to long-term freezing stress. Besides problems with desiccation tolerance and short life spans in conventional storage, other challenges to the ex situ conservation of seeds include the inability to acquire seeds, and the failure of viable seeds to germinate. Collectively, species exhibiting one or more of these traits have been termed “exceptional.” The flora of the Hawaiian Islands harbors 90% vascular plant endemism, yet globally has experienced the highest number of contemporary plant extinctions. Using the Hawaiian flora as a model system this presentation will explore some of the mechanisms underlying species defined as exceptional and discuss methods in which to overcome obstacles to ex situ seed banking. The applied projects presented will be broadly relevant beyond seed science including species and land managers and to the field of conservation horticulture.

Abby Meyer
Botanic Gardens Conservation International
“Conservation horticulture capacity at botanic gardens”

Conservation horticulture refers to the skills and knowledge required to maintain plants of conservation concern in ex situ living collections. This is a fundamental and expanding area of expertise that is often and uniquely manifested through the work of botanic gardens. As we face major environmental and social crises around the world, the conservation and outreach work of botanic gardens is becoming more and more imperative. Specialists in conservation horticulture are more important than ever as the plant conservation community scales-up our collective efforts to halt species extinction. This presentation will describe the current state of conservation horticulture in botanic gardens globally and provide examples of how BGCI is working with partners to promote awareness of and capacity for this critical area of expertise.

 

Acknowledgments

The success of the Symposium was due to the significant time and efforts of the following people:

Symposium Organizing Committee: Amy Bolton, Eric Calhoun, Joy Columbus, Laurence Dorr, Rose Gulledge, Carl Johnson, Gary Krupnick, Susan Pell, Eric Schuettpelz, Warren Wagner, and Kenneth Wurdack

Symposium Support: Emir Ali, MaryAnn Apicelli, Tiara Boyd, Nancy Khan, and Sue Lutz

Symposium Sponsors: José Cuatrecasas Botanical Fund, Mellon Foundation, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Gardens, and United States Botanic Garden

Planting for the future: Conservation horticulture blossoms at symposium [Video]

From Plant Press, Vol. 27, No. 3, July 2024.

By Gary A. Krupnick

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) Department of Botany, the United States Botanic Garden (USBG), and the Smithsonian Gardens held the 21^st Smithsonian Botanical Symposium, “Advancing Plant Conservation Through Horticulture,” on May 17, 2024. The hybrid event brought together five engaging speakers who presented their research to both an in-person and a virtual audience from around the world. Scientists and horticulturalists from botanic gardens and conservation organizations spoke about how they maintain diverse and wild-collected ex situ plant collections, care for plants of concern in situ, provide plants for population augmentation and repopulation, and support conservation education and advocacy.

The symposium’s speakers participate in a panel discussion (from left): Abby Meyer, Dustin Wolkis, Colin Khoury, Jennifer Cruse-Sanders, and Carlos Magdalena. (photo by Ken Wurdack)

Eric Schuettpelz, NMNH Curator of Botany, welcomed the audience to the symposium. Rebecca Johnson, the CW Whitney Chief Scientist and Associate Director for Science at NMNH, highlighted the mission of the Smithsonian as well as the immense collections housed in the museum and especially the U.S. National Herbarium. She particularly gave praise to the work of digitizing all pressed specimens in the herbarium and the many benefits of having that data online. Susan Pell, USBG Executive Director, also provided opening remarks and gave an orientation to the USBG, including its history, a description of the living collections, their scientific research, and their scientific and conservation partnerships.

Rebecca Johnson, Associate Director for Science at NMNH (left), and Susan Pell, USBG Deputy Executive Director (right), deliver opening remarks welcoming everyone to the National Museum of Natural History. (photos by Ken Wurdack)

ForestGEO hosts virtual seminar series

From Plant Press, Vol. 27, No. 1, January 2024.

On the third Wednesday of every month, ForestGEO hosts a virtual Seminar Series which highlights ongoing research by scientists in the ForestGEO network. In November, Claire Fortunel and Stuart Davies gave presentations. Fortunel presented her lecture “Abiotic and biotic drivers of tree dynamics,” during which she discussed how tree-based research approaches can greatly improve mechanistic understanding of community dynamics, and provided specific examples of what abiotic and biotic factors influence tree dynamics. Davies presented his lecture “GEO-TREES: Building a biomass reference system for the world’s forests,” during which he gave an overview of the GEO-TREES mission and emphasized multi-network collaboration to aid in the development of such a global forest biomass reference system.

