[MPWG] MPWG V1#1 -- ginseng

Robert Layton Beyfuss rlb14 at cornell.edu
Fri Sep 13 09:49:37 CDT 2013


The research paper is not the easiest thing for a layperson to read in its entirety, but it is well worth the time to wade though it if you skip the equations and focus on the main points. I am not convinced that there are any populations in the Northeast that have not been impacted by humans in some way. All of Professor McGraw's study populations, although assumed to be of "wild" origin at the beginning of the study, almost ten years ago now, have been impacted by humans since he began studying them. I think that it is very likely they were impacted before the studies began. Therefore I seriously question the designation of "wild" at all in referring to ginseng. I prefer the phrase of "ginseng found growing in the wild" instead. As for populations found growing in the wild, I also question whether or not they have been subjected to thousands of years of evolution. That is certainly not the case in most of the Northeast as there are no forests that are even close to being undisturbed for such a length of time. "Old growth forests" are generally considered to be 300 years old, at the most in the Northeast. I think that it is far more likely the ginseng is descended from plants that were either intentionally planted by early growers or have escaped from cultivated populations within the past 120 years, thus subjecting them to perhaps 120 years of evolution in situ, at best. I have watched too many Powerpoint presentations with pictures of "wild ginseng" populations growing next to stone walls on land that was obviously plowed fields at one time within the past 100 years. Considering how little we actually know about natural ginseng seed dispersal, except for human activity, I believe that humans are the prime originator of the populations that we are now trying so hard to preserve from humans.

As for the CBS news story that precipitated this entire, enjoyable and enlightening discussion, (Your welcome Patricia!), it seems that Mr. Eidus' "gloom and doom" remark, has resulted in a spike in ginseng prices from the Asian buyers who take major US TV news stories seriously. People listen to and respect Charlie Rose in particular.  While this may be good in the short run, for dealers like me, it is not good at all in the long run for the remaining ginseng still growing in the wild. No regulations, not even a complete ban of harvest will save these remaining plants from poachers and the inevitable black market. It is time to recognize that conservation efforts need to focus far more on  increasing the supply side of the equation through wild simulated plantings then attempting to control harvest.

Bob

________________________________
From: MPWG [mpwg-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org] on behalf of Jeanine Davis [Jeanine_Davis at ncsu.edu]
Sent: Friday, September 13, 2013 9:27 AM
To: 'James McGraw'; 'Michael Schenk'
Cc: mpwg at lists.plantconservation.org
Subject: Re: [MPWG] MPWG V1#1 -- ginseng

What a great review article! Thanks for sharing, Jim.  Jeanine

Jeanine M. Davis, Ph.D.
Associate Professor and Extension Specialist
Dept. of Horticultural Science, NC State University
Email: Jeanine_Davis at ncsu.edu <https://ch1prd0411.outlook.com/owa/UrlBlockedError.aspx>
Websites:  http://ncherb.org<http://ncherb.org/>  http://ncspecialtycrops.org<http://ncspecialtycrops.org/> http://ncorganic.org<http://ncorganic.org/>
Blog:  http://ncalternativecropsandorganics.blogspot.com <http://ncalternativecropsandorganics.blogspot.com/>
Twitter: http://twitter.com/JeanineNCSU
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/people/Jeanine-Davis/1442912228
Address: Mtn. Hort. Crops Research & Extension Center
455 Research Drive, Mills River, NC 28759
Phone:  828-684-3562   FAX:  828-684-8715

From: MPWG [mailto:mpwg-bounces at lists.plantconservation.org] On Behalf Of James McGraw
Sent: Thursday, September 12, 2013 9:04 AM
To: Michael Schenk
Cc: mpwg at lists.plantconservation.org
Subject: Re: [MPWG] MPWG V1#1 -- ginseng

N
ice summary, Michael!  And interesting discussion all around.

In case anyone hasn't seen our review paper, it is attached.  Feel free to disperse far and wide...

Best wishes, Jim McGraw

On Sat, Sep 7, 2013 at 9:19 PM, Michael Schenk <schenkmj at earthlink.net<mailto:schenkmj at earthlink.net>> wrote:
While we might argue about details and dates of extinction (hey, what do you expect from tv?), wild ginseng is definitely heavily threatened, by a synergy of factors.

