Preventing species extinctions: A global conservation consortium for Erica

What to do when we can't bank on seeds: What botanic gardens can learn from the zoo community about conserving plants in living collections

The last twenty to thirty years can be said to constitute a new renaissance botanical gardens around the world. One of the main causes is the growing concern of the world community associated with the issue of loss of biodiversity. In addition, because a greater need to be institutions that take part actively in the field of conservation of plant resources. Community botanical garden world is experiencing rapid development, not only in terms of the number of new botanical garden that is built up but also of the purpose and function. There are currently no less than 2,500 botanical gardens worldwide. To prepare for a global framework for policies, programs and priorities of the botanical garden world in the field of conservation of biodiversity, in 2000 BGCI has published the International Agenda for Botanic Gardens in Conservation, which contained the botanical garden's global mission.

Inter-specific interactions around resources, such as nesting sites, are an important factor by which invasive species impact native communities. As resource availability varies across different environments, competition for resources and invasive species impacts around those resources change. In urban environments, changes in habitat structure and the addition of introduced species has led to significant changes in species composition and abundance, but the extent to which such changes have altered competition over resources is not well understood. Australia’s cities are relatively recent, many of them located in coastal and biodiversity-rich areas, where conservation efforts have the opportunity to benefit many species. Australia hosts a very large diversity of cavity-nesting species, across multiple families of birds and mammals. Of particular interest are cavity-breeding species that have been significantly impacted by the loss of available nesting resources in large, old, hollow-bearing trees. Cavity-breeding species have also been impacted by the addition of cavity-breeding invasive species, increasing the competition for the remaining nesting sites. The results of this additional competition have not been quantified in most cavity breeding communities in Australia. Our understanding of the importance of inter-specific interactions in shaping the outcomes of urbanization and invasion remains very limited across Australian communities. This has led to significant gaps in the understanding of the drivers of interspecific interactions and how such interactions shape resource use in highly modified environments. This knowledge deficit limits the effectiveness of conservation and management efforts to mitigate the loss of nest sites for native species and the effectiveness of ongoing management actions, such as the addition of artificial nesting boxes.To address these gaps, I examined the changes in native and invasive alien species use of resources across urban gradients and examined the factors shaping inter-specific interactions to provide a mechanistic framework for understanding competition at the community scale and invasive species impact on native cavity-nesting species. The research presented here provides the first community-level description of competitive interactions, describes a mechanism driving interaction intensity, and provides a method to predict where and when invasive species impacts on nesting are likely to occur. Additionally, I show that both habitat structure and predation are important processes for urban cavity-nesting birds. My work highlights that many birds make some use of urban habitats. While there remains much to learn about how urban environments can be improved to support long term persistence of individual species, conservation and management efforts can enhance the opportunity to help a large number of birds in Australian cities.This study established a large-scale field project that included eight field sites across southeast QLD and NSW. The study was designed along both regional-scale invasion gradients, with focus on the Common (Indian) myna (Acridotheres tristis), and local-scale urbanization gradients. I discovered that interaction webs around tree hollows in urban environments are dominated by a small number of highly aggressive species, including the invasive common myna and that interaction frequency between species was positively correlated with the overlap in preferred breeding sites (breeding niche; Chapter 2). To investigate how breeding niche overlap can be applied to a community with many unstudied invasive species, I examined the extent of niche overlap between species in the cavity-breeding birds of Tasmania detailing the potential interaction network for the island (Chapter 3). I discovered that niche overlap predicted important inters-specific interactions and that most native cavity-nesting species potentially face increased competition for nesting sites as a result of the addition of multiple invasive species.In Chapter 4, I examined how birds use supplementary nesting sites (i.e, nest boxes) varied across urban environments in different landscape contexts across New South Wales and Queensland), and across cities which have been invaded for different lengths of time. This was aimed at understanding the importance of artificial nest boxes as supplementary resources in areas with limited breeding cavities due to human impacts. There was high variation in the rates of nest box use both by invasive and native species such that the importance of nest boxes as supplemental nesting sites will differ across cities. I found that many nesting attempts in the nest boxes failed, highlighting the need to account for both competition and predation when designing and deploying nest boxes.Finally, in Chapter 5, I explored patterns in the community composition of urban bird communities. This allowed me to test the impacts of regional invasion dynamics and local variation in habitat on avian community richness and abundance. I discovered that increasing habitat structure and decreasing abundance of despotic species (i.e., species which influence community composition through aggressive interactions such as the noisy miner) predicted greater native species richness. More broadly the work presented in this thesis highlights that urban conservation efforts will be improved by a better including into management actions and future work the factors influencing breeding dynamics and resource use.

