How robust is the Australian Weed Risk Assessment protocol? A test using pine invasions in the Northern and Southern hemispheres

The Australian Weed Risk Assessment protocol (WRA) is often considered the standard approach for pre-border screening of new plant introductions. Here we assess its robustness against three key criteria: ability to discriminate success or failure of species at three stages of the invasion process (introduction, naturalisation and spread); sensitivity to taxonomic range and target region; and dependence on knowledge of invasive behaviour elsewhere. We address these issues by retrospectively testing the WRA using pine (Pinus) introductions to New Zealand and Great Britain. For both regions we calculated WRA scores for 115 species, and classified all species according to whether they had been introduced, which of these had naturalised, and the extent of their naturalised distribution (spread). Using regression models, we assessed whether WRA scores could predict success at each stage. We repeated this procedure using WRA scores calculated without information on species naturalisation behaviour elsewhere. In both regions, the WRA could discriminate among species in the same genus at the introduction and naturalisation stages, but not at the spread stage. The outcome at the naturalisation stage depended on prior knowledge of naturalisation behaviour elsewhere. Without this information the WRA may be unable to distinguish among closely related species, and should be used cautiously where data on invasive behaviour elsewhere is lacking. Human selection played a strong role in the invasion process both through introducing pine species likely to naturalise in New Zealand and Great Britain in the first instance, and subsequent use of many of these species for forestry in the target regions.     

植物园发展的动向

对国内外植物园近十余年来发展的动向进行评述,列举了近年来一系列重要的植物园国际会议与重大活动,指出当前国际植物园工作的中心任务首先是物种保护。总结和分析我国植物园发展的历史和现状、存在问题以及在园貌建设上与国际先进植物园的差距。这些差距主要表现在：（１）植物的收集量;（２）活植物数据的积累;（３）罕见植物的引种;（４）现代技术的应用。作者最后提出,我国植物园发展应把握的几个主要问题是：（１）既是多功能全方位发展,又应各具特色;（２）生物多样性是植物园永恒的主题;（３）植物园应着重物种迁地保护的研究和实践;（４）植物园应重视栽培和利用植物并着重以药用植物为对象。     

论植物园的活植物收集

对植物园活植物收集评价、引种中的取样方法和迁地保护种群大小等问题进行了论述.对活植物收集的评价包括科学性和代表性,最具有科学意义的是经过调查从野外收集的有完整记录的材料,其次是从植物园等机构 引种的有记录的材料,再次是从各地引种的基本上无记录的材料.根据收集物的代表性可分为具有保护意义的收集和保护性收集.取样技术主要针对保护性收集而言,要求收集样本能涵盖该物种95%以上、频率大于5%的等位基因.活植物收集种群的大小应从科学性和现实性二方面来考虑,对植物园里大量的具有保护意义的收集,其种群大小为乔木10～20株,灌木40～50株,草本100～200株;对于保护性收集则至少为乔木50～100株,灌木200株或更多,草本300～500株以上.另外,对当前植物园活植物收集圃建设的一些重要问题也进行了探讨.     

The changing role of ornamental horticulture in alien plant invasions

The number of alien plants escaping from cultivation into native ecosystems is increasing steadily. We provide an overview of the historical, contemporary and potential future roles of ornamental horticulture in plant invasions. We show that currently at least 75% and 93% of the global naturalised alien flora is grown in domestic and botanical gardens, respectively. Species grown in gardens also have a larger naturalised range than those that are not. After the Middle Ages, particularly in the 18th and 19th centuries, a global trade network in plants emerged. Since then, cultivated alien species also started to appear in the wild more frequently than non‐cultivated aliens globally, particularly during the 19th century. Horticulture still plays a prominent role in current plant introduction, and the monetary value of live‐plant imports in different parts of the world is steadily increasing. Historically, botanical gardens – an important component of horticulture – played a major role in displaying, cultivating and distributing new plant discoveries. While the role of botanical gardens in the horticultural supply chain has declined, they are still a significant link, with one‐third of institutions involved in retail‐plant sales and horticultural research. However, botanical gardens have also become more dependent on commercial nurseries as plant sources, particularly in North America. Plants selected for ornamental purposes are not a random selection of the global flora, and some of the plant characteristics promoted through horticulture, such as fast growth, also promote invasion. Efforts to breed non‐invasive plant cultivars are still rare. Socio‐economical, technological, and environmental changes will lead to novel patterns of plant introductions and invasion opportunities for the species that are already cultivated. We describe the role that horticulture could play in mediating these changes. We identify current research challenges, and call for more research efforts on the past and current role of horticulture in plant invasions. This is required to develop science‐based regulatory frameworks to prevent further plant invasions.     

