Demography and threats to population growth of , a threatened dune plant, in Wisconsin.

Multi-year and multi-site demographic data for rare plants allow researchers to observe threats and project population growth rates and thus long-term persistence of the species, generating knowledge, which allows for effective conservation planning. Demographic studies across more than a decade are extremely rare but allow for the effects of threats to be observed and assessed within the context of interannual environmental variation. We collected demographic data on the Threatened plant in two sites from 2011-2022.

Species-specific effects of production practices on genetic diversity in plant reintroduction programs.

Plant production practices can influence the genetic diversity of cultivated plant materials and, ultimately, their potential to adapt to a reintroduction site. A common step in the plant production process is the application of seed pretreatment to alleviate physiological seed dormancy and successfully germinate seeds. In production settings, the seeds that germinate more rapidly may be favored in order to fill plant quotas.

Supporting long-term sustainability of ex situ collections using a pedigree-based population management approach.

Premise: Living collections maintained for generations are at risk of diversity loss, inbreeding, and adaptation to cultivation. To address these concerns, the zoo community uses pedigrees to track individuals and implement crosses that maximize founder contributions and minimize inbreeding. Using a pedigree management approach, we demonstrate how conducting strategic crosses can minimize genetic issues that have arisen under current practices.

Taxonomic similarity does not predict necessary sample size for conservation: a comparison among five genera.

Effectively conserving biodiversity with limited resources requires scientifically informed and efficient strategies. Guidance is particularly needed on how many living plants are necessary to conserve a threshold level of genetic diversity in collections. We investigated this question for 11 taxa across five genera.

Applying the zoo model to conservation of threatened exceptional plant species.

Maintaining a living plant collection is the most common method of ex situ conservation for plant species that cannot be seed banked (i.e., exceptional species).

Plant conservation genetics in a changing world.

Plant conservation genetics provides tools to guide conservation and restoration efforts, measure and monitor success, and ultimately minimize extinction risk by conserving species as dynamic entities capable of evolving in the face of changing conditions. We consider the application of these tools to rare and common species alike, as ongoing threats that increasingly limit their resilience, evolutionary potential and survival. Whereas neutral marker studies have contributed much to conservation genetics, we argue for a renewed focus on quantitative genetic studies to determine how, or if, species will adapt to changing conditions.

Arabidopsis thaliana: a new test species for phytotoxic bioassays.

Lettuce seeds (Lactuca sativa L.) and other crop species are often used in phytotoxic bioassays that are designed to detect allelochemicals. The seeds of these species are considered ideal because they are readily available, germinate rapidly and uniformly, and are routinely used in laboratories around the world.