A global strategy for the conservation and use of Capsicum genetic resources

Scope of Work: SDBG collaborated with the World Vegetable Center and the Global Crop Diversity Trust (Crop Trust) to develop a global conservation strategy for the diversity of chile pepper and sweet pepper (Capsicum L.) crops, including their many varieties and their wild relative species. The strategy begins by providing summary background information on Capsicum crops. It then documents the current status of conservation and use of Capsicum diversity, based on published literature and online databases as well as community surveys and stakeholder meetings. The strategy concludes by outlining the further steps needed to strengthen the conservation and accessibility for use of this diversity. The Capsicum strategy, and other global crop conservation strategies, are available on the Crop Trust Strategies page. 

Timeframe: 2022

Funding source(s): German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL)

Key partners and stakeholders: World Vegetable Center, Global Crop Diversity Trust

North American fruit and nut crop wild relative working group

Scope of work: Building on a Road Map for Conservation, Use, and Public Engagement around Crop Wild Relatives and Wild Utilized Plants of North America, a broad network of botanic gardens, public agencies, and other organizations have formed a working group to improve the conservation and use of wild plants native to North America that are related to important fruit and nut tree crops. Through these collaborations, these wild apples, avocados, chestnuts, hazelnuts, pawpaws, pecans, persimmons, pistachios, plums, and walnuts will be better conserved in botanic gardens and public genebanks, and better protected in their natural habitats.

Timeframe: 2020 to present

Funding source(s): United States Botanic Garden

Key partners and stakeholders: Botanic Gardens Conservation International-US (BGCI), Missouri Botanical Garden, Morton Arboretum, other members of the North American Fruit and Nut Crop Wild Relative Working Group

Conservation gap analysis for wild North American grapes (Vitis L.)

Scope of work: Building on a 2022 workshop at Oak Spring Garden Foundation that brought together botanists, conservation scientists, plant breeders, grape and wine professionals, and other grape researchers, SDBG is working to understand the distributions and conservation status of wild grapes (Vitis L.) native to North America. Through collaborative research, this natural heritage of wild grapes will be better conserved in botanic gardens and public genebanks, better protected in their natural habitats, and more available for research and education.

Timeframe: 2022 to present

Funding source(s): United States Botanic Garden

Key partners and stakeholders: Colorado State University Geospatial Centroid, United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (USDA ARS), NatureServe, United States Botanic Garden, Botanic Gardens Conservation International-US (BGCI), Saint Louis University (SLU), Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, Missouri Botanical Garden, other members of the North American Native Grapes Workshop

Scouting, collecting, and propagating Cedros island oak (Quercus cedrosensis C. H. Mull.)

Scope of work: SDBG scouted and collected acorns of Cedros island oak (Quercus cedrosensis C. H. Mull.) from its only population occurring in the U.S. – on the south side of Otay Mountain along the U.S.-Mexico border. In collaboration with other botanical institutions SDBG staff made genetically diverse collections of acorns and other propagules in order to establish ex situ conservation groves. These collections will serve as a safeguard for the small and highly threatened U.S. population of this species and can also be leveraged for additional research and restoration efforts.

Timeframe: 2021

Funding source(s): American Public Gardens Association – U.S. Forest Service Tree Gene Conservation Partnership

Key partners and stakeholders: San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, Huntington Botanical Garden, Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden, University of California Botanical Garden, California Botanic Garden, Fullerton Arboretum

Scouting and collecting Palmer oak (Quercus palmeri Engelm.)

Scope of work: In partnership with Huntington Botanical Garden and Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, SDBG is scouting and collecting from several populations of Palmer oak (Quercus palmeri Engelm.) in central and northwestern Arizona, including by surveying existing conditions and collecting acorns and other plant tissues from previously uncollected populations. Collected material is being distributed among the main collaborators and to several other partnering institutions. The project bolsters existing ex situ collections and serves to aid in reintroduction of the species back into the wild in future restoration efforts.

