HOBAN LAB - News

June 2025

7/7/2025

Overall

Our team has embarked on their field season, assessing the health of a local butternut tree population which has potential for restoration and recovery of this threatened eastern North American tree species. They are assessing habitat conditions and symptoms of the butternut canker disease. Emma and Hank Helmers (REU intern) are shown standing next to a young, healthy, naturally regenerating butternut in the photo above.
Sean presented an overview of our lab’s science and conservation work to the Perennial Partners – members of the Arboretum for more than 10 years. The presentation told the story of three threatened trees (maple leaf oak, butternut, and arroyo oak) and how we're contributing to knowledge and action to save these species in situ and ex situ. The takeaways were: trees are threatened near and far, we need to act now because many species are on the brink, and it takes a mix of action, knowledge and partnerships to achieve conservation.
Sean also gave a presentation to about 15 summer science and conservation interns (NSF REUs, Student Conservation Association, and other interns) on scientific ethics, team values, and FAIR data (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reproducible).
Dr. Aziz Ebrahimi, a postdoctoral researcher at Purdue University and the Hardwood Tree Improvement Program, has for several years collaborated with our lab on our work understanding butternut (Juglans cinerea) and improving conservation strategies for this imperiled tree species. He presented research covering tree breeding, pathology, biogeography, genomics, phenology, remote sensing technology, and tree conservation in an Arboretum Tree Talk titled “Tree Improvement and Resilience through Genomics and Phenotyping”.

Publications

Grant J, Murphy P, Barak RS, Hahn M, Leavens E, Hipp AL. Collaboration to Cultivate the Practices of Science: Local Ecological Research as a Gateway to Biodiversity Science. The American Biology Teacher 87: 220–225. This article—aimed at high school teachers and led by AP Biology teachers Jeff Grant and Patrick Murphy—describes lessons learned over the course of 12 years of collaboration between the Herbarium / Hipp Systematics Lab and Downers Grove North High School AP Biology classes. Through this collaboration, more than 1,000 high school students have been mentored in practices of plant diversity research, using both herbarium collections and the prairie as study systems.

May 2025

6/2/2025

Overall

Big welcome to our new Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) student, Hank Helmers! Hank will be working with the lab for the next 10 weeks, and is a Biology & Computer Science student at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.
Sean and Emma hosted almost 15 members of Chicago Region Trees Initiative (CRTI), including the Student Conservation Association crew, on a walk-and-talk to learn about the threatened butternut tree. We talked about its historic ecological, economic and cultural significance; viewed several butternuts (in flower and leaf out) at Parking lot 2; examined butternut canker symptoms and butternut shells; and answered many questions about butternut trees and other threatened trees. We also had a brief detour to see the threatened oaks and magnolias in the threatened tree collection. It was an exciting session of knowledge sharing and enjoying spring! This was followed by a KYA in which about 25 people attended in person and 15 online.
Emma also presented on butternut tree to utility tree care specialists for the Day of Education at the Gateway for Tree Science. She highlighted the importance of taking multiple conservation strategies to support this species including coordinating with other tree professionals to locate butternut trees in our area. We identified this group of professionals as a great resource to collaborate with in potentially locating butternuts living along the electrical transmission lines under which ComEd provides vegetation management services.
Ash received a travel grant from University of Chicago for their work on Quercus brandegeei in Baja, Mexico! This grant will support their final field season this fall which will include seed collections, scouting populations, and interviewing conservation program participants.
Sean helped the Social Media, Leadership, and Government Relations teams in crafting an impactful social media post about recent proposed changes to the U.S. Endangered Species Act, featuring a threatened but keystone oak species, Quercus havardii. Sean provided facts about the species (its biology, threats, conservation research and action, and importance) and a Call To Action for readers.

Presentations

Ash and Dana, along with our GTCP friends Angie Wang and Kate Good, attended the Center for Plant Conservation meeting in St Louis May 8-9. This annual meeting of around 200 plant conservationists brings together nonprofits, government agencies and botanic gardens to share stories of success and lessons learned from plant conservation. Dana presented a poster on their work on Quercus brandegeei seedling adoption program by communities in Baja, co-authored with Ash, Sean Hoban, Silvia Alvarez Clare, and Daniel Morales.
Sean gave a presentation with his colleague Alicia Mastretta-Yanes to a webinar hosted by BGCI on the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. About 45 people attended.

