from idea to realisation · 2017-10-03 · from idea to realisation •••• bgci’s manual on...

From Idea to RealisationBGCI’s Manual on Planning, Developing and Managing Botanic Gardens

Botanic Gardens Conservation International

From Idea to RealisationBGCI’s Manual on Planning, Developing and Managing Botanic Gardens

EditorJoachim Gratzfeld

Recommended citationGratzfeld, J. (Ed.), 2016. From Idea to Realisation – BGCI’s Manual on Planning, Developing and Managing Botanic Gardens. Botanic Gardens Conservation International, Richmond, United Kingdom.

bgci.org/resources/2016-BGCI-botanic-garden-manual

ISBN-13: 978-1-905164-65-3

Published byBotanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI)Descanso House, 199 Kew Road, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3BW, United Kingdom

Authors - Chapters

Annette Patzelt and Andrew Anderson

David A. Galbraith

Dave Aplin

Kate Davis

Nura Abdul Karim

Kate Hughes, Leigh Morris, Ellie Barham andSara Redstone

Joachim Gratzfeld, Malin Rivers, KatherineO’Donnell, Vanessa Sutcliffe, Raquel FolgadoCasado, Gail Bromley, Angela McFarlane,Suzanne Kapelari, Sheila Voss, Elaine Regan,Jennifer Schwarz Ballard, Asimina Vergou,Liliana Derewnicka, Julia Willison, Pat Griggs,Astrid Krumins, Kate Measures and RichardBenfield

Mark Richardson, Kevin Frediani, KeithManger, Richard V. Piacentini and Paul Smith

Authors - Case studies

John Zwar, Rik Gadella, Atato Abalo, Brian Vogt, Trevor Christensen,Annette Patzelt, Andrew Anderson and Ghudaina Al-Issai

Beverley Glover, Yuri Naumstev, Nura Abdul Karim, Steve Windhager andR. Hendrian

Kirsty Shaw, Marko Hyvärinen, James Hearsum and Dave Aplin

Catherine Rutherford, Richard Wilford, Noel McGough, Kate Hughes,David Rae, Robert Bye, Edelmira Linares and Kate Davis

Kristina Aguilar, Erica Witcher, Raoul Palese, Cyril Boillat and Pierre-AndréLoizeau

Sophie Neale, Denis Larpin, Leigh Morris, William Hinchliffe, Pat Clifford,Kate Hughes, Peter Symes, Chris Cole, Fiona Inches and Ellie Barham

Jennifer Ramp Neale, Sarada Krishnan, Rebecca Hufft, Malin Rivers, ElineMartins, Patrick M. Griffith, Michael Calonje, Alan W. Meerow, Freddy Tut,Andrea T. Kramer, Abby Hird, Tracy M. Magellan, Chad E. Husby, MarianChau, Musyarofah Zuhri, Sara Helm Wallace, Valerie Pence, RaquelFolgado Casado, Jacek Wajer, Alison Foster, Katherine O’Donnell, TomokoFukuda, Sandrine Godefroid, Sarah Le Pajolec, Fabienne Van Rossum,Anthony Hitchcock, Gunter A. Fischer, Jinlong Zhang, Yvette Harvey-Brown, Giuseppe Garfì, Salvatore Pasta, Stéphane Buord, GregorKozlowski, Laurence Fazan, Joachim Gratzfeld, Alla Andreeva, SheilaVoss, Marcelle Broderick, Kate Hughes, Veronica Franco, Gail Bromley,Michael Kiehn, Sharon Willoughby, Astrid Krumins, Ben Oliver, LilianaDerewnicka, Alicia Fernández Rodríguez, Deepa Srivathsa, StefanoBattistini, Nina Browne and Richard Benfield

Mark Richardson, Feng Shucheng, Richard V. Piacentini, Jack Hobbs,Sam Phillips and Tariq Abu Taleb

From Idea to Realisation •••• BGCI’s Manual on Planning, Developing and Managing Botanic Gardens

iiAcknowledgements

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Members of the technical review committee

Graciela Barreiro, Director, Carlos Thays Botanic Garden, Buenos Aires, ArgentinaJin Chen, Director, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, ChinaColin Clubbe, Head, Conservation Science, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, United KingdomMaïté Delmas, International Relations, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle de Paris, FranceRik Gadella, Director General, Pha Tad Ke Botanical Garden, LaosPierre-André Loizeau, Director, Conservatoire et jardin botaniques de la Ville de Genève, SwitzerlandAnnette Patzelt, Director of Science, Oman Botanic Garden, OmanDavid Rae, Director of Horticulture and Learning, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, United KingdomSilke Rügheimer, Curator, National Botanic Garden, NamibiaPaul Smith, Secretary General, Botanic Gardens Conservation International, United KingdomNigel Taylor, Director, Singapore Botanic Gardens, SingaporeMark Webb, Chief Executive Officer, Botanic Gardens and Parks Authority, Perth, AustraliaPeter Wyse Jackson, President, Missouri Botanical Garden, United States

