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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
From left: Jason Lopez of Fairchild Tropical Garden; BNT Warden Casper Burrows; Dr Ethan Freid of the Leon Levy Preserve; and Dr Brett Bestrew of Fairchild Tropical Garden.
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Dr Ethan Freid, botanist at the Leon Levy Native Plant Preserve on Eleuthera, recently led a collecting expedition to Inagua as part of the Preserve’s plant conservation efforts.
Located in Governor’s Harbour, Eleuthera, the 25-acre Preserve is operated by the Bahamas National Trust and funded by the Leon Levy Foundation. It features nature trails and provides information on food and medicinal plants, and the hardwood trees that played a role in the history of the island. It is also a facility for the propagation of indigenous plants and trees.
The Preserve is currently collecting samples of endemic vascular plants of the Bahamian archipelago. ‘Endemic' refers to a species found only in the Bahamas. ‘Vascular' is a broad category that includes most plants alive today.
Scientists have identified 89 endemic species in the Bahamas and 27 on Inagua - including two known only from that island and another eight known to just one other island in the archipelago.
"At the Preserve there are five endemic species that are naturally occurring,” Freid explained. “And we are collecting from other islands as part of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. The Preserve aims to keep a living collection of these plants for conservation and educational purposes.”
Plants are a vital component of the world's biological diversity and an essential resource for the planet. It is estimated that the total number of vascular plant species is about 400,000. The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation was adopted by the United Nations to halt the continuing loss of plant diversity.
According to Dr Freid, the Bahamian archipelago has fewer endemic seed-plant species than previously thought: “This shows the importance of protecting those that do occur here. Understanding the distribution of endemic species will help to support conservation efforts."
In addition to Dr Freid, the Inagua expedition team included BNT Warden Caspar Nixon as well as botanists from Fairchild Tropical Garden in Miami - Dr. Brett Jestrow and Jason Lopez. They collected fruits from 18 endemic species to grow in the Preserve.
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