Approximately 10,000 tree species are threatened with extinction. In order to preserve species as important parts of the ecosystem, and for the benefits they bring to people, it is important to better understand them and then to coordinate action to address the major threats. We study the basic ecology and genetics of threatened species in their habitat and in the lab, and then we use this information to inform actions such as seed collection and distribution to other gardens.
Cultivating collaborations that generate knowledge to inform threatened tree species protection and build capacity for tree conservation throughout the region.
We collected acorns from across the range of Quercus havardii and distributed them to partner gardens to grow, research, and showcase this unique oak to the public.
We are quantifying how many individuals need to be kept in botanic garden collections to best preserve genetic variation, using case studies across the tree of life, including many threatened oak species, which will provide advice for future seed collections.
We are using DNA data to further understand the reproductive biology of an under-studied oak, Quercus havardii, which will help inform seed collection strategies and collection management.
We are using DNA data to better understand the fragmentation and recent history of populations of threatened species especially oaks, ashes and magnolias, in the southeastern and western US.
We are assessing whether important seed collections and in situ preserves have sufficiently protected the genetic diversity of Fraxinus trees in the wild.
Working with partners from multiple sectors in Latin America to research and protect threatened tree species, and advance tree conservation across the region
Exchange program between the US and China, bringing environmental education practitioners from across China to the Chicago region to explore and share ideas about how best to communicate the importance and value of the environment and research.
We will determine how much genetic diversity exists in wild populations, botanical gardens, and nurseries of the endangered Texas Salvia pentstemonoides
We are calculating the conservation value, according to different goals, of four genera collections at The Morton Arboretum (lindens, crabapples, oaks, and elms), and developing plans to manage that value in the future.
We are developing new approaches to combine multiple sources of information about how species’ ranges shifted after the last Ice Age, 20,000 years ago, and we are using Fraxinus as a case study.
