Treesearch

American Public Gardens Association, founded in 1940, represents over 600 member gardens spanning North America and 24 countries. Its diverse membership includes botanic gardens, arboreta, and other public gardens which contribute to tree gene conservation. Some maintain ex situ collections nationally accredited through the Association’s Plant Collections Network, a 21-year collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service. This program promotes excellence in curatorial practices while facilitating a continent-wide approach to germplasm preservation....

The southern United States is home to some of the world’s most biologically diverse temperate forests. These forests range from the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains to the Southern Appalachian Mountains and are home to more than 140 tree species which provide a number of ecosystem services, including clean air and water, carbon storage, recreational opportunities, wood, and fiber to feed a growing population’s need for solid wood and paper products. Many of these species are threatened by natural and human-caused disturbances, including native and exotic insects, diseases, invasive plants,...

Among forest-associated plant species in the United States, less than one percent has been determined to be extinct. However, 57 trees or trees/shrubs are officially listed as threatened or endangered by the U.S. Department of Interior Fish and Wildlife Service. Most of these listed species are tropical island endemics; 35 are from Hawaii and 13 from Puerto Rico and/or the United States Virgin Islands. As required by law, these listed species have restoration plans that are in some state of implementation. Federal land management agencies also strive to conserve species that are considered...

Camcore is an international tree breeding and conservation program with headquarters at North Carolina State University. Camcore was founded in 1980 as a cooperative, non-profit organization to identify and save the dwindling natural populations of pines in the highland regions of Guatemala in Central America. Funded by the private sector, the program has played an important role as an international gene conservation cooperative. The program emphasizes ex situ conservation as a complement to in situ conservation to ensure that a wide range of genetic variation in a species is protected....

Over the last 200 years, humans have impacted the genetic diversity of forest trees. Because of widespread deforestation and over-exploitation, about 9,000 tree species are listed worldwide as threatened with extinction, including more than half of the ~600 known conifer taxa. A comprehensive review of the floristic-taxonomic literature compiled a list of 4,331 recorded tree species in Mexico. The highest diversity of pine and oak worldwide is located in the Mexican temperate forests. Because species diversity and genetic diversity are often positively associated, there is expectation of...

Laurel wilt disease is incited by the exotic fungus Raffaelea lauricola and transmitted by the Asian redbay ambrosia beetle (Xyleborus glabratus). The disease has spread from Savannah, Georgia in 2002 across the coastal southeast as far south as the Everglades, and in 2014 was discovered as far west as Texas. Mortality is severe, with locations in Florida reporting more than 90 percent loss of redbays, 7.6 to 10.2 cm (3 to 4 inches) in diameter and greater. Surviving redbays from coastal maritime forest ecosystems have been collected and propagated for the study of disease resistance and...

Climate change presents new challenges to land managers. At stake is our ability to make thoughtful, science-based decisions and to add climate change considerations to our project and management plans. We also must prioritize among the opportunities that can be included in adaptation strategies because funding and time are limited, now more than ever. In 2012, we conducted a vulnerability assessment of common overstory forest tree species for the Pacific Northwest and provided recommended actions based on the results of this assessment. These recommendations will sharpen the focus of...

Among the 17 provinces, territories, and states that comprise western North America, approximately 18 percent of the 8.4 million km2 of forested land base is designated as protected areas to ensure the in situ conservation of forest biodiversity. Jurisdictions vary substantially however, in their responsibilities, protected area coverage, and conservation policies. Here we demonstrate a novel approach to identify current and potential future conservation gaps for genetic populations across a tree species’ range based on (1) statistical species distribution maps generated from 250 m remote...

Hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA, Adelges tsugae) is an invasive forest insect that has caused mortality of eastern (Tsuga canadensis) and Carolina hemlock (T. caroliniana) at an alarming rate. Now infesting 19 states and over 400 counties of the eastern United States, HWA poses a significant threat to native host species. The current biological and chemical methods for protecting these keystone species are expensive, time consuming, and short-lived. For the long-term preservation of both hemlock species, ex situ genetic conservation efforts such as seed collection and storage may be the best...

that forest tree species will undergo population-level extirpation or species-level extinction during the next century. Project CAPTURE (Conservation Assessment and Prioritization of Forest Trees Under Risk of Extirpation) is a cooperative effort across the three U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service (USDA FS) deputy areas to establish a framework for conservation priority-setting assessments of forest tree species across the entire United States. Project CAPTURE uses extensive lists of life history trait data, as well as climate change and pest and pathogen threat information, to...