April, 2025

5/5/2025

Overall

In early April, Sean spoke about career preparation and opportunities for early career conservation scientists at a webinar hosted by the Society for Conservation Biology, North America (recording will be available here), and also participated in a panel discussion with an audience of ~40. He also gave a seminar at Oklahoma State University with our friend and collaborator Dr. Antonio Castilla!
Emma has been working with Jon Steele (Research Horticulturist II) on grafting wood from butternuts (Juglans cinerea) onto black walnut (Juglans nigra) rootstock in an effort to save trees which are not likely to live much longer. This is a way to preserve the genetic diversity of these individual trees, provide more trees to Arboretum ex situ collections and natural areas, and hopefully also to natural areas beyond the Arboretum grounds. It is one of many approaches our lab is taking toward safeguarding the future of butternuts, which is dying from a disease. For those in the Chicago area, there's a Know Your Arboretum all about butternut trees at 10am on May 8 in Cudahy at the Arboretum. A photo of a successfully grafted butternut is above.

Publications

2025. The potential of seedbank digital information in plant conservation. Roberta Gargiulo, Sean Hoban, Anne M. Visscher, Pablo Gómez Barreiro, Roberta L. C. Dayrell, Kiran L. Dhanjal-Adams, Alice R. Hudson, Charlotte E. Seal, Simon Kallow, Jan Sala, Lee Oliver, Naomi Carvey, Ted Chapman, Efisio Mattana, Clare Callow, Christopher Cockel, Michael F. Fay, Juan Viruel, Inna Birchenko, Stephanie Miles, Timothy Pearce, Paul Kersey, Elinor Breman, Kate A. Hardwick. Plants People Planet. Free Open Access
- This paper, produced as a collaboration with scientists at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, explores the potential of digitized information made available by seedbanks for improving our understanding of the intraspecific genetic diversity preserved in collections. This includes information such as the location of sampling sites, estimated population size and the number of mother plants from which seeds were collected. Challenges and opportunities of using this information are discussed.

March, 2025

4/6/2025

Overall

Wild Things, a biennial Chicago-region “celebration of nature, wildlife, ecosystem restoration, birding, botanizing, networking, and discovery,” by and for the region’s nature researchers, advocates, caretakers and protectors, was well-represented by Morton staff this year. From our lab, Emma (with Gavin and Sean as coauthors) presented “Conserving and restoring the threatened butternut tree (Juglans cinerea, aka white walnut).”
The International Oak Society, as a part of their Oak Conservation and Research program, awarded Ash and our collaborator Daniel Pérez Morales a grant! The grant will contribute nearly $10,000 to perform invasive species removal of the problematic rubber vine at one of the largest and healthiest populations of the endangered arroyo oak, Quercus brandegeei, in Baja California Sur, Mexico. You can read more about this project here. This project is a part of the ongoing conservation efforts spearheaded by the Global Trees Conservation Program team to “salvemos el encinco arroyero” (save the arroyo oak). Congrats to Ash on their hard work!
Last month Sean attended a meeting of the Global Partnership for Plant Conservation at Missouri Botanical Garden, and gave two separate presentations on the genetic indicators.