Addressing the threat to biodiversity from botanic gardens

Increasing evidence highlights the role that botanic gardens might have in plant invasions across the globe. Botanic gardens, often in global biodiversity hotspots, have been implicated in the early cultivation and/or introduction of most environmental weeds listed by IUCN as among the worst invasive species worldwide. Furthermore, most of the popular ornamental species in living collections around the globe have records as alien weeds. Voluntary codes of conduct to prevent the dissemination of invasive plants from botanic gardens have had limited uptake, with few risk assessments undertaken of individual living collections. A stronger global networking of botanic gardens to tackle biological invasions involving public outreach, information sharing and capacity building is a priority to prevent the problems of the past occurring in the future.     

中国植物园展望

In China, a new period of development in the first decaje of the 21st Century with rapid urbanization,was marked by investment in construction of over five billion yuan. At this time of rapid change it is important for botanical gardens to follow three principles, "scientific contents, artistic appearance, and cultural display", so as not to become public parks. The scientific component is important. It is not necessary for every botanical garden to do basic botanical research but they should all be involved in plant conservation issues, especially ex-situ conservation and keep accurate data on their living collections. Although a heavy responsibility this documentation is the foundation and the bottom line of scientific meaning for a botanical garden. Economic plant research, exploring new resources, was a major contribution of botanical gardens historically and remains important for sustainable cities and the national economy of China. Education and ecotourism are important ways for botanical gardens to serve the public displaying the interesting plant collections to enhance relaxation and well-being. It is reasonable to make income through all activities in a botanical garden but this should not be the major goal. It should be understood botanical gardens are comprehensive and multi-functional bodies determined by science, the arts and culture.     

Prospects for Chinese Botanical GardensFoundation items: Supported by Chinese Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation

In China, a new period of development in the first decade of the 21st Century with rapid urbanization, was marked by investment in construction of over five billion yuan. At this time of rapid change it is important for botanical gardens to follow three principles, “scientific contents, artistic appearance, and cultural display”, so as not to become public parks. The scientific component is important. It is not necessary for every botanical garden to do basic botanical research but they should all be involved in plant conservation issues, especially ex-situ conservation and keep accurate data on their living collections. Although a heavy responsibility this documentation is the foundation and the bottom line of scientific meaning for a botanical garden. Economic plant research, exploring new resources, was a major contribution of botanical gardens historically and remains important for sustainable cities and the national economy of China. Education and ecotourism are important ways for botanical gardens to serve the public displaying the interesting plant collections to enhance relaxation and well-being. It is reasonable to make income through all activities in a botanical garden but this should not be the major goal. It should be understood botanical gardens are comprehensive and multi-functional bodies determined by science, the arts and culture.     

