Acorns, Oaks, and Science: Saving the Mighty Oak

00:00:04
Speaker 1: Hi, I'm rich Schwartz.

00:00:06
Speaker 2: What is the s world? I'm Marco went.

00:00:08
Speaker 1: Welcome to Amazing Wildlife. Reb explore unique stories of wildlife from around the world and uncover fascinating animal facts. This podcast is a production of iHeartRadio's Ruby Studio and San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance in international nonprofit conservation organization which oversees the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park. Marco, I have to admit I am really intrigued by what you shared with me a few weeks back about work being done to save the endangered oak trees. And honestly, how fitting that our last episode featured the iconic elephant, the largest living land mammal that helps shape ecosystems where they live.

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Speaker 3: And now we're going to spend this episode finding out more about the mighty oaks that, like the elephant, shape the ecosystems they live in. And you know, beyond that, the oak trees have their own ecosystems as well.

00:00:54
Speaker 1: But here's the thing. People see trees and other plants around them all the time, but they tend to take them for granted. Of course, not everyone's like that, but I must admit, living here in San Diego County. Seeing oak trees in our green spaces and the parks, I'm kind of guilty of taking it for granted too. I never realized so many species of oak are listed as endangered.

00:01:12
Speaker 4: Oh.

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Speaker 3: I know how you feel, Rick, But you know, here's what I found out that even with there being species of oak trees in trouble, our horticulture team and our scientists they've been working on finding new ways to save them, very much like we do with a lot of our wildlife.

00:01:25
Speaker 1: And with our wildlife, we can create safe populations under human care. We can work to eradicate invasive species and stabilize ecosystems. Oh and of course the frozen Zoo is so important for saving and storing genetic material to help maintain genetic diversity for the future.

00:01:40
Speaker 3: Absolutely, and you know the same goes for oak trees, Rick. I mean, we can create safe populations, we can remove invasive species.

00:01:48
Speaker 2: But you know, until recently, there was no way.

00:01:51
Speaker 3: To use the frozen Zoo as a way to support oak tree conservation.

00:01:55
Speaker 1: Wait what really, But isn't there this whole seed bank thing like sort of like a frozen zoo for plans?

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Speaker 4: Yeah?

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Speaker 3: There is, and we totally need to do an episode about the seed bank sometime real soon. Yeah, we do, absolutely, But for the oak and the way that the acorns are, you know, freezing them and doing long term storage was never an option before.

00:02:13
Speaker 1: Wait wait a minute, you said never an option before. That seems to imply that there is an option now.

00:02:19
Speaker 2: What happened? I know?

00:02:21
Speaker 3: Well, you know, I think it'd be better for us to ask someone on the horticulture team about this, don't you.

00:02:25
Speaker 1: Oh, let's see talking to a horticulturist about scientific breakthroughs that save an iconic tree species that creates its own ecosystem.

00:02:33
Speaker 2: Yes, please?

00:02:33
Speaker 3: All right, well let's do it. Let's head to the San Diego Zoo and find out some more.

00:02:37
Speaker 2: All right, let's go.

00:02:40
Speaker 4: I am Christy Powell, horticulture manager at the San Diego Zoo.

00:02:44
Speaker 3: Good morning, by the way, this is a beautiful, like misty morning here, yes, right.

00:02:48
Speaker 1: Kind of a plant friendly morning. I got exactly the mist and the drizzle going. You are the manager of the horticulture department. What does that mean? What do you do because we're here to talk about oak trees? Yeah, and clearly you're the person that knows about this project. What's going on, But in general, what is your day like or what is it your job entails?

00:03:06
Speaker 4: Sure, yes, so I oversee Africa Rocks and part of Elephant Odyssey, and then some of the nursery, greenhouse operations, the orchid house, propagation facilities, and oversee a lot of the conservation projects here at.

00:03:20
Speaker 1: The zoo, And so our audience knows. So you're mentioning areas that they might recognize as animal areas Elephant Odyssey after Rocks, and they go there to see the animals. But one thing we learned is that the Horticulture department does so much to bring in the native species of plants for those regions that they represent. So you're overseeing all of that diversity of plant life across those areas of the zoo, including the propagation area that you mentioned. And then what we're here to talk about our conservation stuff, right, Yeah.

00:03:49
Speaker 2: Okay, it's actually one of my favorite areas.

