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Abstract Detail



At the Intersection of Applied and Academic Botany: Fertile Ground for an Interdisciplinary Botanical Renaissance

Knapp, Wesley [1].

Extinction, Resurrection, And Ever-Expanding Projects To Help Set Conservation Priorities.

As a state employee most of my academic research is something I conduct on the side, usually at night or on weekends. My most ambitious side project started nearly 5 years ago as I began leading an effort to document the extinct plants of North America, north of Mexico. This seemingly simple task had never been previously completed and now this effort has grown into a vast collaborative work involving 20 coauthors across the country. Currently, we have documented 68 presumably extinct species with as many as seven species being extinct in the wild. The work to document extinction has led to numerous side research projects of differing scopes with a variety of partners. Among these projects are: 1) Working with staff at NatureServe (Anne Frances) we aim to create a list of global single site endemic plant species. Endemics will be targeted from in situ and ex situ conservation efforts. A pilot study is underway in North Carolina where the North Carolina Botanical Gardens (Michael Kuntz), & Atlanta Botanical Gardens (Emily Coffee & Carrie Radcliffe) are prioritizing these species for ex situ conservation efforts to help prevent future extinction events. 2) Working with colleagues at UNC-Chapel Hill (Alan Weakley & Derick Poindexter) we are describing a previously unrecognized yet now extinct species. 3) Working with staff at Missouri Botanical Gardens (Aaron Floden) and New York Botanical Gardens (Rob Naczi & Matthew Pace) we are conducting a molecular study to test the validity of a taxonomically well-recognized and extinct species. 4) Working with the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden (Valerie Pence), and numerous other institutions, we are attempting the resurrection of a select few extinct species, a project I playfully named Project Phoenix. The extinction work and these numerous side projects have led to vast collaborative opportunities including botanical gardens, government agencies, non-profits, academic institutions, seed banks, and private industry. Highlights, findings, pitfalls, and tangents involving these projects, and the collaborators involved in each, will be discussed. Numerous international institutions have contributed information towards these projects and dozens of experts have provided input on various taxa to vet extinct species.


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1 - North Carolina Natural Heritage Program, 176 Riceville Rd, Asheville, NC, 28805, United States

Keywords:
extinction
conservation
endemism
Natural Heritage
Resurrection
Prioritization 
ex situ
Collaboration .

Presentation Type: Symposium Presentation
Session: SYM5, At the intersection of applied and academic botany: Fertile ground for an interdisciplinary botanical renaissance
Location: San Ignacio/Starr Pass
Date: Wednesday, July 31st, 2019
Time: 10:45 AM
Number: SYM5007
Abstract ID:460
Candidate for Awards:None


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