A new mission for the Trinity College Botanic Garden By Professor Jennifer McElwain , Director, Trinity College Botanic Garden A view of the main Arboretum The images in this article depict the diversity of species - native, exotic, rare, specialized, evolutionarily remarkable and threatened by extinction that are in the living collections of the Trinity College Botanic Garden based in Dartry. W e are currently in the midst of two highly interconnected global crises. The world is simultaneously undergoing profound climatic change that will increasingly impact our daily lives and the number of unique species, their genetic make-up, myriad behaviours – in other words our biodiversity – is diminishing. As an academic, teacher and researcher I am constantly asking myself how Trinity can make a difference. The twin challenges of biodiversity loss and climate change seem almost insurmountable; how can we prioritize which species or habitats to protect or which species to monitor for early warning signs of the impacts of climate change? Should we prioritize the agricultural plant species that provide us with the chief carbohydrates in our daily diet such as wheat, rice, maize or perhaps we should think about the plant species which are threatened by emerging diseases such as olive, banana or the Yew tree from which cancer drugs are derived. Turning away from food to the landscape I love in Ireland, perhaps our focus should be the hedgerows? I cannot imagine walking through fields where the majestic Ash tree no longer makes up over 40% of the field boundaries due to ash dieback disease. Perhaps we should consider the plant species that work the hardest for the whole ecosystem, the native wildflower species that provide nectar for pollinators, the scrubby wetland willows, heathers, reeds and rushes that regulate regional water tables and mitigate flooding. From regional to very local consideration, we could just focus on those plant species that bring us sheer joy, a rare bee orchid, a bank of primroses or those we know to be most threatened by extinction in Ireland and beyond. Plants are no doubt important as they provide our food and medicines and they structure our ecosystems, but can we use our existing expertise to predict which species in the future will need the most help from us in the face of climate change? Which species will thrive under future climate change and could be targeted as nature-based solution to sequester carbon, add amenity value and cool cities, improve timber stocks and contribute to climate mitigation efforts? The global network of botanic gardens will play a central role in providing answers to all of the questions posed above and more. Botanic gardens grow and care for and have expert knowledge on 105,635 plant species, which Bilbergia amoena, a species found only in Brazil
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