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From Plant Collections

Steve GenslerSteve Gensler, Geographic Information Systems Manager
Steve Gensler leads the GIS Team (Geographic Information Systems) on a year-long grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Sciences the Society to inventory and catalogue five gardens at SFBG using the latest GPS technology.

A Visit with Brian Morgan of the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University


By Steve Gensler

Over the winter holidays, I had the wonderful opportunity to meet with Brian Morgan at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. Brian is the architect behind the Plant Collections Data Model that SFBGS is using for the GIS mapping project currently underway. The purpose of our meeting was to discuss both of our gardens' mapping projects.

Brian is currently developing a Geographic Information System application for the Arnold's Living Plant Collections Research that will create an interactive, online, map based research system, much like the mapping project here at SFBG. We discussed current technology and what we were trying to accomplish at each of our respective gardens. The central theme of our discussion focused on the future of data collections and how it will evolve with Geographic Information Systems (GIS). GIS is a robust mapping system providing more than coordinates of particular plants. It has the capacity for spatial analysis of the entire living collection.

The Arnold Arboretum after a snowstorm

During my visit, the Arnold Arboretum was closed due to a snowstorm. Brian sent me this picture after I had left to show me what it looked like after they cleared the roads.

SFBG is in the early stages of mapping the garden and we are one of the first to use GIS in a botanical garden. As this project continues we will be to able to use the data to help SFBG, the public, other gardens, and universities understand what conditions need to exist in order for a plant to survive in our environment. As other gardens begin to employ this technology, the cumulative knowledge generated will aid horticulturists and botanists with an even greater understanding of a plant's ability to survive in certain environments.

Looking at the big picture, SFBG is beginning to lay a foundation to take even bigger steps in terms of plant conservation by tracking exact plant locations and variables like water and sunlight conditions, eventually giving us a snapshot of how something like climate change is affecting plants in the garden.


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