Timeframe: 2023

Funding source(s): American Public Gardens Association – U.S. Forest Service Tree Gene Conservation Partnership

Key partners and stakeholders: Huntington Botanical Garden, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Denver Botanic Gardens, UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden, USFS Carson Ranger District, Bartlett Arboretum, San Antonio Botanic Garden

Scouting, collecting, and propagating Torrey Pine (Pinus torreyana Parry ex Carrière)

Scope of work: In partnership with Santa Barbara Botanic Garden, SDBG is scouting and collecting seeds of Torrey Pine (Pinus torreyana Parry ex Carrière) from Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, including by surveying existing conditions and collecting cones from previously uncollected populations. Collected material is being propagated and distributed among the main collaborators and to several other partnering institutions, including the University of British Columbia Botanical Garden, San Francisco Botanical Garden, and North Dakota State University.

Timeframe: 2022 to 2023

Funding source(s): American Public Gardens Association – U.S. Forest Service Tree Gene Conservation Partnership

Key partners and stakeholders: Santa Barbara Botanic Garden

Scouting, collecting, and propagating California incense cedar (Calocedrus decurrens (Torr.) Florin)

Scope of work: SDBG is partnering with the U.S. National Arboretum and Canopy Conscious to collect unique populations of California incense cedar across its native range in Oregon and California. This magnificent conifer can reach more than 50 meters in height and three meters in width at its base, and has distinctive bark reminiscent of redwoods. The project will ensure that the genetic diversity within this stately tree is well represented in arboreta, botanic gardens, and other conservation repositories across the nation and internationally.

Timeframe: 2023 to 2024

Funding source(s): U.S. National Arboretum

Key partners and stakeholders: Canopy Conscious, U.S. National Arboretum

Encinitas Habitat Stewardship Program, Cottonwood Creek stewardship and restoration

Scope of work: In partnership with the City of Encinitas and other organizations, SDBG is engaging community members in the restoration of native habitats on public open spaces. To date, SDBG staff and community volunteers have grown and installed over 1500 native plants, and removed invasive plants from 15.6 acres of open space at Cottonwood Creek Park and parcels near Moonlight Beach. These efforts are helping to restore coastal sage scrub and southern maritime chaparral habitats for wildlife, fire abatement, improved water and soil quality, and enhanced community recreation.

Timeframe: 2020 to present

Funding source(s): City of Encinitas, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDGE)

Key partners and stakeholders: City of Encinitas, San Diego Gas & Electric (SDGE), Cottonwood Creek Conservancy

Center for Plant Conservation, California Plant Rescue

Scope of work: SDBG is helping to conserve our State’s plant diversity in partnership with California Plant Rescue, a regional network supported by the Center for Plant Conservation. Through State funding secured in 2019 as a part of the California Biodiversity Initiative, we are working to collect and bank seed from some of the state’s rarest plants. While the program is focused on seed storage in freezers, SDBG also successfully completed the first recalcitrant seed collection in the history of the program, for Cedros island oak (Quercus cedrosensis C. H. Mull.). SDBG has additionally partnered with other members of California Plant Rescue to survey rare plants on the Modoc Plateau and Tahoe areas of northeastern California as well as in Anza Borrego Desert State Park and surroundings. Moreover, the program is supporting SDBG’s growth as a seed bank partner, including by supporting the acquisition of new equipment such as a freezer, germinator, and back-up power generator, as well as seed cleaning tools and supplies.

Timeframe: 2021 to present

Funding source(s): Center for Plant Conservation California Plant Rescue

Key partners and stakeholders: Center for Plant Conservation, California Botanic Garden, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, California Native Plant Society, Santa Barbara Botanical Garden, and other members of California Plant Rescue

Crop diversity baseline: Assessing change in plant genetic resources in the past, present, and future

Scope of work: Loss of crop diversity, also called crop “genetic erosion”, is considered a threat to global food security. SDBG is collaborating with international research centers and academic institutions to better understand the degree of historical as well as projected future change (including losses) in crop diversity in geographic centers of origin around the world. The research team is documenting this change over time for crops such as potato in the highlands of Peru, where the tuber has been cultivated for over 7000 years, by way of case-study comparisons between historical baseline information collected by scientists over the past century and current observed diversity in farmer’s fields.