00:03:50
Speaker 3: I gotta say, Africa Rocks and plants there are breathtaking, So really nice toof with that. And yeah, to Rick's point, it's a good reminder for our guests as a cruiseenter around the San Diego Zoo they might see it hand up, but some of the projects that are around them from growing our own food for our wildlife. But to Rick's point, there's a lot of science behind some of the things that we do.

00:04:08
Speaker 2: And in particular this species.

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Speaker 3: You know, being a native San Diegan, every time like I go somewhere else and I come back when I see like a California oak, it really feels like I'm definitely back home. And I never really thought about it, you know, until this interview. You're like, well, what makes an oak an oak? Like, what separates it from other trees out there?

00:04:22
Speaker 4: Well, most people are familiar with oaks having acorns. They think of large trees native to the Midwest or you know those regions where there's really large trees. In California, we have some large trees. A lot of people are familiar with the coast live oaks in San Diego County, but we have a great diversity of oaks in San Diego County. It's actually the highest in California as far as the species diversity. So we're working with a lot of those different species in San Diego County.

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Speaker 2: Oh wow, that's wild.

00:04:53
Speaker 5: I didn't know that of all the California.

00:04:56
Speaker 1: It kind of makes sense, so I've heard, you know, I think we've mentioned it last season. San Diego County is known being the most diverse county in the nation when it comes to wildlife, so it makes sense that it's reflected in the oaks as well. Can you share with our audience why San Diego County has the most diversity of oak trees.

00:05:12
Speaker 4: Yeah, so just our region that we're in. We have all the way from the coast to the inland habitats, all the way to the mountains and the desert. So there's just such a diverse landscape in San Diego County. And some of the species that we work with are right near the coast, So like quirkes, Dumosa, the nettles scrub oak, that one is right near the coast.

00:05:36
Speaker 1: And that's what I love about San Diego County. You mentioned it. We have desert, mountains, beach, coast, all that inland areas. I think people, especially if they're coming to visit San Diego, they don't realize just how much is going on when it comes to different ecosystems and how you can forty minute drive being a completely different ecosos I know, you were forty minutes ago, and that's reflected in our oaks here, and that's what we really want to talk about. We came across an article written in house by one of our writers that publicized and even though we're a part of this organization, we were like, whoa, this is really happening. A lot of people think the mighty oak, the oak is strong, the acorns that gives life, there's so much there. They're fine, right, But the reality is they're not. There's a lot of challenges the mighty oak is facing, along with many other things out there. And Mark, when I talk about panda conservation or koalas or all the other species out there, not too often do you hear about or think about the oak. So maybe paint the picture for our audience, what is going on with the oak treason? Why is the work that you're a part of so important? Yeah.

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Speaker 4: So, there's about four hundred and fifty species worldwide of oaks, So there are diverse species. They're found in a wide range of habitats. They're mostly in the northern hemisphere, and they perform critical ecosystem functions in our world. We have about ninety one different species in the US, and they are threatened with extinction the mortinarbreedam and others with the IUCN Red List. They did a survey about the Red List of the oaks and they found that a third work threatened with extinction and about a fifth in the US. So we need to work together to help save our oak species.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, so I was going to ask, I'm imagining it maybe droughts or heavy floods.

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Speaker 5: Is wildlife trafficking an issue for some oaks?

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Speaker 4: Not really for No, it's mostly habitat destruction, So a lot of the species live in areas where their habitat is destroyed, and then also change in fire regime pass due to a lot of climate change issues as well.

00:07:34
Speaker 3: Yeah, and they're so essential. I mean in this article you were referencing rick by Alion. By the way, it's on San Dieg Zoo Wild Left the Lions dot org paid slash story Hubs, so definitely check it out. It's a wicked article. But with that, I didn't know oaks they absorbed so much more carbon than other trees around the world too, I was reading, So the necessity of these trees is so important for us, right, not only locally but to your point four and different fifty species of oaks worldwide.

00:07:58
Speaker 2: That's that's crazy.

00:07:59
Speaker 4: And keystone species, so they provide habitat for thousands of different species, even like I think nine different species.

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Speaker 3: Right there was butterfly and moths living in these things. The diversity of life and those is incredible, right right.

