Tropical Plant Conservation News

This page is dedicated to news concerning the Center for Tropical Plant Conservation, including information about visiting scientists and students, new staff joining our team, major field trips, awards and grants, attendance to professional meetings, publications, and other exciting developments happening here

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Expanding the Range of Genetic Diversity in Cultivated Chickpea through Introgression with Wild Chickpea

Sun, May 12, 2013 at 08:42:24 AM

FIU assistant professor, and FTBG affiliate, Dr. Eric von Wettberg traveled to southeastern Turkey from May 2-11 to identify populations of wild relatives of chickpea. With the support from the Australian Grains Research and Development Corporation, von Wettberg and colleagues Dr. Jens Berger from Western Australia and Doug Cook and Varma Penmetsa from the University of California at Davis visited colleagues Abdullah Kahraman of Harran University, Canan Can of Gaziantep University, and Dean Bekir Bukun of Dichle University in southeastern Turkey. Although previously described as rare, several populations of three species related to chickpea were found within pasture areas regularly visited by local villagers. These species likely harbor adaptations that could improve the resilience of chickpea to climate change. However, although currently abundant within some habitats, they are threatened by rising temperatures and landscape changes such as intensified irrigation and commodity agriculture. von Wettberg and colleagues are working to both systematically collect these wild species to serve as a population genetic resource for breeding in the developing world, but also to build relationships that will protect these species in their native habitat.

 

 


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Symposium on Conservation of Palms from Hispaniola at National Botanic Garden of the Dominican Republic

Fri, May 10, 2013 at 01:49:57 PM

As part of Caribbean palm conservation initiatives sponsored by the Mohamed Bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund a symposium was organized at the National Botanic Garden of the Dominican Republic on May 9th, 2013. Main themes of the symposium were conservation education strategies in botanic gardens and the way forward to protect species of Pseudophoenix in Hispaniola. Particularly the Haitian endemic P. lediniana (Critically Endangered status) and two additional species (P. ekmanii (Critically Endangered status) and P. vinifera (no conservation status listed by IUCN). The latter two species are under threat because of extraction of sap to make a local drink known as mabi de cacheo. This was a joint international and inter-institutional event with speakers from the Botanic Garden of Cayes, Haiti (William Cinea), the National Botanic Garden of the Dominican Republic (Alberto Veloz and Rosa Rodriguez (currently performing graduate studies at Florida International University and Fairchild), Montgomery Botanical Center (Chad Husby), and FIU-Fairchild (Javier Francisco-Ortega). The symposium was chaired by Francisco Jimenez (National Botanic Garden of the Dominican Republic) who also led a discussion group who answered questions from the audience. During the symposium there was a presentation of outreach material (one poster, one folded brochure, and one postcard) that will be used for palm conservation education activities of both the Botanic Garden of Cayes and the National Botanic Garden of the Dominican Republic. Image below. Top:from left to right, Rosa Rodriguez, Francisco Jimenez, William Cinea, Ricardo Garcia (Director of the National Botanic Garden of the Dominican Republic), Javier Francisco-Ortega, and Chad Husby. Bottom: general public attending the symposium.

 

 

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FIU Graduate Course on Plant Anatomy and Histology Taught at the Science Village Laboratories

Fri, Apr 12, 2013 at 08:11:41 PM

Between April 8 and 12, Dr. Andrew Vovides (Director of the Botanic Garden of Xalapa, and Senior Researcher of Instituto de Ecologia A.C., Xalapa, Mexico) and Dr. Brett Jestrow (Herbarium Curator of Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden) taught a FIU graduate workshop on Plant Morphology and Histology at the Research Laboratories of the Science Village (Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden). The workshop was jointly sponsored by FIU and the Garden and also had the collaboration of Montgomery Botanical Center who kindly shared some relevant equipment. Nine graduate students from the Department of Biological Sciences of FIU joined the workshop. In addition Dr. Chad Husby (Montgomery Botanical Center) and Mrs. Suelen Alves Vianna (graduate student from Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso do Sul and Montgomery Botanical Center Visiting Graduate Student) also participated in this graduate workshop.

 
 

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Head of Fairchild Herbarium Makes Research Trip to Eleuthera

Mon, Mar 25, 2013 at 12:02:08 PM

As part of our research program on conservation biology of the palm genus Pseudophoenix on the Caribbean Islands, Dr. Brett Jestrow (Head of the Fairchild Herbarium) traveled to the island of Eleuthera (The Bahamas) between March 18 and 21. The visit was jointly sponsored by the Mohamend Bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund and the Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve (Eleuthera). During this visit Dr. Jestrow delivered a seminar (see flyer below) and collected both germplasm and DNA samples of P. sargentii.  The germplasm will be incorporated to the living ex situ collections of the Montgomery Botanical Center with duplicates to be sent to other botanical institutions. DNA samples will be analyzed by FIU-FTBG graduate student  Ms. Rosa Rodriguez for her research. Dr. Ethan Freid hosted Dr. Jestrow during this trip.