Timeframe: 2019 to present

Funding source(s): United States Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)

Key partners and stakeholders: International Potato Center (CIP), Saint Louis University (SLU), Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (USDA ARS), University of Arizona

The plants that feed the world: Baseline data and metrics to inform strategies for the conservation and use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture

Scope of work: Information on the use of food and agricultural crops worldwide and on demand for, supply of, and security of crop genetic resources is needed to prioritize international, national, and local conservation and research efforts. Such information is increasingly available but is scattered through many different information systems, databases and scientific literature. This study brings together and makes widely available pertinent information from many of these different sources. The goal is to develop a set of reproducible metrics that provide an evidence base for plant genetic resources communities to prioritize conservation and use activities.

Timeframe: 2019 to 2023

Funding source(s): Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations Flexible Multi-Partner Mechanism, Government of Norway

Key partners and stakeholders: International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Global Crop Diversity Trust, Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Bard College

Gap analysis for crop landraces

Scope of work: Crop landraces, also known as farmers’ traditional, heritage, folk, or heirloom varieties, are important to local agricultural resilience, human nutrition, and cultural needs, and are an essential genetic resource for modern crop breeding. As economic, agricultural, demographic, environmental, and climatic changes have increasingly led to their disappearance from farmers’ fields, efforts have increased to conserve their diversity in seedbanks. The efforts have been substantial, with over three million samples now stored ex situ, but it is widely known that more conservation work remains to be done. SDBG is collaborating with agricultural research organizations to develop and train international and and national partners in a landrace conservation “gap analysis” methodology. By comparing the diversity of landraces thought to still occur in farmers’ fields against the diversity known to be maintained in seedbanks, conservation gaps can be revealed, and then subsequently filled through further collecting. 

Timeframe: 2017 to present

Funding source(s): Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), CGIAR Genebank Platform

Key partners and stakeholders: Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), CGIAR

Thematic background study on germplasm exchange for The Third Report on the State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

Scope of work: For the past three decades, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has assessessed the global status of the conservation and use of crop diversity, in publications called the State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. The third such report is due to be published in 2023, assessing the timeframe of 2012 to 2019. SDBG is partnering with agricultural research organizations to provide an analysis of the global state of distribution of samples of crop diversity from seed banks and other ex situ facilities to plant breeders and other researchers, in contribution to this third report.

Timeframe: 2022 to present

Funding source(s): Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations

Key partners and stakeholders: Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT)

Global Conservation Consortium for Oak partnership

Scope of work: The Global Conservation Consortium for Oak (GCCO) coordinates a network of institutions working on ex situ and in situ conservation strategies aimed at preventing the extinction of the world’s oak (Quercus L.) species. As a partnering organization, SDBG works collaboratively to study, collect and grow some of the rarest oaks in California and the greater Southwestern U.S. SDBG serves as an ex situ conservation site for oak species and contributes to the Consortium’s living “metacollection”, a network of institutions around the world working together to preserve oak diversity. In particular, SDBG serves as a species steward for Cedros island oak (Quercus cedrosensis C. H. Mull.), Nuttall’s scrub oak (Quercus dumosa Nutt.), and Palmer oak (Quercus palmeri Engelm.).

Timeframe: 2020 to present

Funding source(s): Global Conservation Consortium for Oak (GGCO) and its supporters

Key partners and stakeholders: Huntington Botanical Garden, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, other participating organizations in the Global Conservation Consortium for Oak (GCCO)

Mainstreaming global crop conservation strategies

Scope of work: Over the past 20 years, conservation and research organizations, facilitated by the Global Crop Diversity Trust, have developed Global Conservation Strategies for the diversity of many different crops. These strategies aim to assess the current status of the conservation and use of crop diversity, and to outline ways to improve this status. While the strategies contain valuable information, they are expensive and time consuming to produce, and their recommendations have not been implemented as extensively as hoped. SDBG is collaborating with the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) to analyze and propose ways to make the strategy production process more effective and efficient, as well as to improve the implementation of their recommendations. 