00:08:17
Speaker 1: Well, yeah, you know, we talk about the individual or just the species of oak is endangered, and I often can see on people's phases when we're doing like public talks and say, okay, well it's a tree, we'll be fine. But that's where it's important. You mentioned that keystone species. We've talked about that before in this podcast with pandas and other species as well, that when you work to save that one, you're actually working to save so much more. And when we talk about trees, I really believe it's not common knowledge enough that there are so many species that live within the ecosystem of a single tree, whether it's the butterflies and moths and other bugs and insects. They offer food for birds, The birds offer to be food for others, and then the roots can be homes for burrowing subtest animals or even fox that have that area, or badgers whatever, who's nesting in the tree. I mean, the list goes on and on about what a single tree can offer in its ecosystem. And then right in front of us you brought in a wide variety of small species, and small in the sense that their babies compared to what they will grow to be. And also a plate then of different acorns from oak trees, which again offers so much life for species that live in and around the area of oak trees. So the idea that we are losing oak trees to the point where there are red listed or critically endangered is alarming, and I appreciate that you brought up the fact that a lot of it's lost to habitat destruction, wildfires, climate change, insects and all of that. It's really important thing for people to understand the quick rapid changes that are occurring in these ecosystems. The oak trees never evolved for these things that are coming up, and we see that across the board with many species. Can you talk a little bit about some of the efforts that were initially in place for preserving oak trees, and then we'll get into what we have currently started doing too.

00:10:00
Speaker 4: So we're part of the Global Conservation Consortium for Oak. So we joined that group in twenty twenty. And what that is is a concerted effort led by the Morton Arboretum and Botannic Garden Conservation International BGCI, and it's an international effort to save oak species. So we realize that you can't save them by yourself, so you need to have a coordinated effort and it's focused a lot on what botanna gardens and arburita. We're a credit botannic garden here at the San Diego SOO Wildlife Alliance and also Level four Arboretum. Now we just we're able to have that designation as well.

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Speaker 2: Correct, excellent, wonderful.

00:10:40
Speaker 4: So we're working together with other botannic gardens, other arbreta institutions, universities to have an effort to save these oak species. So our work is with six priority oak species in Southern California, Baja California and the Channel Islands.

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Speaker 5: Are these the ones you have out in forests right now? Yes?

00:10:58
Speaker 3: Oh, you guys don't know, but she brought up these wonderful examples of are these six species referring here right?

00:11:03
Speaker 1: Wow?

00:11:04
Speaker 2: They look incredible.

00:11:04
Speaker 4: Yeah, And since we just started in twenty twenty. Ours are all babies right now, so they're in little tree pots about two years old, some of them three years old.

00:11:13
Speaker 1: How long does it take for an oak tree to mature? Because I think that might boggin some people's Yeah, right, how long? Yes?

00:11:21
Speaker 4: So oak trees are long lived species, so they can live hundreds and hundreds of years, and they don't produce acorns right away, so it can take a number of years even to produce acorns.

00:11:31
Speaker 1: Wow, is production of acorns in where the tree is considered matured at that point? You know they can live for hundreds of.

00:11:36
Speaker 4: Years, right, Yeah, they're mature when they start producing acorns.

00:11:39
Speaker 3: Pretty unique seed too, I guess. I mean I'm looking at your play right now. I want to get the sounds here on the micro fact really really cool. Well, it makes an acorns so unique. I mean it's a pretty cool looking seed for one, but I know there's a lot of reasons why it has this shape. Right, we can all picture oak seed and if not googlely kids on your phone you can totally chuck out the image of what it looks like.

00:11:55
Speaker 2: Yeah, just describe to me an oak seed looks like.

00:11:58
Speaker 4: Yes, So acorns are kind of uniqu most people recognize them. They have a point to them, and then a cap on the tip, and the cap and also the acorn can help distinguish what kind of oak species it is, so you can tell the acorn cap if it has bumpy or if it's scaly, different things like that. The inside of the cap as well, and then even the shape of the acorn, and some have striations on them. So these particular ones that I brought today are Chrysolepis, so it's an inland species oak. Why we harvested those, they're not one of our priority oak species. But what we want to do is grow those acorns and then since it's the same family and also the same section of oak or golden oak as the Quercus cedrosensus, we're hoping to grow those seedlings and graft on the top of the Quercus cedrosensus so we can be able to propagate it because it's not producing acorns very well.

00:12:57
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, so I have to ask real quick for our audience, what do you mean by grafting on? I know what that is, but basically you just said you're going to grow these acorns that are not a part of a species that's endangered to then use that sprout or that growth to graft on a different species that is endangered, right, correct, So what does that mean? Y?

