The potential role of public gardens as sentinels of plant invasion

Abstract

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.

Use of an Arboretum and DNA Barcoding for the Detection and Identification of Leaf-Mining Insects on Alien Woody Plants

“…This study reminds researchers and practitioners to focus more attention on arboreta and botanical gardens, tree nurseries, parks, and other man-made plantings, bearing in mind that such sites may provide great potential to detect new alien species and identify emerging pests among native species that have the ability to build new trophic associations with alien woody plants [11,14,87]. Such data will be invaluable for early warning and early action systems and, therefore, for effective plant protection against tree pests [11,13,19,87].…”

“…On the other hand, these man-made plantings harboring a variety of alien and native plants can provide valuable opportunities for studying the trophic shifts of native pests and pathogens to alien plants and for identifying the biosecurity risks that these organisms may pose if they spread beyond their native range [11,12]. Therefore, arboreta and botanical gardens are often viewed as sentinel plantings and can be used for a variety of purposes in plant health issues [11,13,14].…”

Pollen production in olive cultivars and its interannual variability

“…On the other hand, ‘Genotype 92’ was a chance seedling from the UCO breeding programme, being androsterile but also presenting staminate flowers and therefore being unable to produce fruits. These two characteristics make ‘Genotype 92’ a highly valuable variety in an ornamental context ( Ashok and Velmurugan, 2020 ; Culley et al , 2022 ).…”

Conservation Management Practices for Biodiversity Preservation in Urban Informal Green Spaces: Lessons from Central European City

“…We found a link between former land use as built-up areas, gardens, and orchards with a high share of invasive plant species (Table 6). According to the literature, gardens near homes and allotment gardens may be the biggest potential source of alien and invasive species [103][104][105][106]. Many invasive species were introduced into the native flora as ornamental plants in gardens [107].…”