Acknowledgements

The wealth of the knowledge and quality of the guidance provided in this Manual would not have been possible without the expertise andcontributions made by numerous botanic garden professionals from around the world – the extensive list of the chapter and case study authorsspeaks for itself. The critical expert views and recommendations offered by the members of the technical review committee have been immenselyvaluable during the final stages of the production of the manual. Various other specialists who shared their advice, supplied case study materialsand illustrations, or in any other way contributed to and inspired the development of this manual include Michael Anlezark, Carlo Balistrieri, ErinBird, Stephen Blackmore, Belinda Gallagher, Mark Glicksman, Richard Griffin, Alex Henderson, Etelka Leadlay, Lydia Murphy, Mike O’Neal, SaraOldfield, Havard Ostgaard, Kerry Walters and Garance Wood-Moulin. Revisions were provided by Paul Smith, Secretary General, Botanic GardensConservation International, in addition to reviews by other members of staff who assisted in the manual’s development and completion, includingEmily Beech, Yvette Harvey-Brown and Suzanne Sharrock. Their professional contributions and support, which have significantly facilitated theaccuracy and coherence of this resource, are gratefully acknowledged.

Front cover images

1. Pyunggang Botanical Garden,South Korea

2. Oman Botanic Garden, Oman3. Shashamene Botanic Garden,

Ethiopia4. Padua University Botanical

Garden, Italy5. Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical

Garden, United States

1

2 3 4 5

Chapter 7: Using the Plant Collection –Research, Conservation, Public Engagement,Recreation and Tourism

Part C: The Plant Collection – Linchpin of the Botanic Garden


• Population introduction

Contrary to reintroduction, introduction is the intentional movementand establishment of an individual or a group of individuals outsidetheir natural range (IUCN, 2013). The aim is to prevent extinction ofpopulations of the target species by establishing new ones insuitable habitats with favourable environmental conditions in areaswhere they have not been recorded from in recent geological history.Population introduction may be required as climate change andglobal warming and/or other change agents threaten the survival ofa population or the entire species in their present habitat.

A critical aspect of an intended population introduction is toundertake a rigorous risk assessment as regards the potential ofthe species becoming invasive in its new location. Manyintroduced species may not demonstrate clear signs of

invasiveness only until several decades later following theirestablishment. Thus, introduced target species should continueto be monitored in the long run (Smith et al., 2013). Equally, a riskassessment should evaluate the danger posed by any pests andpathogens that the introduced plant material might be carrying, aswell as the probability of hybridisation between related species.Botanic gardens in particular are well-aware of the potential threatsposed by newly accessioned plant material for their existingcollections as well as for wild plant populations (Chapter 3, Section3.4.4 and Chapter 6, Section 6.8). This technical knowledge andpractical knowhow coupled with the wide range of areas ofexpertise in plant identification, sampling, propagation andcultivation, make botanic gardens also vital stakeholders of allstages of introduction in the wild, from planning to provision ofplant material over to actual introduction work and monitoring(Case study 7.1.16).


179Part C • Chapter 7

Securing the future of a unique Sicilian planton the verge of extinction – populationintroduction of Zelkova sicula

Giuseppe Garfì and Salvatore Pasta, Palermo, Italy;Stéphane Buord, Brest, France; Gregor Kozlowskiand Laurence Fazan, Fribourg, Switzerland; JoachimGratzfeld, Richmond, United Kingdom

CASE STUDY 7.1.16

Zelkova sicula wild population (Contrada Ciranna) – habitat and habit. (Images: left: Giuseppe Garfì; right: Joachim Gratzfeld)

Discovered in 1991, only two small populations of the relict plantZelkova sicula are known, located on the slopes of the Iblei Mts. insouth-eastern Sicily (Italy). The species faces an uncertain future andhas been included in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species asCritically Endangered. Both populations are restricted to the bottomof small gullies with rivulets. Although Z. sicula appears to be partially

adapted to the Mediterranean climate (suggested for instance by thesclerophyllous leaf traits), recurrent dieback triggered by summer-drought indicates that the populations are located in an area withsuboptimal environmental conditions. Sexual reproduction in the wildhas not been recorded to date, although a few dozens of plants ineach population perform uneven flowering and fructification. Fertilefruits have not been found probably due to the triploidy of allindividuals in both populations. The species proliferates howevervegetatively, via root suckering or basal resprouting followingdisturbance or injury. Due to their clonal identity, the two populationshave a very low adaptive potential. In addition, they are confined tothe present enclaves situated within the thermo-Mediterranean belt,whilst a swift adaptation to rapidly changing, drier and warmerenvironmental conditions seems impossible. Population introductionmay therefore represent the most effective conservation strategy, ifnot the last resort, to secure the survival of Z. sicula.

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Planning for long-term conservation – plant material collectionand development of propagation protocols

Recognising the urgency of rapid intervention, the Institute ofBiosciences and Bioresources, Unit of Palermo (IBBR-CNR), Italy, theConservatoire Botanique National of Brest (CBNB), France, as wellas the Botanic Garden of the University of Fribourg (BGF), Switzerland,joined hands to devise a conservation programme for Z. sicula aiming at population introduction to new habitats. Twofundamental actions preceded this endeavour: i) evaluation of thegenetic diversity within the species to capture the highest geneticadaptive potential; and ii) collection of plant material and developmentof propagation protocols.

