Global Conservation Consortia for Oaks

BGCI is coordinating a suite of Global Conservation Consortia, which catalyse groups of institutions and experts to collaboratively develop and implement comprehensive strategies to prevent extinction of priority threatened plant groups. Here are some highlights from the Global Conservation Consortium for Oak (GCCO) in 2021.

What threats are facing oaks, and why do we need to act to conserve them?

Amy Byrne, Global Tree Conservation Coordinator, Oak Consortium:

“Oaks are facing a myriad of threats. The common threats to oaks globally are agriculture, aquaculture, biological resource use, and residential and commercial development. However, threats will vary regionally; for example, invasive pests and diseases are the most common threats to oaks in the U.S. You can learn more about the threats facing oaks and their current threat status in The Red List of Oaks 2020 report (Carrero et al., 2020).

It is important we conserve oaks because they are an ecologically and economically important tree genus. With around 430 species globally, oaks provide a number of ecosystem services such as habitat and food source for animals, and supporting hundreds of moth and butterfly species as well. Oaks are also used for timber, fuel, furniture, ship building, livestock feed, dyes and tannins, charcoal, and food for local and indigenous peoples (Carrero et al., 2020).

However, since oaks are exceptional, meaning their fruit (acorns) cannot be seed banked because they do not survive the conditions of a traditional seed bank, to conserve them long-term, alternative methods are needed. Cryopreservation as well as conserving them in living collections are great alternatives to conserve oaks. But, no one garden can or should conserve all of the threatened oak species in their collections—a coordinated metacollection (coordinated living collections of high conservation value) is needed to capture and protect the depth and breadth of a species genetic diversity from wild populations across multiple collections. This coordination of the metacollection is a main objective of the GCCO; implementing comprehensive, collaborative conservation strategies to prevent extinction of the world’s oak species. However, as outlined by the Conservation Gap Analysis of Native US Oaks (Beckman et al., 2019), US oak species of conservation concern are under-represented in living collections. In order to ensure we are capturing the species genetic diversity, we need to be more strategic and targeted in our collecting efforts so we can ensure our collections are of high conservation value.”

What was the biggest conservation win of 2021?

Christy Powell, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance:

Building collaboration with partners in California and Mexico was the biggest conservation win of 2021. The collaborations resulted in the following:

• Increasing the genetic diversity of species protected in ex situ collections in individuals being brought into ex situ conservation collections
• 10 seedlings of Quercus engelmannii were sent to SDZWA for ex situ conservation collection. These were harvested in fall 2019 from a native grove in Los Angeles County Arboretum; Botanic Garden. SDZWA is a species steward for this species.
• 3 Quercus tomentella seedlings were brought to SDZWA for ex situ conservation collection from Santa Rosa Island and San Clemente
• 129 genotypes of Quercus dumosa were collected and are currently in vitro from 3 populations, ~50 seedlings are growing in the SDZWA nursery for ex situ conservation and for sharing with other botanic gardens
• 40 Quercus pacifica seedlings brought to SDZWA for ex situ conservation collection from Catalina Island
• Quercus cedrosensis acorns were collected and brought to San Diego Botanic Garden for ex situ conservation and to share with other botanic gardens
• We had 7 meetings of the Channel Islands and Southern CA Oak Group in 2021, including one in person workshop for 2 days hosted by SDZWA.

• Over 33 participants from 17 institutions participated in one or more of the meetings/workshop

Please give us a brief overview of your missions and goals going forward into 2022.

Dr. Joseph Ree, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance:

For biobanking –

• Further develop tissue culture methods with a focus on transferring in vitro oaks to greenhouse conditions
• Perform successful cryopreservation, resulting in whole trees grown from cryopreserved shoot tips

“Though we have developed tools for the initial and middle stages of tissue culture, they are not useful unless we can eventually return trees to soil. We have proof-of-concept from several initial experiments conducted in 2021, but it has not been our main focus. That will change in 2022, where we must complete the cycle. Additionally, we must also test cryopreservation approaches to keep large stores of samples from as many Q. dumosa as possible and keep them at liquid nitrogen temperatures, where they will require less work to maintain and occupy less space.”

 

Christy Powell:

• Complete “Oaks of the Californias Action Plan”
• Collect and distribute material of six target species to partner institutions for ex situ conservation collections
• Continue population monitoring for target species, record native distributions and confirm identification
• Collect DNA leaf tissue for future genetic analysis
• Coordinate conservation activities of oaks through quarterly “Oaks of the Californias” working group meetings and collection trips to the Channel Islands and sites in Southern California and Northern Mexico
• Gather updated ex situ collection data for the six Quercus species from botanic gardens involved in the project
• Determine which botanical gardens would like to focus on which species moving forward in their ex situ conservation collections
• Educate others about research and species specific information learned through publications, social media, educational activities

How did the Conservation Gap analysis, the Red List of Oaks, and the GCCO network support efforts to further your oak conservation work?

