The challenge for botanic garden science

Smith, Paul

doi:10.1002/ppp3.10

Cited by 35 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…In order to receive the benefits that trees provide, we need people who have the skills required to care for trees. Horticulture experts and plant scientists are of vital importance to the world, and they need to be future‐focused in their work, actively seeking positive outcomes for society's challenges (Blackmore & Paterson, ; Raven, ; Smith, ). This new era of the Anthropocene requires a new era of horticulture.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The benefits of trees for livable and sustainable communities

Turner‐Skoff

Cavender

2019

Plants People Planet

190

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Societal Impact Statement Trees play a critical role for people and the planet. Numerous studies have demonstrated that the presence of trees and urban nature can improve people's mental and physical health, children's attention and test scores, the property values in a neighborhood, and beyond. Trees cool our urban centers. Trees are essential for healthy communities and people. The benefits that trees provide can help cities and countries meet 15 of the 17 internationally supported United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. This critical review provides a comprehensive argument that trees should be considered an important part of the equation by project managers and civic leaders as we collectively work toward reaching these sustainability goals. Summary We live in an era influenced by humans to the point that the Earth's systems are now altered. In addition, a majority of the world's population live in cities. To meet the needs of people in a changing world, The United Nations General Assembly created the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDG) to improve the quality of life for people. These broad goals outline the greatest challenges of our time. An effective strategy to assist in meeting these goals is to plant and protect trees, especially in cities where the majority of people live. This paper serves as a critical review of the benefits of trees. Trees promote health and social well‐being by removing air pollution, reducing stress, encouraging physical activity, and promoting social ties and community. Children with views of trees are more likely to succeed in school. Trees promote a strong economy and can provide numerous resources to the people that need them. While cities are getting hotter, trees can reduce urban temperatures. They provide habitat and food for animals. Finally, trees are valuable green infrastructure to manage stormwater. Money spent on urban forestry has a high return on investment. As we navigate this human‐dominated era, we need skilled people who understand the nuances of the built environment and trees as we strategically plan the cities of the future. The overwhelming evidence from the scientific literature suggests that investing in trees is an investment in meeting the UN SDG, and ultimately an investment for a better world.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The benefits of trees for livable and sustainable communities

Turner‐Skoff

Cavender

2019

Plants People Planet

190

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“…The Legon botanical garden staff should deploy their expertise to support practical conservation, management and use (Smith, 2015). LBG need to demonstrate the value of their collections.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The Legon botanical garden can be said to fit perfectly into these characteristics making it one of the attractive destinations to people in the country. Smith (2019) points out that a garden containing scientifically ordered and maintained collections of plants, usually documented and labelled, and open to the public for the purposes of recreation, education and research (Ankoma, 2014;5) is a Botanical garden. In the context of the BGCI, the use of the term 'botanical gardens' should be interpreted to include arboretum and other specialized forms of plant collection.…”

Section: Concepts Of Botanical Gardensmentioning

confidence: 99%

The new roles of Legon Botanical Garden as visitor destination in Ghana

Cudjoe

Gbedemah

2019

JoSTE

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This study aims to examine the travel motivations and determine the most attractive facilities of visitors to the University of Ghana's Legon botanical garden in Accra, Ghana. Research Methodology: The study relied on convenience sampling method to administer structured questionnaires to 127 visitors to the Legon botanical garden. Results: Findings show that the main reason for visiting the garden is to admire the beauty of the garden which is the main reason for establishing botanical gardens. The most attractive facility in the garden, however, turns out to be the canopy walkway and the lawn. Conspicuously missing is the fact that they did not avail themselves to enquire or demand to know tree species and their names in the garden. Limitations: The study is limited to only adults who visited the garden at the time of the study even though they are on the minority compared to children. Also, the study is limited only to the Legon botanical garden even though it is not the only garden in Ghana. Contribution: This study contributes to the knowledge in the social sciences by pointing out the most important reasons why people are visiting botanical gardens. This is because the number of visitors seems to be increasing in Ghana. However, the findings show that the visitors do not visit the garden for education, research or conservation purposes but for leisure activities which is not the main reason for establishing these gardens.

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“…This perspective is excellent, but specific implementation is still lacking. Another model to be examined might be the successful Botanical Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) based at Kew, U.K., which has already had positive global influence (Smith, 2019). Our conclusion must be that many world organizations dealing with conservation and biodiversity already exist, but our need is to organize our own international community of systematic biologists so that we can interface directly with all the other initiatives and organizations.…”

Section: ■ Priorities For the Systematic Biology Communitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges facing systematic biology

Stuessy

2020

TAXON

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Systematic biology is fundamental for providing organized information about the living world. It clarifies what organisms share our planet, and it also reveals the basic short-term and long-term processes that have given rise to this diversity. Human society is rapidly modernizing, largely through increased digital communications tied closely to satellite innovations. Communication is now global and instantaneous, allied with an awareness of place made possible by global positioning technology. Despite many positive recent developments, numerous tensions remain that threaten a tranquil world order and negatively impact biodiversity, such as between developed and developing countries, democratic and authoritarian governments, and among religious groups. The increasing human population is also bringing pressures to bear on global biodiversity through activities that result in air and water pollution, topsoil erosion, deforestation, ozone depletion, global warming, and taxic loss. The systematic biology community has been unable to respond effectively to these many new challenges due to fragmentation and lack of cohesion. Systematists have tended to focus more on issues relevant to their own taxonomic groups (e.g., bacteria, ferns, fungi, reptiles, mammals, etc.) and much less on global concerns. Systematists must become better organized to allow the global priority of inventorying the planet to be achieved as soon as practicable. A global organization, an International Federation for Systematic Biology, should be formed to serve as a coordinator to help articulate five-year and longer plans. Large-scale funding (billions of dollars) must be sought to allow implementation of shared goals. Projects must be created that more obviously connect in some fashion to major societal problems such as poverty, water resources, food production, and human health. The astronomy and nuclear physics communities provide models of successful planning and implementation, the former on understanding the extreme distant reality of our existence, and the latter on the extremely small atomic dimensions. Systematic biology focuses largely on understanding the middle range of reality that we can see and more easily directly experience. Making the case for understanding at this level should, in principle, be the easiest of all. Fundamental is that projects be simple in concept, visionary in perspective, and offering economic stimulus for participants (i.e., the creation of new jobs).

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The challenge for botanic garden science

Cited by 35 publications

References 14 publications

The benefits of trees for livable and sustainable communities

The benefits of trees for livable and sustainable communities

The new roles of Legon Botanical Garden as visitor destination in Ghana

Challenges facing systematic biology

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