February, 2025

3/3/2025

Overall

Emma and Jon Steele, the Arboretum's Research Horticulturalist, visited Vallonia Tree Seedling Nursery (southern Indiana) in late January and Oconto River Seed Orchard in February, to pick up rootstock and get a lesson in grafting. The rootstock and new skills will support ongoing conservation efforts for butternut, specifically by attempting to propagate old or sick individual trees to ensure the endurance of their genetic diversity. At Oconto, they also toured the ~700 acre orchard including a butternut seed orchard consisting of butternuts selected for their good health.
On February 17, Sean gave an invited presentation to the FORGENIUS project at their annual meeting in Vienna, titled “Indicators for conserving genetic diversity of trees, for biodiversity policy commitments.” About 50 scientists as well as forest managers and restoration practitioners attended. Sean also spent three days discussing the project progress, and visiting a black poplar (a threatened tree in Europe) genetic conservation unit which is being managed to promote more natural regeneration of poplar seedlings, in one of the only “wild” stretches of the Danube River in Austria.
On February 20, Sean gave an invited seminar to the Conservation, Ecology and Evolution department of McGill University in Montreal, and met with students and professors for several days. His talk was titled, “Improving the conservation of genetic diversity ex situ by integrating ecology”.
In mid-February we, along with the Hipp the Systematics Lab and Herbarium team, hosted 3 prospective PhD students for the University of Chicago Committee on Evolutionary Biology!
Sean's been traveling a lot! In late February he gave the plenary lecture at the 15th annual meeting of the Quebec Centre for Biodiversity Science, in Montreal. The topic of his talk was “Monitoring genetic diversity through a novel, affordable, inclusive, and scalable approach – progress and challenges”, and it covered the ‘genetic indicator’ approach that Sean and the lab have developed over the past five years, which seeks to understand the genetic health of many species with a quick, intuitive method similar to the IUCN Red List criteria. In addition to a research overview, Sean also talked about his experiences at CBD COP15 and COP16, and he gave some advice on creating policy relevant science and interacting with decision makers. Throughout the conference, he also met with dozens of students, postdocs, professors, and scientists at Canadian natural resource agencies.

Publications

2025. Robyn E. Shaw, Katherine A. Farquharson, Michael W. Bruford, David J. Coates, Carole P. Elliott, Joachim Mergeay, Kym M. Ottewell, Gernot Segelbacher, Sean Hoban, … [49 authors…], Cristiano Vernesi & Catherine E. Grueber. “Global meta-analysis shows action is needed to halt genetic diversity loss.” Nature. Open Access.
- This Nature article provides the most comprehensive global picture of within-population genetic change over time for individual species, via a survey of thousands of previously published papers. It documents that ~2/3 of populations are losing genetic diversity, due to different ecological disturbances. Importantly, the study also tested and showed that conservation interventions can help slow or reverse this loss of genetic diversity. Supplementing populations and restoring connectivity between populations can improve the genetic health of species’ populations. This study was a product of six years of effort from more than 50 co-authors around the world, involving thousands of hours of data collection and curation, and was a truly a collaborative, global effort!
- The study was covered by news articles in Nature, Science, The Independent, The Guardian, Australian Geographic, and numerous institutional news outlets (U Sydney, etc). It's been mentioned in over 120 news outlets globally!

January, 2025

2/3/2025

Overall

Sean, Austin, and Emma participated in a weeklong working group meeting for the project Genes from Space, in Bern Switzerland. At this meeting, the group lead a webinar on a pilot tool for estimating genetic diversity using habitat data derived from remote sensing satellite data. The team will also discussed feedback about this tool, and it can be more useful to the target audience – persons in government or NGOs who wish to conserve genetic diversity. The workshop participants included experts in biodiversity, computer science, and satellite information (including NASA and ESA). The project is funded by the International Space Science Institute.
Emma visited the Vallonia Tree Seedling Nursery in southern Indiana (along with Arboretum horticulturalist Jon Steele) to pick up rootstock and get a lesson in grafting! The rootstock and new skills will support the lab's ongoing conservation efforts for butternut (Juglans cinerea), specifically by attempting to propagate old or sick individual trees to ensure the survival of their genetic diversity.

Publications

2025. Robyn E. Shaw, Katherine A. Farquharson, Michael W. Bruford, David J. Coates, Carole P. Elliott, Joachim Mergeay, Kym M. Ottewell, Gernot Segelbacher, Sean Hoban, … [49 authors…], Cristiano Vernesi & Catherine E. Grueber. “Global meta-analysis shows action is needed to halt genetic diversity loss.” Nature. Open Access.
- This article provides the most comprehensive global picture of within-population genetic change over time for individual species, via a survey of thousands of previously published papers. The study documents that two-thirds of populations are losing genetic diversity, due to different ecological disturbances. Importantly, the study also tested and showed that conservation interventions can help slow or reverse this loss of genetic diversity. Supplementing populations and restoring connectivity between populations can improve the genetic health of species’ populations. This study was a product of six years of effort from more than 50 co-authors around the world, involving thousands of hours of data collection and curation, truly a collaborative, global effort.
- The study was covered by news articles in Nature, Science, The Independent, The Guardian, Australian Geographic, and numerous institutional news outlets (U Sydney, etc).