Timeframe: 2022 to present

Funding source(s): German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL)

Key partners and stakeholders: Crop Trust, Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

The Global Genome Initiative for Gardens: Collecting herbarium vouchers from living collections and preserving their genome resources in biorepositories

Scope of work: The Global Genome Initiative for Gardens is focused on collecting herbarium vouchers from living collections such as botanic gardens, as well as preserving their leaf or other vegetative plant tissues (i.e. genome resources) in appropriate repositories, to support present and future research. To date, SDBG has collected and stored 80 samples from 80 species (in 63 genera, in 30 families).

Timeframe: 2021

Funding source(s): Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI)

Green Legacy: Spreading peace through plants

Scope of work: On August 6, 1945 the city of Hiroshima was destroyed by a single atomic bomb dropped by an American B-29 bomber on the city center, killing almost one third of the population. Those who survived feared nothing would grow in their ruined city for decades. However, new seedlings sprouted and became symbols of hope, encouraging survivors to rebuild. Over 160 trees, of about 27 species, located within a 2-km radius of the atomic bomb hypocenter, are officially registered as hibakujumoku (atomic bombed trees) by the City of Hiroshima. Lovingly cared for over the years by authorities, botanists, citizens’ groups, and individuals, each hibakujumoku is identified by a name plate.

Inspired by other citizen efforts to distribute seeds and saplings around the planet, Green Legacy Hiroshima (GLH) was founded in 2011. GLH sends seeds and saplings of these survivor trees to city parks, botanical gardens, schools, universities, other public and private institutions, and symbolic sites. Activities are currently unfolding with partners and friends in 40 countries and regions, including with the SDBG. In 2021 SDBG became one of three regional hubs for GLH, sharing seeds and seedlings of the survivor trees through the U.S.

Timeframe: 2021 to present

Key partners and stakeholders: Green Legacy Hiroshima (GLH), Salk Institute, Denver Botanic Gardens, Huntington Botanical Garden, other participating institutions

Growing metacollections and strengthening gardens for a conservation consortia future

Scope of work:  SDBG is collaborating with a wide range of botanic gardens to strengthen conservation networks dedicated to collaboratively safeguarding plant diversity through the creation of “metacollections”, in which each garden plays a unique and complementary role. This project will enable the ongoing functioning of these Global Conservation Consortia networks. It will also focus on building the capacities of small- and medium-sized gardens to participate in these networks.

Timeframe: 2023 to 2026

Funding source(s): Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)

Key partners and stakeholders: Atlanta Botanical Garden, Morton Arboretum, Montgomery Botanical Center, Botanic Gardens Conservation International-US (BGCI), The Botanic Garden of Smith College, Donald Davis Arboretum, Ganna Walska Lotusland Botanic Garden.

Enhancing wild walnut (Juglans californica S Watson) representation in ex situ collections from Southern California occurrences

Scope of work: As part of the North American Fruit and Nut Crop Wild Relative Working Group, SDBG is collecting wild California black walnut (Juglans californica S. Watson) populations in San Diego County and across Southern California, to help enhance the ex situ representation of this species in botanic gardens and other facilities. SDBG staff are propagating the walnuts to add to the Garden collection as well as to distribute seedlings to partners. 

Timeframe: 2022 to 2024

Funding source(s): United States Botanic Garden, Botanic Gardens Conservation International-US (BGCI)

Key partners and stakeholders: Huntington Botanical Garden, United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (USDA ARS), and other members of the North American Fruit and Nut Crop Wild Relative Working Group 

Evaluating Lepechinia ganderi (Gander’s pitcher sage) as a native ornamental in San Diego County

Scope of work: Gander’s pitcher sage (Lepechinia ganderi Epling) is a rare species in the mint family (Lamiaceae) that occurs on Otay Mountain in southern San Diego County. SDBG is partnering with the Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust to help bring this beautiful, drought tolerant species into the local horticultural trade. Cuttings from several notable individual plants have been selected from Otay Mountain and are being grown in the SDBG nursery. These selections are undergoing different trials and evaluations to determine their tolerance and growth habits in landscape conditions, with the ultimate goal of helping this charismatic species become available to landscapers and home gardeners.  

