By Dr. David Lorence, Director, Science and Conservation      

NTBG’s mission is unique among botanical gardens worldwide: our research is focused on plants of the Pacific, a diverse region covering 64 million square miles with thousands of tropical islands. Pacific floras are some of the most threatened on the planet, facing competition from non-native plants and animals, severe deforestation and habitat loss, and impacts from climate change.

Even today plant life on many Pacific islands remains poorly studied from a scientific perspective. With rampant deforestation and habitat alteration, expertise in plant taxonomy (classification and naming) and systematics is needed to identify and name new species so that researchers can best determine how to prioritize species for conservation.

Plants of the Pacific

Because of NTBG’s location in the central Pacific, our primary focus is on plants of Hawaii and other archipelagos including the Marquesas Islands, Samoa, and various islands in Micronesia and Melanesia. Over three decades, our scientists have discovered and named dozens of new species from Hawaii and the Marquesas Islands.

Last year, NTBG’s Herbarium Collections Manager Tim Flynn, Research Biologist Ken Wood, and I took part in a collecting expedition to Samoa along with Senior McBryde Research Fellow Dr. W. Arthur Whistler. The expedition was planned as Dr. Whistler was completing a written Flora of Samoa to be published as a book by NTBG and online at the Smithsonian Institution’s Pacific Island Floras website.

Although Dr. Whistler began studying the Samoan flora over 40 years ago and has collected thousands of herbarium specimens, a number of areas in Samoa remain poorly known and undocumented. Additionally, some species have not been seen or documented in over a century — and in one case in nearly two centuries. On our “to find” list were 16 species considered lost on the islands of Upolu and Savaii in Independent Samoa.

With grant funding from the National Geographic Society and the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund and additional support from NTBG’s McBryde Fund, we were able to organize a six-week botanical expedition between May – July 2016.

Exploring the Unknown

Our objectives were to conduct botanical field surveys of poorly known or unexplored areas of Samoa’s two main islands Upolu and Savaii; collect herbarium voucher specimens of the vascular plants, bryophytes (mosses and liverworts), and lichens; attempt to relocate rare and poorly known flowering plant and fern species; document the state of the natural vegetation and threats; and to help build local capacity in botany and the conservation of rare Samoan plant species. 

This project is urgent because the threats to Samoa’s upland ecosystems will likely lead to reduced populations and possibly the loss of native species. We see great importance in contributing to the Flora of Samoa which will be an invaluable reference tool for Samoan conservation efforts.

The expedition included Mereia Tabua (University of the South Pacific, Fiji) who studies bryophytes (mosses and liverworts), and Melissa Johnson, then a Ph.D. candidate at Claremont College and Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden, California who studies the genus Cyrtandra (Gesneriaceae). Mereia, recipient of NTBG’s McBryde Young Investigator Fellowship for capacity building in tropical botany, worked closely with Tim while Melissa’s participation provided an opportunity to study Samoan Cyrtandra species in the field.

The two young investigators — one of whom was selected as our first McBryde Young Investigators Fellowship — were part of an effort that consisted of working alongside NTBG senior scientists and in close collaboration with Samoan Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MNRE) and Samoan Conservation Society (SCS) staff, who were essential for organizing the expedition, obtaining collection permits, gaining permission to conduct field work on village lands, and obtaining guides and trail cutters.

After flying from Honolulu to Pago-Pago (American Samoa), we took a small plane to Upolu, where our team spent three weeks collecting, using the Vailima Botanical Garden as our base of operations. Later we traveled by inter-island ferry to Savaii, where I joined the others members of the expedition for the next three weeks.

In the Field

Fieldwork phases included valuable collaborations and training MNRE staff in identification and collecting techniques, gathering population data, taking GPS points, and collecting, pressing, and drying specimens. We generally drove into the mountains as far as possible then hiked to areas of relatively intact native vegetation which is mostly confined to mountain slopes and summits.

In addition to searching for the 16 rare species, we carried out general collecting in these remote and rarely-visited areas to document the vegetation, including both native and invasive species, for the Flora of Samoa project. We took photographs to supplement vouchered specimens, and collected leaf material in silica gel for molecular phylogenetic studies. Since ferns are of special interest to NTBG staff, including me, they were given special emphasis. The resulting images and collections contributed to the Flora of Samoa project and the joint Smithsonian Institution-NTBG website.

A population of an extremely rare fern not collected in over a century, Botrychium daucifolium (Ophioglossaceae), was also discovered on Savaii. Additional species collected but not on the list include two possibly undescribed ferns from Savaii. 