December, 2024

1/6/2025

Overall

Sean was interviewed on Nature Insights, a podcast hosted by IPBES, the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Service. IPBES, which is the biodiversity analogue of the well known IPCC, produces gold-standard, globally recognized summaries of the state of biodiversity especially at the intersection of nature and people. Sean was interviewed by science communicator (and former Hoban lab team member), Dr. Brit Garner. Also featured on the podcast is a colleague of Sean’s, Dr. Laura Bertola. The conversation covered: what is genetic diversity, how can we measure it, managing ex situ collections like botanic gardens, science-policy interface, and more. The 30 minute episode is here.
Ash Hamilton and Dana Barry, two members of the Tree Conservation Biology team, recently returned from a month of fieldwork for the Endangered tree Quercus brandegeei, the arroyo oak. This tree is endemic to the southern portion of Baja Sur, Mexico. It is highly valuable for the local ecology, economy, and culture of the region. After weeks of planning and preparation from several members of the TCB and GTCP, Ash and Dana visited the sites where hundreds of seedlings had been planted over the past few years, through the efforts of local collaborators and the GTCP, in order to record seedling health and survival. They also spoke with local people about their interest in the tree and what motivated them to plant and care for it. They also collected acorns for next year’s planting, and for studying the genetic diversity of the seedlings, which will inform the collaboration’s future plans for collecting and restoration. Lastly, they participated in the third annual festival of the oaks, which engaged children and adults in games, arts, food, and storytelling, to celebrate this beautiful and iconic tree

Fall 2024

12/6/2024

Overall

In September, Emma and Gavin took a one week trip to Arkansas to search for and document the health of the threatened tree butternut (Juglans cinerea). They visited numerous state, federal and private locations to observe butternut trees, which are declining due to disease, document their health and if the trees are reproducing, sample seeds if possible, and sample leaves for DNA analysis. The DNA analysis will reveal if the trees are hybrids, which may contribute to the disease resistance. It will also be used to determine how genetically diverse these very southern populations are (they are on the very geographic range edge).
In late September, Sean, Gavin, and Emma attended a symposium on the threatened butternut tree, a.k.a. white walnut. The symposium was hosted by Purdue University and the US Forest Service State, Private, and Tribal Forestry. There were 15 in person attendees and 45 online participants. The symposium focused on helping recover this endangered tree: genomic research, planting orchards, partnerships, and understanding the disease which is causing the trees’ decline. Participants had a strong representation from practitioners, including state DNRs, private conservation organizations, and the US Forest Service. Sean talked about the TCB’s upcoming work to evaluate the health of butternut, sample seed for distribution to gardens and out planting, and building diverse partnerships for education and restoration.
Sean attended the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the Convention on Biological Diversity, in Cali, Colombia, from October 20-28. He led a team from IUCN and other groups, who gave a total of eight presentations or panel discussions on topics relevant to global tree conservation, including population monitoring, restoration, and connectivity, with examples in oaks and wild avocados in Mexico. Specifically Sean spoke about two topics: (1) monitoring forest tree populations using satellite data, to enable monitoring and reporting at national levels, with examples from wild avocado trees and oaks in Mexico; (2) on recently developed guidance for Parties for conserving genetic diversity, including by assessing in-country capacity. He networked with numerous environmental NGOs (IUCN, Re:Wild, BGCI, Wise Ancestors), connected with policy makers including country negotiators, and learned about upcoming tools and technologies that can help monitor biodiversity faster and more accurately. He also presented a poster on the Arboretum’s Center for Species Survival for Trees, for the Global Tree Conservation Program. Lastly, several hundred attendees stopped at an exhibit booth where Sean and his colleagues served as a resource to answer questions about conserving genetic diversity.
Sean recently got promoted to Senior Scientist! We had a celebration for Sean's achievement in early November.