"Poaching". There are gray areas here, where traditional harvesting might cross a paper border, but there are clear signs that the nature of ginseng harvesting has changed. Here's one anecdote: a friend who grew up digging sang found a good bed. He harvested from that bed for years, but made the mistake of disclosing it to an in-law with drug issues. The entire bed disappeared. Combine this anecdote with the ongoing recession and the spread of meth and painkiller addiction... So traditional diggers are also stewards, but there's another, newer ethos going on here.

Habitat loss. Population's increasing, and an awful lot of people of means want a lawn in the country. Mountaintop removal coal mining buries Appalachian coves in waste; prime ginseng habitat is used as a landfill. Interstate highways just have to be built. I'm sure MPWGers can fill in many other habitat issues.

Invasive species. I know we've argued this over in the past, but I've seen with my own eyes how stiltgrass and tearthumb can completely dominate forest edge areas, as well as interior areas. With habitat fragmentation, there's lots more edge, too.

Climate change. Another hot button, but it's happening. Plants are especially vulnerable to rapidly changing ecosystems, especially slow-growing plants with modest seed dispersal. Ginseng likes it cool. I've seen it grow best near the foot of a ridge, flushed with rain runoff. As the coves and hollows warm, the cooler zone moves higher towards the peak, plus it gets drier. Eventually, we run out of mountain. Animals and birds can migrate to the next ridge over, but how many of those will be passing ginseng seed?

Deer. Many populations are out of whack. "Browse lines" are familiar to many or most of us, where there's nothing but thick woody stems below reaching height for a hungry deer. Not only forest-floor plants, but future generations of trees, are disappearing there.

These factors make it critical to have protected areas for wild ginseng. Cultivated ginseng isn't the same. Commercial seed sources can be chemically dependent on pesticides after generations of cultivation. I grow wild simulated, but this is indeed simulated, not a distinctive population adapted to a locale over thousands of years (even if wild simulated does sell as "wild"). Ginseng has been shown to develop many isolated, genetically distinct populations. Each time we lose a bed, we could be losing the equivalent of an entire subspecies.

These problems are beyond the scope of any single or easy solution, but we definitely need to protect as many wild populations as we can. Even from a commercial viewpoint, this makes sense, to maintain genetic diversity as insurance against blight and inbreeding. Traditional diggers who replant probably do more than anyone in this regard. The government is limited in what steps it can take, but it does have statutory responsibility in National Parks, as well as responsibility for the trade of endangered species per CITES. I've also heard horror stories from private landowner/growers who have had years of work dug up in a day, with very limited legal recourse. Maybe we could use more rights for small growers.

What do folks think about instituting isolated, single-population ginseng growing refuges, clearly identified as to source and lineage? (similar to the seed bank Marla proposes on change.org<http://change.org>) This would be an active step beyond the necessary but somewhat passive protection of wild populations. I tend to buy seed from a single grower, but I have mixed some seed from another source.

Bob, for some reason I didn't see your letter in your post, the attachment may not have survived the digest format.

Mike Schenk

PS: Let's not point fingers about the video, after all this is "television journalism" - low info content, short attention span, high drama. 'Nuff said <grin>.

>
>Today's Topics:
>
> 1. ginseng in the news (Susan Leopold)
> 2. Re: ginseng in the news (Colin Donohue)
> 3. Re: ginseng in the news (Michael McGuffin)
>
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>Message: 1
>Date: Thu, 5 Sep 2013 17:15:39 -0400
>From: Susan Leopold
>To: mpwg
>Subject: [MPWG] ginseng in the news
>Message-ID:
> <5DE76C5A-A955-4B6D-BCC9-A93B83BEB7CB at unitedplantsavers.org<mailto:5DE76C5A-A955-4B6D-BCC9-A93B83BEB7CB at unitedplantsavers.org>>
>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
>United Plant Savers has started a change.org<http://change.org> letter to bring awareness to our members and the public and to show various agencies that the public cares and supports ginseng conservation efforts....
>
>Below is a link to the CBS story and to our change.org<http://change.org> letter, also you can go to the UpS website www.unitedplantsavers.org<http://www.unitedplantsavers.org> for links to several recent news articles and ginseng recently published research.
>
>Please join this campaign: http://chn.ge/15Eon5H
>
>
>
>http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505269_162-57601454/ginseng-poaching-threatens-survival-of-plant-species/
>
>Susan Leopold, PhD
>Executive Director, UpS
>703-667-0208<tel:703-667-0208>
>susan at unitedplantsavers.org<mailto:susan at unitedplantsavers.org>
>




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--
James B. McGraw
Eberly Professor of Biology
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