California Plant Rescue 2020 Report: Conservation Seed Banking and Botanical Diversity, Study notes of Plant Taxonomy and Evolution

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CALIFORNIA

PLANT RESCUE

Safeguarding California's Botanical Diversity

2020 REPORT

CONSERVATION SEED BANKING

CNPS 1B plants represented in CaPR seed banks as of 2020

New kinds of CNPS 1B plants brought into CaPR seed banks in 2020

CNPS 2 and 4 plants represented in CaPR seed banks as of 2020

BUILDING C APACIT Y • STRENGTHENING COLL ABORATIONS

3 New Germination Chambers CaPR institutions purchased germination chambers for seed viability testing, a key component to conservation seed banking

Diverse Partnerships CaPR collaborates with organizations in the state, federal, and nonprofit sectors to achieve our conservation goals

6 New Staff CA Biodiv funding facilitated the addition of new staff positions at CaPR institutions

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2014 2016 2018 2020

# 1B plants in seed banks

End of 2018 545 spp

Start of CaPR 345 spp

CaPR Seed Banking Progress

End of 2019 598 spp

End of 2020 747 spp

California Plant Rescue (CaPR) member institutions make conservation collections of seeds and living plants to secure high levels of genetic diversity in off-site collections, such as botanic gardens and seed banks, to safeguard wild populations in a time of uncertainty. We also gather information about wild populations to ensure that baseline information is available for future generations.

CALIFORNIA

PLANT RESCUE

ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Progress Towards Our Goals in 2020 CaPR members made great strides in bringing previously uncollected CRPR1B rare plants into conservation collections in 2020, despite myriad challenges posed by a global pandemic and a catastrophic wildfire season. Spurred by California Biodiversity Initiative funding, 92 new CRPR 1B plants were brought into conservation via seed banking and living collections. Living collections are a complementary conservation strategy to seed banking and represent the primary mode of conservation for those plants that do not produce seed or whose seeds are not amenable to frozen storage.

Receiving an influx of funding allowed us to increase not only the diversity of our seed collections, but also the geographic extent of our collection sites. Prior to the California Biodiversity Initiative, CaPR members often focused on making collections in areas that overlapped with existing funding and priorities. However, the California Biodiversity Initiative funding allowed us to expand our reach, thus increasing conservation efforts in previously underrepresented regions, especially in central, northern and eastern California (see below). In addition to our focus on collecting CRPR 1B rare plants, CaPR members have also benefited from environmental license plate funds to make collections of CRPR 2 and 4 plants. Thus far, CaPR members have made conservation seed collections for 71 CRPR 2 and 4 plants, and 57 of those collections were made in 2020.

When considering the number of CRPR 1B rare plants represented in seed banks alone, the number of new kinds of plants increased by 149, bringing the total number of 1B plants in conservation seed banks to 747. This demonstrates that some plants that were historically only represented in living collections were brought into conservation seed banks in

2020. Prior to California Biodiversity Initiative funding, CaPR members were adding approximately 40-50 new CRPR 1B plants to seed banks per year. Between 2019 and 2020, that number nearly tripled and is indicative of the increased collecting capacity that resulted from the first full year of California Biodiversity Initiative funding. CaPR is now 64% of the way to our goal of seed banking 1,166 CRPR 1B rare plants.

EXPANDING OUR REAC H Newly collected CRPR 1B plants by ecoregion in 2019 (left) and 2020 (right). Light cream colors indicate fewer collections of novel plants than darker, redder colors. These maps depict seed collections from rare plants that were seed banked for the first time in 2019 and 2020 and provide geographic context for our efforts.

Spiny sepaled button celery (Eryngium spinosepalum, CRPR 1B.2), a charismatic member of the carrot family, was collected by the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden from vernal pools in the Central Valley.

Newly Collected Taxa by Ecoregion 2019

Newly Collected Taxa by Ecoregion 2020

COLL ABORATION

Collaboration is central to the work of CaPR, as our mission of securing conservation seed collections of California plants depends on and benefits from the diverse strengths of our members. In 2020, CaPR welcomed two new members to our network: The Mojave Desert Land Trust (MDLT) and Theodore Payne Foundation (TPF). MDLT and TPF bring diverse skills and resources to CaPR including, plant collections, organizational capacity, and regional expertise in the California desert and Los Angeles area.

Our collaborative strength extends beyond the formal CaPR members to working hand in hand with land managers and volunteer groups across the state. For example, San Diego Botanic Garden worked with the San Diego Monitoring and Management Program and the U.S. Geological Survey to provide plant material of the federally listed Encinitas baccharis (Baccharis vanessae). East Bay Regional Botanic Garden is developing a several partnerships surrounding conservation of Vine Hill manzanita (Arctostaphylos densiflora), including CNPS Milo-Baker Chapter and the Green Biome Institute (GBI) at California State University, East Bay. California Botanic Garden coordinated with the Vegetation Program Manager at the Mojave National Preserve to facilitate access and identify best timing to secure a conservation seed collection of Thorne’s buckwheat (Eriogonum thornei).

Though in-person meetings were not possible during COVID-19, CaPR members participated in meetings and outreach events remotely. Members presented on seed collections and CaPR-related activities at more than 20 events. From presentations to state parks administrators, groups of land managers, conservation practitioners, and native plant enthusiasts, we continued to share the message that seed banking is a valuable plant conservation tool.

SBBG Rare Plant Technician collected ripe berries from Santa Barbara honeysuckle (CRPR 1B.2).

FUNDING

In 2019, the California state legislature included $3.2 million in the state budget to support CaPR’s ex situ collections of rare plants. This was the first element of the California Biodiversity Initiative to receive financial support. The vital role of plants and CaPR’s extensive progress towards its conservation goals made funding conservation collections of all of the rarest plants in the state an early priority. 2020 marked the first year CaPR organizations were able to account for this source of funding in their collection planning – and the impact has been astounding.

Additional funders and partners have allowed CaPR members to expand their conservation efforts beyond a single collection for the plants most in need. For example, additional grant funding has enabled the California Botanic Garden to take a multi-year approach to collecting seed from Amargosa niterwort (Nitrophila mohavensis), a challenging endangered plant with low seed set and inconspicuous fruits. They increased the number of seeds conserved for this species to 155 this year. Funding from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, local governments, and more has increased the genetic representation of CRPR 1B, 2B, and 4 rare plants in collection through the collection of multiple populations. CaPR members have also been able to make the most of state legislated funding by securing matching contributions for infrastructure. Many of the larger infrastructure upgrades, including updates to the CRPR database, the cryotank, and backup powers system, were executed with the help of matching funds.

Amargosa niterwort Nitrophila mohavensis

LOOKING AHEAD

In 2021, CaPR members will continue to work towards the California Biodiversity Initiative goal to collect 1,166 CRPR 1B rare plants by 2025. Many members worked to secure permits for plants that could not be accessed due to COVID-19 restrictions and wildfires, and are eager to get another pass at these collections. As a group, we will be tackling standards for working with exceptional species, upgrading our collections database, and working more with diverse partners to ensure we are meeting their collection needs and addressing their concerns.

UNDERSTANDING EXCEPTIONAL SPECIES San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance has been working with Nuttall’s scrub oak (Quercus dumosa), refining protocols for micropropagation (growing in sealed containers, left) and will preserve these propagated specimens with liquid nitrogen in a new cryotank. This is just one avenue we are taking to address exceptional species conservation.

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