If you are interested in recordings of past seminars or would like to participate in an upcoming virtual seminar, email ForestGEO Administrative Assistant Isabella Valli. To get reminders and announcements about upcoming seminars, sign up for the ForestGEO Listserv.

GEO-TREES is launched at COP28

From Plant Press, Vol. 27, No. 1, January 2024.

ForestGEO has recently launched the GEO-TREES consortium—the world’s first ground-based, equitably developed forest biomass reference system, designed to make global satellite-based forest carbon assessments actionable. This unprecedented multi-network collaboration will use innovative technology, partnerships and training, broad sampling and long-term commitment, and open-access data to provide the groundwork for devising strategies to mitigate climate change.

One of the largest trees on Barro Colorado Island in Panama. Tropical forests pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere where it causes global warming and store it as wood. But the amount of carbon stored varies depending on tree species, age, climate conditions and other factors. Verifiable estimates of carbon stored in forests are necessary to calculate carbon credits. (photo by Steve Paton)

The GEO-TREES project officially launched in December at the 28^th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28). Leading up to the launch, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) released a video series on social media in which STRI scientists explained the importance of the project and what they are set out to do. The motivation behind GEO-TREES is to determine how much carbon forests actually sequester. Models exist which use forest-imaging satellites to estimate how much carbon is stored in forests, but ground data has not been used to calibrate these systems. This is where GEO-TREES comes in – it is a network of forest plots and networks which will be collecting data in the field to calibrate and validate the models.

STRI’s video series is available on social media here, here, and here. A recording of the GEO-TREES launch at COP28 is on YouTube, which features Stuart Davies (ForestGEO), Cristián Samper (Nature Solutions, Bezos Earth Fund), Adriane Esquivel Muelbert (University of Birmingham), Craig Hansen (World Resources Institute), and Frank Martin Seifert (European Space Agency). The panel was moderated by Ellen Stofan (Smithsonian) and Josh Tewksbury (Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute).

Botany Family Picnic 2023

From Plant Press, Vol. 27, No. 1, January 2024.

Botany members and their families attend the 2023 Botany Family Picnic

Continuing a tradition that began in 2021, the Botany Family Picnic was held for a third time on 14 October at Carderock Recreation Area in Potomac, Maryland. Since many members of the department continue to telework during the week, the picnic gave Botany members and their families a chance to gather and build morale. As was the case in years prior, it was wonderful to be able to catch up, meet extended family members, laugh, and share stories of our research, discoveries, and travels. We also remembered to get a group photo!

Speakers announced for the 21st Smithsonian Botanical Symposium

From Plant Press, Vol. 27, No. 1, January 2024.

The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Department of Botany, the United States Botanic Garden, and Smithsonian Gardens will hold the 21^st Smithsonian Botanical Symposium, “Advancing Plant Conservation Through Horticulture,” on 17 May 2024. The focus of the Symposium will be on conservation horticulture, the application of the technical knowledge and practical expertise of growing plants (horticulture) for the advancement of plant conservation. Conservation horticulture is critical in our time of rapid global change if we are to ensure the survival of imperiled plant species. Botanic gardens and conservation organizations around the world maintain diverse and wild-collected ex situ plant collections, care for plants of conservation concern in situ, provide plants for population augmentation and repopulation, and support conservation education and advocacy. Many plants that are extinct or facing extinction in the wild persist in cultivation through such efforts. The 21^st Smithsonian Botanical Symposium will explore these topics and current research on the nexus of plant conservation and horticulture.

The following speakers are confirmed to give presentations followed by a panel discussion:

Jennifer Cruse-Sanders (State Botanical Garden of Georgia), “From dwarf sumac, Rhus michauxii, to turkey beard, Xerophyllum asphodeloides (and other species in between): How conservation horticulture has helped to preserve imperiled species in the southeastern U.S.”

Colin Khoury (San Diego Botanic Garden), “Distributions, conservation assessments, and conservation action for crop wild relatives”

Carlos Magdalena (Royal Botanic Gardens Kew), “The many facets of botanical horticulture”

Abby Meyer (Botanic Gardens Conservation International). "Conservation horticulture capacity at botanic gardens"

Dustin Wolkis (National Tropical Botanical Garden), “Applied seed conservation biology to support seed banking”

The Symposium will be a hybrid event, with invited speakers giving afternoon presentations for both in-person and virtual guests in Baird Auditorium of the National Museum of Natural History, and a poster session and evening reception for in-person guests in the Conservatory of the U.S. Botanic Garden. Optional behind-the-scenes tours of the Smithsonian Gardens and the Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History will also be available in the morning before the symposium begins.