Timeframe: 2022

Funding source(s): Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust

Establishing a scientific basis for managing genetic diversity in botanic garden collections

Scope of work: A broad network of botanic gardens and related organizations are collaborating to develop stronger collection management strategies for plant repositories. In this project, the Morton Arboretum is leading an effort to engage SDBG and other partners in research to better integrate genetics and geographic analyses in collections management, reduce excessive duplication of individual plants (i.e. clones of popular species/varieties) within and among gardens, and better understand the extent of un-recognized hybridization among related species within collections.

Timeframe: 2023 to 2025

Funding source(s): Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), award number MG-251613-OMS-22

Key partners and stakeholders: Morton Arboretum, United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (USDA ARS), UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden, US National Arboretum, Michigan State University, Chicago Botanic Garden, Atlanta Botanical Garden, Huntington Botanical Garden, Huntsville Botanic Garden, Donald Davis Arboretum

Creation of a national medicinal plants collection and research consortium to catalyze drug discovery in San Diego and beyond

Scope of Work: The project encompasses four major activities. First (1), a national medicinal living plant collection is being established and maintained through field collecting and acquisitions from other institutions nationally and worldwide. Second (2), SDBG is creating a medicinal plant demonstration garden and implementing educational programming to teach visitors and community members about medicinal plants used in traditional medicine, plant-derived Western medicines, and related medical innovation. Third (3), SDBG is organizing a research consortium of drug development, plant biology, and other pertinent scientists and stakeholders based in San Diego to help use this unique plant collection to maximally serve the San Diego biotech and medtech community by enabling and facilitating research and development of plant-based medicines for various human diseases. Fourth (4), SDBG is conducting proof-of-concept research to demonstrate the value and impact of collecting and curating genetic diversity within a medicinal plant species or genus, as well as evaluating the impact of growing and processing conditions on the production of biologically active plant compounds using multi-omic (genomic, transcriptomic, and metabolomic) methods. 

Timeframe: 2022 to present

Funding source(s): The Conrad Prebys Foundation, Dickinson Family, private philanthropic donations

Key partners and stakeholders: Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Kumeyaay Community College, Tribal Historic Preservation Office for Jamul Indian Village of California, other members of the SDBG Medicinal Plants Research Consortium

Cottonwood Creek watershed riparian enhancement project at Ocean Knoll canyon

Scope of work: SDBG is partnering with the Encinitas Union School District (EUSD) and other organizations to restore native riparian and southern maritime chaparral habitat in a canyon adjacent to Ocean Knoll Elementary School in Encinitas. This canyon is an important section of the Cottonwood Creek watershed. Engaging students and other community members in the environmental restoration activities, SDBG and partners are improving ten acres of canyon habitat, an ecosystem that is both a refuge for native coastal plants and animals and an area that holds high potential educational value for thousands of children in the EUSD.

Timeframe: 2022 to present

Funding source(s): California State Coastal Conservancy (SCC), USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), San Diego Gas & Electric (SDGE), Point Blue 

Key partners and stakeholders: Encinitas Union School District (EUSD), California State Coastal Conservancy (SCC), USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), SWCA, Nature Collective, Habitat West, Red Tail Environmental, Ocean Knoll Canyon Keepers, Point Blue 

Organismal Response to Climate Change: Uniting long-term field experiments and modern genomics to prepare sustainable crops for the future

Scope of work: Examining decades of field experiments on cultivated sunflower varieties, SDBG is collaborating with the University of Colorado and the USDA to understand how climate shifts have already affected crop productivity, and how well sunflower crop breeding has succeeded in coping with climate change. The project aims to better understand the genetic basis and environmental drivers of flowering time and other phenological traits in the crop. The results will be used to guide public breeding of sunflower varieties under climate change in the coming decades.

