The Morton Arboretum and United States Botanic Garden (USBG) announce a new partnership to advance the conservation of threatened trees in the United States, with a special focus on native oak species. The partners will develop threat assessments, conduct field work to resolve taxonomic questions and collect seeds for planting in conservation collections, and advance the work of the Global Conservation Consortium for Oak (GCCO).
The partners are also working closely with Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) and NatureServe to identify and evaluate the extinction risk and conservation status of all trees in the continental U.S. to inform conservation priorities and actions. Oaks, one of the most ecologically and culturally important groups of trees in the U.S., will be a top priority for the partnership. The Red List of Oaks 2020 revealed that 31% of the world’s oaks, which are crucial to the environments in which they grow, are threatened with extinction.
