Ben Nyberg

National Tropical Botanical Garden

1. A high percentage of island floras are at risk of extinction and have been reduced to relic populations, often in remote hard-to-reach areas. Uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS aka drones) are now being utilized to assist in the survey and collection of rare plants in inaccessible areas or vertical cliff habitats. 2.Here, we test the application of...

The International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species (IUCN Red List) is the world's most comprehensive information source on the global conservation status of species. Governmental agencies and conservation organizations increasingly rely on IUCN Red List assessments to develop conservation policies and priorities. Fu...

Kauaʻi, an island within the Hawaiʻi archipelago, is home of a unique flora that contains 250 single-island endemic plant species. Threats have led to a significant population decrease where 97% of these plant species are now listed as endangered, critically endangered, or extinct. Vertical cliff habitats on Kauaʻi work as refugia to protect plants...

We report the rediscovery of two species previously thought extinct, having no known individuals in the wild, namely Adenophorus periens (Polypodiaceae) and Hibiscadelphus woodii (Malvaceae). Other notable plant finds on Kaua‘i include Gouania meyenii (Rhamnaceae), still extant on O‘ahu and rediscovered on Kaua‘i; Isodendrion pyrifolium (Violaceae)...

This report summarizes botanical collections made by the NTBG botanical collections team during surveys conducted in June—July 2022 in the Republic of Palau, in conjunction with a National Geographic Society (NGS) exploration grant and support from National Tropical Botanical Garden (NTBG), in collaboration with the Belau National Museum (BNM) and...

Societal Impact Statement Trees are an important part of many ecosystems. The Global Tree Assessment data can be used to focus conservation and restoration efforts for the circa 30% of tree species that are threatened worldwide. The conservation status for the tree flora of Limahuli Valley on Kaua'i Island and a restoration plan for 11 endangered t...

Here, we expand on the term “ecomimicry” to be an umbrella concept for an approach to adaptive ecosystem-based management of social-ecological systems that simultaneously optimizes multiple ecosystem services for the benefit of people and place. In this context, we define ecomimicry as a strategy for developing and managing cultural landscapes, bui...

Georeferencing is the process of aligning a text description of a geographic location with a spatial location based on a geographic coordinate system. Training aids are commonly created around the georeferencing process to disseminate community standards and ideas, guide accurate georeferencing, inform users about new tools, and help users evaluate...

Through research, restoration of agro-ecological sites, and a renaissance of cultural awareness in Hawaiʻi, there has been a growing recognition of the ingenuity of the Hawaiian biocultural resource management system. The contemporary term for this system, “the ahupuaʻa system”, does not accurately convey the nuances of system function, and it inhi...