 
 

 

 


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FIU-FTBG Faculty Performs Academic Visit to University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras

Fri, Mar 22, 2013 at 09:02:06 PM

Invited by Dr. Eugenio Santiago-Valentín our FIU-FTBG Faculty Dr. Javier Francisco-Ortega visited the Department of Biology of University of Puerto Rico at Río Piedras to develop joint academic and research activities. During this visit Dr. Francisco-Ortega delivered two lectures in an upper division course on Island Biodiversity and Biogeography that is taught by Prof. Eugenio Santiago-Valentín. Dr. Francisco-Ortega is a member of the graduate committee of Mrs. Nirzka Martínez who is pursuing her Ph.D. on Plant Systematics. Nirzka's research project focuses on systematics of Tabebuia (Bignoniaceae) with an emphasis on the Caribbean Islands species. During this visit Dr. Francisco-Ortega discussed several aspects of Nirzka's studies. Also Dr. Santiago-Valentín and Dr. Francisco-Ortega completed a historical botany manuscript pertinent to the contributions made by Domingo Bello to the flora of Puerto Rico. Image below: From left to right: Dr. E. Santiago-Valentín, Ms N. Martínez, and Dr. J. Francisco-Ortega examining herbarium specimens of Tabebuia at the herbarium of the University of Puerto Rico.

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Contributions to USDA Community Day

Sat, Mar 16, 2013 at 07:23:10 AM

Once a year the Subtropical Horticulture Research Station of the Agricultural Research Service of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) located at Chapman Field opens its doors to the public. The event, known as Community Day, took place on March 16 and two FIU-Fairchild Faculty Dr. Javier Francisco-Ortega and Dr. Hong Liu delivered two popular talks entitled "David Fairchild in the Bahamas" and "Dress to impress -- how orchids attract their diverse pollinators". Dr. Liu and Dr. Francisco-Ortega were hosted by Dr. Alan Meerow. During this community day the Friends of Chapman Field had their annual meeting, the Director of the Garden (Dr. Carl Lewis) and FIU-Fairchild faculty Dr. Javier Francisco-Ortega attended this meeting. Image below: Left (Dr. Hong Liu giving her talk orchid pollination); Right (Friends of Chapman Field annual meeting).

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FIU Graduate School has Annual Retreat at The Paul and Swanee DiMare Science Village

Thu, Mar 14, 2013 at 08:09:46 AM

Fairchild and FIU have a solid commitment for graduate education and 32 students from FIU have developed their graduate research at Fairchild since 1998. On March 14 we hosted the annual retreat of the FIU Graduate School. The FIU team was welcomed by our Director Dr. Carl Lewis who stressed the importance of graduate education for the Garden mission and how the FIU-Fairchild partnership is being key to enhance the education program of Fairchild. Image below from left to right: FIU-FTBG Faculty Dr. Hong Liu, Dean of the FIU Graduate School Dr. Lakshmi N. Reddi, FTBG Executive Director Dr. Carl Lewis, and Associate Dean of the FIU Graduate School Dr. Lidia Kos.

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FTBG and FIU Contributions to the Bahamas National Natural History Conference at Nassau

Mon, Mar 11, 2013 at 08:39:02 AM

The first ever Bahamas National Natural History Conference took place at the College of the Bahamas between March 5 and 8, 2013. The conference was jointly organized by the Bahamas National Trust and the College of the Bahamas. FIU-FTBG facuty Dr. Javier Francisco-Ortega was a member of the organizing and scientific committees. FIU faculty Dr. Mike Ross and Dr. John Withey and Fairchild Scientist Dr. Joyce Maschinsky organized a roundtable on Urban Ecology aiming to discuss common challenges and questions found in the urban settings of Miami and Nassau. Image below: Participants attending round table in Urban Ecology

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FIU-FTBG Faculty Research Highlighted in Journal Cover

Wed, Feb 20, 2013 at 06:38:24 PM

FIU-FTBG faculty Dr. Hong Liu and collaborators from China Dr. Yibo Luo and Dr. Zhongjian Liu have just published a research article entitled "Using guided commercialized cultivation models to promote species conservation and sustainable utilization: an example from the Chinese medicinal orchids" in the latest issue of Biodiversity Science. This is the leading biodiversity research journal of China. This publication proposes avenues for conservation and sustainable utilization of Dendrobium catenatum, an orchid with medicinal value in China. The study is highlighted in the cover of the journal. Congratulations to Dr. Liu for her work in China and the research partnerships that she has developed since she joined FIU and Fairchild.

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NSF Supported Cycad Biology Workshop for School Teachers

Sat, Jan 26, 2013 at 10:33:50 AM

On Saturday January 26 we had our second Cycad Biology Workshop for teachers. This workshop was supported by the National Science Foundation (award number 1050340) and the logistics were jointly organized by the Montgomery Botanical Center (MBC) and the Department of Education of FTBG. Both classroom and field lectures took place at MBC and we had instructors from MBC (Patrick Griffith and Michael Calonje), New York Botanical Garden (Dennis Stevenson), and FIU-FTBG (Javier Francisco-Ortega). Ten teachers from Aventura City Excellent School, Coral Reef Senio High School, Coral Terrace Elementary, Design Archirecture Senior High,  George Washington Carver Elementary, and Management Resource Institute joined the workshop. Also FIU undergaduate student and NSF summer cycad research intern Nicolas Espinosa attended this workshop. Our special gratitude to Kiki Mutis from FTBG-Education for her help with all the logistics of this workshop.

Workshop participants



Patrick Griffith delivering his classroom lecture



Michael Calonje delivering his classroom lecture



Dennis Stevenson delivering his field lecture

 

 


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