Events and Presentations

In September, Sean attended two meetings with European collaborators last week. First, he attended a team workshop for GINAMO, Genetic Indicators for Nature Monitoring, an EU Biodiversa+ funded project which will build scientific knowledge and science policy linkages relating to a new approach Sean developed for rapid conservation genetic assessments (e.g. Hoban et al 2024). The workshop was coordinated using the IUCN Conservation Planning Guidelines. The project includes plans for interfacing with national level decision makers, and testing methods to use satellite data for identifying distinct populations. It was inspiring to see Sean’s work taken up and expanded by collaborators around the world. Second, he attended and gave a talk at the 6th European Conservation Genetics meeting. His talk was titled “Conserving and managing genetic diversity in ex situ collections.” About 150 people were in the audience, at the beautiful Palais de Rumine in Lausanne, with a strong focus on early career researchers.
Ash gave a public defense of their PhD proposal on Wednesday September 12, and the committee decided it was a successful defense! This means that Ash will now become a PhD candidate, thus entering an exciting new phase of their work. Following a well earned vacation, they will proceed into the second major year of data collection for the IUCN threatened oak tree Quercus brandegeei this fall, by collecting additional seeds for growing into seedlings as well as revisiting and surveying previously planted seedlings to assess their health/ survival and collect DNA data.
In September, Sean gave a presentation on “Butternut Conservation and Restoration” to a Biology class at University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, a small, bachelor’s granting institution in Pennsylvania, near Allegheny National Forest. There were 20 undergraduate students and about 10 Master Gardeners in the audience. Sean talked about his research journey, The Morton Arboretum mission, opportunities including the REU and RAMP, how to identify butternut trees, why butternuts are threatened, and a brief overview of ongoing work to document the health of butternuts, collect and plant seeds, and build partnerships.
In October, Mikaely presented her work at the Macalester College Summer Showcase. Her poster was a product of her work over the past year or so, with support from Tree Conservation Biology team members Ash Hamilton, Emily Schumacher and Sean Hoban. The title was “Are Quercus muehlenbergii and other white oak species hybridizing in botanic gardens”. This work was funded by the NSF REU program, The Morton Arboretum, and the US Botanic Garden. This work shows a very small number of hybrids were formed in acorns that we sampled (about 2 to 4% are hybrids). The Tree Conservation Biology lab will use this study along with other ongoing projects on hybrids to advise botanic gardens about how to manage hybrids in their collections. The planting of conspecifics in small clusters together, separated from other oaks, seems to have helped ensure that most of the acorns were not hybrids, though it can result in high levels of offspring that might show inbreeding.

Publications

Sean Hoban, Christina Hvilsom, Abdeldjalil Aissi, Alexandre Aleixo, Julie Bélanger, Katarzyna Biala, Robert Ekblom, Ancuta Fedorca, W Chris Funk, Alejandra Lorena Goncalves, Andrew Gonzalez, Myriam Heuertz, Alice Hughes, Fumiko Ishihama, Belma Kalamujic Stroil, Linda Laikre, Philip J K McGowan, Katie L Millette, David O'Brien, Ivan Paz-Vinas, Victor Julio Rincón-Parra, Marine Robuchon, Jon Paul Rodríguez, María Alejandra Rodríguez-Morales, Gernot Segelbacher, Tiffany R A Straza, Ruliyana Susanti, Ntakadzeni Tshidada, Sibelle Torres Vilaça, Jessica M da Silva, How can biodiversity strategy and action plans incorporate genetic diversity and align with global commitments?, BioScience, 2024;, biae106, https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biae106

Spring and Summer, 2024

12/6/2024

Overall

In April, Austin, Ash and Gavin making a successful field trip down to Baja California Sur to collect leaves from the rare Q. brandgeii for genetic analyses of its populations!
In July, Sean received a Walder Biota Award, which will fund three years of efforts towards local and global biodiversity conservation! Specifically it will fund a large-scale assessment of the genetic conservation status of 200 North American trees, as well as local efforts for assessing health and distribution of the threatened butternut tree (Juglans cinerea, IUCN Threatened), in the Midwest and especially Chicago region. Partners include the US Forest Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and several local county Forest Preserves. This award was presented at an in-person celebration at Lincoln Park Zoo. A video about Sean’s work, and the other 2024 awardees, can be found here.

In August, Emma and Sean completed a trip to Vermont to meet collaborators working on butternut conservation. Butternut is a threatened and rapidly declining hardwood, dying off due to a fungal pathogen (read more here). It was historically ecologically and culturally important. During a brief 3-day trip, they met indigenous partners, local landowners, state and federal forest managers, and research partners. They toured a large moderately healthy population of >100 adult butternuts (see photo below) with >100 seedlings (in which they helped find even more seedlings), and shared knowledge and vision about the future potential of this site (studying seed dispersal, hybridization, and disease resistance). They also visited two other populations as well as a grafted orchard, at which they discussed good and poor growing conditions. At the site they also happened to meet USFS personnel who were taking data on an American chestnut orchard (both fully American chestnut and hybrid chestnut), so were able to tour this unique and invaluable tree breeding resource!