Registration and a call for poster abstracts will open on February 1, 2024.

Staff Activities

From Plant Press, Vol. 26, No. 4, October 2023.

Alice Tangerini teaching a drawing class at Oak Spring Garden Foundation (OSGF) in Upperville, Virginia. (photo by Danielle Eady, Oak Spring Garden Foundation)

On July 18, 2023, Alice Tangerini traveled to Oak Spring Garden Foundation (OSGF) in Upperville, Virginia, to teach an afternoon drawing class. She had been approached by Danielle Eady, OSGF Director of Art and Residential Programs, to lead a practical demonstration on botanical illustration in pen and ink techniques to students in the Rare Book School in the University of Virginia (UVA). The Rare Book School and OSGF had partnered to host a short course titled Six Hundred Years of Botanical Illustration, led by Roger Gaskell (UVA) and Peter Crane (OSGF). Tangerini naturally focused on the last 50 years. In addition to the class, she presented a talk, “Illustrating at the Museum.” The gardeners provided living material including Rudbeckia, Dahlia, and Echinacea and had made prints of the flower heads to expedite the drawing process. Tangerini received such positive feedback that she has been invited to teach for next year's class.

Between July 20 and August 26, 2023, Robert Soreng traveled to Turkey visiting the following herbaria: ISTE, ISTF, NGBB (in Istanbul), NAKU (in Tekirdağ), ANK (in Ankara), and VANF (in Van). He worked on the genus Poa (Poaceae) for revision of the genus for Turkey, and Poeae, subtribe Coleanthinae genera for Aybüke Demir’s dissertation. Travelling with Dr. Evren Cabi (NAKU) and his PhD students Aybüke and Ogün Demir, Birçin Çingay (NGBB), and Marina Olonova (TK), they collected grasses mainly in eastern Anatolia, in Ağrı, Ardahan, Artvin, Bitlis, Kars, Riza, and Van provinces. Collecting was focused on the following genera: Catabrosa, Catabrosella, Colpodium (syn. Zingeria), Hyalopoa, Hyalopodium (formerly Paracolpodium araraticum & colchicum), Poa (syn. Eremopoa), and Puccinellia. About 370 numbers were collected. Sets will be deposited at NGBB and distributed to US and other herbaria.

While in China this summer, Jun Wen gave an invited presentation, “Biodiversity discovery in the new age of big data, case studies in the Himalayan and Hengduan Mountain region,” at the International Symposium on the Frontiers of Plant Diversity and Conservation Research in the Pan-Third Pole Region, held in Kunming, Yunnan, on August 28-31, 2023. She also gave invited seminars on “Advances in plant systematics in the new age of big data and discovery,” while visiting three institutions: South China Botanical Garden in Guangzhou on August 14, Southwest Forestry University in Kunming on September 4, and Shenzhen Agricultural Genomics Institute in Shenzhen on September 6.

ForestGEO hosts 2023 annual analytical workshop in Panama

From Plant Press, Vol. 26, No. 4, October 2023.

After a three-year hiatus due to Covid-19, ForestGEO hosted an Annual Analytical Workshop this July in Gamboa, Panama. Participants from all over the globe came together to share their expertise and develop their research. Read on for a look inside 2023’s workshop.

ForestGEO director, Stuart Davies, gives a welcome presentation at the 2023 workshop. (photo by Lauren Krizel)

This summer, 48 forest scientists from 24 countries gathered in Gamboa, Panama, to embark on a two-week-long workshop geared towards data analysis, training, and collaboration. The workshop was an opportunity for students and early-career scientists to learn from established leaders in the forest science field with the goal of fostering the next generation of outstanding forest dynamics researchers. Each participant submitted a research proposal during the application process, and the 14 days were spent intensively working on data analysis strategies and brainstorming research collaborations. Participants split into breakout groups based on their research topics: demography, ecosystems and biomass, mortality, and spatial ecology. Each group was led by two to four mentors, experienced scientists who volunteered their time to foster the growth of early-career researchers. 

Top left: the spatial ecology group hard at work. Bottom left: the demography group. Right side: the mortality group. (photos by Lauren Krizel, Daniel Zuleta, and Dinh Phuc Nguyen)

Days were dedicated to working within the breakout groups, followed by participant or mentor seminars in the evenings. On the last day of the workshop, each participant presented their project and summarized the progress they made over the course of the two weeks.

