Ascension : Ascension Island Conservation Department
Submitted by The Islander (Conservation Office) 19.11.2009 (Article Archived on 03.12.2009)

Data, DNA and “lab” work

The Endemic Plants Project at the Conservation Department has been marked by the visit of Marcella Corcoran from Royal Botanic Gardens Kew for the past two weeks. Marcella's contribution to the project has been much appreciated. She helped us to ensure that plant records are being kept in order compatible with wider botanical data managed at Kew. This way we can be sure that any results for example from cultivation trials of Ascension plants can be compared and put to practical use easily.

Marcella also helped to start DNA collection from plants in the Island. This has become a standard procedure in many botanical institutions, as DNA is easy and cheap to collect and it can give a lot of important information about the plants. It doesn't require any special equipment – silica gel and zip-lock bags is all that's needed! The DNA will be taken to Kew to allow easy access to anyone in UK willing to study Ascension's flora.

We did manage to do more practical work with plants as well. Apart from getting ourselves soaked with water and mud during plant census in the Green Mountain, we started an experiment with fern spores back in the office in Georgetown. My office turned into a lab for two afternoons as we prepared the growing media with water, nutrients, sugar and agar and poured it in sterile containers. Once the media had cooled and settled into jelly, we sowed spores of two endangered species of ferns. Ferns are not the only thing that like to grow in the mixture of sugars and nutrients – it's just as good for fungi and bacteria, which easily overgrow the ferns. That's why sterility is the keyword here; the work was done only after the office had been cleaned of any dust and walls and tables had been washed with ethanol. That's the reason if someone noticed a smell of alcohol coming from my office!

So far so good, all jars seem clean and fingers crossed this remains so, and we start seeing some of the ferns growing. Meanwhile, we'd like to thank Marcella for her support during her busy stay, and wish her the best of luck in Falklands, where she is helping to set up commercial growing of native plants.   

Volunteers welcome. Please contact Olivia Renshaw or Natasha Williams. Ascension Island Conservation Department. Georgetown. Tel: 6359. Email:  olivia.renshaw@ascension.gov.ac

natasha.williams@ascension.gov.ac