Timeframe: 2023 to 2026

Funding source(s):  National Science Foundation (NSF), award number 2308194

Key partners and stakeholders: University of Colorado Boulder, USDA Agricultural Research Service Northern Crop Science Laboratory

Survey, study, and propagation of rare and special plants in the Otay Mountain wilderness

Scope of work: Otay Mountain in San Diego County is a unique place, home to a wide range of rare plant species, many of which are found only in that area within the United States. SDBG is focusing efforts on ten of the most rare and unique species occurring on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) properties on the mountain, with the following goals: 1) survey and map all known as well as newly encountered occurrences, 2) collect and bank seed of as many occurrences of each species as possible for future restoration efforts and 3) study and develop replicable protocols for propagation and horticultural production of each species. Combining conservation efforts with educational programming, this project will deliver an ecological baseline and conservation resource vital for preserving San Diego’s unique biodiversity in an important public-use and open space area.

Timeframe: 2022 to 2024

Funding source(s): U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

Key partners and stakeholders: Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Salk Institute, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance

Enhancing rare California wild stone fruit (Prunus L.) representation in ex situ collections

Scope of work: As part of the North American Fruit and Nut Crop Wild Relative Working Group, SDBG is collecting rare endemic wild desert plum (Prunus eremophila Prigge) in the Mojave Desert and sand almond (Prunus fasciculata (Torr.) A. Gray var. punctata Jeps.) in the central California coast to help enhance the ex situ representation of these species in botanic gardens and other repositories. SDBG staff are propagating the species to add to the Garden collection and to distribute seedlings to partners.

Timeframe: 2023

Funding source(s): United States Botanic Garden, Botanic Gardens Conservation International-US (BGCI)

Key partners and stakeholders: Botanic Gardens Conservation International-US (BGCI), United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (USDA ARS), other members of the North American Fruit and Nut Crop Wild Relative Working Group

Periodic Table of Food

Scope of work: Scope of work: The Periodic Table of Food Initiative (PTFI) is building a global network of collaborators who are working collectively to uncover the biomolecular composition of the world’s edible biodiversity. As a participatory research project, the PTFI aims to encourage nutrition researchers and other food and agricultural professionals worldwide to profile edible biodiversity using standardized, advanced analytical approaches, and centralized data processing tools. SDBG is participating in the PTFI’s design process by helping to select the list of foods targeted for analysis, developing data and analysis standards, and communicating about the PTFI to researchers and to the wider public.

Timeframe: 2021 to present

Funding source(s): Periodic Table of Food Initiative (PTFI), Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Rockefeller Foundation, other donors

Key partners and stakeholders: American Heart Association (AHA), Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Rockefeller Foundation, other participants in the Periodic Table of Food Initiative (PTFI)

Understanding plant species rarity: causes and consequences from genes to ecosystems

Scope of work: SDBG is partnering with four other major botanic organizations to form the Rare Plant Research and Mentoring for Postbaccalaureates in Biological Sciences (Rare Plant RaMP) Network. This group aims to address an urgent need to broaden participation in the STEM fields to include historically marginalized groups. Rare Plant RaMP mentees are working with SDBG and our partners to develop and execute independent year-long research projects that address pressing needs in rare plant science and conservation while simultaneously encouraging and empowering professional growth and retention, improving science communication skills and experience, building a lasting network of professional peers and collaborators, and building diverse, equitable, and inclusive mentor-mentee relationships.

Timeframe: 2022 to 2026

Funding source(s): National Science Foundation (NSF), award number 2216650

Key partners and stakeholders: Atlanta Botanical Garden, California Botanic Garden, Morton Arboretum, Salk Institute

Surveying, conserving, and propagating Southern California BLM sensitive plants for restoration

Scope of work: Building on our collaboration with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) at Otay Mountain, SDBG is partnering with the San Diego Natural History Museum (SDNHM) and Eco-Alianza to survey BLM land in the McCain Valley Resource Conservation Area, Table Mountain Wilderness Study Area, Carrizo Gorge Wilderness, Jacumba Wilderness, and Coyote Mountains Wilderness in San Diego and Imperial Counties. The aim of the project, which focuses on nine native rare plant taxa, is to provide up to date occurrence inventories, herbarium specimens, tissue sampling, seed collections for long term conservation, documentation of environmental conditions and threats such as invasive species, and the creation of germination, propagation, and horticultural protocols to develop genetically appropriate native plant material for future restoration projects.

