5 days ago
Scientists team up with unlikely hero to track rare treasure buried underground: 'We were all pretty elated'
The newest conservator at the Atlanta Botanical Garden is a bit…unconventional. Like his fellow researchers, he knows how to sniff out a vulnerable species. But instead of a paycheck, his work is rewarded by tennis balls and treats.
Recently profiled in Garden & Gun, DJ — a 6-year-old Belgian Malinois — is a conservation detection dog using his powerful nose to help Atlanta researchers search for a rare and endangered orchid. Alongside biologist and trainer Karen DeMatteo, DJ is working to locate the elusive small whorled pogonia in Georgia's Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest.
Once widespread, the orchid species has been pushed to the brink by habitat loss, making DJ's work critical to its survival.
As Garden & Gun explained, just as some dogs are trained to detect drugs or explosive devices, DJ is trained to find rare plants and animals using scent alone.
And that's a valuable skill when it comes to the small whorled pogonia. Their bulbs can lie dormant underground for years if conditions are poor, making them nearly impossible for conservationists to spot. But DJ's specialized training enables him to identify the orchid's scent, even when it's not visible above ground.
To find the often-hidden plant, DJ wanders off-leash through ferns and moss, zig-zagging across the forest floor to catch the plant's scent. Once he finds a bulb, he lies down in front of it and looks at his trainer.
His reward? A tennis ball — and then he's off to find the next one.
"We were all pretty elated," DeMatteo told Garden & Gun of the first time DJ located a small whorled pogonia.
Conserving endangered plant species can be vital to local ecosystems, as these native plants often help keep the soil healthy, support pollinators, prevent soil erosion, and provide animals food and shelter.
When they disappear, it can trigger a cascade of ecological consequences, disrupting the delicate balance that sustains biodiversity. That's why DJ's acute sense of smell is especially valuable to conservation efforts.
DJ and DeMatteo hail from St. Louis, but have traveled the world sniffing out plant and animal species. DJ has used his powerful nose to find jaguars, ocelots, and even bush dogs, according to Garden & Gun.
But it took a little time for DJ to find his calling as a conservation detection dog. DeMatteo told Garden & Gun that DJ failed out of the police academy after recruits found him to be "a little too intense." DeMatteo said DJ is "a spinning top of energy," adding that it's a quality that suits his taxing field work.
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Over the next three summers, DJ and DeMatteo will return to forests in Georgia and North Carolina, where the small whorled pogonia was once known to grow, hoping DJ can pick up the scent of the elusive orchid.
"It's so hard for us to say that a plant is extirpated or extinct," Emily Coffey, Atlanta Botanical Garden's vice president of conservation and research, told Garden & Gun. "To prove something 'isn't there' means you have to check all of the 'theres' that it could be."
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