Seed Bank and Lab

Science & Conservation

Dustin Wolkis, PhD

Scientific Curator of Seed Conservation

Dustin Wolkis is responsible for curating NTBG’s conservation seed collection and is the principal investigator for seed conservation research. Dustin holds an MSc in Plant Biology and Conservation from Arizona State University, US and a PhD from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, focused on seed conservation biology in the Hawaiian flora. Dustin is also Deputy Chair of the IUCN SSC Seed Conservation Specialist Group, and Affiliate Graduate Faculty in Botany at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa.

Jena Osmani, MSc

Seed Bank & Laboratory Technician

Jena Osmani comes to NTBG after defending her MSc in 2023 in Environmental Horticulture at University of Florida. This Florida native studied seed production and post-harvest drying treatments in culturally important crop and ecologically important wild species. For the last year Jena has been studying fruit production and pre-sowing treatments in saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) where she employed the use of tissue culture to enhance commercial production. Jena will be working in the Seed Bank & Laboratory studying ex situ seed, pollen, and spore conservation. She looks forward to bringing her unique skill set to aid in the conservation of Hawaiʻi’s imperiled plant species.

Seed banking is an important ex situ conservation strategy for rare and threatened flora and the NTBG Seed Bank and Laboratory currently includes over 17 million seeds representing 533 native Hawaiian taxa (923 total taxa, ecotypes and cultivars), which are routinely checked for viability. The seeds are either collected by NTBG field botanists or deposited by State departments and collaborating institutions.

The emphasis of the Seed Lab is determining seed and pollen storage behavior, seed longevity, seed borne pathogen abatement, and seed dormancy and dormancy alleviation of native Hawaiian plant species of conservation importance. Our research aims to understand how seeds respond to varying moisture and temperature, identifying regeneration thresholds, and determining optimal seed propagation techniques. To help secure Hawai‘i’s foundational ‘ōhi‘a trees (Metrosideros species), which are now threatened by fungi causing Rapid Ohia Death (ROD), the Seed Bank has been collecting and now holds over 6.4 million ‘ōhi‘a seeds with an additional 2.4 million seeds backed up at partner institutions.

In addition, we are using more than 30 years of occurrence, distribution and viability data associated with the collections to understand more about the health of Hawai‘i’s flora and rare plants, which can be used to prioritize and improve collecting and conservation efforts.

Examples of recent scientific publications from NTBGs Seed Bank and Laboratory:

Yelenik S., Trauernicht C., Mcdaniel S., Wolkis D., Chambers T. (2024) Increasing wildfire incidence and the need for seed in Hawaiʻi. Native Plants Journal, 25(2): 61–67. https://doi.org/10.3368/npj.25.2.61.

Baldwin B.G., Fawcett S., Wolkis D. (2024) Embryo excision in Compositae, with implications for combating biodiversity loss. Applications in Plant Sciences, e11608. https://doi.org/10.1002/aps3.11608.

Wolkis D., Eltringham C., Fant J., Foster J., Knight T., Meyer A., Romero-Saltos H., Walsh S.K., Wood A., Havens K. (2024) Pollen banking is a critical need for conserving plant diversity. Nature Plants. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-024-01757-1.

Opgenorth, M., Sailing, E., Rønsted, N., Wolkis, D. (2024) Gardenia (Rubiaceae) seed conservation physiology with emphasis on rare Hawaiian species. Plant Ecology and Evolution 157(2): 220–235. https://doi.org/10.5091/plecevo.120167.

Walsh, S.K., Wolkis, D., Maunder M. (2024) Plant Conservation. In: Scheiner, S.M. (ed.) Encyclopedia of Biodiversity 3rd Edition. Elsevier, Cambridge. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-822562-2.00339-X.

Saling, E. and Wolkis, D. (2023). Viability of ‘ōhai Sesbania tomentosa seeds after 3 decades of ambient conditions. Oryx – The International Journal of Conservation, https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605323001461.

Walsh, S.K., Wolkis, D., Abbriano, R.M., Barton, K.E. (2023). Variability in seed salinity tolerance in an island coastal community, Annals of Botany, mcad129, https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcad129.

Hay, F.R., Rezaei, S., Wolkis, D., Mcgill, C., (2023). Determination and control of seed moisture. Seed Science and Technology, 51, 267–285. https://doi.org/10.15258/sst.2023.51.2.11.

