[Science News] - When a golf course helps to safeguard a threatened plant

Intensive agriculture has greatly reduced natural habitats in our countryside, putting many plant species at risk. Among them is the primrose (Primula vulgaris), a species that once grew abundantly along hedgerows and in meadows around Bruges, in Flanders. Today, it only survives  in small, isolated groups within a landscape that is increasingly being converted into maize fields.

To preserve this species in the region, local land managers, in collaboration with Anja Van Geert, a PhD student at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), launched an original experiment: reintroducing the primrose on a golf course! Young plants, resulting from crosses between individuals from different agricultural zones, were planted at five locations along the course of the Damme Golf and Country Club. The goal? To see whether such an environment could sustainably host the primrose, help to preserve its genetic diversity, and enhance exchanges with the remaining wild populations nearby.

Fifteen years after the initial plantings, Ludwig Triest from VUB and Fabienne Van Rossum from Meise Botanic Garden studied the populations in the golf course and its surroundings. The results of their work were published in the prestigious journal Annals of Botany, which also featured a profile of our researcher on Instagram. The study showed that the plantings significantly increased the number of primroses in the region, which now account for one third of all reproductive individuals in the area. The new golf course populations display genetic diversity that is both similar to and representative of the wild populations, thus helping to preserve the genetic pool of populations that have since disappeared. Their presence has also enhanced pollen exchanges between populations over distances greater than 1 km, even though some barriers to pollinator movements still exist.

However, not everything is rosy. Many populations are aging, with few young plants, and researchers have observed a decline in genetic diversity over time. This trend could threaten the species’ long-term survival if no action is taken,especially to rejuvenate populations by promoting germination and establishment of new individuals, while also facilitating pollinator movements between populations to optimize genetic diversity.

Despite these challenges, the study shows that recreational spaces like golf courses—when managed in a biodiversity-friendly way—can play a valuable role in conserving threatened species. But this requires introducing a sufficient number of plants and carefully choosing their locations to recreate a network of populations connected by pollinators.

For more details: https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcaf066