Washington, D.C. 鈥 Only 39 percent of the nearly 10,000 North American plant species threatened with extinction are protected by being maintained in collections, according to the first comprehensive listing of the threatened plant species in Canada, Mexico and the United States. Seed banks or living collections maintained by public gardens and conservation organizations across North America provide an insurance policy against extinction for many threatened species.
The North American Collections Assessment 鈥 conducted collaboratively by Botanic Gardens Conservation International U.S., the U.S. Botanic Garden, and Harvard University鈥檚 Arnold Arboretum 鈥 found that 3,681 of 9,494 of North America鈥檚 most threatened plant species are maintained in 230 collections. Much more collaborative work is needed to conserve North America鈥檚 botanical wealth and to provide true protection against extinction, says the report, Conserving North America’s Threatened Plants, released this week
Andrea Kramer, Botanic Gardens Conservation International U.S. executive director, said, 鈥淭hese assessment results are hopeful, but also a call to action. For many public gardens, this report marks the first time their potential to assist in the conservation effort has been recognized. We hope this is a watershed moment.鈥
鈥淎s the U.S. Botanic Garden, we felt a critical need for a common baseline of understanding among the entire conservation community,鈥 said Ray Mims, one of the authors. 鈥淭o move forward together to protect North America鈥檚 native plants, we have to understand where we are today. Now that we know both what is threatened and what needs to be protected, there is a solid foundation on which to build future conservation work.鈥
鈥淥ne of the lessons we learned from this assessment is how important it is to curate for conservation,鈥 said Michael Dosmann, curator of living collections at the Arnold Arboretum. 鈥淐urators and horticulturists have not always considered conservation value as they go about their routines. Yet by participating in this assessment, many for the very first time saw the direct value of their plants in bolstering efforts to conserve our threatened flora. We hope this becomes a new paradigm in collections management.鈥
Assessment results indicate that North America did not reach the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation鈥檚 (GSPC) Target 8 goal set in 2002 of protecting 60 percent of threatened plant species in collections by 2010. While botanical organizations across Canada, Mexico and the United States are making progress to achieve these targets, the report found that 3,500 or more additional threatened plant species will need to be added to current collections to meet the new GSPC goal of conserving 75 percent of known threatened species in North America by 2020. This will require nearly doubling the current capacity.
The assessment calls for the strengthening of conservation networks and collaboration in conservation planning and data sharing. Institutions are urged to contribute plant lists to BGCI鈥檚 PlantSearch database and update them regularly. It is crucial to increase cooperation and coordination among a broad and diverse network of gardens and conservation organizations with different expertise and resources. To win this race against extinction, conservation organizations will need to prioritize the development of genetically diverse and secure collections to ensure meaningful protection of threatened plants.
Additional information and the full report can be found at