Invasive plant species are widely recognized as significant threats to biological diversity as well as causing major economic damage in many places. Botanical gardens have been the source of some releases of invasive plants, along with commercial ornamental horticulture and other agencies. The global scope of botanical gardens as a source of invasive species has been characterized, and the potential remains for further releases from their collections. In response, some botanical gardens and their associated network organizations have formulated codes of conduct, policies, declarations, and other tools, and are taking action to reduce the risk of further release. As botanical research centers, many are also now engaged in detecting, documenting, communicating, and managing invasive species issues. In addition to concern over invasive plant species, botanical gardens are involved in sentinel garden programs, monitoring their diverse collections for plants newly escaping cultivation as well as newly arriving insects and other pathogenic organisms. They also have an important role to play in public education and communication about invasive species. This chapter outlines the history and context of botanical gardens as both sources of and solutions to invasive species problems, and highlights policies and other formal responses, educational programs, and partnerships.

The second conference of the Global Partnership for Plant Conservation (GPPC) was organized by the GPPC, in association with the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD) and Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI). This general meeting was hosted by the Missouri Botanical Garden and was held 5–7 July 2011, in St. Louis, Missouri.

Many institutions harbor living collections in the form of living plants, animals, microrganisms or seeds. In the framework of the TDWG collections and specimen descriptions standards, it has become important to align exisiting standards for living collections and specimens or to identify where concepts or controlled vocabularies would be needed in the current TDWG standards. In September 2021 a workshop was organized in the framework of the COST Action Mobilise (https://www.mobilise-action.eu/) to get a better common understanding of the different types of living collections to consider and set the scene for further work on standards alignments. The EU COST Action CA17106 on “Mobilising Data, Experts and Policies in Scientific Collections”. Invited experts to these workshop were representatives of the TDWG Collection Description Group, the GGBN and TDWG molecular collections group, living plants collections and seed banks (Botanic Gardens Conservation International: BGCI, https://www.bgci.org/), living animal and biobanks (European Association of Zoos and Aquaria: EAZA, https://www.eaza.net/) and the culture collections (World Federation for Culture Collections: WFCC, http://www.wfcc.info/), who gave presentations on their currently used standards and challenges. The second day was devoted to break out sessions to brainstorm the specific needs for the different living collections with the aim to check and update the controlled vocabularies and concepts as needed. Identified topics were : Session 1: Voucher specimens of living accessions. Session 2: Living collections and GBIF. Session 3: How do we compare botanical gardens with herbaria? Session 4: How do we compare zoos and aquaria with natural history collections? Session 5: Culture collections: best practices and guidelines. Session 1: Voucher specimens of living accessions. Session 2: Living collections and GBIF. Session 3: How do we compare botanical gardens with herbaria? Session 4: How do we compare zoos and aquaria with natural history collections? Session 5: Culture collections: best practices and guidelines. The goal of this presentation is to address the outcome of these sessions and recommend future steps in collaboration with TDWG and the different identified stakeholders.

