Scouting and Collection Trips for Trans-Pecos Quercus Germplasm: Apga-Usfs Tree Gene Conservation Partnerships
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SCOUTING AND COLLECTION TRIPS FOR TRANS-PECOS QUERCUS GERMPLASM: APGA-USFS TREE GENE CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIPS Shannon S'll1, Emily Griswold1, and Andrew McNeil-Marshall2 1University of California Davis Arboretum & Public Garden 2Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 3 SCOUTING AND COLLECTING TRIPS 5 Scoung trip 1 5 May 10-16, 2016 5 Collecng Trip 7 Tuesday, August 23, 2016 7 Wednesday, August 24, 2016 7 Thursday, August 25, 2016 7 Friday, August 26, 2016 10 Saturday, August 27, 2016 11 Sunday, August 28, 2016 14 Monday, August 29, 2016 15 Tuesday, August 30, 2016 15 Scoung trip 2 16 October 30-November 4, 2016 16 PARTICIPANTS 18 Par<cipants on thE Scou<ng or CollEc<ng trips 18 Ins<tuons that rEcEivEd acorns 19 COLLECTIONS AND GERMPLASM DISTRIBUTION 20 APPENDICES 21 AppEndix 1. CollEc<ng pErmit for Big BEnd Na<onal Park 21 AppEndix 2. Full list of taxa collEctEd and collEc<ng notEs from thE locali<Es (aWachEd as a sEparatE ExcEl Workbook). 28 !2 INTRODUCTION The UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden (UCD ArbPG) partnered with the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center (LBJWC) to target 5 rare and threatened oak species na've to the Trans- Pecos region of west Texas for scou'ng and collec'ng in 2016: Quercus carmenensis, Q. depressipes, Q. graciliformis, Q. robusta, and Q. tardifolia. The genus Quercus is known to have recalcitrant seeds that are not suitable for tradi'onal seed banking. The targeted taxa have been selected due to their rarity and their limited distribu'on within a concentrated area of west Texas. Due to the small popula'on sizes and close proximity of ranges for these species, it was realis'c to target mul'ple species with the proposed scou'ng and collec'ng effort. Most of these taxa are not represented in current ex-situ collec'ons within the American Public Gardens Associa'on Plant Collec'ons Network Quercus Mul'site Collec'on or in ins'tu'ons par'cipa'ng in Botanic Garden Conserva'on Interna'onal’s PlantSearch database. The far western region of Texas, the Trans-Pecos (Fig. 1), is home to an excep'onally high diversity of oaks – 22 species occur here, represen'ng almost a quarter of the taxonomic diversity of oaks in the United States. Oak diversity in the Trans-Pecos region is concentrated in a series of “sky island” mountain ranges – the Chisos FigurE 1. ThE Trans-PEcos rEgion of TExas is to thE wEst of thE PEcos RivEr, Mountains, Davis and includEs ninE coun<Es. TwEnty-two oak spEciEs occur in this rEgion of Mountains, and TExas. Big BEnd Na<onal park is in thE southErn part of BrEwstEr County. Guadalupe Mountains – that are isolated from each other by lowland Chihuahuan desert vegeta'on. Due to their isola'on, the sky islands of Texas harbor four endemic oak species as well as relict popula'ons of species that were previously more widespread. The west Texas mountains also have unique floris'c affilia'ons with the Sierra Madre Occidental and the Del Carmen-Sierra Madre Oriental of Mexico and serve as the northernmost limit of five Mexican oak species that do not occur elsewhere in the United States. The sky island mountains of west Texas are well protected within Na'onal Parks, Texas State Parks, and Nature Conservancy holdings. However, the oak species in these mountains are s'll !3 vulnerable to climate change. As the climate becomes warmer and drier, their migratory paths are quite limited. For this reason, ex situ conserva'on in curated living collec'ons will be cri'cal for ensuring the long-term survival of these species. For those species that extend into Mexico, capturing the gene'c diversity for the popula'ons at the northern limit of their range is valuable, especially in the face of climate change. None of the target species for this proposal are ranked as federally endangered or listed as threatened or endangered by the state of Texas. However, most have been ranked with some level of conserva'on status by IUCN and NatureServe. We completed two scou'ng trips and one collec'ng trip during 2016, as detailed below. One scou'ng trip occurred in May, before the collec'ng trip. The collec'ng trip occurred in late August and a follow-up scou'ng trip took place in late October. The scou'ng and collec'ng trips helped to further knowledge of these oaks, their specific range, and their phenology. FigurE 2. Acorns from QuErcus graciliformis collEctEd for thE grant. !4 SCOUTING AND COLLECTING TRIPS