Plant Conservation in National Botanical Gardens of South Africa

The destruction of forests has led to plant diversity and species being lost at an unprecedented rate and a decrease in ecosystem services. Plant conservation strategies are important to support the development of livelihoods based on the sustainable uses of plants and promote the understanding and sharing of the benefits and functions of plants. Botanical gardens allocate most of their resources to plant conservation and the development of educational activities such as making plant species diversity known to the public. These gardens can also play an essential role in human well-being and provide in human needs. In this article, we review the history of the development of Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden and the development of other national botanical gardens in South Africa. We will discuss conservation through cultivation, discovering and documenting diversity of plants, indigenous plants, threatened plants, medicinal plants, extinctions and rediscoveries, environmental education, conservation science, citizen science, horticulture, research and creating a haven for biodiversity. Future challenges and responsibilities of botanical gardens will be discussed including in situ and ex situ cultivation, promoting awareness, creating partnerships, increasing capacity building and training activities, sharing information and making gardens sustainable.

Patterns of geographic variation between mitochondrial and nuclear markers in Heaviside’s(Benguela)dolphins(Cephalorhynchus heavisidii)

The Heaviside’s(or Benguela)dolphin(Cephalorhynchus heavisidii)is endemic to the west coast of southern Africa.The present study investigated the population genetic structure across a large portion of the species dis­tribution using mitochondrial control region and nuclear(microsatellite)markers.A total of 395 biopsy skin samples were analyzed;they were collected from free-ranging Heaviside’s dolphins in 7 locations along 1650 km of coast between Table Bay,South Africa and Walvis Bay,Namibia.Both genetic markers rejected the hy­pothesis of 1 homogenous population but revealed contrasting results in the genetic structuring of putative pop­ulations.Mitochondrial DNA suggested either 2 populations or a fine-scale division with 6(sub)populations,while microsatellite markers were indicative of 2 widespread populations with measurable gene flow between them.Neutrality tests and mismatch distribution of the mitochondrial sequences indicated a departure from mu­tation-drift equilibrium due to a population expansion at the 2 extremes of the geographic range,but not to­wards the middle of the distribution.These results highlight the importance of evaluating multiple genetic mark­ers to gain reliable insights into population processes and structure.