Naturalization of ornamental plant species in public green spaces and private gardens

Ornamental horticulture is the most important pathway for alien plant introductions worldwide, and consequently, invasive spread of introduced plants often begins in urban areas. Although most introduced ornamental garden-plant species are locally not naturalized yet, many of them have shown invasion potential elsewhere in the world, and might naturalize when climate changes. We inventoried the planted flora of 50 public and 61 private gardens in Radolfzell, a small city in southern Germany, to investigate whether local naturalization success of garden plants is associated with their current planting frequency, climatic suitability (as assessed with climatic niche modelling) and known naturalization status somewhere in the world. We identified 954 introduced garden-plant species, of which 48 are already naturalized in Radolfzell and 120 in other parts of Germany. All currently naturalized garden plants in Radolfzell have a climatic suitability probability of ≥ 0.75 and are naturalized in ≥ 13 out of 843 regions globally. These values are significantly higher than those of garden plants that have not become locally naturalized yet. Current planting frequencies, however, were not related to current naturalization success. Using the identified local naturalization thresholds of climatic suitability and global naturalization frequency, and climate projections for the years 2050 and 2070, we identified 45 garden-plant species that are currently not naturalized in Radolfzell but are likely to become so in the future. Although our approach cannot replace a full risk assessment, it is well-suited and applicable as one element of a screening or horizon scanning-type approach.     

The potential role of public gardens as sentinels of plant invasion

Public gardens can help prevent detrimental effects of plant invasions by collecting and sharing data on taxa spreading from cultivation early in the invasion process, thereby acting as sentinels of plant invasion. Existing initiatives have called for public gardens to adopt measures preventing plant invasion, but it is unclear what actions individual gardens are implementing, as there is no formal mechanism for communicating their progress. This study used internal lists of escaping taxa from seven public gardens in the Midwestern United States and Canada to demonstrate how public gardens can collectively contribute data that is critical to assessing potential invasiveness. It also reveals methodological differences in how gardens develop their lists of escaping plants, leading to recommendations for standardization. Data pooled across gardens yielded 769 species spreading from cultivation at one or more gardens. Eight woody species were listed by all gardens despite not consistently being recognized as invasive by states and provinces containing the gardens; some species recorded by multiple gardens did not appear on any invasive lists. While it may be premature to call taxa escaping from cultivation at a few public gardens “invasive” or even “potentially invasive”, these plants should be monitored and evaluated with this information shared to facilitate stronger conclusions about risk. Thus, public gardens have a unique expertise in assisting invasive plant efforts as sentinels, particularly if challenges related to methodological inconsistencies and data sharing are suitably addressed, which is herein recommended through the adoption of a set of standardized guidelines.

     

Are High-Impact Species Predictable? An Analysis of Naturalised Grasses in Northern Australia

Predicting which species are likely to cause serious impacts in the future is crucial for targeting management efforts, but the characteristics of such species remain largely unconfirmed. We use data and expert opinion on tropical and subtropical grasses naturalised in Australia since European settlement to identify naturalised and high-impact species and subsequently to test whether high-impact species are predictable. High-impact species for the three main affected sectors (environment, pastoral and agriculture) were determined by assessing evidence against pre-defined criteria. Twenty-one of the 155 naturalised species (14%) were classified as high-impact, including four that affected more than one sector. High-impact species were more likely to have faster spread rates (regions invaded per decade) and to be semi-aquatic. Spread rate was best explained by whether species had been actively spread (as pasture), and time since naturalisation, but may not be explanatory as it was tightly correlated with range size and incidence rate. Giving more weight to minimising the chance of overlooking high-impact species, a priority for biosecurity, meant a wider range of predictors was required to identify high-impact species, and the predictive power of the models was reduced. By-sector analysis of predictors of high impact species was limited by their relative rarity, but showed sector differences, including to the universal predictors (spread rate and habitat) and life history. Furthermore, species causing high impact to agriculture have changed in the past 10 years with changes in farming practice, highlighting the importance of context in determining impact. A rationale for invasion ecology is to improve the prediction and response to future threats. Although our study identifies some universal predictors, it suggests improved prediction will require a far greater emphasis on impact rather than invasiveness, and will need to account for the individual circumstances of affected sectors and the relative rarity of high-impact species.     