Amy Bryne:

“The Conservation Gap Analysis of Native US Oaks, and The Red List of Oaks 2020 report, serve as guiding resources to The Global Conservation Consortium for Oak (GCCO) network. More specifically, the gap analysis identified 28 species of conservation concern providing us with a priority list of species to focus our conservation efforts on in the U.S. Additionally, the gap analysis did in-depth research to identify priority and recommended conservation activities to implement to effectively conserve the species and prevent their extinction.

Overall, the gap analysis methodology serves as a resource and template that we can utilize to develop conservation gap analyses for the other oak diversity centers to further prioritize oak conservation efforts in these oak important regions. The Red List of Oaks 2020 includes IUCN Red List assessments for 430 species of oak (Quercus) providing the most complete and comprehensive global analysis of extinction risk for oaks. This report also provides the GCCO with a priority list of species to focus our conservation efforts.

Knowing which oak species are threatened (those assessed as Critically Endangered, Endangered, and Vulnerable) as well as Data Deficient (species that do not have enough information to submit a threat assessment for) informs us of the species, and regions to prioritize our collaborative conservation efforts. Also, it gives us a baseline to work off of to know if we are overall improving the conservation status of the species (i.e., if the species threat status moves from Critically Endangered to Endangered, improved threat assessment). The GCCO utilizes these resources to coordinate a network of institutions and experts to collaborate and implement conservation action to prevent extinction of the priority oak species.”

 

Tony Gurnoe, San Diego Botanic Garden, on Q. cedrosensis:

“Each of these provided a baseline understanding along with data critical to demonstrating the need for conservation work with these species. Being able to clearly and concisely demonstrate that need facilitates sourcing the requisite funding to be able to contribute to the conservation of species such as Q. cedrosensis. The communication and collaborative planning channels afforded through the GCCO network helped the conservation work done in 2021 related to Q. cedrosensis develop into a much more robust effort across a diverse range of institutions and agencies. All of this contributes to more positive impact in a shorter time, which is critical for such slow moving but highly threatened species.”

 

Dr. Joseph Ree, on Q. dumosa and others:

“The GCCO assembled many people with diverse backgrounds and strengths, but all united with concern for the future of endangered oaks. For example, I focus on cells and tissues, but lack a honed perspective of forestry and ecology. All parties can learn and complement each other.
GCCO contacts led to San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance (SDZWA) and the Catalina Island Conservancy forming closer ties, as shown by a collection trip to Catalina Island to collect samples of endangered Q. tomentella and the island scrub oak Q. pacifica, which will help validate our methods for possible use in other oak species.

We all serve as a resource for others—whether that be passive teaching of different perspectives and aspects of either science or policy or something as concrete as aiding in another’s goals, such as the Catalina Island Conservancy did for my own project by inviting a group of SDZWA personnel to Catalina Island. This team also included a science writer, a videographer, and a photographer. I am hoping that this is signs of a growing network of people and organizations that not only just meet together but also actively work with each other to further conservancy efforts.”

 

Christy Powell:

“The first step in Conservation Planning Specialist Group (CPSG) Species Conservation Planning Principles and Steps, Prepare to plan, is where the scope is agreed upon, the rationale and required product of planning. Since the Conservation Gap analysis, Red List of Oaks and the GCCO network supports were already in place, the process was streamlined and straightforward. We already had baseline data to work from and could start working on the next steps on planning to conserve oak species.”

Were any big steps forward made towards the conservation of these species in 2021?

Tony Gurnoe, for Quercus cedrosensis:

“2021 saw the first comprehensive surveys, mapping efforts, and monitoring of the entire U.S. population of Q. cedrosensis, providing valuable ecological context for the planning related to conservation of this species. Propagules were gathered or developed in the forms of maternal line collections of acorns, new growth cuttings for tissue culture, 1 year old cuttings for cutting propagation in the nursery and air layering of mature individuals in habitat. The first known ex situ living conservation accessions of this species from the U.S. population are currently being grown and are slated for distribution to partnering gardens early in 2022.

The Bureau of Land Management is now aware of this species and the significance of the occurrences on their land. More than 90% of the U.S. population of this species occurs on BLM land but it was previously unknown to any of their scientists. Current surveys of this species in Baja California are underway by a cohort of botanists affiliated with SDBG, SDZWA, and the SDNHM.”

