Sibbaldia - the Journal of Botanic Garden Horticulture (Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Journals)
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Dimorphanthera wickendeniana: a New Species from Papua, Indonesian New Guinea
Get PDFA new species of Dimorphanthera is described and figured. Collected in 1993 from Indonesian New Guinea (Papua) by the late Michael Wickenden, this plant is distinct in the unique combination of characters that it possesses
The Oman Botanic Garden (3): : a Review of Progress (2010–2016) with Emphasis on Herbarium and Seed Bank Collections, Propagation Challenges and Garden Design Principles
Get PDFThis article follows two others published in Sibbaldia in 2008 and 2009 about the development of Oman Botanic Garden (OBG) and highlights the subsequent progress of key elements of the collection. Significant revisions to the design of OBG are discussed, as are developments in landscape design principles and aspirations. The growth and management of the OBG herbarium and seed bank collections and propagation department are described, with a focus on on operational challenges and achievements. Numerical data are presented to demonstrate the growth in all three departments, and images of facilities and species in the collections are shown. The overarching challenges, achievements and ambitions for the future of OBG are conveyed throughout
The Merlin Trust : a Fund for Young Horticulturists
Get PDFIn 1990, the renowned plantswoman Valerie Finnis VMH founded the Merlin Trust, a charity that awards travel grants to young horticulturists. Ten years after her death in 2006, the Merlin Trust remains true to her vision, and the ever-growing band of ‘Merlins’ enrich the horticultural world with the knowledge and skills they have gained on their travels. Many of these horticulturists havegone on to work in botanic and physic gardens and this paper gives some examples of these
How Tropical Epiphytes at the Eden Project Contribute to Rainforest Canopy Science
Get PDFUnderstanding the ecological patterns and ecosystem processes of tropical rainforest canopies is becoming increasingly urgent in the face of widespread deforestation. However, accessing rainforest canopies is far from simple, and performing manipulative experiments in the canopy is particularly challenging. Botanic gardens provide an ideal ‘halfway house’ between field experiments and controlled laboratory conditions. As an ideal venue for testing equipment and refining ideas, botanic gardens also provide scientists with a direct route to public engagement, and potentially to research impact. Here we describe the ‘fernarium’, an adjustable canopy research platform for the standardisation, manipulation and detailed study of epiphytic bird’s nest ferns (Asplenium nidus) at the Eden Project in Cornwall. The fernarium provides a platform not only for the scientific study of bird’s nest ferns, but for public engagement, science communication and a wider understanding of the urgent environmental issues surrounding tropical rainforests. We include some preliminary results from an experiment in which the microbial community of a fern soil at the Eden Project was found to be similar in composition to that of a fern from lowland tropical rainforest in Malaysian Borneo. This study illustrates how preliminary experiments in an indoor rainforest can inform experimentaltechniques and procedures fundamental to the scientific study of genuine rainforest canopies
The National Botanic Garden of Nepal
Get PDFThe National Botanic Garden of Nepal (NBG) lies 16km south of Kathmandu, at the base of Phulchowki, the highest mountain in the Kathmandu Valley. It was inaugurated in 1962 by King Mahendra and since that time the collections have developed, many of them into named areas and groupings. The year 2016 was the bicentenary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Nepal and Great Britain, and this was marked in the NBG with the development of a Biodiversity Education Garden. This was created in collaboration with the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE), and the occasion signified a revitalisation of collaborative relations between the NBG and British botanic gardens which started in the early 1960s with the appointment to NBG of British horticulturists Geoffrey Herklots and, later, Tony Schilling. The history of the garden, its layout and collections, and the activities and outcomes of the recent collaborations are described and illustrated with colour photographs
Brazilian Botanic Gardens : an Assessment of Conservation Capacity
