scholarly journals Diversity of woody-host infecting Phytophthora species in public parks and botanic gardens as revealed by metabarcoding, and opportunities for mitigation through best practice

2020 ◽  
pp. 67-88
Author(s):  
Sarah Green ◽  
Carolyn E. Riddell ◽  
Debbie Frederickson-Matika ◽  
April Armstrong ◽  
Matt Elliot ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Best Practice ◽  
Dna Barcode ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
Phytophthora Species ◽  
Molecular Technique ◽  
Public Parks ◽  
Botanic Gardens ◽  
Public Gardens ◽  
Multiple Species ◽  
Woody Host

The diversity of Phytophthora species in soils collected from 14 highly disturbed sites in northern Britain, including botanic gardens, arboreta, public parks and other amenity woodland sites, was analysed using a molecular technique known as DNA metabarcoding. This technique enables the identification of multiple species present in a single environmental sample based on a DNA ‘barcode’ unique to each species. The genus Phytophthora was targeted in this study due to its increasing impact on Britain’s forests and woodlands over thelast 20 years. The introduction and spread of new Phytophthora species into Britain has been strongly associated with the movement of traded containerised plants, with a number of Phytophthora outbreaks reported on host trees located in public gardens and parks that had recently undergone planting or landscape regeneration schemes. This study was undertaken to assess the extent to which these highly disturbed sites with extensive planting regimes act as harbours for woody-host infecting Phytophthora species. A total of 23 Phytophthora species, the majority of which are known to be pathogens of woody hosts, were detected across the 14 sites sampled. These included four quarantine-regulated pathogens and four species notpreviously recorded in Britain. Also detected were three as-yet undescribed Phytophthora species and nine oomycete sequences with no clear match to any known genus. There was no effect of geographical location, elevation, underlying soil type, host family or host health status on the Phytophthora assemblages at each site, suggesting that the Phytophthora communities detected are likely to comprise introduced species associated with planting programmes. P. austrocedri and P. pseudosyringae were two of the most abundant Phytophthoraspecies detected, both of which cause serious damage to trees and are regarded as fairly recent introductions to Britain. The practical implications of the findings in terms of mitigating Phytophthora introduction, spread and impact at botanic gardens, arboreta and urban parks are discussed.

scholarly journals Metabarcoding reveals a high diversity of woody host-associatedPhytophthoraspp. in soils at public gardens and amenity woodlands in Britain

PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e6931 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolyn E. Riddell ◽  
Debbie Frederickson-Matika ◽  
April C. Armstrong ◽  
Matt Elliot ◽  
Jack Forster ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Species Diversity ◽  
Internal Transcribed Spacer ◽  
Soil Samples ◽  
Public Parks ◽  
Public Gardens ◽  
Host Trees ◽  
Public Garden ◽  
Woody Host ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
High Diversity

Forests and woodlands worldwide are being severely impacted by invasivePhytophthoraspecies, with initial outbreaks in some cases occurring on host trees located in public parks and gardens. These highly disturbed sites with diverse planting practices may indeed act as harbours for invasivePhytophthorapathogens which are particularly well adapted to surviving in soil. High throughput Illumina sequencing was used to analysePhytophthoraspecies diversity in soil samples collected from 14 public garden/amenity woodland sites in northern Britain. Bioinformatic analyses revealed some limitations to using internal transcribed spacer as the barcode region; namely reporting of false positives and ambiguous species matches. Taking this into account, 35 distinct sequences were amplified across the sites, corresponding to 23 knownPhytophthoraspecies as well as twelve oomycete sequences with no match to any knownPhytophthoraspecies.Phytophthora pseudosyringaeandP. austrocedri, both of which cause serious damage to trees and are regarded as fairly recent introductions to Britain, were the two most abundantPhytophthoraspecies detected. There was no evidence that any of the detectedPhytophthoraspecies were more associated with any one type of host, healthy or otherwise. This study has demonstrated the ubiquity and diversity ofPhytophthoraspecies endemic in highly managed, extensively planted soil environments in Britain. Suggested improvements to the methodology and the practical implications of the findings in terms of mitigatingPhytophthoraspread and impact are discussed.

