Conservation  Native Plants
 |
The Atlanta Botanical Garden is working with private landowners, government agencies, and other nonprofit conservation groups to restore and manage threatened plant communities in Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida.
The primary focus of the Atlanta Botanical Garden conservation program has been the monitoring, restoration and conservation of the unique and species-rich bog communities that are found throughout the Coastal Plain and southern Appalachian Mountains of the southeastern United States. Since its inception, the Garden's conservation program has expanded to include work with 124 native plant species of which 22 are federally protected.
Through propagation, outplanting, management and safeguarding, the Atlanta Botanical Garden has played an active role in insuring the long-term survival of many rare and endangered plant species.
 Habitat Restoration
Conservation Broadcasts
Rare Species Recovery
Conservation Partners |
|
The key to Atlanta Botanical Garden's Conservation Program is using low-cost restoration and recovery techniques, and to work directly with local landowners and any relevant agencies, botanical institutes and organizations.
The success of the program is based on the high level of horticultural and botanical expertise of its staff members, their dedication to each project and their ability to work on a variety of different levels - local, national or international.
Learn about our conservation programs and facilities:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Native Plants
 l |
|
Habitat Restoration
In the battle to save endangered species from extinction, habitat restoration is one of the most important weapons.
The right growing conditions must be maintained, or, in some cases, re-created to allow for increased viability and health of plant populations.
The Atlanta Botanical Garden's nature conservation program has developed simple, hands-on techniques for restoring natural habitats, in particular, bog habitats.
Managing sites with a combination of prescribed burning and hand-cutting is essential to controlling the growth of woody plants and to maintaining an open, herbaceous plant community.
Conservation Broadcasts
Director of Conservation & Research Dr. Jenny Cruse-Sanders and Amphibian Conservation Biologist Dr. Dante Fenolio have been presenting talks about the Garden programs on broadcast radio.
Atlanta Business Radio discussion on the Frog Pod (scroll down to third story)
Garden Staff are taking action against amphibian extinction through the Amphibian Pod, which was developed with the help of friends at Advanced Coastal Technologies. Right now there are about 30 species of frogs in the Pod, which is a special modular frog biosecure lab that is used to breed and house these endangered creatures. The study of amphibians has played a critical role in helping scientists discover cures to human diseases like AIDS and cancer.
Glycomics Radio
On this program Staff discussed the role of Amphibian sciences in health care discoveries as well a how this research is quickly rooting itself in Glycomics. Dr. Fenolio explained that the fact that amphibians have a mucin layer on their skin surface, which is their adaptation to environment but is also their "Achilles heel "if left un aided by chemical defenses. He went on to state that their skin surface is highly permeable and has to be protected by chemical barriers which help the amphibians fight off fungus, bacteria, and other dangers to survive. And these same barriers aid greatly in the treatment and prevention of diseases in humans. He went on to explain that the study of these mucin layers has led scientists to a breakthrough that may be a great option for prevention of mucosal HIV transmission.
Dr. Cruse-Sanders summarized the projects at the Botanical Garden and their work to create projects and partner with leading researchers utilizing their incredible species variation.
The Thin Green Line focuses work by Robert Hill and Garden staff "head-starting" native Gopher Frogs for release. Allison Argo and her crew visited the garden for a documentary film for PBS’ Nature series.
Rare Species Recovery
The Atlanta Botanical Garden's role in recovery projects involves seed collection, propagation and growth of indexed individuals to be used for reintroduction and augmentation.
The Atlanta Botanical Garden conducts many projects in collaboration with as well as other members, and is under contract with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) to assist in the recovery of several endangered plant species.
The Atlanta Botanical Garden is working on the recovery of the following federally endangered plant species: Helonias bullata, Sarracenia oreophila, Sarracenia rubra ssp. alabamensis, Sarracenia rubra ssp. jonesii, Schwalbea americana, Torreya taxifolia, Geum radiatum and Hedyotis purpurea var. Montana, Liatris helleri, Solidago spithamaea and Rhus michauxii.
Conservation Partners
As a charter member of the Georgia Plant Conservation Alliance (GPCA), an umbrella organization dedicated to harnessing horticultural advances in the name of conservation, the Atlanta Botanical Garden has been instrumental in developing many of the horticultural techniques for rare plant propagation and restoration that have been applied in GPCA field projects.
In addition to the GPCA, the Garden is currently cooperating with the following conservation organizations to preserve and restore threatened plant communities in the Southeast:
|
|
|
|