In the end, we were able to achieve the majority of our goals collecting a total of 2,607 herbarium specimens, including 264 bryophytes, with the primary set deposited at Herbarium PTBG (the official name of NTBG’s herbarium). Ultimately, only two of the lost species were encountered during our field work, the others being either extremely rare or possibly extinct. 

Because time and access to other remote mountainous areas on Savaii were limited, it is possible that additional field work could reveal populations of these species and perhaps even new species. Certainly more field work is needed, especially on Savaii. Three healthy populations of Abutilon whistleri, a rare tree belonging to the Malvaceae (hibiscus family) were located in montane wet forests on Savaii.

Lost but not Forgotten

Finally, all 16 “lost” Samoan species were added to The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Although not providing legal protection, red listing draws attention to a species rarity and threats they face and provides information to guide conservation measures. The expedition provided the opportunity to help grow NTBG’s herbarium collection with the addition of over 2,000 new herbarium specimens, another valuable contribution to the Flora of Samoa project. 

Beyond our botanical goals, we were able to strengthen and make new contacts with colleagues in Samoa while laying the foundation for future collaborations. With respect to our rediscovered rare species, we were thrilled to find they were alive and well, and remain hopeful that others will eventually be found.

By Larry Schokman, Director Emeritus, The Kampong

When describing a botanical garden’s living collection as priceless, it is meant in the truest sense of the word. The plants that comprise the living collection at The Kampong transcend monetary value. They are, after all, a living collection that represent eons of evolutionary change.

One of the most prized collections at The Kampong is the genus Adansonia[1] commonly known as baobab. There are only eight species in this genus and The Kampong has six of them (not many botanical gardens can make this claim!). Of the eight, six are endemic to Madagascar, the center of baobab diversity. Adansonia digitata is from sub-Saharan Africa and A. gregorii is native to arid Northwest Australia.  A possible ninth species (A. kilima) in Africa has not yet been positively identified.

The Kampong Baobab Collection

The Kampong’s collection includes a 22-foot tall A. madagascariensis (the only red-flowering baobab) and A. rubrostipa whose swollen trunk will eventually assume the distinctive bottle shape for which baobabs are known. With the exception of A. digitata, all trees are less than 15 years old.

The name baobab can be traced back to the fruit markets of 16th century Cairo and was probably derived from the Arabic bu hibab meaning “many seeded fruit.” Carl Linnaeus, considered the father of modern taxonomy, named the genus Adansonia in honor of French botanist Michael Adanson, the first person to describe the tree (1757), calling it the “calabash tree.”

Within The Kampong’s collection, Adansonia digitata is the largest and imbued with greatest historical significance. The seed of this antediluvian giant was collected by Dr. David Fairchild in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on April 9, 1928 and planted at the USDA Chapman Field in Miami where it stood until it was blown down by Hurricane Cleo on August 29, 1964.

When The Kampong’s previous owner and “savior” Catherine Hauberg Sweeney[2] heard this fallen tree was scheduled to be destroyed, she offered to rescue and plant it at The Kampong. Transplanting this magnificent specimen was a horticultural success and was likely the first time a mature baobab of this size had been transplanted.

Withstanding the Test of Time

In time this giant baobab reestablished itself on the grounds of The Kampong until some five decades later it was knocked down for a second time when Hurricane Wilma[3] blasted The Kampong on October 24, 2005.

After I sent out an urgent appeal (as Director of The Kampong at that time), to our Board, Fellows, Members, and many neighbors and well-wishers, they responded with generosity beyond our wildest expectations. Their kind support took care of post-hurricane needs as well as the replanting of our fallen baobab which, without our supporters, might not have survived.

Time was of the essence if we were going to save this enormous tree that was lying like a wounded elephant sprawled from The Kampong into the adjacent Hissar property with the majority of its roots dangerously exposed to harsh sunlight. Using a backhoe and two agile tree climbers, in what was truly an “all hands on deck” effort, Kampong staff and volunteers cleaned up debris, pruned back damaged branches, and propped up the tree with the aid of the largest crane we could squeeze into The Kampong.

Once upright, we used four cables to anchor the baobab to neighboring trees. The large new hole in which the tree now stood was filled with decayed organic matter in order to persuade this shallow-rooted tree to anchor its roots firmly in the ground, and (hopefully) survive the wrath of future hurricanes. This may be the only baobab to have been transplanted in two different locations on two separate occasions. The two icons of The Kampong, Dr. David Fairchild and Dr. Catherine Sweeney, were intertwined in the history of this tree — quite an extraordinary coincidence.