Thinking with a landscape: the Australian Alps, horses and pedagogical considerations

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-19
Author(s):  
Scott Jukes
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Education ◽  
Educational Research ◽  
Specific Problem ◽  
Geographical Location ◽  
Outdoor Environmental Education ◽  
Australian Alps ◽  
Environmental Educators ◽  
Multiple Species ◽  
Constructing Knowledge

Abstract This paper proposes some possibilities for thinking with a landscape as a pedagogical concept, inspired by posthuman theory. The idea of thinking with a landscape is enacted in the Australian Alps (AA), concentrating on the contentious environmental dilemma involving introduced horses and their management in this bio-geographical location. The topic of horses is of pedagogical relevance for place-responsive outdoor environmental educators as both a location-specific problem and an example of a troubling issue. The paper has two objectives for employing posthuman thinking. Firstly, it experiments with the alternative methodological possibilities that posthuman theory affords for outdoor environmental education, including new ways of conducting educational research. Secondly, it explores how thinking with a landscape as a pedagogical concept may help open ways of considering the dilemma that horses pose. The pedagogical concept is enacted through some empirical events which sketch human–horse encounters from the AA. These sketches depict some of the pedagogical conversations and discursive pathways that encounters can provoke. Such encounters and conversations are ways of constructing knowledge of the landscape, covering multiple species, perspectives and discursive opportunities. For these reasons, this paper may be of relevance for outdoor environmental educators, those interested in the AA or posthuman theorists.

Queen's Parks in Queensland

2012 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-26
Author(s):  
Jean Sim
Keyword(s):  
Local Area Network ◽  
Local Area ◽  
Area Network ◽  
Botanic Gardens ◽  
Public Gardens ◽  
History Of ◽  
British Colonial ◽  
Agricultural Industries ◽  
The Government ◽  
Royal Botanic Gardens

Queen's Park in Maryborough is one of many public gardens established in the nineteenth century in Queensland: in Brisbane, Ipswich, Toowoomba, Warwick, Rockhampton, Mackay, Townsville, Cairns and Cooktown. They were created primarily as places of horticultural experimentation, as well as for recreational purposes. They formed a local area network, with the Brisbane Botanic Garden and the Government Botanist, Walter Hill, at the centre – at least in the 1870s. From here, the links extended to other botanic gardens in Australia, and beyond Australia to the British colonial network managed through the Royal Botanic Gardens (RBG), Kew. It was an informal network, supplying a knowledge of basic economic botany that founded many tropical agricultural industries and also provided much-needed recreational, educational and inspirational opportunities for colonial newcomers and residents. The story of these parks, from the time when they were first set aside as public reserves by the government surveyors to the present day, is central to the history of urban planning in regional centres. This article provides a statewide overview together with a more in-depth examination of Maryborough's own historic Queen's Park.

scholarly journals ENDOWMENT STRATEGIES FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE BOTANIC GARDENS

HortScience ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 495A-495 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matt Stephens ◽  
Melody Gray ◽  
Edward Moydell ◽  
Julie Paul ◽  
Tree Sturman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Task Force ◽  
The United States ◽  
University Of Delaware ◽  
Botanic Gardens ◽  
Botanic Garden ◽  
College Of Agriculture ◽  
Public Gardens ◽  
Institutional Knowledge ◽  
Key Staff ◽  
The University

The University of Delaware Botanic Gardens (UDBG) is at a critical juncture in its development. Momentum of shared interest at the University of Delaware and the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources favors the Gardens' advancement as an institution. Having identified endowment planning as a critical and immediate need for UDBG, the goal of this research was to gather pertinent institutional knowledge from select university-based public gardens throughout the United States that had already created an endowment. Key staff were interviewed during the summer of 2005 at Cornell Plantations, JC Raulston Arboretum, Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, and the State Botanic Garden of Georgia. Valuable insights into the procurement and management of endowments within a university-based garden environment were gained through these interviews. Utilizing these results, as well as input from an advisory Task Force, specific recommendations for the University of Delaware Botanic Gardens were made from within the following topic areas: Organizational Structure, Planning, Current Strategies, The Endowment, and The Donor.

scholarly journals Resistance to Phytophthora Species among Rootstocks for Cultivated Prunus Species

