Welcome to the beta 2 version of the PlantRight Plant Risk Evaluator (PRE) website. If you are involved in the research, development or distribution of horticultural plants we hope you’ll explore the site, get to know us better, and join our growing PRE community.
The goal of soliciting industry feedback on PRE beta is to develop PRE’s plant screening process into a widely-used and valued resource that equips every horticultural professional with the knowledge to prevent new plant invasions in regions where they (and their customers) grow, market and sell plants.
PRE Features
- 95% accurate in predicting both invasive and non-invasive risk in given region;
- Efficiency! Assessment time averages just 3 to 4-hours per plant;
- Secure, web-based platform for monitoring & collaboration;
- Online climate match and map tool increases accuracy and consistency;
- Designed to evaluate sub-species and cultivars on own merits; and,
- User-friendly interface.
PRE Benefits
- Providing customers with even better plants;
- Staying one-step ahead of local ordinances and regulatory threats;
- Identifying high risk horticultural threats before they take root as bona fide invasives;
- Protecting wild lands where plants are marketed and sold; and,
- Protecting new plant development investments.
Expanding PRE research beyond California, our Farm Bill PRE Project evaluated 200 economically-important ornamental plants in Texas, Illinois, Georgia and Minnesota. The project illustrates how plant scientists at botanic gardens, and regional horticultural stakeholder groups, utilize PRE to identify a plant’s potential invasive risk, locally; and, how the PRE process fosters common ground on otherwise contentious invasive plant conversations. The PlantRight blog describes the Farm Bill PRE project in greater detail.
If you are involved in the research, development or distribution of horticultural plants we invite you to join the PRE community. If you are a plant scientist, affiliated with a horticultural college or botanic garden, and would like to learn more about becoming a PRE Screener, please drop us an email -- PlantRight@suscon.org, requesting a PRE Account.
Check out the Introduction to PRE Tool & Platform video tutorial, here. PRE Screener Training webinars are available to horticultural organizations, colleges and botanic gardens.
Appreciations to the team that led the PRE model research, at University of California (Davis) and University of Washington: Joseph M. DiTomaso, Christiana Conser, Sarah Reichard, Lizbeth Seebacher and Dave Fujino. Thanks also to Horticultural Research Institute for funding a portion of this research.
PRE beta funding is provided by Sustainable Conservation and a USDA Farm Bill grant.