Wolkis, D., Saling, E., Baskin, C.C., Baskin, J.M. (2023). Seed dormancy and storage behavior of the Hawaiian endemic Coprosma kauensis (Rubiaceae). Pacific Conservation Biology. https://doi.org/10.1071/PC22049.

Wolkis, D., Baskin, C.C., Baskin, J.M., Rønsted, N. (2022). Seed dormancy and germination of the endangered exceptional Hawaiian lobelioid Brighamia rockii. Applications in Plant Science, e11492. https://doi.org/10.1002/aps3.11492.

Hay, F.R., R.M. Davies, J.B. Dickie, D.J. Merritt, and D. Wolkis. (2022). More on seed longevity phenotyping. Seed Science Research: 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0960258522000034.

Wolkis D, Walsh SK, Barnes CJ, Stacy EA, Rønsted N. (2022). Variation in germination traits inform conservation planning of Hawaiʻi’s foundational ‘Ōhiʻa trees. Journal of Sustainable Forestry, https://doi.org/10.1080/10549811.2021.1999272.

Wolkis D, Jones K, Flynn T, DeMotta M, Rønsted N. (2021). Germination of seeds from herbarium specimens as a last conservation resort for resurrecting extinct or critically endangered Hawaiian plants. Conservation Science and Practice, e576. https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.576.

Wolkis D, Blackwell S, Villanueva SK (2020). Conservation seed physiology of the ciénega endemic, Eryngium sparganophyllum (Apiaceae). Conservation Physiology, 8:1, coaa17.
https://doi.org/10.1093/conphys/coaa017.

Jensen SM, Wolkis D, Keshtkar E, Streibig JC, Ritz C. (2020). Improved two-step analysis of germination data from complex experimental designs. Seed Science Research 30(3): 194-198. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0960258520000331.

Baskin C, Baskin J, Yoshinaga A, Wolkis D (2020). Seed dormancy in Campanulaceae: morphological and morphophysiological dormancy in six species of Hawaiian lobelioids. Botany, 0:ja. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjb-2020-0009.

Baskin CC, Baskin JM, Yoshinaga A, Wolkis D. (2020). Physiological dormancy in seeds of tropical montane woody species in Hawai`i. Plant Species Biology 36(1), 60-71. https://doi.org/10.1111/1442-1984.12295.

Bernard J, Brock KC, Tonnell V, Walsh S, Wenger JP, Wolkis D, Weiblen GD. (2020). New species assemblages disrupt obligatory mutualisms between figs and their pollinators. Frontiers in Plant Science, 8, 406. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2020.564653.

Chau M, Chambers T, Weisenberger L, Keir M, Kroessig TI, Wolkis D, Kam R, Yoshinaga AY. (2019). Seed freeze sensitivity and ex situ longevity of 295 species in the native Hawaiian flora. American Journal of Botany 106(9): 1–23. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajb2.1351.

Wolkis, D., Deans, S. (2019). Picking from the past in preparation for a pest: assessing the potential for herbaria to serve as novel sources for ʻōhiʻa seed preservation. Biopreservation and Biobanking 17(6) 583-590.
https://doi.org/10.1089/bio.2019.0044.

Wolkis D and Walsh SK. (2018). Dormancy and germination of two Kaua’i endemic Hibiscus taxa. Seed Science and Technology 46: 267Á274.
https://doi.org/10.15258/sst.2018.46.2.08.

Wolkis D, Baskin CC, Baskin JM. (2018). Dormancy‐breaking and germination requirements of seeds of the Hawaiian endemic Dianella sandwicensis (Xanthorrhoeaceae). Australian Journal of Botany 66: 213Á217. https://doi.org/10.1071/BT17214.

Our Collections

Living Collections

Herbarium

Library

Botanical Research Center

Seed Bank & Lab

DNA Tissue Bank

To learn more about our collections browse these pages. Some of our underlying databases are public. Access to the herbarium and library collections in the Juliet Rice Wichman Botanical Research Center for scientific or education purposes can be arranged. See contact information under each collection.

Public tours of NTBGs five gardens can be booked online. The Behind the Scenes tour, South Shore Kauai includes the nursery and botanical research center.