 

Dr. Joseph Ree, for tissue culture on Quercus dumosa and other species:

• We developed a method to collect freshly-grown branches from field plants and transfer them to tissue culture under conditions that are suitable for a wide range of Q. dumosa genotypes
• Additionally, these methods show promise for related species, including other threatened species
• Optimized tissue culture conditions sufficient for the multiplication of a wide number of genotypes such that enough tissue could be produced for cryopreservation

“Our focus has been on finding tissue culture approaches acceptable to a large number of genotypes because the ultimate goal is the conservation of as much genetic diversity as possible. We have two major successes for the most critical stages of tissue culture: introduction of tissue from field plants to tissue culture and the subsequent multiplication of regrowing tissue. The success of introducing 10 of 12 tested genotypes shows that our process is by no means perfect, but further protocol optimization will ensure that the vast majority of Q. dumosa trees will be able to be introduced into tissue culture, allowing a backup of the little remaining population of such an ecologically essential tree. Further, we have preliminary evidence that the same method may be adopted for related species, including Q. pacifica, Q. berberidifolia, Q. agrifolia, Q. cedrosensis, and Q. tomentella. ‘Standard’ tissue culture approaches were insufficient for the vast majority of individuals save for a few highly vigorous ones, therefore, many experiments led to an optimized medium that favored many. We hope that further work will increase our success both for Q. dumosa and other threatened oaks.”

What would be the impact of the loss, or serious decline, of these species for their ecosystems?

Tony Gurnoe:

Much study remains to be done related to the ecological interactions of Q. cedrosensis. All oak species provide richly nutritious forage for a wide variety of lifeforms. Q. cedrosensis appears to occupy a unique niche in terms of soil substrate and climatic conditions which may allow this species to provide both habitat and sustenance for surrounding forms of life where other oaks may not thrive. These oaks are also likely contribute significantly to slope stabilization in the steep environments where they flourish, creating a sustainable habitat for other, more ephemeral plants as well.”

What was achieved during in-person workshops to develop species action plans for the six oak species of concern in CA?

Amy Bryne:

“The Oaks of the Californias’ (this includes California in the US and Baja California in Mexico) workshop, was an opportunity for a cross-sector group of stakeholders to come together to learn more about six target oak species (Quercus cedrosensis, Q. dumosa, Q. engelmannii, Q. pacifica, Q. parvula and Q. tomentella), identify areas in which we can intervene as a group to mitigate threats and determine where we would like to be in the future for the species’ successful conservation. To close out the workshop, we started to develop a species action plan, for all six target oak species. The action plan is a compilation of information gathered at the workshop to guide our future conservation and research efforts. Additionally, we developed species specific working groups for all six species to meet on a quarterly or as needed basis. These groups allow other stakeholders who were not able to attend the in-person workshop to provide their insight and expertise. At these meetings, we can discuss in more detail the actions that are ongoing or the actions we need to take to further support the conservation of each species.”

How do you think the results of this workshop will further support your current projects with Q. cedrosensis and Q. dumosa?

Tony Gurnoe, on Q. cedrosensis:

“The workshop fostered significant new connections between partners beyond just botanical gardens, including commercial native plant nurseries and government agency employees. The exposure alone that Q. cedrosensis gained via this workshop will contribute significantly to the cultural embrace of the need to preserve such a unique and threatened species. The workshop also provided a much needed opportunity for collaborators to come together to discuss results, remaining questions, and ongoing ambitions related to these species. The conservation plans that will result as a product of the initial workshop gathering may allow collaborating institutions to be more strategic in their conservation efforts with these species while also developing broader partnerships and more impactful projects.”

 

Christy Powell, on Q. dumosa:

“During the workshop, we discussed threats for each species and intervention points where we might be able to step in to decrease population decline. For example, we identified “mis-identification” as a significant threat to Q. dumosa. Until the early 2000s, “Q. dumosa” referred to all white shrubby oak species including Q. berberidifolia, Q. durata, Q. john-tuckeri, Q. cornelius-mulleri, Q. pacifica, Q. macdonaldii, and Q. turbinella. This resulted in a larger range of this species than really exists and, in turn, less protection of the species. Many herbarium records have been reviewed and properly identified over the last few years (Beckman, E. 2017). Now, the next step is to conduct site surveys to confirm those populations and collect leaf samples for DNA analysis. Once populations are determined and properly identified, we can ensure more protection for the remaining Quercus dumosa and plan conservation activities around those individuals. In the meantime, we will continue to monitor populations that we know are Q. dumosa, collect acorns and stem tissue for in vitro propagation and cryopreservation and establish ex situ conservation collections of Q. dumosa at botanical partner institutions.”

How will the results support conservation for the other oak species as well?

Amy Bryne:

“Overall, the in-person workshop opened the door for new connections and collaborations that will allow us to effectively implement the final action plan we end up developing, effectively conserving all six target oak species. Additionally, the action plan can serve as a document we can share with policy makers, government leaders and other influential stakeholders that may be able to gain broader support for the species’ conservation in the Californias. Finally, this action plan will serve as a template that the GCCO can utilize for future conservation planning workshops.”