Scoung trip 1 May 10-16, 2016 Ini<al oak scou<ng trip to Chisos Mountains, Big BEnd Na<onal Park AndrEw McNEil-Marshall, accompaniEd by Nick Richman, Lady Bird Johnson WildflowEr Center (LBJWC) The goal for the first scou'ng trip was to determine the loca'on of several Q. graciliformis popula'ons and aiempt to visit a unique popula'on Q. carmenensis on Casa Grande peak in the Chisos Mountains, and to cover as much ground as possible to see what will be possible to achieve on a later collec'on trip. The secondary goal was to locate a known populaon of Q. tardifolia and other oaks of interest in the Chisos Mountains. There is a very interes'ng diversity of oaks in these mountains, the extent and cause of which has not been fully explored. McNeil-Marshall and Richman hiked for many hours and many miles over the course of four days, covering approximately 25 miles on foot. Much of this hiking was over very rugged terrain (Fig. 3), including one aiempt to reach a very high point on Casa Grande peak where there exists a popula'on of Q. carmenensis, the only known popula'on in the United States. Very liile sign of acorns or catkins was observed during this trip. Interes'ngly, most of the oaks were in the process of shedding last year’s leaves and pung on new buds. However, the group did note some loca'ons for later collec'ng, and iden'fied specific trees from which to target later in the year. This trip became FigurE 3. McNEil-Marshall hiking thE ruggEd tErrain the basis for the trip in August. towards Casa GrandE in thE Chisos Mountains of BBNP. This is the tErrain to hikE when searching for Quercus carmenensis. Quercus gravesii and Q. grisea arE also found in this local arEa. !5 FigurE 6. Loca<ons of individuals and collEc<ons of Quercus graciliformis and Quercus grisea in Blue CrEEk Canyon, Big BEnd Na<onal Park. UppEr lEa insEt map shows thE spEcific collEc<on loca<ons for Q. graciliformis. ThE rEd linE indicatEs thE track for thE hiking trail followEd by Shannon S<ll. ThE lowEr right inset map show the ExtEnt of the main map window within Big Bend Na<onal Park. FigurE 7. Quercus graciliformis populaon from which acorns wErE collEctEd. ThE popula<on was along a south-facing rock facE to thE north sidE of BluE CrEEk Trail in Big BEnd Na<onal Park. McNEil-Marshall (lEa) and Griswold (right) arE hiking up to thE FigurE 8. Griswold and McNEil- popula<on. Marshall collEc<ng acorns of Quercus graciliformis. !6 Collecng Trip August 23-30, 2016 Emily Griswold, Shannon S<ll (UCD ArbPG), and AndrEw McNEil-Marshall (LBJWC) TuEsday, August 23, 2016 Griswold and S'll traveled to Aus'n, Texas on the 23rd. They met Marshall McNeil at airport, purchased groceries and supplies for the trip, and then prepared to leave Aus'n the following morning. WEdnEsday, August 24, 2016 Griswold, McNeil-Marshall, and S'll, lem Aus'n and traveled to the Trans-Pecos region of Texas. The first stop of the day was the herbarium at Sol Ross University. Here the trio met with Michael Powell (Fig. 4), an expert on the FigurE 4. McNEil-Marshall (lEa) and Griswold (right) with Trans-Pecos flora and oaks in MichaEl PowEll at thE PowEll HErbarium at Sol Ross UnivErsity. par'cular. At the herbarium, the group examine oak specimens from Big Bend Na'onal Park and the Davis Mountains and discussed the varia'on in these special oaks with Powell. Powell provided further insights into the oaks for which we were searching. Amer the visit, the group departed for Big Bend Na'onal Park (BBNP), checked in to the BBNP headquarters, and then headed to the accommoda'ons at K Bar Ranch within BBNP. Thursday, August 25, 2016 Thursday was the first day of targeted collec'ng, and was the most FigurE 5. S<ll (lEa) and McNEil-Marshall (right) examining onE of thE first Quercus graciliformis successful day for collec'ng on the EncountErEd on thE trip, along BluE CrEEk Canyon Trail. trip. On the southwestern side of BBNP, the group quickly found the target species (Fig. 5) while hiking the Blue Creek Canyon Trail (Fig. 6),. This trail was one that was scouted by McNeil-Marshall and has nice specimens of Q. graciliformis. Along the trail we saw Q. grisea, Q. emoryi, and Q. graciliformis. None of the individuals along the trail had acorns !7 FigurE 11. Loca<ons of somE individuals and vouchEr collEc<ons of Quercus along Laguna Meadow Trail, Colima Trail, Boot Spring Trail, and PinnaclEs Trail. ThE group followEd a countEr-clockwisE hikE through thE trails (start of Each sEgmEnt markEd by grEEn circlE with black dot). Group visitEd Laguna Meadow and Boot Spring, which both havE rarE oak taxa. ThE rEd linE marks thE hiking trail takEn by S<ll.