Palm Conservation at a Botanic Garden: a Case Study of the Keys Thatch Palm.

Botanic garden palm collections are among the world's best examples of ex situ plant conservation. Palm conservation collections are central to two botanic gardens in South Florida. Recent research funded by the International Palm Society sought to evaluate the effectiveness of garden collections in maintaining the genetic diversity of palms. Studies focused on Leucothrinax morrisii are reviewed here. For these botanic garden collections, maintaining more individual plants per population results in greater capture of genetic diversity. As the number of plants increases, the genetic diversity captured increases more slowly. Maintaining multiple accessions (i.e., progeny from more than one mother plant)helps to capture greater diversity, but for this case, the effect was much less significant than simply increasing the number of plants. Balancing genetic capture with efficiency of the garden operation is challenging, but best accomplished with specific data. Ex situ conservation remains an expedient and feasible strategy to ensure against extinction of palm species.