中国各省植物园中多孔菌种类、分布和组成

多孔菌是木材腐朽菌中最关键的真菌类群, 是森林生态系统的重要组成部分。为了明确植物园对植物上真菌资源的保护状况, 在2010-2021年间, 作者对全国31个省(自治区、直辖市)的31个代表性植物园中木本植物上的多孔菌进行了系统调查、标本采集和种类鉴定, 记录多孔菌164种, 隶属于担子菌门伞菌纲6目23科79属。其中, 中国科学院西双版纳热带植物园、儋州热带植物园和广西药用植物园多孔菌种类最多, 分别有90种、46种和37种; 兰州植物园、西宁植物园和乌鲁木齐植物园物种数量最少, 分别有4种、3种和2种。在植物园中, 分布最多的物种是云芝栓孔菌(Trametes versicolor)、白囊耙齿菌(Irpex lacteus)和黑管孔菌(Bjerkandera adusta), 分别生长在24、18和18个植物园中, 而软多孢孔菌(Abundisporus mollissimus)等32种多孔菌只发现于中国科学院西双版纳热带植物园中。在164种多孔菌中, 常见种、偶见种和稀有种分别有114、40和10种。生长在植物园中的多孔菌仅占全国所有森林生态系统多孔菌总数的16%, 而植物园中发现的稀有种仅占全国稀有种总数的3.1%。在10种稀有多孔菌中, 有6种发现于中国科学院西双版纳热带植物园的天然林中, 其中4种稀有多孔菌发现于植物园内的人工林中, 占植物园所有多孔菌的2.4%, 占全国稀有多孔菌的1.3%。所调查植物园多孔菌包括了热带、亚热带、温带、北半球广布和寒温带成分, 分别包括50、45、38、20和11种, 占本研究多孔菌总数的30.5%、27.4%、23.2%、12.2%和6.7%。目前中国植物园保存了我国60%的植物种类, 包括85%的珍稀濒危植物, 但对生长在植物园中的多孔菌资源保护作用有限。因此, 对稀有多孔菌的保育仍需聚焦在森林生态系统的保护上。     

The Evolving Role of Botanical Gardens and Natural Areas:A Floristic Case Study from Royal Botanical Gardens,Canada

As leaders calling for the conservation of the world’s plants,botanical gardens protect plants within living collections.Many also study,manage and restore plants in natural habitats.Royal Botanical Gardens(Ontario,Canada) has integrated both horticultural and natural heritage in its mission for decades.Envisioned by municipal leaders in the 1920s as a combination of nature sanctuaries and civic gardens,RBG now includes forests,wetlands and other habitats,gardens and built spaces.Today RBG is Canada’s largest botanical garden on the basis of area.In the 1950s RBG began to inventory plant diversity.The checklist of spontaneous vascular plants now exceeds 1 170 species,of which 752 are native.This is 37% of Ontario’s native vascular plants and 19% of the native vascular flora of Canada.The RBG nature sanctuaries are among the richest locations in Canada for species-level diversity.We examine the history of floristic exploration within RBG and compare plant species-area relationships among protected natural areas in Ontario.This comparison supports the contention that the nature sanctuaries,and in particular Cootes Paradise,could be considered an important area for plants in Canada,and relative to the nation’s flora,a biodiversity hotspot.The fact that a candidate vascular plant hotspot for Canada lies within a major botanical garden presents opportunities for raising public awareness of the importance of plant diversity,as well as focusing attention on the scientific and conservation biology needs of communities and individual species in this area.     