00:13:19
Speaker 4: So, my thought before being a manager was a plant propagator. So as a plant propagator here Atagoz you for thirteen years before management. So when you graph something, it's pretty much like when you think of your fruit trees that you have at your house. So most of your fruit trees are grafted, so those have a rootstock and they're resistant to different diseases and things like that. And then you can take a scion or wood or like a sprout of another one and then you grow that on top of it, and it makes it so that your apples or whatever you're growing are consistent so they have the same exact genetic Because you want to production agriculture, you want things to be uniform and taste the same, which in here we're looking for more biodiversity and genetic diversity in species.

00:14:05
Speaker 1: So essentially what you're doing is you're allowing this acorn to sprout, create a root system that can survive better in whatever soil and or be disease resistant for what the endangered species may not have a root system for.

00:14:23
Speaker 4: Not in this case. Okay, so yeah, let me back up.

00:14:28
Speaker 1: I'm super curious because basically what you're doing is you're taking two different species and not really mending them together. They naturally grow together and then the roots feed the stock of the other species. But I want to get to why we're doing that with the.

00:14:42
Speaker 4: Open right, Yeah? Correct, So they actually fuse together over time. So you put the cambium layers together and then they actually confuse over time, so it's pretty neat.

00:14:52
Speaker 1: The cambium layers are the inner bark, right, that's the inner bark layers, so they match up.

00:14:56
Speaker 4: That goes through right, So.

00:14:58
Speaker 1: Essentially it's almost like the trees and says, oh, I've been wounded. I want to heal that. So that then grafts them together. They fuse together on their own. That way, the root system feeds. But what's producing acorns and what's on top is the true species, even though it's roots are from a different species, just giving the nutrients up that way. Okay, so why are we doing that with oak?

00:15:18
Speaker 4: So quirk is Cedar's census. The Cedars Island oak is only found in a small population on the O Tai Mountain. So we've been working with San Diego Botanna Garden and our Plant Conservation Group and Sandy Botanic Garden was able to collect some make corns in twenty twenty one. So we have one of those individuals here today.

00:15:35
Speaker 2: This guy.

00:15:36
Speaker 5: Yeah cool, he's a little extra speky.

00:15:38
Speaker 2: Than the others.

00:15:39
Speaker 4: Yeah. When they're little, they're more spiky, and then when they get bigger they have more entirely march.

00:15:45
Speaker 2: Yeah. Is it kind of like a defense mechanism probably, Yeah.

00:15:48
Speaker 4: Yeah, for a lot of them. We go down to o Ti Mountain our staff with other partners with Sandy Botanic Garden, and we just actually took the International Oak Society down there as well with on a tour.

00:16:00
Speaker 2: That's great.

00:16:00
Speaker 4: It's a small area on Bureau of Land Management and there's quite a few trees down there, but it's the only place in the United States that has quirke as cedar cedar silent oak. Otherwise it's in Baja California, and then also a population in Cedros Island.

00:16:17
Speaker 2: That's great.

00:16:18
Speaker 3: You mentioned there's several ways to try to preserve these species of oaks, but there's something with the seed, right, There's different processes and how do we preserve this thing as opposed to another.

00:16:26
Speaker 1: Okay, hold on, hold on, I keep looking at the I want to know your question is important and we're coming up next tor. I want her why are we doing the grafting with oak?

00:16:36
Speaker 2: Answer?

00:16:37
Speaker 4: Yeah, So when we've been observing these oaks over the last years, they haven't been producing acorns, or they've been producing acorns, and then we go back later to collect them and they're all gone. So we've been trying different methods of being able to have them in exitute collections without having acorns. So you know, if other species you try to do asexual propagation, which is propagation from cuttings or air layers things like that, so that's what we're kind of trying to do now. So we actually were able to put some air layers on, which I'm sure you're going to ask what air layer?

00:17:14
Speaker 1: Okay.

00:17:14
Speaker 4: So air layering is another process that you can use to propagate a species when you'd want to have the same exact species and you don't have acorns or something like that. So in this case, what we do is we take a branch of the oak, and we take off the bark, we expose the cambium layer, and then we put sphagnum moss or some kind of material in there around it, and then we close it with a plastic bag and then put aluminum foil over top of it and keep it moist. And we were able to harvest our first one about eighteen months after it was put on and started.

00:17:48
Speaker 1: So what happens inside that plastic bag, in that wrapping after you've moved the bark? What happens in there that you're yeah.