Globally, variability in canopy seed retention within closed cones (serotiny) among fire-adapted plant species is often associated with gradients in fire regime. Few studies have investigated the association of intraspecific variation in serotiny with geographical variation in fire and other environmental factors, especially climatic ones, and none has done so in the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) of South Africa. Yet the relationship between environmental gradients and intraspecific variation in reproductive traits may help us understand if those gradients partly shaped the evolution of the rich diversity or proteas in the CFR, and predict the resilience of fire-adapted Protea species to climate and fire regime changes in the CFR. We examined the association of the variability in serotiny in Protea repens (L.) L, the Common Sugarbush, with gradients in fire regime and climatic factors, and with plant age, cone age, and age of oldest closed cone across its 700 km-long longitudinal range in the CFR. Cone age was a significant covariate of the probability that a given cone was closed (our measure of serotiny), but plant age and age of oldest closed cone were not. Variability in the degree of serotiny was significant among populations. Serotiny was highest where fire intensity was historically high, where both mean annual precipitation and mean annual temperature were low, and where rainfall was least seasonal, but fire frequency was not a predictor of serotiny.

Fynbos

Conservation genetics and the role of botanical gardens : H. Hurka, in: Conservation genetics, ed V. Loeschcke & others, (Birkhauser), 1994, pp 371–380

The dispersion of invasive alien species has become a global ecological and conservation crisis. Specifically, aquatic emergent invasive alien species constitute a major threat to the economic and environmental health of marine and coastal ecosystems. The Mexican part of the Gulf of Mexico and its associated hydrological basins are currently affected by some of these alien bioinvaders. During the last two decades, a rapid colonization and proliferation of two fish species complexes and two decapod alien species has been documented in this area. The main hydrological basins draining into the GoM have been invaded by the species complex of armored catfishes of the genus Pterygoplichthys and by the Australian red-claw crayfish Cherax quadricarinatus. In regard to coastal and marine environments, the invasive species are represented by the lionfish complex (Pterois spp.) and the giant tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon. Given their rapid expansion and potential direct interaction with the fishing sector and ecosystem structure, they must be analyzed as a single unit and from a big basin integrated perspective. Apart from the visible effects that some of these species may have on non-native locations, their full impact may not be immediately apparent. One of the main concerns for the Mexican public administration is the quantification and forecast of the effects derived from the population expansion of these invaders. Under this perspective, this chapter presents a spatial-detailed integration of the four emergent species/complexes that have invaded the Mexican portion of the extended GoM basin, as well as the temporal evolution of the process. Although effective solutions to control these invasive species are a long way off, several innovative initiatives are being developed in many communities. As an example, the promotion of the lionfish as a gourmet product soon became widespread among fishermen and restaurant owners, allowing its local control through specific fishing practices. The more specific our understanding is of the negative effects caused by the invaders, the more specifically we can address the mitigation of their threats; thus we hope that, by raising general awareness, the effects of these aquatic emergent invasive alien species will be reduced in the future. Meanwhile, a tight cooperation between decision-makers, politicians, and fishermen remains the only way to effectively manage the threat posed by these taxa.

Alongside global climatic and anthropogenic changes of the second half of the XX century, problems of expanding habitats and the negative impact of invasive species on natural ecosystems have become more acute. Biological invasions are caused by a number of natural and anthropogenic factors: invasions associated with outbreaks of the population and the expansion of the habitat; introduction for practical purposes and cultivation in botanical gardens, nurseries; accidental spreading by transport network, by import of agricultural products, etc. Strategies for mitigating the effects of invasive species on the environment consist of objective assessments and reliable forecasts based on various potential scenarios of climate change and extent of environmental degradation. The database "Invasive species" was developed as the main component of the regional monitoring network of the resettlement control of invasive and potentially invasive plant species. It is based on the accumulation, generalization and multivariate analysis data analysis and the possibility of predicting further invasions under different scenarios of environmental changes. The obtained results will be the basis for the development of a new integrated technology for risks assessment of invasion and the widest usage of effective methods of biocontrol in agriculture and forestry, health care and biodiversity conservation, monitoring of the invasive process, forecasting environmental situations, organizing measures to control invasive species and, ultimately, to ensure environmental and economic security. Information product in the form of a database provides access to the network resource and technologies is a subject of interest to a number of ministries and departments, a wide range of state and commercial structures working in various fields, and also serve as a social advertisement for improving environmental education.

