Genetic diversity in urban forests and their potential role in conserving the world’s threatened tree species
By considering urban forests as part of ex situ conservation collections, we can simultaneously advance conservation and urban forestry goals. Urban greening strategies that prioritize planting a genetically diverse assemblage of tree species can help overcome some of the major challenges to ex situ conservation such as limited planting space. At the same time, this strategy could increase urban forest resilience to disturbances like pests, diseases, climate change, or other stressors. This conservation strategy would build upon the important work done by botanic gardens while also engaging them with multiple stakeholders, including municipal urban foresters, nurseries, universities, and the public.
Authors
- Natalie Love (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5013-5478)
- Camille Pawlak (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0740-3956)
- Alessandro Ossola (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0507-6026)
- Matt Ritter (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3125-097X)
- Manuel Esperón‐Rodríguez (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3649-2134)
- Boris Igić (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6302-8030)
- Jenn Yost
- J. W. C. Johns
- Kieran N. Althaus (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1500-5619)
Institutions
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- The University of Melbourne (AU)
- Center for Plant Conservation (US)
- Morton Arboretum (US)
- University of Illinois Chicago (US)
- University of Chicago (US)
- Cal Poly Corporation (US)
- Department of Planning & Building (US)
- Applied Biotechnology Institute (US)
- Ecosystem Sciences (AU)
- Chicago Botanic Garden
- Western Sydney University (AU)
- University of California, Davis (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Annals of Botany
- Published
- 2025-10-11
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcaf238
- Citations
- 1
- Primary Topic
- Urban Green Space and Health
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 1.20
Funders
- Western Sydney University