In their natural habitats where they are not subject to hurricanes, the root systems of large baobabs run along the surface of the soil, rarely descending more than six feet below ground level. This adaptation, common to most succulents, allows the tree to take advantage of even the lightest precipitation, which is key to their survival in arid climes. It’s also why the growth rates of these huge trees can vary quite dramatically in areas of higher rainfall.

The swollen trunks of these succulent plants suddenly narrow just below the branch canopy, giving baobabs their bottle-shaped appearance. During winter, the leafless branches look like roots, earning the nickname “upside down tree.”

The original supposition was that baobabs store large amounts of water in their spongy trunks (up to 80 percent) for use during times of drought. Recent studies, however, refute this.

Apparently the large amount of water stored in its spongy tissue is specifically used for structural stability. If the water in their trunks were to drop below a certain point, the entire tree would collapse under the weight of its canopy. This is why they shed their leaves during dry periods. Reduced photosynthesis means diminished respiration.

The largest of The Kampong baobabs (A. digitata) used to shed its leaves in the winter for eight to ten weeks but now, because of the heavy mulching, it sheds its leaves for half that period of time. It also fruits more prolifically than before it was replanted, even though we do not have the specific animal pollinators from its native habitat.

Hurricane Irma

On September 10^th, 2017, the 400-mile wide Category 5 monster Hurricane Irma tore into Florida’s Cudjoe Key with winds of 150 mph. The eye of the storm was 25 miles wide (the largest hurricane recorded in the Atlantic). By the time the outer bands of the northeast quadrant (the most destructive part of the hurricane) hit Miami, it was barely a Category 1 with sustained winds of up to 80 mph that lasted almost 12 hours. The Kampong received a mere four inches of rain during that time. The extravagance of nature’s savagery was compounded by multiple mini-tornadoes accompanying these winds.

One can only imagine the catastrophic impact that might have occurred if Miami had received a direct hit from that Category 5 hurricane with sustained wind speeds of 185 mph. We dodged the proverbial bullet.

The Kampong suffered considerable damage to its living collection even though the buildings were unscathed. Down went our giant baobab for the third time because of the domino effect of falling trees. The other Adansonia spp. are leafless but remain upright. The Kampong’s Director Craig Morell is making urgent preparations to prop up the giant baobab, as well as all other fallen trees on the property. The top one-third of its extensive canopy will be trimmed before it is uprighted. This operation will make the baobab lighter and make it less susceptible to storm damage. Regular, judicious pruning will prevent this tree from being blown down again.

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[1] The genus Adansonia was originally in the Bombacaceae, but molecular studies have resulted in reassigning it to the sub-family Bombacoidae in the family Malvaceae (Mallow family)

[2] Catherine H. Sweeney purchased The Kampong in 1963 and donated it what was then known as the Pacific Tropical Botanical Garden. As a result, PTBG’s name was changed to National Tropical Botanical Garden by an act of the U.S. Congress in 1988

[3] In 2005, The Kampong was also impacted by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita

NTBG’s drone specialist and GIS coordinator, Ben Nyberg, was featured in a Q&A by Mongabay regarding the use of drones for plant conservation. A link to the Q&A article can found here.

Saturday, April 20, 2019 – 8:00am

Run, jog or walk a beautiful 5k course through McBryde Garden & Allerton Garden

National Tropical Botanical Garden and The Kaua‘i Marathon hosts 5th Annual Roots ‘n Shoots Fun Run 

Kalāheo, Kaua‘i, HI (April 20th, 2019) – National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) and The Kaua‘i Marathon are proud to present the 5th Annual Roots ‘n Shoots Fun Run on Saturday, April 20, 2019 at McBryde Garden and Allerton Garden. All ages are invited to run, jog or walk the beautiful 5k course through the gardens while learning about the diverse surrounding scenery.

Check-in will be at the NTBG South Shore Visitors Center parking lot located at 4425 Lāwa‘i Road (across from Spouting Horn) beginning at 6:00 a.m. Participants will then be shuttled to the start of the race. The Roots ‘n Shoots Fun Run will begin promptly at 8:00 a.m. near McBryde Garden’s Biodiversity Trail – a winding 800-foot path that showcases the evolution of Kaua‘i plant life over the last 450 million years. Along the trail, runners and walkers will enjoy an array of scenery including a rainforest, golden bamboo grove, tropical fruit trees, the Lāwa‘i Stream and magnificent views of the Pacific Ocean.

All participants will receive a free gift and access to the silent auction and drawing. Plus, they can enjoy a post-race continental breakfast catered by Living Foods Gourmet Market and Café with coffee provided by Kaua‘i Coffee Company.