00:17:53
Speaker 4: So actually produces roots? Okay, yeah, yeah, so since you kind of disturbed the bark. Plants are pretty cool that way. You can disturb it and you can cause a stem tissue actually become a root tissue.

00:18:07
Speaker 1: Wow. Yeah, and so then you can harvest that often. Now you have the standalone stem and you have the original tree in which you came from. That's so cool.

00:18:14
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:18:14
Speaker 4: And we actually had one planet an elephant honesty now too, one of our little babies that we took as an air layer.

00:18:19
Speaker 2: Yeah, we gotta check it out now.

00:18:21
Speaker 1: Yeah, So all these different ways we have to create a new tree, either whether the suit grafting so we can have a better system for it to get some acorns, or to do the air layering. Yeah, and now Marko your question with the acorns, what is it that we're doing with the acorns to help not let these species go extinct?

00:18:38
Speaker 4: Right? Yeah, So since sometimes we don't have acorns available, we're trying these other methods, and so we would also try the grafting where you would take pieces from the wild and then put them onto new little seedlings that hopefully then you can have a whole new tree from that. Right. So, oaks are exceptional species, which means that there are acorns. They can't be banked in a seed bank, so they can't be dried down, they can't be frozen. So that's what we rely on a lot for conservation of plant species. We have a great seed bank at the Beckman Center where the plant conservation staff are going in San Diego County and collecting seeds of threatened plant species in our county and banking them in a seed bank. But oaks are unique in that way that they're seeds are acorns. They can't be frozen and banked, so we have to look at other ways to preserve species.

00:19:33
Speaker 1: Different ways. Why can't they Why can so many species of plants? We can do the deep freeze and the frozen zoo version or the seed banking. But the acorn can't. Why is that?

00:19:43
Speaker 4: Yeah, so you can imagine acorn is pretty large and when you dry it down you actually kill the embryo. Oh yeah, and if you freeze it. You know, some of them can be frozen when they are in areas where they're used to the cold and be fine. But yeah, when you dry it down, it kills the embryo inside exceptionally.

00:20:04
Speaker 1: That's the words to you, right, And that's again it goes back to then understanding what these trees are used to, what environments they have evolved for, and now the rapid changes that are occurring. We jump in, we want to do seed banking, and yet it looks like our only options are going to be to just try and propagate more and keep those somewhere safe. Those living trees no opportunity to keep them in a frozen area or a seed bank area like so many other species. So we might have these groves of new baby oak trees that we've saved, but wildfire comes through or disease comes through, and that safe population as we call it in our conservation world, or that population that that grove that was supposed to be the next generation to prevent them from going extinct is now gone. So what has been figured out that we can still safeguard these species?

00:20:51
Speaker 4: Yeah, so one way is through living collections, so growing them from acorns or cuttings or however we're doing it, and then growing in the botanic gardens and sharing those with other botannic gardens around the world, because we've found out there's not enough room in any one botanic garden, and we shouldn't be growing every individual and every species in one botanic garden because if something happens, then they're not backed up. So the idea is a meta collection, So it's a group of coordinated efforts of many different groups working together to save different such as these oak species. So we would have some here in San Diego, would have a conservation grove, would send them to another botanic garden they would have some there. So we're trying to get together that coordinated effort to share collections with different botanic gardens.

00:21:42
Speaker 3: That's really great and I love the collaboration of it. You think all these projects, you know, like Panda, obviously all of it recurred to me too. I mean it's obvious when you really think about it. But you know, people go to the zoo or the Safari Park. I love the world gardens at the Safari Park. And you know, being botanical gardens that we all are, people often forget the conservation aspects of all that there's necessity for these areas for us to grow these really essential species of plants. Where to your point, if you just grow in one little spot, you know won't be the best outcome or plan really to protect these species, right, So kudis for that, So bring on the guests it comes to these botanical gardens honestly because of this is just amazing work.

00:22:16
Speaker 4: Thank you. Yeah, And we keep track of all of our individuals too, that we collect from each individual mother tree. We have all the proper permits and everything to do with the collections, and then we keep track of them in our Plant record database system. So you see that each of these have an accession tag, so it's like a lit license plate for each individual's plant. And then when we can look up that number, we can see where the GPS coordinates where that we collected that individual from, what mother tree it came from. Yeah, So then if something happens from the wild, will know what population to return them to if we need to in the future.

00:22:47
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's amazing, right.

00:22:48
Speaker 3: I mean we talk about the Frozen Zoo in the past, you know, collecting animal DNA our genetics. But this is just an exciting for me too that we have areas to preserve a lot of wonderful species of plants.

