taking stock of native plants, with natureserve’s wesley knapp

Our trillium conversations got me thinking about how headlines like the trillium one, highlighting reports of the accelerating threats of extinctions of plant or animal species, are so common in the news these days.

But how are those predictions calculated, I wondered, and also: do we know what species are already gone–from the small tree that gardeners covet that is extinct in the wild called Franklinia (historic illustration above by William Bartram, one of its discoverers), to various others that are less well-known. And how do we know where to focus our conservation efforts?

Wesley Knapp, a Ph.D. student at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is Chief Botanist at NatureServe, the authoritative source for biodiversity data in North America. He previously worked as a botanist and ecologist for the Maryland and North Carolina Natural Heritage Programs.

Read along as you listen to the June 13, 2022 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) or Spotify or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).

Margaret Roach: Hi, Wes – are you in the home office in VA this week or off in the wilds somewhere?

Wesley Knapp: I am in the home office. I live in Asheville, North Carolina, which is out here in the mountains in the beautiful Blue Ridge.

Margaret: Yeah. Oh, it’s beautiful country. Definitely. So before we get into our topic, I wanted to get a little background on you and about NatureServe. So maybe you first… I’ve read that you have a