HortScience ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (11) ◽  
pp. 1471-1476 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gregory T. Browne
Keyword(s):  
Root Rot ◽  
Phytophthora Species ◽  
Crown Rot ◽  
Phytophthora Cactorum ◽  
Prunus Species ◽  
Phytophthora Megasperma ◽  
Soil Flooding ◽  
Root And Crown Rot ◽  
Crown And Root Rot ◽  
Multiple Species

Many species of Phytophthora de Bary are important pathogens of cultivated Prunus L. species worldwide, often invading the trees via their rootstocks. In a series of greenhouse trials, resistance to Phytophthora was tested in new and standard rootstocks for cultivated stone fruits, including almond. Successive sets of the rootstocks, propagated as hardwood cuttings or via micropropagation, were transplanted into either noninfested potting soil or potting soil infested with Phytophthora cactorum (Lebert & Cohn) J. Schöt., Phytophthora citricola Sawada, Phytophthora megasperma Drechs, or Phytophthora niederhauserii Z.G. Abad & J.A. Abad. Soil flooding was included in all trials to facilitate pathogen infection. In some trials, soil flooding treatments were varied to examine their effects on the rootstocks in both the absence and presence of Phytophthora. Two to 3 months after transplanting, resistance to the pathogens was assessed based on the severity of root and crown rot. ‘Hansen 536’ was consistently more susceptible than ‘Lovell’, ‘Nemaguard’, ‘Atlas’, ‘Viking’, ‘Citation’, and ‘Marianna 2624’ to root and/or crown rot caused by P. cactorum, P. citricola, and P. megasperma. By contrast, susceptibility to P. niederhauserii was similarly high among all eight tested genotypes of peach, four genotypes of peach × almond, two genotypes of (almond × peach) × peach, and one genotype of plum × almond. Most plum hybrids were highly and consistently resistant to crown rot caused by P. niederhauserii, but only ‘Marianna 2624’ was highly resistant to both crown and root rot caused by all of the Phytophthora species. The results indicate that there is a broad tendency for susceptibility of peach × almond rootstocks and a broad tendency for resistance of plum hybrid rootstocks to multiple species of Phytophthora.

scholarly journals The Common Sunstar Crossaster papposus—A Neurotoxic Starfish

Marine Drugs ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (12) ◽  
pp. 695
Author(s):  
Karl J. Dean ◽  
Ryan P. Alexander ◽  
Robert G. Hatfield ◽  
Adam M. Lewis ◽  
Lewis N. Coates ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Geographical Location ◽  
Bivalve Molluscs ◽  
The North ◽  
Regulatory Limits ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
The Common ◽  
High Concentrations ◽  
Multiple Species ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Uk

Saxitoxins (STXs) are a family of potent neurotoxins produced naturally by certain species of phytoplankton and cyanobacteria which are extremely toxic to mammalian nervous systems. The accumulation of STXs in bivalve molluscs can significantly impact animal and human health. Recent work conducted in the North Sea highlighted the widespread presence of various saxitoxins in a range of benthic organisms, with the common sunstar (Crossaster papposus) demonstrating high concentrations of saxitoxins. In this study, an extensive sampling program was undertaken across multiple seas surrounding the UK, with 146 starfish and 5 brittlestars of multiple species analysed for STXs. All the common sunstars analysed (n > 70) contained quantifiable levels of STXs, with the total concentrations ranging from 99 to 11,245 µg STX eq/kg. The common sunstars were statistically different in terms of toxin loading to all the other starfish species tested. Two distinct toxic profiles were observed in sunstars, a decarbomylsaxitoxin (dcSTX)-dominant profile which encompassed samples from most of the UK coast and an STX and gonyautoxin2 (GTX2) profile from the North Yorkshire coast of England. Compartmentalisation studies demonstrated that the female gonads exhibited the highest toxin concentrations of all the individual organs tested, with concentrations >40,000 µg STX eq/kg in one sample. All the sunstars, male or female, exhibited the presence of STXs in the skin, digestive glands and gonads. This study highlights that the common sunstar ubiquitously contains STXs, independent of the geographical location around the UK and often at concentrations many times higher than the current regulatory limits for STXs in molluscs; therefore, the common sunstar should be considered toxic hereafter.

