Ex situ conservation

The conservation value of any ex-situ collection will depend on the genetic diversity it holds.

We at the Chicago Botanic Gardens are working to improve the management of worldwide collections of threatened plant species. The focus of the project is to adapt genetic management techniques developed by the zoo community for use in plants. These methods include using pedigrees to track the origin and source of all captive individuals and using population management software that enables us to make scientifically informed breeding and curation decisions.  This work is partnering with the National Tropical Botanic Garden, Morton Arboretum, Montogomery BG, Atlanta BG, Brookfield Zoo and Botanic Gardens Conservation International.

• • Current Members: Cael Dant (MS)
  • Past Members: Jordan Wood (MS 2018), Jeremy Foster (MS 2021),  Olivia Murrell (MS 2022), Zoe Diaz-Martin (Postdoc 2020-2023)

Media

• Smithsonian
• Undark 
• New York Times
• In Defense of Plants Podcast
• Yale 360
• Atlas Obscura
• Blogs

Publications (± = Postdoc, + = PhD Student, ++ = MA Student, * = Undergraduate Student, # =Citizen Scientist)

• Diaz-Martin Z±, J Fant, K Havens, W Cinea, JMT Lima, MP Griffith (2023) Current management practices do not adequately safeguard endangered plant species in conservation collections. Biological Conservation 280, 109955
• Foster, Jeremy A. ++, Seana K. Walsh+, Kayri Havens, Andrea T. Kramer, and J.B. Fant. 2022. “Supporting Long‐term Sustainability of Ex Situ Collections Using a Pedigree‐based Population Management Approach.” Applications in Plant Sciences, no. December 2021: 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1002/aps3.11491.
• Griffith, M. P., Cartwright, F., Dosmann, M., Fant, J. B., Freid, E., Havens, K., Jestrow, B., Kramer, A. T., Magellan, T. M., Meerow, A. W., Meyer, A., Sanchez, V., Santiago-Valentín, E., Spence, E., Sutasche-Sustache, J. A., Francisco-Ortega, J., & Hoban, S. (2021). Ex Situ Conservation of Large and Small Plant Populations Illustrates Limitations of Common Conservation Metrics. International Journal of Plant Sciences, 182(4). https://doi.org/10.1086/713446
• Spence, E. S., Fant, J. B., Gailing, O., Griffith, M. P., Havens, K., Hipp, A. L., Kadav, P., Kramer, A., Thompson, P., Toppila, R., Westwood, M., Wood, J. +, Zumwalde, B. A., & Hoban, S. (2021). Comparing Genetic Diversity in Three Threatened Oaks. 1–18.
• Hoban, S, T. Callicrate, J. Clark, J., S. Deans, M. Dosmann, J. Fant, O. Gailing, K. Havens, A.Hipp, P. Kadav, A. Kramer, M. Lobell, T. Magellan, A. Meyer, M. Pooler, E.Spense, P. Thompson, R. Toppila, S. Walsh, M. Westwood, J. Wood, P. Griffith (2020) Taxonomic similarity does not predict necessary sample size for ex situ conservation: a comparison among five genera Proceedings. Biological Sciences, 287(1926), 20200102. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.0102
  
• Griffith, M. P., Clase, T., Toribio, P., Jimenez, Y. E. P. F., Gratacos, X., Sanchez, V., Meerow, A., Meyer, A., Kramer, A., Fant, J., Havens, K., Magellan, T.M., Dosmann, M., Hoban, S. M. (2020). Can a Botanical Garden Metacollection better conserve wild plant diversity? A cas study comparing polled collections with an ideal sampling model. International Journal of Plant Sciences, 181(5). https://doi.org/10.1086/707729
• Wood, J. ++, J.D. Ballou, T. Callicrate, J.B. Fant, M.P. Griffith, A.T. Kramer, R.C. Lacy, A. Meyer, S. Sullivan, K. Traylor-Holzer, S.K. Walsh, and K. Havens. (2020) Testing the Zoo Model: Developing an Ex Situ Conservation Infrastructure for Threatened Exceptional Plant Species in Botanic Gardens. Conservation Biology, 0(0), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13503
  
• Fant, J. B., Fluckes, M*., James, E. *, Noble, H., & Wood, J. ++ (2019). Characterization of microsatellite loci in Brighamia insignis and transferability to other genera in the Hawai‘ian lobelioid group. 7(11), 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1002/aps3.11303
• Griffith, M. P., Beckman, E., Callicrate, T., Clark, J., Clase, T., Deans, S⁺., … Wood, J.⁺⁺ (2019). TOWARD THE METACOLLECTION: Safeguarding plant diversity and coordinating conservation collections. Botanic Gardens Conservation International – US. San Marino, US.
• Fant, J.B. , K. Havens, A.T. Kramer, S.K. Walsh, T. Callicrate, R.C. Lacy, M. Maunder, A. Hird Meyer, and P.P. Smith (2016) What to do when we can’t bank on seeds: What botanic gardens can learn from the zoo community about conserving plants in living collections American Journal of Botany 103 (9) 1541-1543