Participants are encouraged to register early. Entry fees for registrations received by April 8, 2019 are $40 for adults and $30 for students (16 and under). After April 8, 2019, entry fees are $50 for adults and $40 for students (16 and under). Proceeds from the Fun Run will benefit The Kaua‘i Marathon’s associated charities. For more information or to register, visit thekauaimarathon.com.

Kalāheo, Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i, USA (January 15, 2019) — Dr. Michael S. Dosmann, Keeper of the Living Collections at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, has been named the 2019 recipient of the David Fairchild Medal for Plant Exploration. In an announcement from its headquarters in Hawai‘i, the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) recognized Dosmann for his outstanding contributions to botanical exploration and horticulture.

The Fairchild Medal will be presented to Dosmann at a black-tie dinner at NTBG’s historical garden and former residence of plant explorer Dr. David Fairchild, The Kampong, in Coconut Grove, Florida on February 1, 2019. The following day he will present a public lecture entitled “Today’s Plant Explorer: Learning from the past to secure a better future.”

Download the Full Press Release

The Hawai‘i-based National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) is now accepting applications for its Environmental Journalism (EJ) Program which is designed for professional journalists (staff or freelance) working in broadcast, print, and online media. The immersive five-day program provides a background in tropical botany, ecology, and conservation, and is designed to enhance well-informed, accurate reporting on environmental issues with a focus on tropical and island systems. 

View the full press release and application at the NTBG.ORG Professional Development Page

The news that one of the two fungal pathogens known to cause Rapid Ohia Death or ROD is now confirmed to be on Kauai is a serious concern. Ohia (Metrosideros spp.), the most abundant native tree in the state of Hawaii, is a foundation species that is essential to all of our wet and mesic forest ecosystems. As we learn more about this situation, I encourage the public to get informed about how to protect our forests and prevent the spread of this pathogen. We all need to implement the best practices that are being recommended by the rapid response team of experts and the State of Hawaii‘i’s Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR). At this time, we encourage you to follow DLNR for the latest news updates. — Chipper Wichman, President and CEO, National Tropical Botanical Garden

Kauai Rapid Ohia Death Video News Release, May 11, 2018 from Hawaii DLNR on Vimeo.

Hawaii Senator Mazie Hirono Introduces Bill to Promote Botanical Research
Legislation would support research, restoration, and use of native plants

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  

Kalāheo, Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i (July 23, 2018) – Hawai‘i Senator Mazie Hirono has introduced a bill that would support native plant research, encourage the hiring of botanists, and promote the use of native plants for projects on federal lands whenever possible.

In a press release, Sen. Hirono said, “Native plants play a crucial role in conserving and protecting our land, and are an important part of our culture.” Hirono added that the bill would provide resources to ensure land managers have the necessary tools and expertise to protect native plants.

The Botanical Sciences and Native Plant Materials Research, Restoration, and Promotion Act (S.3240) would advance plant research through grant programs within the Department of the Interior (DOI); support hiring and retention of botanists within DOI; give preference to using native plants in land management projects; promote inter-agency cooperation on native plant-related activities; and other directives.

National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) President and CEO Chipper Wichman called introduction of the bill “a bright spot that recognizes the importance of perpetuating the native plant diversity of the United States, and the role of research. At a time when an effort has been launched in Washington to undermine the Endangered Species Act, this bill is even more critical in helping support research and conservation work, like that of NTBG, which is protecting our native species.”

NTBG Seed Bank and Laboratory Manager Dustin Wolkis noted that although Hawai‘i makes up less than one percent of the United States, it is home to over half the plant species listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. He added that although plants represent over half of all federally endangered species, they receive less than 4 percent of federal funds available for endangered species protection.

With more than 1,300 native plant species, 90 percent of which are found nowhere else, Hawai‘i has one of the highest rates of endemism in the world and is considered a “hotspot” of both biodiversity and plants threatened with extinction.

If passed into law, NTBG and similar plant science research and conservation organizations could benefit from the bill through new opportunities for people working in plant science and conservation fields, additional funding opportunities for programs designed to protect the environment, and a greater awareness and understanding of the value and importance of rare and endangered native plants across the United States.

The Botanical Sciences and Native Plant bill was introduced on July 18th by Sen. Hirono and co-sponsored by Senators Duckworth (IL), Van Hollen (MD), and Whitehouse (RI). A similar version of the bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives.