Timeframe: 2023 to 2025

Funding source(s): U.S. Department of Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM)

Key partners and stakeholders: Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Eco-Alianza, San Diego Natural History Museum (SDNHM)

Maintaining genetic diversity of rare California plants during seed regeneration

Scope of work: Many of the rare California native plants focused on in the Center for Plant Conservation’s California Plant Rescue (CaPR) program are represented by only small amounts of seed collected from the wild. To produce more seeds for conservation, as well as for future restoration in native habitats, they must be grown out by gardens, and loss of genetic diversity during this growing out process is a potential concern. This project assesses change in the genetic diversity of these rare plants as they are grown out by SDBG and other CaPR partners across the State. The findings are intended to help improve the ways gardens grow seeds of rare plants for conservation and restoration.

Timeframe: 2023 to 2026

Funding source(s): Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)

Key partners and stakeholders: Center for Plant Conservation, California Botanic Garden, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Mojave Desert Land Trust, Regional Parks Botanic Garden, UC Botanic Garden, UC Santa Cruz Arboretum & Botanic Garden.

Protecting pollinators with economically feasible and environmentally sound ornamental horticulture

Scope of work: SDBG hosts and contributes to collaborative research projects investigating attractiveness of commercially-produced ornamental plants to different pollinators. The project is documenting if and how many of the more than 650 bee species native to San Diego County will pollinate ornamental plants, as part of a larger effort to protect bee diversity.

Timeframe: 2016 to present

Funding source(s): United States Department of Agriculture, National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Specialty Crop Research and Extension Investments (SCRI)

Key partners and stakeholders: University of California Cooperative Extension, UC Davis Bee Haven

Coastal sage scrub pollinator monitoring program

Scope of work: SDBG is collaborating with California State University San Marcos (CSUSM) to research the relationships between plants and pollinators. Using image-based machine learning methods to identify invertebrate pollinators that visit coastal sage scrub plants, the program seeks to better understand the ecology of our native plants and pollinators, as well as to determine the efficacy of different types of pollinator gardens. 

Timeframe: 2021 to present 

Key partners and stakeholders: California State University San Marcos (CSUSM)

Climate change mitigation, genomics, and other collaborative projects with the Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Scope of work: SDBG is collaborating with the Salk Institute to examine the genomes of interesting plants in the Garden, conduct joint research, and contribute to related educational activities. Through this work, the cork oak (Quercus suber L.) genome was sequenced for the first time. Cork oak is particularly good at capturing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and storing it as a substance called suberin. Suberin is highly unlikely to break down under most circumstances, so the suberin in cork roots is able to sequester CO2 underground for a very long time. Since all plants produce suberin, SDBG and Salk are working to understand how widely-grown crop plants, like corn and soybean, could manufacture more suberin in their roots. 

The Garden is also working with Salk to sequence species of the ocotillo genus (Fouquieria Kunth). These plants have fascinating adaptations to desert life, including unique regulation of photosynthesis, and this research will contribute to understanding how photosynthesis is optimized in the driest climates. SDBG has an ongoing partnership with the Salk Institute to share plant tissue of many other species for further genomic study. Genera of interest include Adansonia, Ephedra, Manihot, Melaleuca, Quercus, and Tillandsia.

In March 2020, Salk and SDBG co-hosted a two-day Carbon Plant Drawdown Symposium, where scientific leaders from around the world gathered to present cutting-edge, plant-based innovations that use photosynthesis to mitigate the impacts of climate change.

Timeframe: 2019 to present

Funding source(s): Funders of the Harnessing Plants Initiative

Key partners and stakeholders: Salk Institute