Extinction rates are expected to increase during the Anthropocene. Current extinction rates of plants and many animals remain unknown. This study represents the first effort to quantify extinctions among the vascular flora of North America north of...

The restoration of trees remains among the most effective strategies for climate change
mitigation.We mapped the global potential tree coverage to show that 4.4 billion hectares
of canopy cover could exist under the current climate....

Maintaining a living plant collection is the most common method of ex situ conservation for plant
species that cannot be seed banked i.e. “exceptional” species. Viability of living collections, and their value for future conservation efforts,...

Botanic gardens play major roles in plant conservation globally. Since the 1980s, the number of botanic gardens worldwide and their involvement in integrating ex situ and in situ plant conservation has increased signifi cantly, with a growing focus on...

The discipline of horticulture, growing and propagating plants under artificial conditions, has
a centuries-long tradition and has developed into a vital industry of breeding, propagating and
trading ornamental and wild plants around the...

Over the last few decades botanic gardens worldwide have been encouraged to adopt complementary measures for the conservation of plant species from their own
regions, combining in situ conservation efforts with ex situ methods, both in...

They don’t make the headlines the way charismatic animals such as rhinos and elephants do. But there are thousands of critically endangered plants in the world, and a determined group of botanists are ready to go to great lengths to save them.

The below case studies were collected and shared in a September 2018 Newsletter from the Center for Plant Conservation. 

Based on an interview with Denise Knapp, Director of...

In a pollen supplementation experiment, fruit or seed production by flowers exposed to natural pollination is compared to that following hand pollination either by pollen supplementation (i.e. manual outcross pollen addition without bagging) or manual...

For many species and seed sources used in restoration activities, specific seed germination
requirements are often unknown. Because seed dormancy and germination traits can be
constrained by phylogenetic history, related species are often...

Ulmus americana (American elm) was an important urban tree in North America prior to the introduction of the Dutch elm disease pathogen in 1930. Subsequently, urban and community forests were devastated by the loss of large canopies. Tree improvement...

This article covers tests conducted to better understand spatial and climatic patterns of diversification in the Orchidaceae, an angiosperm family characterized by high levels of species diversity and rarity. Globally, does orchid diversity correlate...

Cycads are the most endangered of plant groups based on IUCN Red List assessments; all are in Appendix I or II of CITES, about 40% are within biodiversity ‘hotspots,’ and the call for action to improve their protection is longstanding. We contend that...

Selecting the geographic origin—the provenance—of seed is a key decision in restoration. The last decade has seen a vigorous debate on whether to use local or nonlocal seed. The use of local seed has been the preferred approach because it is expected...

The need for integration of ex situ and in situ approaches in conservation of plants has long been recognized. However, ex situ collections have numerous limitations that reduce their utility for conservation, necessitating the introduction of new,...

Impacts of global climate change, habitat loss, and other environmental changes on the world's biota and peoples continue to increase, especially on islands and in high elevation areas. Just as floristic diversity is affected by environmental change,...

Although only a minority of plant species have a specific human use, many more play important roles in natural ecosystems and the services they provide, and rare species are more likely to have unusual traits that could be useful in the future. The ...

This is a great resource for learning about ex-situ conservation strategies and lessons learned outsite the botanic garden community that can be adopted to ensure genetic diversity of valued plant collections isn't lost in the future. 

Seed banks have a significant role in safeguarding the conservation of plant genetic diversity on which our food security rests. This article describes some of the activities of the Australian Seed Bank Partnership.