Events and Presentations

In March, Sean gave a presentation to the International Union for Conservation of Nature Species Survival Commission, regarding the Convention on Biological Diversity Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, and his engagement over the past three years with this important global conservation commitment. He also discussed some of his work analyzing how countries reported on biodiversity in the past, and how they could report better in the future. There were more than 200 online attendees.
In March, Sean also gave a presentation to The Crop Trust GROW (Genebank Resources On the Web) seminar series, to which over 250 persons registered. The Crop Trust provides resources and guidance to hundreds of genebanks worldwide. The topic of this presentation was Sean’s work over the past 10 years in terms of developing quantitative advice to botanic gardens about seed sampling and managing their collections, including several novel methods Sean’s team developed. This work was placed in the context of the Convention on Biological Diversity commitments, and how genebanks and gardens can actively assess their conservation progress and work to improve it. Work from past lab members including Emily Schumacher, Emily Beckman, and Kaylee Rosenberger, as well as collaborator Colin Khoury, were featured. The recorded webinar is here.
In June, lab members attended the North American Congress on Conservation Biology (NACCB) in beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia! Sean presented on both the need and the ways of integrating genetic diversity into national and global biodiversity planning and monitoring, as part of a symposium on the Convention on Biological Diversity. Austin presented on a fast, affordable, inclusive monitoring of genetic diversity, which uses non-DNA data and therefore leverages very diverse types of data, with an application to >150 US Endangered Species Act species. Emma presented on the context and outcomes of the prairie experiment, a phylogenetically informed experiment to understand how ecosystem functioning is impacted by trait and taxonomic diversity, as well as resistance to invasive species.

