California is home to some of the most exceptional and threatened plant diversity in the world. In an attempt to protect and restore California natives from the devastating effects of environmental change and human development, major initiatives have been implemented to increase the use of California native plants everywhere from home gardens to industrial-scale plantings for landscaping and restoration. However, when executed without the necessary considerations, these efforts have the potential to further endanger our flora by disrupting the genetic integrity of unique species, ecotypes, and populations.
In order to address this issue, The California Native Plant Society (CNPS) is hosting a virtual, day-long symposium on October 16th, 2020 entitled Protecting California’s Diversity: Genetic Considerations for Native Planting and Restoration with the goal of bringing together leading experts in the biology, conservation, and management of the California flora to review the best available science on the genetic risks associated with moving native plants and explore innovative approaches for addressing these issues from a management perspective. Register at this link!
The symposium will have an opening and closing plenary and four main sessions:
Session 1: Local Variation and Cryptic Diversity
Session 2: Moving and Mixing
Session 3: Considerations for Rare Plants (concurrent)
Session 4: Scaling Up: Seed Collection, Increase and Transfer (concurrent)