Jose Medina-Vega, a mentor of the spatial ecology group, and ForestGEO postdoc, shared more about his working group:

Throughout the workshop, we engaged in an extensive exploration of thought-provoking inquiries, aiming to elucidate relationships. Our approach involved lively discussions on how to tackle various spatial ecological problems. Participants began by constructing maps and examining patterns, which greatly clarified a direction for their research.

By the end of the workshop, participants had made substantial progress in their projects. The collaborative approach in our breakout group proved to be a rewarding experience, advancing the research endeavors of all involved.

Save the date: 21st Smithsonian Botanical Symposium to be held on 17 May 2024

From Plant Press, Vol. 26, No. 4, October 2023.

The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Department of Botany, the United States Botanic Garden, and Smithsonian Gardens will hold the 21^st Smithsonian Botanical Symposium, “Advancing Plant Conservation Through Horticulture,” on 17 May 2024. The focus of the Symposium will be on conservation horticulture, the application of the technical knowledge and practical expertise of growing plants (horticulture) for the advancement of plant conservation. Conservation horticulture is critical in our time of rapid global change if we are to ensure the survival of imperiled plant species. Botanic gardens and conservation organizations around the world maintain diverse and wild-collected ex situ plant collections, care for plants of conservation concern in situ, provide plants for population augmentation and repopulation, and supporting conservation education and advocacy. Many plants that are extinct or facing extinction in the wild persist in cultivation through such efforts. The 21^st Smithsonian Botanical Symposium will explore these topics and current research on the nexus of plant conservation and horticulture.

The Symposium will be a hybrid event, with invited speakers giving afternoon presentations for in-person and virtual guests in Baird Auditorium of the National Museum of Natural History, and a poster session and evening reception for in-person guests in the Conservatory of the U.S. Botanic Garden.

In addition, the 21^st José Cuatrecasas Medal for Excellence in Tropical Botany will be awarded at the Symposium to an international scholar who has contributed significantly to advancing the field of tropical botany. The award is named in honor of Dr. José Cuatrecasas, a pioneering botanist who spent many years working in the Department of Botany at the Smithsonian and devoted his career to plant exploration and taxonomy in tropical South America.

A diplomatic solution: Demissew receives physical Cuatrecasas Medal

From Plant Press, Vol. 26, No. 3, July 2023.

Sebsebe Demissew. (photo by

In May 2021, Professor Sebsebe Demissew was awarded the Cuatrecasas Medal for Excellence in Tropical Botany by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History (NMNH). He was recognized for his life's work in conserving and recording the very diverse Ethiopian flora with its many endemic species, and for his leadership of the Ethiopian Flora Project and the National Herbarium. Normally the engraved medal is presented in person to the recipient at the beginning of the annual Smithsonian Botanical Symposium, which NMNH hosts in concert with the U.S. Botanic Garden (USBG). The pandemic, however, forced NMNH and USBG to hold a virtual symposium and travel from Ethiopia to Washington was not feasible. Fortunately, Demissew joined the symposium remotely via Zoom and he spoke briefly after it was announced that he was the medal recipient.

Safely conveying the physical medal to Demissew, however, stymied the award committee until they described their dilemma to Carolyn Glassman, the U.S. Department of State’s liaison to the Smithsonian Institution. Glassman contacted the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa and they agreed to allow the medal to be sent via diplomatic pouch. Embassy staff then went above and beyond the committee’s expectations by organizing an early afternoon reception on the botanical garden-like Embassy grounds where Ambassador Tracey Ann Jacobson presented the medal to Demissew. A little magic with cell phone technology and Microsoft Teams allowed some members of the committee in Washington to observe the ceremony and they happily conveyed once again to Demissew their appreciation for his contributions to tropical botany. The committee was also very pleased that Ambassador Jacobson and the U.S. Embassy recognized the importance of his research for Ethiopia and the world.

Ambassador Tracey Ann Jacobson presents the José Cuatrecasas Medal for Excellence in Tropical Botany to Sebsebe Demissew. (image courtesy of the U.S. Embassy Addis Ababa)

Social media posts by the U.S. Embassy Addis Ababa appeared on Twitter and Facebook:

Congrats Dr. Sebsebe Demissew! We were pleased to honor Dr. Sebsebe with the @NMNH’s José Cuatrecasas Medal for Excellence in Tropical Botany for his life’s work in conserving & recording Ethiopian flora & for important contributions to global understanding of plant biodiversity. pic.twitter.com/elOxDZVyEf

— U.S. Embassy Addis (@USEmbassyAddis) April 20, 2023