Publications

Pearman, P.B., Broennimann, O., Aavik, T. et al. Monitoring of species’ genetic diversity in Europe varies greatly and overlooks potential climate change impacts. Nat Ecol Evol 8, 267–281 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-023-02260-0
Hoban, S., da Silva, J.M., Hughes, A., Hunter, M.E., Kalamujić Stroil, B., Laikre, L., Mastretta-Yanes, A., Millette, K., Paz-Vinas, I., Bustos, L.R. and Shaw, R.E., 2024. Too simple, too complex, or just right? Advantages, challenges, and guidance for indicators of genetic diversity. BioScience, p.biae006. (open access).
- This publication stems from Sean Hoban’s (Tree Conservation Biologist) policy work – providing scientific advice and expertise to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The paper discusses an approach that he and colleagues developed for estimating genetic diversity status of hundreds of species quickly, affordably, and inclusively. The paper presents the advantages, perceived disadvantages, and practical solutions for this approach, known as “genetic indicators.” The paper is timely and important because genetic indicators are formally part of the CBD Global Biodiversity Framework, and several policy meetings this year will deal with the practicalities of actually monitoring biodiversity at large scale. This paper will help non-experts better understand the approach and decide whether to use it in practice for reporting on and managing biodiversity at national scales.
Koontz, A. C., Schumacher, E. K., Spence, E. S., & Hoban, S. M. (2024). Ex situ conservation of two rare oak species using microsatellite and SNP markers. Evolutionary Applications, 17(3), e13650.
- Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/eva.13650
- Summary: This publication is the result of several years of work coming out of the Hoban Lab seeking to understand the number of individuals required for genetically representing wild populations of threatened oaks (Quercus acerifolia and Q. boyntonii) ex situ. Specifically, this paper examines whether and how that number of required individuals changes based on the type of genetic marker used. The lab found that using a newer marker type (SNPs) tends to lead to a larger number of individuals that need to be protected ex situ, compared to an older marker type (microsatellites)–but not in all cases! These results have implications for botanic gardens trying to bolster the genetic diversity of their collections based on guidelines derived using microsatellite data.
Margaret Hunter, Jessica M. da Silva, Alicia Mastretta-Yanes, and Sean M. Hoban. A new era of genetic diversity conservation through novel tools and accessible data. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.
- Genetic diversity is necessary for species to adapt to ecological changes, such as impacts from disease, invasive species, and climate change. Genetic diversity also supports ecosystem resilience and societal innovations. This editorial article reviews the ways in which genetic diversity can contribute to biodiversity monitoring and conservation action.
Deborah M. Leigh, Amy G. Vandergast, Margaret E. Hunter, Eric D. Crandall, W. Chris Funk, Colin J. Garroway, Sean Hoban, Sara J. Oyler-McCance, Christian Rellstab, Gernot Segelbacher, Chloé Schmidt, Ella Vázquez-Domínguez & Ivan Paz-Vinas. Best practices for genetic and genomic data archiving. Nature Ecology and Evolution.
- This article reviews opportunities and challenges for making genetic data and their metadata more archivable and FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable), for data re-use, integrity and reliability. We also review those potential re-uses of genetic data, including for global and collaborative biodiversity conservation, lessons which apply to biodiversity more broadly. We suggest several best practices for this active area of research.
Wu, Y; Linan, A; Hoban, S; Hipp, A; Ricklefs, R. 2024. Divergent ecological selection maintains species boundaries despite gene flow in a rare endemic tree, Quercus acerifolia (maple-leaf oak). Journal of Heredity, esae033, https://doi.org/10.1093/jhered/esae033 Published: 17 June 2024
- This study focuses on a rare tree, maple-leaf oak (Quercus acerifolia). It is limited to four mountain tops in Arkansas. We investigated whether maple leaf oak is receiving gene flow/ introgression from other oaks, up to the point of genetic swamping, including Q. shumardii, Q. buckleyi, and Q. rubra. Although hybrids were identified, maple leaf oak mostly remains resistant to introgression, possibly due to adaptation to its environment. Interestingly we found more hybrids in ex situ collections in botanic gardens. Currently, although hybridization is a concern especially ex situ, it is not a major threat to maple leaf oak in situ.
Integrating genomic data and simulations to evaluate alternative species distribution models and improve predictions of glacial refugia and future responses to climate change. Sarah R. Naughtin, Antonio R. Castilla, Adam B. Smith, Allan E. Strand, Andria Dawson, Sean Hoban, Everett Andrew Abhainn, Jeanne Romero-Severson, and John D. Robinson. Ecography. Free Open Access.
- This paper builds on previous work of this six year collaboration on understanding how species geographic ranges respond to climate change. The collaboration was initially sparked by a CTS Fellow grant to gather the collaborators together at The Morton Arboretum in 2017, and to support genotyping of green ash. This is the fourth paper to come from this teamwork. The paper highlights how different species distribution models (SDMs) can lead to different pictures of species range responses, and shows a novel approach to solving this problem – the use of simulations and the ABC approach to identify the SDM most closely matching empirical genomic data. Forecast projections of the range of green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica), using the SDMs selected by the ABC method, suggest that the species will experience only minor geographic shifts in its suitable habitat.
Multinational evaluation of genetic diversity indicators for the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Alicia Mastretta-Yanes, Jessica M. da Silva, Catherine E. Grueber, Luis Castillo-Reina, Viktoria Köppä, Brenna R. Forester, W. Chris Funk, Myriam Heuertz, Fumiko Ishihama, Rebecca Jordan, Joachim Mergeay, Ivan Paz-Vinas, Victor Julio Rincon-Parra, Maria Alejandra Rodriguez-Morales, Libertad Arredondo-Amezcua, Gaëlle Brahy, Matt DeSaix, Lily Durkee, Ashley Hamilton, Margaret E. Hunter, Austin Koontz, Iris Lang, María Camila Latorre-Cárdenas, Tanya Latty, Alexander Llanes-Quevedo, Anna J. MacDonald, Meg Mahoney, Caitlin Miller, Juan Francisco Ornelas, Santiago Ramírez-Barahona, Erica Robertson, Isa-Rita M. Russo, Metztli Arcila Santiago, Robyn E. Shaw, Glenn M. Shea, Per Sjögren-Gulve, Emma Suzuki Spence, Taylor Stack, Sofía Suárez, Akio Takenaka, Henrik Thurfjell, Sheela Turbek, Marlien van der Merwe, Fleur Visser, Ana Wegier, Georgina Wood, Eugenia Zarza, Linda Laikre, Sean Hoban. Ecology Letters. Free Open Access.
- This paper is the culmination of a three year effort by 49 authors to test whether it is feasible to assess and monitor genetic diversity at national and global levels. The research, led by Alicia Mastretta-Yanes, Jessica da Silva, and Sean Hoban, involved researchers and practitioners from academia, government institutions, and non-governmental organizations. Nine countries were involved, varying in economic status and biodiversity richness: Australia, Belgium, Colombia, France, Japan, Mexico, South Africa, Sweden, and the United States. The authors analyzed genetic indicators for 919 species, representing more than 5000 populations. The study covered all taxonomic groups, and notably several keystone trees were included, such as Mexican mountain juniper. The findings were revealing: while the majority of analyzed species maintain most of their populations, 58% of them have many populations that are too small to sustain genetic diversity. Furthermore, the results show that the IUCN Red List does not represent genetic status, highlighting the critical importance of monitoring genetic diversity with a methodology such as that presented here.

