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LATEST NEWS

Congratulations to Yi-Gang Song

Successful PhD defence

We are very proud to announce that Yi-Gang Song successfully completed his doctoral thesis at the University of Freiburg on the 11th of December 2019. The PhD was realized in close cooperation with the Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden in China. On behalf of the Zelkova and Pterocarya networks we would like to congratulate him on this success. The title of the dissertation is: Past, present and future of relict trees: diversity, phylogeny, and biogeography of Juglandaceae.

Symposium at the Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden

Major refugia of relict trees: recent advances in research and conservation (7th-12th July 2019)

The symposium took place between the 7th and 9th of July 2019 at the Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden and was organized by the Shanghai Chenshan Plant Science Research Centre (CAS) in collaboration with the Botanical Garden of the University of Fribourg and the Natural History Museum of Fribourg (NHMF), Switzerland. It gathered scientists and conservationists from more than 10 countries, working on relict and threatened woody species. An accompanying field trip to Nanyang (Henan Province) and to the surrounding mountains (e.g., Lao-Jie-Ling) was organized between the 9th and 12th of July 2019.

The Red List of Zelkova 2019
New book on Zelkova printed now!

The Red List of Zelkova 2019

The publication is a compilation of the conservation status assessments carried out by the Zelkova-team from Fribourg and our partner institutions. It would not be possible without the revision of the status of Z. carpinifolia as well as the first-ever assessments of the three East Asiatic species: Z. serrata, Z. sinica and Z. schneideriana carried out in 2018. The redlisting of Z. sicula took place already in 2017 and Z. abelicea in 2012.

New book on Pterocarya & Juglandaceae released now!

« Wingnuts (Pterocarya) & walnut family. Relict trees: linking the past, present and future. »

The book is the culmination of more than four years of exploration and international co-operation. The authors recount an extraordinary journey to the most beautiful and, at the same time, the most threatened relict forests. The future of relict trees is uncertain. Many species are threatened by changes in accelerated land use and climate change. This book, which portrays the beauty and diversity of this unique family in all its glory, should encourage on-going conservation and research efforts worldwide.

Participants in fron of the Kórnik castle
Successful conference & annual meeting Zelkova/Pterocarya 2018

The conference entitled « Relict woody plants: linking the past, present and future » took place on 19th of June 2018 in Kórnik (Poland). It was perfectly organized by the Institute of Dendrology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and gathered researchers, conservationists and foresters from 14 countries (Poland, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Greece, Ukraine, Lebanon, Colombia, USA, China, Georgia, Japan, Vietnam and Iran). 

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Our research and conservation activities

  1. Basic and applied research on relict, rare and/or threatened woody species (biogeography, conservation biology, phylogeny, phylogeography, population genetics, population structure, dendrochronology, etc.).
  2. Conservation actions (in situ and ex situ conservation), action plans and conservation status assessments.
  3. Capacity building (teaching, internships, exchange of students and young scientists, etc.).
  4. Public awareness and outreach (exhibitions, books, workshops, etc.).
  5. Iconographic collections (scientific photography, scientific drawings, etc.)

CRETE
Conservation and research
 

SICILY
Conservation and research
 

PTEROCARYA & JUGLANDACEAE
Conservation biogeography of Pterocarya & Juglandaceae
 

AZERBAIJAN
Relict and threatened woody species of Azerbaijan
 

SHANGHAI CHENSHAN BOTANIC GARDEN
Relict trees of China, Taiwan, Vietnam, South Korea and Japan
 

FRIBOURG / SWITZERLAND
Local conservation & research projects, exhibitions, discoveries.