The Evolving Role of Botanical Gardens and Natural Areas: A Floristic Case Study from Royal Botanical Gardens, Canada

As leaders calling for the conservation of the world's plants, botanical gardens protect plants within living collections. Many also study, manage and restore plants in natural habitats. Royal Botanical Gardens (Ontario,Canada) has integrated both horticultural and natural heritage in its mission for decades. Envisioned by municipal leaders in the 1920s as a combination of nature sanctuaries and civic gardens, RBG now includes forests, wetlands and other habitats, gardens and built spaces. Today RBG is Canada's largest botanical garden on the basis of area.In the 1950s RBG began to inventory plant diversity. The checklist of spontaneous vascular plants now exceeds 1 170 species, of which 752 are native. This is 37% of Ontario's native vascular plants and 19% of the native vascular flora of Canada. The RBG nature sanctuaries are among the richest locations in Canada for species-level diversity.We examine the history of fioristic exploration within RBG and compare plant species-area relationships among protected natural areas in Ontario. This comparison supports the contention that the nature sanctuaries, and in particular Cootes Paradise, could be considered an important area for plants in Canada, and relative to the nation's flora, a biodiversity hotspot. The fact that a candidate vascular plant hotspot for Canada lies within a major botanical garden presents opportunities for raising public awareness of the importance of plant diversity, as well as focusing attention on the scientific and conservation biology needs of communities and individual species in this area.     

国家植物园植物文化建设与植物多样性保护和管理

生物文化对生物多样性保护具有重要意义,植物园的形成和发展在历史长河中处处体现着人类因物质和精神需求而形成的植物文化。现代植物园在植物迁地保护上虽然做出了卓越贡献,但其植物文化的建设稍显滞后。在全球生物多样性保护工作的开展过程中,传统文化对生物多样性保护和生物资源可持续利用的重要作用越来越被重视。在此背景下,该文探讨了生物文化多样性和生物多样性之间紧密联系、共同演化的关系,回顾了早期植物园和我国古典园林中植物文化的体现; 通过对全球3 085个现代植物园主要功能的分析,发现开展了民族植物学研究的植物园占比7.36%,开展了保护生物学研究的植物园占比11.18%,制定了植物保护计划的占比17.18%,从而揭示了现代植物园保护功能的提升和文化功能的弱化。基于当前植物园植物多样性有效保护中对植物文化建设的需求,该文进一步分析了我国植物园植物文化建设的不足,主要包括:(1)植物物种多样性信息中植物文化信息数据不足;(2)对生物多样性保护中传统知识惠益分享的考虑欠缺;(3)缺少以文化展现植物多样性的主题园。在此基础上,该文聚焦国家植物园植物多样性保护和管理的目标,从植物多样性保护和利用、惠益共享、公众参与3个层面对国家植物园体系中的植物文化建设提出了建议,以期为我国建设具有中国生态文明特色的国家植物园体系提供参考。     

Sources of information about botanic gardens and herbaria

Botany is the study of living plants in the garden and the wild and of dead plants in the herbarium and laboratory. The value of a botanic garden for teaching purposes became evident in the 16th century with the founding between 1543 and 1600 of botanic gardens at Pisa, Padua, Florence, Bologna, Leyden, Leipzig, Paris, Montpellier and Heidelberg: indeed most of the major European botanic gardens were founded during this and the next two centuries. Associated with the study of living plants in botanic gardens was the invention of the herbarium by Luca Ghini (1490–1556) and the subsequent making of many private herbaria, out of which have developed the large institutional herbaria, mostly in the 18th and 19th centuries. The continuous enrichment of European gardens by the introduction of new plants resulting from European exploration and colonization created many problems of classification and naming, and so led to the development of taxonomic methods and the adoption of consistent binomial nomenclature for species, following Linnaeus, during the 18th century. The fashion for collecting in the 17th and 18th centuries resulted in the amassing of big private collections which later became the basis of institutional collections. The increase of such public collections by making available material for study from all over the world has, in turn, increased the publications relating to this. Thus the botanic garden and the herbarium, with their associated libraries, have become complementary repositories of botanical information invaluable to the taxonomist, the plant geographer, the economic botanist and the student of evolution. Some useful publications relating to botanic gardens, herbaria and botanical and horticultural collectors are listed.     

