Abstract
Hill’s thistle (Cirsium hillii (Canby) Fernald) is a perennial plant endemic to the Great Lakes region of North America. Hill’s thistle is listed as threatened in Ontario and Canada where it is found in globally rare alvar habitats. The main objective of this study was ex-situ conservation of Hill’s thistle using in vitro culture techniques and reintroduction of micropropagated plants back to their natural habitat in Bruce Peninsula National Park, Ontario, Canada. Two out of twenty-nine available seeds were successfully germinated under in vitro condition. An efficient micropropagation protocol was optimized with 100% survival during acclimatization of plantlets in the greenhouse. Three hundred micropropagated plants were reintroduced to twelve different sites within Bruce Peninsula National Park in June and July 2017. Plants were monitored for survival, rosette growth, and flowering on all sites from 2017–2019. After four months of planting, 67 to 99% of the plants were alive in different sites and 90 to 99% of them survived over winter. In the following years, shoot regeneration and flowering were observed on most sites. This study further confirms the benefit of plant tissue culture techniques to ensure revival of Hill’s thistle ecological biodiversity through the reintroduction of micropropagated plants. This approach consisting of the components of conservation, propagation, and reintroduction (CPR) may potentially serve as a model for saving and enriching other species at risk.
Highlights
According to the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), there are seven hundred and forty-eight wildlife species at risk in Canada, with one hundred and ninety-six species belonging to the vascular plant taxon [1]
The seeds were placed in sterile polystyrene disposable Petri dishes (VWR CATALYST Laboratory Services, Pennsylvania, USA) with semi-solid medium containing Murashige and Skoog (MS) [21] basal salts (PhytoTechnology Laboratories, Kansas, USA), 1 mL L-1 Gamborg’s B5 [22] vitamins (PhytoTechnology Laboratories), 3% sucrose and 2 mL L-1 Plant Preservative Mixture (PPM; Plant Cell Technology, ON, Canada)
Three seeds germinated from twenty-nine seeds received from Bruce Peninsula National Park
Summary
According to the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada (COSEWIC), there are seven hundred and forty-eight wildlife species at risk in Canada, with one hundred and ninety-six species belonging to the vascular plant taxon [1]. One of these species is Hill’s thistle An important pollinator is Bombus pensylvanicus, a threatened bee species native to North America [3]. In the spring, it is a food source for local herbivores [5]. Hiking Trail off Dorcas Bay Road on the South East of Dorcas Bay
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
