North American Plant Collections Consortium (NAPCC)
2006 Annual Report
Prepared by Pam Allenstein, NAPCC Coordinator, American Public Gardens Association
WLP-CGC Meeting
June 8, 2006
PROGRESS REPORT
GOAL 1 – Increase the number of NAPCC Collections to represent the major genera of ornamental plants found in AABGA member gardens
Polly Hill Arboretum - Stewartia -19 taxa
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden – Arecaceae – 625 taxa, 2000+ accessions
Tyler Arboretum – Rhododendron – 529 taxa
Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University – Stewartia - awaiting report from June review
Atlanta Botanical Garden – Sarracenia - September site review scheduled
30 individuals in six regions throughout the US and Canada form a network of recruiters and mentors actively expanding the NAPCC program. Since the recruitment campaign launched in October 2005, over 150 queries have been made, numerous presentations given to targeted collections holders, and a number of new applications in development. A re-organized NAPCC Committee now includes six regional organizers, and is focusing currently on recruitment.
New NAPCC Web Pages
As part of the Association’s total website re-design, new NAPCC web pages feature newest members, list participants by institution and by collection name with links to their websites, answer frequently asked questions, explain the steps in applying, and include collection profiles. The new website www.publicgardens.org will be launched the end of June.
Presentations and Site Meetings
APGA Mid Atlantic Regional Meeting, Oct 2005, Mt. Cuba Center
Montreal Botanical Garden, Nov 2005 site meeting
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, Nov 2005 site meeting
Montgomery Botanical Center, Nov 2005 presentation & site meeting
Flamingo Gardens, Nov 2005 site meeting
Plant Breeders Conference, Nov 2005 presentation, Gainesville, FL
US National Arboretum, Feb 2006 meeting with staff, WA DC
Jenkins Arboretum, March 2006, Devon, PA
APGA Annual Conference, June 2006, San Francisco, CA
- Reviewer Training Workshop
Held at UC Davis Arboretum in conjunction with the APGA Annual Conference. 33 participants, including representatives from Pacific and Interior West targeted institutions. Sponsored by UC Davis Arboretum and APGA, partnering with Mt. Cuba Center, Scott Arboretum, Huntington Botanical Gardens, and Ganna Walska Lotusland. Brings NAPCC pool of reviewers up to 90 individuals.
GOAL 2 – Facilitate coordination of NAPCC plant collections
- Distributive Database Querying System
Year 1 of “PlantCollections – A Community Solution” three-year project will develop a distributed database system for Web-based querying utilizing DiGIR protocol, open-source data-sharing software. This will allow information from multiple institutions currently using a variety of incompatible database formats to be accessed to retrieve integrated results. An Institute of Museum and Library Services National Leadership Grant awarded to Chicago Botanic Garden in partnership with APGA and University of Kansas, and fifteen participating NAPCC institutions. Federated schema has been developed and first three institutions’ data are being mapped. Search portal currently being developed and due to launch initially on new APGA website.
- Multi-Institutional Initiatives & Curatorial Groups
Three multi-institutional initiatives are currently in active development: Oaks – coordinated by Mount Auburn Cemetery, Maples – coordinated by Arnold Arboretum, and Palms – coordinated by Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Pilot of new multi-institutional NAPCC application will test this new process. Communication among specialized curatorial groups will be facilitated through enhanced eCommunities capabilities on new APGA website.
- 1st NAPCC Members Forum
Scheduled as a pre-conference activity in San Francisco, this first-time event is anticipated to attract 20-25 representatives from institutions holding NAPCC collections. They will hear the latest program updates and exchange information about their collection activities. This is planned to be an annual networking opportunity going forward.
- Strengthening USDA/APGA Collaboration
Meetings of WLPGR, USNA, and NAPCC representatives held in February and March to begin developing a joint initiative to strengthen both programs. APGA Board of Directors formally endorsed a resolution in April 2006 supporting NAPCC as a core program and the ongoing collaboration with USDA through a joint ornamental germplasm preservation initiative. NAPCC Coordinator participated in USNA Stakeholder Meeting and its USNA Research Program Review.
- USDA/APGA Specific Cooperative Agreement
Current SCA is due to expire August 31, 2006. New multi-year agreement will focus on developing strategic distribution plan of target woody and herbaceous genera among NPGS repositories and NAPCC participating institutions; strengthening information exchange through distributive database querying system; recruitment campaign drive.
GOAL 3 – Raise professional plant curation standards in public gardens
- APGA 2006 Annual Conference
To be held June 26 – July 1 in San Francisco with the theme “Sustainability: Walking the Talk”, sessions include case studies of ex situ conservation at botanical gardens, integrating collections and research, sustaining ornamental plant collections, latest IPM practices, and developing invasive plant policies. Joint meeting of NAPCC members and those interested in plant collections will focus on organizing future professional development programs for plant collections managers and curators.
- APGA 2nd Conservatory Symposium
Professional development training hands-on workshop held February 2006 hosted by New York Botanical Garden attended by nearly 60 public garden staff focused on maintenance practices and collections management.
- APGA Plant Collections Listserve
Active listserve serving over 400 subscribers is moderated by Frank Telewski and hosted by Michigan State University. It provides a discussion forum on wide range of topics, including plant labeling and mapping, exchange and location of hard-to-find taxa, job postings, invasive plants policies, and debate of collections/conservation-related issues.
MISCELLANEOUS
AABGA becomes APGA
In March 2006, the American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta officially changed its name to American Public Gardens Association (APGA). It was felt that this new name is more inclusive of the diverse types of institutions the Association represents. The name change coincided with a rollout of new benefits and dues structure for individual members. The Association’s new web address is www.publicgardens.org , and staff email addresses now are firstinitiallastname@publicgardens.org with other contact information remaining the same.