Passion for Conser

A Passion for Conservation

Kenya Staley @kenyastaley

Photo(s) by Tiffany Larrabee

With a summer like California’s it’s difficult to imagine anyone spending the entirety of their days in scorching heat but that’s exactly how Chaffey College students Tiffany Larrabee and Joselyn Gonzalez have spent their time at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden. Located in the hills of Claremont, California Rancho Santa Ana Botanical Garden is home to over tens of thousands of plants over their 55 acres. Although it’s beauty is open to the public 7 days a week, the garden spends a significant amount of time and resources on plant conservation and research.

“Everyday of the week we do something different, some days we’ll be in the herbarium and other days we’ll be out in the field collecting specimens for research. The herbarium is really special because it holds so much information that can later be used to study things like climate change.” Larrabee mentions. The herbarium is filled with over 1,200,000 specimens and approximately 7,000 species that get imaged and added to an online database where botanists around the world can access their information for further research, thus playing an important role in the gardens function. The herbarium is mainly home to California native plants; however, the abundance of specimens is also home to plants from Mexico, Australia and other dry regions.

It remained clear with everyone at RSABG that research and conservation play an enormous role in their mission. According to their website, “Staff, students, resident scientists and postdoctoral fellows contribute directly to the overall research program at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden.” At the core of their work is constant learning and understanding through the likes of several different resources. Through inventory, monitoring, research, horticulture, restoration and seed bank programs RSABG is diligently working to conserve California flora.

The main function of the nursery is to grow the plants for the 90 acres of the botanic garden. Botanists continuously collect seeds, cuttings and other necessities to bring back to the nursery to propagate and grow. Once they’re ready to be planted, typically in the fall or winter, the plants are

transferred to their designated spot. Phytophthora prevention, also known as, RSABG’s best management practices is vital for the success of the nursery. Phytophthora is essentially a gardens worst nightmare. Invisible to the naked eye, this plant disease causes weakness and a slow collapse to a once healthy plant. If a plant is infected with Phytophthora and released into the garden it has the ability to rapidly destroy an entire ecosystem. Nursery manager Bryce Kunzel expressed the importance of the garden is to create a home for native California plants to thrive thus being able to restore other parts of California that are damaged due to wildfires, urban development, drought and other challenges to biodiversity.

Moreover, Larrabee and Gonzalez were not confined in their studies to RSABG. They were both overjoyed to share how much opportunity they received from traveling out of town to the Sierra Nevadas and other areas rich in biodiversity.