What is the Conservation Value of a Plant in a Botanic Garden? Using Indicators to Improve Management of Ex Situ Collections

Living botanic garden plant collections are a fundamental and underutilized worldwide resource for plant conservation. A common goal in managing a botanical living collection is to maintain the greatest biodiversity at the greatest economic and logistic efficiency. However to date there is no unified strategy for managing living plants within and among botanic gardens. We propose a strategy that combines three indicators of the management priority of a collection: information on species imperilment, genetic representation, and the operational costs associated to maintaining genetic representation. In combination or alone, these indicators can be used to assay effectiveness and efficiency of living collections, and to assign a numeric conservation value to an accession. We illustrate this approach using endangered palms that have been studied to varying degrees. Management decisions can be readily extended to other species based on our indicators. Thus, the conservation value of a species can be shared through existing databases with other botanic gardens and provide a list of recommendations toward a combined management strategy for living collections. Our approach is easily implemented and well suited for decision-making by gardens and organizations interested in plant conservation.     

植物引种驯化对近500年人类文明史的影响及其科学意义

近500年来, 植物引种驯化及其广泛栽培深刻改变了世界农业生产的格局, 对促进人类社会文明进步产生了深远的影响。无论在西方殖民地发展史还是在我国明清发展史中, 每一种重要栽培植物的成功引种和驯化, 都对历史进程产生了不可估量的作用。活植物收集是植物园的核心和“灵魂”, 传承了现代植物园几个世纪科学研究的脉络和成就。活植物收集是植物园科学研究的基础和支撑平台, 也是当前和未来发展的根本。基于活植物收集的植物园研究工作具有多学科综合的特征, 既对基础生物学研究具有重要意义, 也与经济繁荣、社会发展和人类日常生活密切相关。     

论我国国家植物园体系建设: 以任务带学科构建国家植物园迁地保护综合体系

植物园诞生的原初是“皇家”或“国家”意志的产物, 植物园的概念从公元前2,800年我国的“神农本草园”起源, 至今已历经沧桑巨变, 而西方文艺复兴后演替出了现代植物园。科研、保护、教育与示范四大功能始终是植物园的主线。植物园作为专门从事野生植物收集、科学研究、引种驯化和保护利用的专业研究机构, 始终肩负着国家的重要使命。本文系统综述了植物园的起源与演变, 并对世界各国的国家植物园与国家植物园体系进行了系统梳理和分析。在对我国植物园历史与发展概况总结的基础上, 论述了我国国家植物园体系建设的定位与目标、区域布局、科学研究、人才队伍、基础设施等五个方面的思考, 以任务带学科构建我国国家植物园迁地保护综合体系。     

植物园发展战略研究

本文包括 (1)正确认识世界植物园发展的经验和 (2 )我国植物园发展的战略。阐述世界植物园发展的源、流、兴、衰和各国植物园之间因时而异的主、辅、唱、和关系。提出我国植物园新世纪战略目标和综合发展战略 ,认为万种药用植物的迁地保护和栽培化 ,以及城市植物环境的构建可以作为研究的重点     

Urban Areas and Isolated Remnants of Natural Habitats: An Action Proposal for Botanical Gardens

The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) advocates an increase of the number of botanical gardens throughout the world as one of the measures that can help to preserve the world's biodiversity. To implement this strategy, the present work brings forward a suggestion particularly suited to tropical regions: establishing municipal botanical gardens. It refers to the experience of a newly opened municipal botanical garden in Brazil, comparing its attractive power on visitors to that of other botanical gardens included in the Brazilian network of Botanical Gardens. It also presents considerations on in situ conservation in small remnants and on the importance of urban reserves to preserve the regional biodiversity and spread the conservationist philosophy. The present proposal promotes the participation of local communities making the public opinion more aware and active, besides being able to counterbalance proposals that support protecting the world biodiversity through interventionist actions. It assumes that, through actions planned and coordinated by regional and national botanical garden networks, the measure proposed can mitigate the anthropic actions exerted on important natural reserves all over the world.