Category: Conservation & Research

Small green plant with white flowers in soil tray.
June 19, 2021
Resilience of Rare Plants

14 Federal and State-listed Rare Plant Species: Santa Rosa Island manzanita (Arctostaphylos confertiflora) Island barberry (Berberis pinnata ssp. insularis) Hoffmann’s rockcress (Boechera hoffmannii) Soft leaved Indian paintbrush (Castilleja mollis) Island rush-rose (Crocanthemum greenei) Beach spectaclepod (Dithyrea maritima) Santa Cruz Island Dudleya (Dudleya nesiotica) Santa Barbara Island Dudleya (Dudleya traskiae) Slender flowered gilia (Gilia tenuiflora ssp.…

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Bright yellow flowers with small buds on green background.
June 19, 2021
Rare & Endangered

The island barberry is one of the most endangered plants in California. Once known from Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, and Anacapa Islands, the entire wild distribution of this species now exists as just 10 genetically distinct individuals in a handful of remote locations on Santa Cruz Island. For several years, the Santa Barbara Botanic Garden…

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Green mossy patches growing on rocky, uneven ground surface.
December 1, 2020
Biodiversity Conservation on San Nicolas Island

As the most remote of the California Channel Islands, San Nicolas has the reputation of being a mysterious, wind-swept place. Known popularly as the Island of the Blue Dolphins from the 1960 Scott O’Dell novel, this place served as the setting for the tale, which was inspired by the real-life events of the Lone Woman.…

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Yellow flowers overlooking rocky cliffs and blue ocean.
May 1, 2019
Treasures of the Channel Islands

Islands are fascinating places full of unique plants and animals. In southern California, we are blessed with our own mini archipelago in the form of eight Channel Islands that lay just off our coast, plus another eight off the Pacific coast of northern Baja California. For decades, scientists and horticulturists at the Santa Barbara Botanic…

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Looking up at tall tree with twisting branches.
December 1, 2018
Saving the Catalina Ironwood

Garden Horticulture staff and volunteers spent five days on Catalina Island collecting seed of the Catalina Ironwood. This tree is found nowhere else on earth and is of great conservation concern due to our changing climate. We visited 25 of the estimated 110 groves on the Island and were able to collect fruit from 19…

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Green flower with purple spots and yellow stamens.
June 1, 2018
Adventures in Research

In cooperation with the Los Padres National Forest, and with funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation(NFWF), the Garden is embarking on an exciting adventure! We’re saddling up our horses, lacing our hiking boots up tight, and hitting the trail to explore hundreds of miles deep into the remote reaches of the Los Padres…

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