00:22:58
Speaker 4: Yeah, and since you mentioned the frozen Zoo, Yeah, that's another way that we can preserve oak's long term is through cryopreservation.

00:23:05
Speaker 1: Oh really, yes, can you describe that for yeah, exmand on that because that's one thing we can't do with the acorns bankings. But there's been a new twist to cryogenically freezing oaks, so yeah, tell us about that, right.

00:23:16
Speaker 4: Yeah. We had a post doctoral associate, doctor Joe Ree that was here for three years and he worked on the first step of cryopreservation is actually getting something you have to work with to put into cryodpreservation. So you can't just take something straight from the wild and put it into cryd that'd be nice. But so we have a micropropagation lab here at the San Diego Zoo. We started it in two thousand and five, with the Association of Zoological Horticulture five thousand dollars at the time, so we use it for our orchid collection. So we were able to hand pollinate orchids and then grow them on in a micropropagation lab because in the wild they have to have a micro rhizo fungi in order to terminate, so you can grow them in beach to be able to grow from seed. So we already had that lab established, and then in twenty nineteen we had an intern that was starting to take oak and try to put them into cryod preservation. We were doing an IMOLS grant with Cincinnati zoom Botanic Garden. They have a wonderful croyoud preservation and micropropagation facilities there, and so we had all these little babies. And then when doctor Joe Ree came, he was able to optimize the media for quirks doumosa that's the species he was working with.

00:24:30
Speaker 3: Yes, yes, So she brought up this container here and I'm looking at these like the cutest little baby oak babies, right and yeah, and you see like a little ball of what looks like a root ball right the base. But then I called it the goo that was my technical for what I'm looking at right.

00:24:42
Speaker 2: So it's clear.

00:24:44
Speaker 3: It kind of looks like it might beach lightness, but what is this exactly?

00:24:47
Speaker 4: So yeah, so it gives this It's kind of like jello, you know, it has all the nutrients the plant needs to grow, so jello.

00:24:53
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, okay, all right, I'm about I like it. I like it.

00:24:56
Speaker 1: Okay, you're growing.

00:24:57
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's a growing media for the oaks. There's a lot of different oak media that you can just buy off the shelf, but the oaks are kind of special. They need a special media. So that's one of the things that doctor Joe Rees started working on right away is trying to figure out the best media to grow these on. So the next step after you start growing them on then is either taking tiny tiny shoot tips like the apolcal maristem, which is like one millimeter that you're putting in in cryo preservation. And then another way is through embryo rescue, so taking this embryo of the acorn. And then the way that we actually have some in cryopreservation now is semantic embryos.

00:25:43
Speaker 2: You can describe that.

00:25:45
Speaker 4: So somatic embryos are an embryo that's created by another plant part, so it's either like a leaf base or an internode or something like.

00:25:57
Speaker 1: That, so it's not a true seed or or where traditionally the plant naturally has its embryos. You're creating an embryo.

00:26:04
Speaker 4: From another part, I know, special hormones and lots of time waiting for them to produce them, and sometimes.

00:26:12
Speaker 1: A lot so they're basically, for lack of a better term, almost like they're taking the current existing stem or leaf or whatever cells and almost reversing them back into the embryotic stage and then freezing.

00:26:26
Speaker 2: That Is that exactly right?

00:26:28
Speaker 1: Right? Yeah?

00:26:29
Speaker 4: Plants are so unique in that way that they have can just kind of you know, go from being a stem to an embryo to all.

00:26:36
Speaker 1: It's so so adaptable, right. Are they doing that with any other species or was this work on the oaks sort of the first time that's been done, or like, how do you like even get to the point like, hey, I think I can Is that done anywhere else?

00:26:52
Speaker 4: Or just oaks are there's only a handful of people that are working in crowd preservation of oak species. So many people that are even working in micropropagation or in cryt preservation or other species, So you kind of take what you've learned, you read literature that doesn't necessarily talk about the species that you're talking about, but that you can adapt and then try it in that species. So it's all kind of trial and error right now.

00:27:16
Speaker 1: That's amazing. That's great and so important for the species since it is limited on how we can preserve them. What a great step for the oak trees and the work on the specific six that we're talking about that are so endangered. Is there anything else that we haven't touched on yet about the oak that you think would be important for our audience to know about.

