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Abstract Detail


Conservation Biology

Daugherty, Bradley [1], Coons, Janice [2], Coutant, Nancy [3], Whiteside, Wesley [4].

Ex situ conservation of threatened and endangered Illinois native species at the Whiteside Garden.

Ex situ conservation is the strategy of creating a refuge of living material outside of their natural habitat. Dr. Wesley Whiteside, a professor emeritus of Eastern Illinois University, purchased 3.6 hectares east of Charleston, IL in 1962. Since then, he has transformed two hectares of farm land into a diverse botanical garden and arboretum. The Whiteside Garden serves as a source for genetic preservation of both native and exotic plants, including threatened and endangered Illinois native species. Plant images, surveys, and consultation with Dr. Whiteside have been used to develop an inventory spreadsheet of plant species at the Whiteside Garden with some of their fundamental attributes. By cross referencing the Whiteside Garden inventory spreadsheet with the February 2011 Checklist of Endangered and Threatened Animals and Plants of Illinois offered by the Illinois Endangered Species Protection Board, a list of endangered and threatened native species of Illinois was developed. Then their various attributes relative to the garden were recorded guided by a rubric which includes taxonomic information (family, genus, species, subspecies/variety, cultivar and common name), habitat, geographical origin and range, habit, flowering season, flower color, fruit type, source of plant material (where, when, who, seed, vegetative, whole plant, wild or commercial), number of specimens, availability, soil type, soil moisture, general cultural methods, garden GPS location and relevant history. Forty endangered and eight threatened Illinois native plant species covering twenty-eight families have been identified at the Whiteside Garden. Thirty four herbaceous perennial and fourteen woody species are represented. In the wild, these forty-eight species are recorded in sixty-seven Illinois counties and a variety of specific habitat types. Thirty eight species are represented by wild material with thirteen of them being derived from Illinois wild material. Having identified and recorded the presence and history of the threatened and endangered Illinois native species offers an opportunity for their use in research, education, outreach, and restoration. Their usefulness can be improved further by creating herbarium specimens, developing a seed bank, recruiting new sources of the plants to add genetic diversity to the collection, and making the resources available to the proper entities and institutions.

Broader Impacts:


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1 - po box 6211, champaign, IL, 61826, USA
2 - Eastern Illinois University, 600 Lincoln Ave, CHARLESTON, IL, 61920-3099, USA
3 - Eastern Illinois University, Biological Sciences, 600 Lincoln Ave, Charleston, IL, 61920, USA
4 -

Keywords:
conservation
Botanic Garden
Ex situ Conservation
threatened and endangered species.

Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Topics
Session: 30
Location: Union C/Hyatt
Date: Tuesday, July 10th, 2012
Time: 10:15 AM
Number: 30001
Abstract ID:1104


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