Posted October 18, 2011 by Jennifer Ramp Neale, Director of Research & Conservation
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.
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Seed collection of Parachute penstemon
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It was certainly a rainy spring
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Intern Eliot Jackson collecting seed of a milkvetch
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Pam Regensberg collecting at the City of Fort Collins Soapstone Prairie Natural Area
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Earth tounges collected by volunteer Rosa-Lee Brace
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Searching for Brandegee’s buckwheat with volunteer Mo Ewing
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Posted September 6, 2011 by Jennifer Ramp Neale, Director of Research & Conservation
Dr. Don Hazlett in the field
Join Gardens’ adjunct researcher Dr. Don Hazlett for a look into the field of ethnobotany. Dr. Hazlett will be giving the second talk in our new brown bag series: Re-search the Gardens: Meet Our Scientists. Dr. Hazlett has been instrumental in the initiation and curation of the Gardens’ ethnobotanical collection, housed within the Kathryn Kalmbach Herbarium. As part of the ethnobotany research Dr. Hazlett conducts as an adjunct researcher, he investigates Native American and Spanish common names. These common names frequently provide information not only about plant origin, but plant use and cultural importance as well.
Dr. Hazlett’s talk will be in Gates Hall from noon – 1 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 14. We look forward to seeing you there.
Posted May 20, 2011 by Jennifer Ramp Neale, Director of Research & Conservation
Denver Botanic Gardens staff and volunteers conduct annual monitoring of the Colorado hookless cactus
Did you know that more than 1350 species in the US are protected under the Endangered Species Act? A whopping 792 (57%) of them are plants. Today is the sixth annual Endangered Species Day, a day to celebrate our endangered species. There are 29 species in Colorado listed as Threatened or Endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Thirteen of them are plants and we at Denver Botanic Gardens are working to conserve each of them.
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Posted April 15, 2011 by Jennifer Ramp Neale, Director of Research & Conservation
Last week we were honored to co-host the Center for Plant Conservation Annual Meeting along with the National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation (NCGRP) in Fort Collins. Conservation professionals from more than 20 botanic gardens, federal agencies, and organizations across the country gathered in Colorado for a four-day conference to celebrate our efforts to conserve our nation’s rarest plants.
The Center for Plant Conservation (CPC) is a consortium of botanic gardens dedicated to protecting our nation’s vanishing flora. Denver Botanic Gardens was one of the founding partners of the CPC 27 years ago (1984). We have been actively involved in seed collection and other conservation efforts in collaboration with the CPC ever since.
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Posted July 12, 2010 by Anna Sher, Adjunct Research & Conservation Researcher
Denver Botanic Gardens and University of Denver (DU) are currently collaborating to conduct research that documents climate change effects on native flora in Colorado. We have been using preserved specimens from the Gardens Kathryn Kalmbach Herbarium and other regional herbaria to determine if flowering time has changed over the last 100 years. A preserved plant with reliable label data is proof positive that it existed in a specific place at a specific time in the state it is shown. Such specimens show that some Colorado species were blooming on average as much as three weeks later 100 years ago than today– a reflection of warming temperatures that are causing earlier springs.
Amelia Bowman, ‘09 University of Denver (DU) graduate, first discovered this trend investigating a set of six early blooming species that were collected in Colorado
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Posted June 4, 2010 by Michelle DePrenger-Levin, Research Associate
They may be tiny mustard plants but they have a huge impact in a region believed to contain one of the nation’s largest reservoirs of natural gas. Physaria congesta (Lesquerella congesta) and P. obcordata, both federally listed as Threatened under the National Endangered Species Act, are found right in the heart of all the activity associated with drilling for this oil and gas. See what Denver Botanic Gardens is doing in the field.
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Posted May 19, 2009 by Michelle DePrenger-Levin, Research Associate
Sclerocactus glaucus habitat
What threatens Sclerocactus glaucus (see a video showing some of the causes)? Installation and maintenance of huge pipelines that move oil and gas from the well pads miles and miles to the collection facilities; roads; browsing and trampling from livestock; weeds; and people who collect them from the wild to name a few. Why are we doing something about it? Just look at the beautiful landscape and plant community. Do you want to lose that? Neither do we.
Posted May 8, 2009 by Michelle DePrenger-Levin, Research Associate
Sclerocactus glaucus: Collection for genetic analysis
Each year, as spring rolls around, the Research and Conservation staff load up a 4-wheel drive vehicle with our gear, head out across Colorado and the Rocky Mountain west region in search of rare plants. This year we’re bringing the field home to you. Watch our first field video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqE5b4AXYRM.
Our first trip takes us west to the threatened cactus, Sclerocactus glaucus. This lovely little cactus is found in Western Colorado along with several other rare plant species. This is also an area with intense oil and gas development, residential growth and spreading weeds. Our aim is to protect the western region by studying and protecting this tiny cactus.
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