November 2023

11/30/2023

Project Progress:

Ash Hamilton, PhD student at the University of Chicago, led an international team of scientists (including Gavin Salas, the lab’s RAMP fellow) on a 10 day field work trip in Baja California Sur, Mexico. This fieldwork is a crucial part of Ash’s dissertation work on effective population size through time on the endangered, endemic Quercus brandegeei. This trip involved the group monitoring selected trees at several sites, collecting more than 1300 acorns in total from these trees, and prepping pots, soil, and nursery space to plant a select 1200 of the collected acorns at a local nursery. When these acorns grow into seedlings, they will be sampled by Ash for genetic analyses and then adopted out to local community members as a part of a conservation program “¡Salvemos el encino arroyero!” led by the Morton Arboretum and a regional governmental agency in Mexico (CIBNOR) [link to CIBNOR].

Outreach and Training

Sean Hoban, Tree Conservation Biologist, led a consortium of scientists worldwide to create support materials for policy makers at a recent scientific and technical meeting of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, held in Nairobi Kenya in October. The team created a policy brief translated in four languages, a short video, a flyer, and a post for an online CBD discussion forum. The materials were presented on an easy to read website. This builds on the engagement and support the team provided at the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity meetings in December 2022. The goal of the materials was to explain the recent implementation of genetic diversity indicators in a fast, affordable manner in nine countries, including four megadiverse countries. One message highlighted was that many populations worldwide may be on the precipice of large losses of genetic diversity, and that this status of biodiversity can be monitored in all countries, without the need for DNA sequencing data.

Events and Presentations

Sean Hoban, Tree Conservation Biologist, presented a seminar virtually at the University of Connecticut on November 17 to approximately 15 students and faculty.

Publications

Castilla, A.R., Brown, A., Hoban, S., Abhainn, E.A., Robinson, J.D., Romero‐Severson, J., Smith, A.B.,Strand, A.E., Tipton, J.R. and Dawson, A., 2023. Integrative demographic modelling reduces uncertainty in estimated rates of species' historical range shifts. Journal of Biogeography. OPEN ACCESS
- This publication from several current or former Morton employees (Hoban, Brown) and CTS Fellows (Strand, Castilla) was the capstone of an NSF project to improve methods in biogeography- the study of species’ ranges and how they change over time. The paper showed that it is possible to integrate ecological niche models, pollen fossil data, and genetic data to better understand how fast tree species (specifically, Fraxinus pennsylvanica, green ash) migrated north after the last Ice Age. The paper also provides hints about how fast species may respond to modern climate change, and provides open source code for the methods for others to use. This project team’s work was originally sparked by CTS seed funding to bring the researchers together to meet in 2017.
Carroll, C., Hoban, S. and Ray, J.C., 2023. Lessons from COP15 on effective scientific engagement in biodiversity policy processes. Conservation Biology. OPEN ACCESS
- This publication provides a perspective and review of the advancement of science-based policy in the Convention on Biological Diversity. The authors write about the challenges and opportunities of expanding the idea of conservation beyond just conserving species to conserving both genes and ecosystems. The article touches on efforts to conserve 30 percent of ecosystems by 2030, and efforts to measure and manage genetic diversity affordably and quickly. Challenges included explanation of definitions, the speed and complexity of policy negotiations, science communication, and incentives and guidance for scientists to engage.