scholarly journals Public Gardens: Fulfilling the University's Research Mission

2010 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 522-527 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Hockenberry Meyer ◽  
Stan Hokanson ◽  
Susan Galatowitsch ◽  
James Luby
Keyword(s):  
Research Program ◽  
Restoration Ecology ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Botanic Gardens ◽  
University Of Minnesota ◽  
Ecological Genomics ◽  
Public Gardens ◽  
Research Mission ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The University

Research at botanic gardens, from medieval times to the present day, has evolved to encompass a wide range of topics. The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, part of the University of Minnesota, is an example of a diverse, successful research program within a public university garden setting. Collaboration, mission, organization, and publications are keys to a successful research program. Future research for public gardens, including putting collections to work for conservation, understanding global change, ecological genomics, restoration ecology, seed banking, and citizen science are collaborative ideas for all botanic gardens to consider. Research can strengthen the botanic garden's role by providing public value while improving ties to the university.

scholarly journals Systematic Development of Phytophthora Species-Specific Mitochondrial Diagnostic Markers for Economically Important Members of the Genus

Plant Disease ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 101 (7) ◽  
pp. 1162-1170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy D. Miles ◽  
Frank N. Martin ◽  
Gregg P. Robideau ◽  
Guillaume J. Bilodeau ◽  
Michael D. Coffey
Keyword(s):  
Invasive Species ◽  
Pathogen Detection ◽  
Mitochondrial Gene ◽  
Phytophthora Species ◽  
Individual Species ◽  
Taqman Probes ◽  
Mitochondrial Gene Order ◽  
Systematic Development ◽  
Multiple Species ◽  
Species Specific

The genus Phytophthora contains many invasive species to the U.S.A. that have the potential to cause significant damage to agriculture and native ecosystems. A genus and species-specific diagnostic assay was previously reported based on mitochondrial gene order differences that allowed for the systematic development of 14 species-specific TaqMan probes for pathogen detection ( Bilodeau et al. 2014 ). In this study, an additional 32 species-specific TaqMan probes for detection of primarily invasive species have been validated against 145 Phytophthora taxa as well as a range of Pythium and plant DNA samples. All validated probes were found to be species-specific and could be multiplexed with a genus-specific probe. The lower limit of linear detection using purified genomic DNA ranged from 1 to 100 fg in all assays. In addition, 124 unique TaqMan probes for Phytophthora spp. developed in silico are presented, which, if testing confirms they are species-specific, will provide diagnostic capabilities for approximately 89% of the genus. To enhance sensitivity of detection for several species that contained a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the reverse primer, a second primer was developed that is added in a small amount to the master mix. Furthermore, a PCR-RFLP system was developed that could be used to identify individual species when multiple species are present in a sample, without requiring cloning or sequencing. Several experiments were also conducted to compare various qPCR thermal cyclers and independent validation experiments with another research laboratory to identify possible limitations when the assays are used on a range of equipment in different labs. This system represents a comprehensive, hierarchal approach to increase the detection capability and provide tools to help prevent the introduction of invasive Phytophthora species.

scholarly journals The Gardens of Singapore

2018 ◽  
pp. 169-177
Author(s):  
Stuart Lindsay ◽  
David Middleton
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Natural World ◽  
World Heritage Site ◽  
Botanic Gardens ◽  
Public Gardens ◽  
The Public ◽  
Unesco World Heritage Site ◽  
Botanical Research ◽  
High Level

Singapore has several public gardens of which two, Singapore Botanic Gardens and Gardens by the Bay, are of particular national and international renown. These two gardens have contrasting but complementary ways of enthusing and educating the public about plants and of gaining their support for horticultural excellence, botanical research and conservation. Founded in 1859, Singapore Botanic Gardens is an old and established garden with a long history of horticultural and botanical research, plant exploration and conservation. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2015, the world’s first tropical botanic garden to receive this accolade. Gardens by the Bay opened in 2012 and its focus is on large-scale displays in spectacular settings, thereby attracting huge numbers of visitors since its opening. In their contrasting ways, both gardens enthuse and educate the public about plants and the natural world. This work lays the foundations for public advocacy of conservation efforts in Singapore, resulting in a very high level of public support for greening efforts and the protection of natural areas in land-scarce Singapore.

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