Botanical Research Institute of Texas: Texas Plant Conservation Team
Species: Eriocaulon koernickianum
Eriocaulon koernickianum is a tiny, ephemeral wetland species native to Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Georgia. Across its range, populations face mounting pressures from habitat loss, degradation, fire suppression, and prolonged drought (just to name a few). Little is known about this species, making it hard to approach conservation strategies and therefore also making it increasingly at risk of major decline. The threat of losing this species in the wild has made E. koernickianum an urgent priority for our partners at the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT).
BRIT’s Texas Plant Conservation Team has been dedicated to unraveling the mysteries surrounding this species’ seed dormancy and germination requirements to strengthen its conservation in the wild. According to the Center for Plant Conservation best practices, germination studies provide baseline data for understanding a species’ reproductive biology. Having this deeper understanding can bridge the gap between ex-situ conservation and restoration efforts in the event a wild population severely declines.
In May, after months of research and germination trials, our partners at BRIT germinated their first E. koernickianum seedling. This success leveraged the team to expand their research to micropropagation, or the reproduction of plants from a small amount of plant material. This is a powerful conservation tool because it allows for rapid growth of genetically diverse individuals without relying on large wild seed collections, which can cause stress to small, vulnerable wild populations.
As of late July, they have already begun to see success with this effort. One of their micropropagated specimens has reached reproductive maturity, which means they can take action on a number of other conservation activities for this species, such as collecting seed from their new, ex-situ population to expand their conservation collection and help support restoration efforts in the wild.
We can’t wait to watch this project advance and we’re excited to continue hearing about the amazing results. Great work, BRIT team!
a mature individual of E. koernickianum propagated from seed as part of our USFWS funded seed germination trial earlier this year. We’re now up to 4 scapes on this individual since this photo was taken.
a mature, flowering individual of E. koernickianum photographed in-situ during a field survey in Henderson County earlier this summer.
