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Behind The Scenes

Garden Map

Use the interactive map to explore the Garden.

Many things encountered in everday life are derived from plants -- plants that you can see at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. Learn more about the origin of the ordinary.

 

Amphibian Breeding Program

The amphibian program at the Atlanta Botanical Garden has grown by leaps and bounds recently. Currently, five amphibian exhibits on public display feature more than 100 animals, but this is just a small part of what is going on behind the scenes.

The frog lab houses a few hundred frogs that are all native to Central and South America. Many of the inhabitants are non-existent in collections, and here at the Atlanta Botanical Garden we are taking great strides to learn the captive reproductive behavior of these rare species in an attempt to maintain captive populations over a long period of time. This is becoming increasingly important as many of these species are rapidly becoming extinct throughout their natural range due to a number of factors.

In June 2005, the Atlanta Botanical Garden and Zoo Atlanta together began a massive amphibian recovery program in Central America and around the world.

In recent years, the use of insulated overseas shipping containers (termed “Amphibian Pods”) has been successful in creating biosecure laboratories to house and breed amphibians. In April 2008, the first Amphibian Pod in the U.S. was bestowed on the Garden program, and is now being used for amphibian breeding  of the critically endangered Horned Marsupial Frog, among others.

These units are totally self-contained, fully plumbed and wired for immediate use for housing critically endangered species. Until now, these techniques have only been used in Australia where this concept was pioneered and perfected to some degree. Water treatment and other measures prevent contamination of surrounding environments and also introduction of potential pathogens into the collection. Specimens produced in these facilities are suitable for reintroduction programs.

 

Tissue Culture Lab

The Tissue Culture Lab offers visitors the opportunity to see plant cloning and propagation up close through a floor-to-ceiling window.

Tissue culture, also known as micro-propagation, allows for the rapid propagation of a large number of plants from a very small amount of original plant material.

The Ron Determann Tissue Culture Laboratory, the cornerstone of the Atlanta Botanical Garden conservation program, helps propagate hard-to-propagate plants such as the terrestrial orchids that are native to the southeastern United States. Tropical and native orchids, carnivorous plants and Trilliums are among the many plants being propagated.

The lab is also a research facility dedicated to the development of propagation techniques for rare species and dissemination of protocols to other growers.

Atlanta Botanical Garden staff are experimenting with cutting-edge micro-propagation techniques. Visitors are able to observe tissue culture procedures and understand the conservation work the Atlanta Botanical Garden previously conducted behind the scenes.