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National Tropical Botanical Garden (www.ntbg.org) is a not-for-profit, non-governmental institution with nearly 2,000 acres of gardens and preserves in Hawai‘i and Florida. The institution’s mission is to enrich life through discovery, scientific research, conservation, and education by perpetuating the survival of plants, ecosystems, and cultural knowledge of tropical regions. NTBG is supported primarily through donations and grants.

The NTBG has issued a Request For Proposal for debris removal at the Lower Limahuli Preserve.

Click here to download the RFP

An interdisciplinary research team from the University of Hawai`i at Mānoa (UHM) and the National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG) demonstrated how collaboratively-developed forest restoration in Limahuli Garden & Preserve (Limahuli) can increase community benefits and improve resilience at lower cost than standard forest restoration programs. Because conservation managers are increasingly faced with making restoration decisions constrained by multiple goals and limited budgets, the research team collaborated with conservation professionals at Limahuli to co-design research that will directly inform adaptive management.

Specifically, authors of a newly published study in the journal Conservation Letters asked how manager-defined ecological, hydrologic and cultural metrics of success and long-term managementcosts vary across different restoration strategies. The researchers focused on the ahupua`a of Hā`ena on Kaua`i Island, and evaluated unrestored forest and forests restored to different states—ranging from a pre-human arrival state, to a “hybrid” state that includes mixes of native and non-native species of cultural importance. Their study site was Limahuli Valley, a 400-hectare nature preserve managed by NTBG in the most biodiverse ecoregion of the Hawaiian archipelago, which is home to dozens of endangered plants and birds found nowhere else on earth. They found that restoring forest to a hybrid state provided many of the same services that a restored ‘pre-human’ state can provide, but at a much lower cost. They also found it increased two important services:cultural value and resilience to disturbance such as hurricanes.

The paper “Restoring to the Future: Environmental, Cultural, and Management Tradeoffs in Historical versus Hybrid Restoration of a Highly Modified Ecosystem” has a diverse team of authors from the natural and social sciences as well as natural resource managers: Kimberly M. Burnett, Tamara Ticktin, Leah L. Bremer, Shimona Quazi, Cheryl Geslani, Christopher A. Wada, Natalie Kurashima, Lisa Mandle, Pua`ala Pascua, Taina Depraetere, Dustin Wolkis, Merlin Edmonds, Thomas Giambelluca, Kim A. Falinski, and Kawika B. Winter.

“Restoring forests to a pre-human state on a landscape scale has been idealized, but—given the amount of functional diversity that has gone extinct in Hawai`i—such an approach is almost impossible, ecologically speaking. Beyond that, our research has shown that goal is economically impractical, and it isn’t the best way to engage community in restoration efforts,” said Dr. Kawika Winter, a multidisciplinary ecologist and Research Associate at NTBG who is the anchor author of the new study. “These results can be used by conservation practitioners to guide management actions, and to bring the community back into the forest while improving multiple ecological and social benefits; and do all this at lower costs than programs focused solely on historical restoration goals.”

The methods also have applications far beyond Hawai`i, particularly as conservation managers working in places with a history of cultural engagement with forests, and who are increasingly faced with decisions on how to fund and approach restoration efforts. This new research provides a framework to help managers identify restoration strategies addressing multiple goals in regions where restoration is challenging – areas where invasive species or other issues limit natural regeneration of native species, and/or where local populations depends on natural resources. Lower costs also offer the possibility of scaling-up, a critical consideration since island conservation is underfunded compared to continents.

Dr. Kimberly Burnett, Specialist with the University of Hawai`i Economic Research Organization and lead author of the study, said: “While conservation managers cannot make realistic decisions without considering costs, these type of tradeoff analyses are rare in restoration research. Our study provides a framework to consider these costs and benefits, while providing specific management direction for Limahuli and generalizable lessons for restoration strategies around the world.”

Dr. Tamara Ticktin, co-author on the study, Professor of Botany at UHM, and Principal Investigator on the National Science Foundation grant that funded the research, added: “Like any restoration strategy, hybrid forest restoration also has its limitations. Our study concluded that hybrid forests can be an excellent strategy within a landscape mosaic that also includes more expensive restoration strategies needed to preserve the most endangered species. The value of our multidisciplinary approach is that it provides a powerful tool for resource managers to take into consideration the different metrics that are important to them, and to make more informed decisions about what thatlandscape mosaic of restored forest could look like.”

This study was supported through funding from a National Science Foundation grant to the University of Hawai`i.

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Citation: Burnett KM, Ticktin T, Bremer LL, et al. Restoring to the future: Environmental, cultural, and management trade-offs in historical versus hybrid restoration of a highly modified ecosystem. Conservation Letters. 2018;e12606. https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.12606