00:27:33
Speaker 4: Yeah, just some of the other species that we're working on. We're working on their tomintila. That one is from the Channel Islands as well. Okay, yeah, and we're working with the nature conservancy there and Quickes Tomintila is a.

00:27:51
Speaker 2: Beautiful oak species.

00:27:52
Speaker 4: Some people might have seen them as street trees and the area, Yeah, actually being grown as street trees now. So we're trying to actually work with some of the nurseries so that we can eventually get more diversity in some of those oaks. But yeah, they're found on the Channel Islands and then Quickest Pacifica as well, is found on the Channel Islands and working with that species, and then Parvula variety Parvula that's another species that's just found on Santa Cruz Island, and then a small part in Santa Barbara. So yeah, these are all endangered species or threatened species.

00:28:24
Speaker 1: So it almost sounds like there's a parallel to the glopocus tortoises having different species on different islands because they've been isolated for so long. As that's kind of the case, is I hear you talking about each casual species of oak tree only found on this island, only found on that island, So that's interesting. I don't think it's something people would normally think of that that same type of situation can happen with plants, not just animals, where because they've grown on the island for thousands of years, they are their own species, only found uniquely there, unless, of course, humans propagate them for as you call them street trees, the trees you see in your neighborhood or lying on the streets.

00:28:57
Speaker 2: I love that idea, right, but what a way.

00:28:59
Speaker 1: To preserve them by yeah.

00:29:02
Speaker 2: Survive it?

00:29:03
Speaker 5: And again I had no idea.

00:29:04
Speaker 3: There are so many oak trees and it makes me think of even so many indigenous communities have been connected with oaks, and in particular you know that these have affected a human culture for so long, and it's sad that they're disappearing, but also makes me really happy that we have awesome people like you and the teams here at this Handago Zoo. It's Safari Park, and of course there's partners out there that are helping out, like it's collective work. I was reading some of our partners in Insenla and Mexico too, so that's wicked.

00:29:27
Speaker 4: I love that because a lot of the species they cross over into the borderers.

00:29:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was just going to say this boarders.

00:29:34
Speaker 4: So yeah, we're working with Mexican partners. And then the summer two of our staff, Dario Berni and Greg Bluffin went down there to Mexico. Oh yeah, and did a whole trip looking at Quirkus, Cedar, Census and.

00:29:48
Speaker 1: Some of those areas.

00:29:49
Speaker 2: It's not very easy to get to. I mean I was seeing some of those pictures.

00:29:52
Speaker 3: Yeah, you think the animal people get a lot of excitement, but you plant people, I mean, you guys are are getting out there.

00:29:57
Speaker 5: It's really unique areas. A collection is an amazing sample.

00:30:01
Speaker 1: Oh.

00:30:01
Speaker 4: Another thing I want to mention is that working with Quirkus inglemnii. That's one of our six party oak species. So it's ingleman oak and that is found in East County. It's a huge oak, has kind of bluish little leaves and we have a little baby seiling here.

00:30:15
Speaker 1: It's funny you said that's a huge oak, because this is no bigger.

00:30:22
Speaker 4: So why is that so important that one is used culturally a lot collecting acorns? And we're going to be working with the Vahas Reservation and planting back some of those Quirkus ingle manii. So they're able to collect some acorns and then propagate them and then those are going to be planted back on the reservation. So we're going to be working with San Diego Botanic Garden and the Mortonar Breedom to do a planting activity with the children there.

00:30:48
Speaker 1: Oh cool, it makes it.

00:30:49
Speaker 2: Feel so good.

00:30:51
Speaker 5: Client culture people plants love it.

00:30:54
Speaker 2: That's so good.

00:30:55
Speaker 4: Yes, because a lot of the oaks that they had there on the reservation were killed by the gold spot of oak bore. Oh really well, and so now they're trying to replant oaks that are more resistant to the gold spot.

00:31:05
Speaker 1: Of oak boor.

00:31:06
Speaker 2: That's cool, good job.

00:31:07
Speaker 1: Yeah, thanks, yeah, and it's really exciting. Thank you so much for sharing everything you have shared with us, because it's really exciting to think that ten fifteen years ago this kind of science would not have been able to do what it's doing today to help preserve these species. The awareness that brings the ability then like we're learning from the oaks and maybe this will be something you can apply to other species in the future as well. So this is all just absolutely amazing. So thank you so much for bringing all these little trees in for one again. For those you obviously it's a podcast, you can't see it. We've got six little trees here. You've mentioned this one. I'm pointing like everyone can see we have the oak tree. That's where quirks come from, right quick is super Yeah, that's one little fun fact that we got to share that people might not know. When you pop open a corked beverage that has a true wood based QRK, it is the bark of a species of oak tree.