The molecular analyses revealed a clear difference between the twopopulations but identical genetic profiles within each population,confirming two different clonal lineages. To reflect occasional geneticchanges arising from mutations, collection in both populationstargeted material from as many mother plants as possible. Capitalisingon their longstanding experience in germplasm conservation, seedgermination and propagation of endangered plants, CBNB and IBBR-CNR developed vegetative propagation protocols using cuttings andin vitro techniques. Supported by the European Commission LIFEproject ‘Zelkov@azione’ and BGF, propagation protocols arecontinuously refined, and the stock of plants is steadily growing.

CASE STUDY 7.1.16 (CONT.)

In vitro propagation and explant stages of Z. sicula. (Images:Angela Carra)

Wild populations of Zelkova sicula (green dots): A: Bosco Pisano, B: Contrada Ciranna, Iblei Mts.Introduction sites (red dots): 1: Bosco Pisano; 2: Bosco Tassita, Nebrobi Mts.; 3: Bosco Pomieri, Madonie Mts.; 4: Bosco Ficuzza, Sicani Mts.

Initial population introduction trials

The next step consisted in the selection of suitable sites forintroduction of new populations. Data gathered on significantgrowth performance of a few individuals raised in ex situ collectionssuggested more humid sites in the meso- and supra-Mediterranean belt as suitable new habitats, characterized bymixed forests with summer-green, broadleaved deciduous trees.These plant communities are similar to those where the otherextant West-Eurasian Zelkova species thrive, and match thespecies composition of communities with Zelkova spp. based onpalaeoecological data. A further key requirement included theproximity to small streams as observed in the current habitat.

Three out of 17 initially identified sites were evaluated as providingthe best habitat suitability and adequate site accessibility (i.e.Bosco Tassita, Nebrodi Mts.; Bosco Pomieri, Madonie Mts.; BoscoFicuzza, Sicani Mts.). Two supplementary plots where chosen inthe thermo-Mediterranean belt at Bosco Pisano, near one of theextant populations. To ensure long-term conservation andsustainability, only public land and locations within the Natura 2000network or other protected areas were selected. However, as allsites are within protected areas, a longwinded administrativeprocedure was necessary to obtain permission from the managingauthorities to introduce the plant into the local forests. A thoroughrisk assessment of the potential impact (such as invasiveness andintroduction of pests) was undertaken, followed by theestablishment of a detailed monitoring plan. Prior to outplanting,all saplings were transferred for acclimatization to a forestry nurserylocated in an area with meso-Mediterranean climate conditions,and regularly checked for eventual pests and diseases. In four ofthe five sites fences have been established to prevent browsingdisturbance by wild and domestic ungulates.

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http://www.zelkovazione.eu/

As many ecosystems and habitats are transforming into new, non-historical configurations owing to a variety of unprecedented localand global transformations including climate change, novelcombinations of species are emerging that have not occurredbefore. Management of such ‘novel ecosystems’ (Hobbs et al.,2009) as of targeted population introductions that also represent

new species assemblages, is one of the great conservationchallenges in the twenty first century. Botanic gardens which aresteadily embracing and promoting an integrated in and ex situconservation approach, are once more at the forefront to guide,support and implement innovative strategies aimed at securingplant diversity for future generations.



Letting nature take its course – yet under controlled conditions

First planting trials were carried out in June 2016 in the pilot sites ofBosco Ficuzza and Bosco Tassita using 15 plantlets per plot. Theywere introduced in the forest understorey at irregular intervals,prioritising streamside locations and half-shade conditions. Additionalmeasures were taken, such as the use of hydrogel (a high waterretention polyacrylate, able to prolong water supply) as well ascovering the planting holes with a biodegradable mulch mat to reduceevaporation. Watering was provided right away and an irrigation planwas established for the first growing season to respond swiftly topotential drought. Planting activities continued during winter 2016 inthese and two new sites (Bosco Pomieri and Bosco Pisano), raisingthe total number of saplings planted to over a 100 (on average some25 per site). These efforts will be further consolidated over the comingyears, including additional planting in all sites.

A truly novel approach to save a unique plant from the brink ofextinction, this population introduction experiment complementsongoing efforts to secure Z. sicula in botanic gardens and otherinstitutions working for plant conservation (Kozlowski and Gratzfeld,2013). If the introduced individuals successfully establish over thecoming years to form new populations, this endeavour will serve asa practical illustration of using horticultural excellence and ex situconservation as an insurance policy in a future marked by rapidclimate change and altering ecosystems.

CASE STUDY 7.1.16 (CONT.)

Introduction of Zelkova sicula (Ulmaceae) to a new habitat, BoscoFicuzza, Sicily. (Images: Giuseppe Garfì)

from idea to realisation · 2017-10-03 · from idea to realisation •••• bgci’s manual on...

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