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GCCO July 2020 Newsletter

Dear GCCO community,

We are pleased to share our first GCCO newsletter with you! Newsletters will be sent out quarterly with important updates about the GCCO, upcoming events, funding opportunities, publications, and current or future research/conservation activities occurring in the different sub-regions of the U.S. (Eastern U.S., Texas & the Southwest, and Western U.S.). While this is mainly U.S. focused, we're working to catalyze the other GCCO regions which will have their own communication platforms in the near future, but for now we will highlight some global updates in this newsletter. A few weeks prior to each newsletter, I will send an email asking for information on upcoming projects, events, and funding opportunities.

Kick-off Meeting & Feedback

Thank you to those who attended the GCCO U.S. Region kick-off meeting on May 28-29. It was a great success and we are excited with the progress we continue to make as a consortium. Check out this short summary of the meeting on the BGCI website. Also, thanks to those of you who provided feedback on the meeting format. Your input will help us plan future meetings and other GCCO activities. Here is a brief summary of the survey results.

Sub-regional updates:

Eastern U.S.

Aiken City-wide Arboretum: Willing to provide access to the oak collection for seed, scion wood, and other non-lethal or non-harmful studies or research endeavors. It is a very diverse collection of native and exotic oak species and hybrids.

Aiken City-wide Arboretum: collecting acorns in FL this fall for Q. inopina. Please contact Bob McCartney if you are interested in requesting plant material or want to learn more about the collecting trip.

Auburn University, Davis Arboretum and Huntsville Botanic Garden are collecting this fall. Acorn recipients lined up through PCN, but will use the list of institutions on the conservation/research activities spreadsheet in case of a bumper crop.

The Morton Arboretum is currently working on population genetics for Q. acerifolia. Also, they are working on understanding genetic diversity in situ and ex situ for Q. havardii, Q. hinckleyi, Q. pacifica, Q. tomentella, Q. graciliformis, Q. ajoensis, Q. georgiana, Q. boyntonii and Q. oglethorpensis, and they are always looking for new partners and species! For questions or inquiries, please contact Sean Hoban.

Texas and the Southwest

Mercer Botanic Gardens: Collecting Q.hinckleyi in Big Bend Ranch State Park September 3-8 and October 5-10. Also, surveying all Quercus occurring on El Solitario including Q.hinckleyi in Big Bend Ranch State Park on September 3-8 and October 5-10. Please contact Jacob Martin at Mercer Botanic Gardens if you have any questions about these trips.

The Morton Arboretum and Adam Black are collaborating on a collecting trip for rare oaks in SW Texas this fall, pending collecting permit approval.

Western U.S.

UC Davis Arboretum: Has potted Q. dumosa to share; they are available to be picked up at UC Davis Arboretum. Please contact Emily Griswold if you are interested.

LA County Arboretum & Botanic Garden: Sowed 917 Q. engelmannii acorns from 119 trees last fall. They were sown on November 20, 2019. First acorn germinated on January 14, 2020. Germination is ~70% as of today. They plan to plant saplings in the grove beginning December 2020. For questions or inquiries about the project, please email Jim Henrich.

Funding Opportunities

Ame rican Public Gardens Association Tree Gene Conservation Partnership: Applications will open September 2020
Ass ociation of Zoological Horticulture (AZH) Conservation Grant: check the website for deadline updates
BGC I/ArbNet Partnership Programme: applications now open (deadline looming, but likely to be extended)
Dis ney Conservation Fund: look for updates about the next grant cycle in September 2020
Ins titute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), National Leadership Grants for Libraries : application deadline is October 2, 2020. They fund research, interpretation, access, and evaluation of collections
Lawr ence Foundation : application deadline is October 31, 2020
Mohamed Bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund: application deadline is October 31, 2020
Nati onal Geographic Society : deadline for numerous grant opportunities is October 21, 2020
The International Oak Society is developing an Oak Conservation & Research Fund, which should be launched this year. We will keep you posted. (Donations are encouraged!)

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about these funding opportunities and/or if you need assistance on the application process. Best of luck!

Publications

Andrew Hipp, Paul Manos, and Jeannine Cavender-Bares published: "How Oak Trees Evolved to Rule the Forests of the Northern Hemisphere"
A publication about Chrysolepsis chrysophylla, authored by Ann Willyard, Andy Bower, et. al
A publication by Sean Hoban et. al, highlighting the results of population genetic studies on Q. boyntonii, Q. georgiana, and Q. oglethorpensis
US Forest Service r eport: "Proceedings of the seventh sudden oak death science and management symposium: healthy plants in a world with Phytophthora"

Events

The 8th Meeting of the IUFRO Working Group on Fagaceae and Nothofagaceae is being planned for 2021. Details TBD. Please contact Chuck Cannon at The Morton Arboretum for more information
The 10th International Oak Society Conference; October 24-27 2021

Action Items!

If you have indicated interest in being a Species Champion, please sign the MoU
Continue to add your current or future oak-related activities to the conservation/research activities spreadsheet
If you did not participate in our recent calls for ex situ accessions data in 2017 (for the Conservation Gap Analysis of Native US Oaks) or 2019 (for an IMLS-funded project led by The Morton Arboretum and BGCI), please send us your Quercus ex situ accessions data, and please forward this request to relevant colleagues who manage oaks in their collections. We are updating the graphs and figures in the Gap Analysis

Upcoming GCCO meetings

We will most likely host two virtual meetings for each sub-region (less structured than the kick-off meeting, with more focus on group discussion), and one big group meeting each year; details to follow soon.

Welcome to our new members!

Den ver Botanic Gardens, Species Champion, Q. havardii
Lo s Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden, Species Champion, Q. engelmannii
Me rcer Botanic Gardens, Species Champion, Q. hinckleyi, Q. similis
Vie tnam National University of Forestry, Consortium Steering Committee

Thank you all, for your support and commitment to oak conservation!

Best wishes,
Amy Byrne
GCCO U.S. Region Coordinator

Global Conservation Consortium for Oak, GCCO Generously supported by:
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Contact Information:
Global Lead, Murphy Westwood
U.S. Region Coordinator, Amy Byrne

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