While taking advantage of the warm daytime temperatures in recent weeks to get some pruning in, I was hailed from the pathway nearby.
“Do you ever worry about seeds coming up early during warm spells like this?”
In a word, “no.” But why not?
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The changing of the seasons is marked in the Research & Conservation department not only by the fact that the days are getting noticeably shorter, but by the fact that we have all returned indoors for the year. The growing and collecting season has dwindled for our botanists and mycologists, and we are now busy processing and analyzing the fruits of our summer labors.
By Rob Mies
Organization for Bat Conservation
Bats are some of the most diverse, ecologically important, and unique mammals on Earth. There are over 1,200 different kinds of bats worldwide, making up roughly a quarter of all mammalian species. They are the primary predators of nighttime insects, pollinators of hundreds of plants, and seed dispersers of tropical fruit trees. Yet due to centuries of myths and misunderstandings, bat populations have been drastically declining and in need of immediate conservation assistance.
Myths of bats are based off of lack of information. For instance, bats are not blind, in fact, they can see quite well. Bats will not get tangled in human hair and do not build nests. Bats in the United States do not drink blood and very few contract rabies. To the contrary, bats are clean, caring, timid
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As we look for ways to conserve our natural resources and create sustainable communities, Denver Botanic Gardens in partnership with Sterling Ranch has helped create low-water sustainable landscapes at their demonstration site at Allis Ranch in Douglas County. Sterling Ranch will be Colorado’s first rainwater harvesting community and this project will set a new standard for water conservation in Colorado.
Botanists conducting annual monitoring of the Parachute penstemon
Effective today, three rare Colorado plants have been added to the list of species protected under the federal Endangered Species Act. Both DeBeque Phacelia (Phacelia submutica), and Parachute Penstemon (Penstemon debilis) are listed as threatened while the Pagosa skyrocket (Ipomopsis polyantha) is listed as endangered. DeBeque phacelia and Parachute penstemon are restricted to shale slopes on South Shale Ridge and the Roan Plateau in Western Colorado. Energy development and exploration is the biggest threat to these species.
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Are you familiar with Denver Botanic Gardens Research & Conservation department? Have you ever wanted to know more about the type of research we do? We currently have ten staff in our Research & Conservation department with a lot of scientific expertise; we have three PhD and five MS degrees between us. In addition to our core staff, we have seven adjunct researchers collaborating with us on various projects ranging from curating our ethnobotanical collection, to evaluating revegetation practices after removal of invasive species. Our new brown bag series: Re-search the Gardens: Meet Our scientists will provide you with the opportunity to meet the Gardens’ scientists and learn about the great work we do to protect our region’s natural heritage.
The first talk in the series will be held on Wednesday July 13 in the Waring House Great Room from noon – 1 p.m.
The opening talk in the series ‘Conservation genetics at the Gardens: Using DNA to protect our rarest plants,’ will cover how and why we are using DNA to help conserve some of our rarest plants.
For more details on the series visit our website.
Meet the Natives Lecture and Book Signing with Denver Botanic Gardens Native Plants Curator Dan Johnson
Thursday, June 23, 2011 from 7 – 8:30 p.m., Gates Hall
6-7 p.m. – Tour of the Kathryn Kalmbach Herbarium
View native plants of the southern Rocky Mountains through Dan Johnson’s creative curatorial eye – both in wild habitats and in garden settings. Johnson’s much-anticipated 2011 expansion of M. Walter Pesman’s 1942 Meet the Natives boasts not only additional plants, but also color photos that make identification of plants and wildflowers in Colorado’s scenic trails and byways easier than ever.
Johnson also addresses commonly encountered plants that actually are not native to the region and the problems they cause. Threatened and invasive species are duly noted as well. In this talk Dan presents commentary regarding which natives are well-suited for garden spaces, and which should be left to wild habitats.
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Adjunct Researcher Loraine Yeatts works in the Kathryn Kalmbach Herbarium
We have some exciting news to report from the Kathryn Kalmbach Herbarium and Sam Mitchel Herbarium of Fungi. Each collection has added a type specimen of a species new to science. A type specimen is a specimen selected to serve as a reference point when a plant or fungal species is first named. As a result, these specimens are extremely important to botanists and mycologists who are attempting to determine the correct application of a name.
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