Drought‐tolerant plants are increasingly recognized as a resource to mitigate the consequences
of climate change. Succulent plants use stored water to sustain metabolism
during regular droughts; succulence is a highly successful...

A major challenge in articulating human dimensions of climate change lies in translating global climate forecasts into impact assessments that are intuitive to the public. Climateanalog mapping involves matching the expected future climate at a...

Professional Development of Environmental Educators: Guidelines for Excellence is a set of
recommendations about the basic knowledge and abilities educators need to provide high quality
environmental education. The guidelines are designed...

China is home to an astounding number of species, 31,500, and 12 percent of these species
can be found only in China. The Missouri Botanical Garden, working with an international
team and the Chinese government for 25 years, is on track...

There is a growing recognition of the links between the increasing prevalence of
noncommunicable diseases, environmental concerns including biodiversity loss and ecosystem
degradation, and socioecological issues such as ecological (in)...

Creating behavior change to mobilize transitions toward sustainability is a significant challenge of our time. Inspired by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s Farmer Field School, we developed a novel community-based education...

To address the growing interest and expressed need for pollinator management strategies a special pollinator symposium was held at the 2017 annual conference of the Natural Areas Association, curated by William Carromero of the US Forest Service and...

Horticulture therapy, where gardens, landscapes, and other plant materials are used to increase
overall wellness or reach defined therapeutic goals, has a body of research which supports its
effectiveness. To assess potential clients’...

In this research, Wellington New Zealand is chosen as the study area. Ecologically fragmented and rapidly growing, the city has been established and continues to expand at one of the most valuable ecosystem junctions in the Southern Hemisphere. As one...

The Sonoran Desert is one of the most ecologically diverse deserts in the world with more than 2,000 native plant species and hundreds of wildlife species. Special adaptations have allowed plants and animals to survive and thrive in this desert climate...

Successful programs of crop wild relative (CWR) exploration, conservation, and utilization are ultimately dependent on sustained public prioritization and support, which in turn requires public awareness and engagement. Here we discuss the importance...

Canada is home to about 5087 species of higher plants of which 25% were introduced to Canada either deliberately or by accident. The richness of botanical species is highest in the southern, more densely settled parts of the country. About 364 native...

The power of citizen science to contribute to both science and society is gaining increased recognition, particularly in physics and biology. Although there is a long history of public engagement in agriculture and food science, the term ‘citizen...

As indoor horticulture gathers momentum, electric (also termed artificial) lighting systems with the ability to generate specific and tunable wavelengths have been developed and applied. While the effects of light quality on plant growth and...

The American Public Gardens Association (the Association) and the United States Botanic Garden (USBG) set out to collaborate and conduct this study to understand the extent of urban agriculture program impacts. The goals of this research were to...

Engaging the public in sustainable actions is essential for reaching local and global sustainability goals. The first two research questions of this dissertation focus on strategies to reduce contamination of waste in private and public areas through...

Originating in Europe in the 16th century, botanic gardens are found in nearly every country in the world. Botanic gardens have had various roles during this time, including as physic gardens, as adaptation centers for commercial crops, as pleasure...

Increasingly, humans are an urban species prone to ‘plant blindness’. This demographic shift and situation has implications for both individual and collective perceptions of nature, as well as for addressing ‘ecophobia’ and encouraging ‘biophilia’...

This paper examines Urban Advantage, a thirteen-year partnership in New York City, between eight cultural institutions (botanical gardens among them) and the Department of Education, as a ‘case’ of a long-lasting research practice partnership that has...

The Public Gardens Sustainability Index represents a holistic approach to define principles and best practices for operational sustainability, sector-wide. The Index helps public garden professionals benchmark, develop, and adopt practices that span...