<i>Salvinia molesta</i> D.S. Mitch.

Native freshwater fish populations are among the world's most threatened taxa due to the combined effects of habitat degradation and invasive alien species. Habitat degradation negatively impacts native species, whereas invasive species tend to possess adaptations, such as thermal and salinity tolerance, that are more suited to the degraded environment. Sensory ecology may also be a contributing factor. Most threatened native species are visual feeders, whereas invasive species found in degraded systems often have nonvisual specializations. Behavioral and distributional characteristics of the invasive Western Mosquitofish Gambusia affinis and the New Zealand native Inanga Galaxias maculatus illustrate the potential for sensory biology to influence foraging success, distribution, and species interaction between degraded and clear habitats. Behavioral trials measured the change in feeding rate in clear (0 NTU) and turbid (100 NTU) water over 30 min for Inanga and Western Mosquitofish feeding on brine shrimp Artemia salina nauplii. These experiments showed that Western Mosquitofish maintained similar feeding rates between clear and turbid water, whereas the native species exhibited a marked decline in feeding efficiency in turbid water. Across a strong natural turbidity boundary, the alien species was found to dominate turbid habitat less than 1 m from clear water, where both species were found. Accounting for sensory biology as a potential contributing factor in the establishment of invasive fish species in degraded habitat may help to identify invasive species risk and to shape strategies for rehabilitating native species.

Estimates of the number of vascular plant species currently under threat of extinction are shockingly high, with the highest extinction rates reported for narrow-range, woody plants, especially in biodiversity hotspots with Mediterranean and tropical climates. The large genus Erica is a prime example, as a large proportion of its 851 species, all shrubs or small trees, are endemic to the Cape Floristic Region (CFR) of South Africa. Almost two hundred are known to be threatened and a further hundred are ‘Data Deficient’. We need to target conservation efforts and research to fill the most problematic knowledge gaps. This can be especially challenging in large genera, such as Erica, with numerous threatened species that are closely related. One approach involves combining knowledge of phylogenetic diversity with that of IUCN threat status to identify the most Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered (EDGE) species. We present an expanded and improved phylogenetic hypothesis for Erica (representing 65% of described species diversity) and combine this with available threat and distribution data to identify species and geographic areas that could be targeted for conservation effort to maximise preservation of phylogenetic diversity (PD). The resulting 39 EDGE taxa include 35 from the CFR. A further 32 high PD, data deficient taxa are mostly from outside the CFR, reflecting the low proportion of assessed taxa outside South Africa. The most taxon-rich areas are found in the south-western CFR. They are not the most phylogenetically diverse, but do include the most threatened PD. These results can be cross-referenced to existing living and seed-banked ex situ collections and used to target new and updated threat assessments and conservation action.

Invasive alien plant species (IAPS) are considered the second most important agent after habitat destruction for species endangerment and extinction. Though dozens of alien invasive plant species (IAPS) occur in the Indian Himalayan region, information on distribution and perceived impact is lacking in the western Himalaya. In the present study, 701 randomly selected households in 45 villages were surveyed through questionnaire surveys in Chandak-Aunla Ghat (329) and Hat-Kalika (372) watersheds in Kailash Sacred Landscape (KSL-India) to know their view on the issues associated with the IAPS and attitudes towards their management. The knowledge, perception, use and management strategies of different IAPS were analyzed. Only 39% of females and 27% of males had knowledge of IAPS. The highlights of the study are: i) Ageratina adenophora had the highest Relative Frequency of Citation value among 14 major IAPS in the study area, ii) informants of Hat-Kalika showed a low richness of knowledge and sharing with their family members as compared to Chandak-Aunla Ghat, iii) respondents perceived IAPS negatively and rated biological invasion and habitat loss as major environmental problem, iv) the major management strategies identified were restoration, eradication, community education and information, and v) perception and level of knowledge sharing on invasive species among age classes and gender have implications for stakeholders and policymakers in management of IAPS.