00:31:55
Speaker 3: That's awesome, Right, that's so cooling to human culture, right weeks to why it works that really really great, Oh friend, thank you so much for this.

00:32:04
Speaker 2: This is a lot of fun.

00:32:05
Speaker 3: I've learned a lot more about oaks and I really appreciate them a lot more now, definitely when I'm cruising around San Diego.

00:32:10
Speaker 4: You're welcome.

00:32:11
Speaker 1: Yes, thanks for joining us. Yeah, thank you so much.

00:32:15
Speaker 3: Who I mean for a podcast named the Amazing Wildlife. I'm really glad that we're including the wildlife of plants right, not just animals.

00:32:23
Speaker 1: Me too, Marko, and talking to Christy was so enlightening. I mean, we often discuss with our guests the importance of healthy wildlife populations, not only because it makes for a more enriching world, but well it also maintains healthy ecosystems, and as humans we benefit greatly from healthy habitats. And interviewing more of a horticulture staff this year has really been fascinating. Just listening to Christie's share with us how much humans and oak trees have a shared history together was so amazing.

00:32:48
Speaker 5: Oh, I really was.

00:32:49
Speaker 3: And to think the current science and historical and modern cultures can come together, you know, to save these magnificent trees. It's just like, say, the conservation of birds are mammals amphibians and reptiles. You know, collaboration and community coming together.

00:33:05
Speaker 1: You said it, Marco. And here we are near the end of twenty twenty four and new scientific work is allowing for even more opportunities to have success in saving these trees. Just a few years ago, it was only an idea, and now it's really happening exactly.

00:33:19
Speaker 3: I mean, from idea to application seems to be the way of a lot of scientific breakthroughs that happen in conservation. I mean, especially when the Frozen.

00:33:27
Speaker 2: Zoo is involved.

00:33:28
Speaker 1: Oh yes, yeah. And that totally reminds me of that quote that's posted outside of the Frozen Zoo. I think it goes something like, you must collect things for reasons you don't yet understand. I mean that really sets the stage for understanding that we will learn more in the future as we go forward. The scientific process will give us breakthroughs that we can apply to conservation.

00:33:47
Speaker 3: And that is exactly what has happened with oak tree conservation.

00:33:51
Speaker 2: I mean, at one time it was thought.

00:33:53
Speaker 3: We'd never be able to preserve these oak trees in the Frozen Zoo, and now we totally can.

00:33:58
Speaker 1: Kind of makes you wonder, doesn't it, Like what's next, What breakthrough will we discuss on this podcast in a few seasons that right now is just someone's idea.

00:34:05
Speaker 2: Oh, I know, I can't wait to find out.

00:34:07
Speaker 3: But you know what I have to say, a miego, all of this talk about the Frozen Zoo.

00:34:11
Speaker 2: It's got me kind of thinking.

00:34:12
Speaker 3: I mean, have we really done a specific episode about.

00:34:15
Speaker 2: The Frozen Zoo?

00:34:16
Speaker 3: You know, so our audience really knows what we're talking about when we mention it.

00:34:20
Speaker 1: You know, I don't think we have, But I like where you're heading with us. In fact, now that you mentioned it, twenty twenty five, right around the corner marks the fifty year anniversary of the Frozen Zoo. Maybe we should look into the history of it and how it all started.

00:34:33
Speaker 2: I think that's a great idea. Well, it's decided.

00:34:36
Speaker 3: Grab your parka and mittens, we are headed to the Frozen Zoo.

00:34:39
Speaker 1: I don't think we need our parka and missions for this, but well, either way, regardless, be sure to subscribe and tune into our next episode, in which we learn more about the history of the Frozen Zoo that contains over ten thousand living soul cultures representing nearly one thousand species.

00:34:58
Speaker 2: Al Marco Wentz and I'm Rick Schwartz.

00:35:00
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening. For more information about the San Diego Zoo and San Diego Zoo Safari Park, go to SDZWA dot org. Amazing Wildlife is a production of iHeartRadio. Our supervising producers are Nikkia Swinton and Dylan Fagan, and our sound designers are Sierra Spreen and Matt Russell. For more shows from iHeartRadio, check out the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.