The University of Oxford Botanic Garden and Harcourt Arboretum (OBGHA) has recently undertaken a project to collect and document seed of the native flora of Japan. This project has been developed in collaboration with the Department of Plant Sciences, Oxford (DPS) and builds on research conducted by Dr Nodoka Nakamura into the Japan hotspot: see the website reference at the end of this article.
The objective is to cultivate plants of wild origin at both the Botanic Garden and Harcourt Arboretum, showcasing the unique flora of Japan and interpreting biodiversity research conducted by the DPS to the wider public. Supporting herbarium specimens will be accessioned into the Fielding-Druce Herbarium, with duplicates retained by partner institutions in Japan and the University of Bonn Botanic Garden.
OBGHA has recently conducted collection audits, assessing the fitness for purpose of the collections in line with the core activities of the department. These audits highlighted the need to develop our geographic collections and to focus on sourcing new material of known origin. The opportunity to work closely with the DPS, linking the need for development with ground-breaking biodiversity research, presented a unique and exciting way of improving the collections held at OBGHA.
Using bioquality hotspot maps formulated by Dr Nakamura’s research, areas of high biodiversity within Japan could be identified. These areas provided a focus for selecting sites for the collection of seed across the archipelago. In order to plan the logistics for such collections a reconnaissance trip was required. Consequently Ben Jones (Arboretum Curator) and I visited Japan for 4 weeks in November 2012. Contacts were established at botanic gardens across the country, from Hokkaido in the north to Shikoku in the south, and field sites were visited and investigated for potential seed-collection activities. We were met with interest and support for the project from our Japanese colleagues, with offers of assistance with planning, permit applications and field work. The project will run over 3 years, focusing on northern, central and southern Japan consecutively. We hope to work closely with the Japan Association of Botanical Gardens and the Ministry of the Environment, building relationships for longer-term collaborative working.
To complement the collection of both seed and herbarium specimens, the team will conduct rapid botanical surveys at selected sites in Japan, providing field data to improve the accuracy of the bioquality map produced by Dr Nakamura and contributing to ongoing research in biodiversity science. The bioquality map includes quadrats covering the whole of Japan; each quadrat is colour-coded to indicate an area of very low, low, medium or high biodiversity, according to the number of species present. One of our tasks in Japan is to conduct botanical surveys in defined areas, recording the presence of species. These data will then be compared with the bioquality map, which was constructed using distribution data from published sources (e.g. The Flora of Japan).
Collaborations have been established with the University of Bonn Botanic Garden and the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership, Kew (MSBP) to facilitate the project. University of Bonn Botanic Garden has an interest in developing its collection of Japanese plants, to celebrate their association with Phillip Franz von Siebold (1796–1866). There are also active research interests in taxa native to Japan at both Bonn and Oxford, requiring well-documented wild material.
The collaboration with the MSBP offers several exciting opportunities, including the banking of collected seed, which will allow the project to contribute to ex-situ conservation targets. Training in seed collecting, post-harvest handling and seed conservation techniques has also been made available as well as assistance with import and plant health. The MSBP is keen to extend its activities into Japan. Colleagues from the MSBP have been invited to participate in the collection trips, in the hope that this project will help to facilitate this objective.
The Japan hotspot project not only provides the opportunity for staff at OBGHA to acquire new skills and knowledge, but also promotes the work of the University at an international level and further enhances the links between OBGHA and the DPS.
We will go to Japan again on 27 September 2013 for 4 weeks, and then again in 2014 and 2015.
Tom Price
Gardens Curator, University of Oxford Botanic Garden
herbaria.plants.ox.ac.uk/bol/florajapan
All plants and seeds mentioned in this article were collected with the necessary national permits, and in accordance with the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). On principle, PlantNetwork encourages all its members to adhere to both the articles and the spirit of the CBD.