Get PDFWe argue that botanic gardens, as plant conservation focused institutions, have been tested in temperate regions that possess a relatively robust conservation infrastructure and a relatively low number of threatened species. The ability of the Brazilian botanic gardens to support plant conservation is especially challenging, given their small number relative to Brazil’s plant diversity and the increasing rate of habitat loss and plant endangerment. This study, the first for Brazil, assesses the conservation capacity of Brazilian botanic gardens. An assessment is made of the status of conservation facilities in Brazilian botanic gardens and the conservation status of their plant collections.This was based on a survey sent to thirty-six Brazilian botanic gardens in 2011– 2013 using information from the 2008 Brazilian Red List, and seven state conservation lists. The results identified a small percentage of threatened species (n =102/21 per cent) in ex situ collections of 22 botanic gardens and less than 10 per cent representation for each state red list. An assessment based on the updated Brazilian Red List (2014) showed that 425 threatened species were maintained in living collections of 18 botanic gardens. Despite the extensive size of some collections, the proportion of threatened species in the collections was found to be very low. Improvement in infrastructure, technical capacity, including horticultural skills, and development of policies and protocols will benecessary to increase the effectiveness of the collections for conservation aims
Incorporating Biogeographical Principles in Horticulture : : Design and Creation of the Ionian Islands Unique Rock Garden in Thessaloniki, Greece
Get PDFThe design and creation of the Ionian Islands Unique Rock Garden (IIURG), an innovative plant display in Thessaloniki, Greece, is described. This includes seven naturalistic rock gardens hosting twenty-two plant taxa of conservation priority. The unique nature of the IIURG is based on two features: the emulation of the natural geographic characteristics of the Ionian Islands (Greece) and the integration of the endemic elements of the islands’ native flora, focusing on the biogeographical significance of each. In this way, the IIURG represents an innovative concept in the horticulture of botanic gardens which embodies the natural biogeography and its basic concepts such as ‘islands’, ‘native’ and ‘endemism’. In aesthetic terms the garden looks like a natural sculpture and functions as a focal point. It is a carefully constructed plant display using environmentally sustainable principles with low levels of maintenance and irrigation required. The aim is that the IIURG should be used as a useful tool for awareness-raising on the conservation of prioritised plants
Building a Global System for the Conservation of all Plant Diversity : a Vision for Botanic Gardens and Botanic Gardens Conservation International
Get PDFBotanic gardens and arboreta offer the opportunity to conserve and manage a wide range of plant diversity ex situ, and in situ in the broader landscape. The rationale that botanic gardens have a major role to play in preventing plant species extinctions is based on the assumptions that (1) there is no technical reason why any plant species should become extinct, and (2) that, as a professional community, botanic gardens possess a unique set of skills that encompass finding, identifying, collecting, conserving and growing plant diversity across the entire taxonomic spectrum. Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) is the pivotal centre of a global network of c. 2,600 botanic gardens and arboreta, which includes living collections representing at least one-third of known plant diversity; world class seed banks, glasshouses and tissue culture infrastructures; and technical knowledge networks covering all aspects of plant conservation. Following the example of the crop conservation community, BGCI is promoting the concept of a cost-effective, rational,botanic garden-centred Global System for the conservation and management of plant diversity.This system will aim to collect, conserve, characterise and cultivate samples from all of the world’s rare and threatened plants as an insurance policy against their extinction in the wild and as a source of plant material for human innovation, adaptation and resilience
Climate Ready? Exploring the Impacts and Lessons from Recent Extreme Events at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh for Climate Change Adaptation in the Horticulture Sector
Get PDFThis article explores climate change and its current and potential impacts on botanic gardens. It highlights experiences of recent weather anomalies at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) and its Regional Gardens and discusses how the learning gained from these anomalies is being used to increase the resilience of the Gardens to future climate change. This understanding is set in the context of a wider range of activities being pursued in relation to climate change adaptation in the horticulture sector, highlighting challenges and opportunities, and further sources of information which can be used by the managers of botanic gardens to inspire and inform climate change resilience planning
