newsENIThe European native seed conservotion newsletter

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The future of seed banking

Kostrzyca Forest Gene Bank: a seed bankfor forestry

Consolidation of the seedbank network forwild plant species germplasm (REDBAG)

The role of the Plant Germplasm Bank ofthe Technical University of Madrid in theGlobal Strategy for Plant Conservation

ENSCONET 5th Annual Meeting

Special characteristics and conservation ofthe Finnish flora

Seed banking endangered species of theAustrian native flora: first steps towards adecentralised approach

Interview with Sara Oldfield, SecretaryGeneral BGCI

Opening mutualistic stability in the battleto explore new tools for rare plant speciesconservation

The ENSCONET Virtual Seed Bank

A national research project for the ex situconservation and characterisation of theItalian threatened flora: contributions ofthe Botanic Garden of Pisa

ENSCONEWS: The European Native Seed Conservation Newsletter, published bythe European Native Seed Conservation Network (ENSCONET).

YEAR: 2009

NUMBER: 5

EDITORS: D. Aplin, E. Estrelles, A.M. Ibars, D. Lázaro, S. Linington, J. Müller & E. Pastor.

COLLABORATORS: D. Aplin, G. Bedini, C. Berg, K. G. Bernhardt, C. Bonomi,C. Branquinho, A. Carta, D. Draper, R. Eastwood, M. E. González-Benito,J. E. Hernández Bermejo, F. Herrea Molina, M. Kiehn, C. Koziol, S. Linington,K. Loskot, J. B. Martínez-Laborde, M.A. Martins-Loução, M. Miranto,F. Pérez-García, M. J. Pinto, S. Rivière, H. Serrano.

ART DIRECTION: David Lázaro-Gimeno.

IMPRESSION: Peñafort.

ISSN: 1989-5615

DL: V-491-2006

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ENSCONEWS is printed on ecological paperPEFC- Pan European Forest Certification

editorial2010 has been declared as the International Year of Biodiversity bythe United Nations. It will mark the culmination of an unprecedentedperiod of activity to halt the loss of biodiversity. For the past fiveyears, ENSCONET has played its part in this activity, drawing togetherseed banks from across Europe and uniting their efforts to conservethe continent’s wild plants. Funded by the EU, this project hasbrought together scientists who previously rarely met. Through aspirit of collaboration and friendship, real and lasting positiveimpacts have been generated. Working practices have been raised toa common level, and new seed bank facilities have been establishedor planned. Data about the existing collections banked has beenpulled together and standardised. In turn, this has been used todevelop a European collecting plan to close the gaps in holdings.Already, the members conserve some 42 000 collectionsrepresenting 9300 taxa (about 70% of the European total). Butperhaps the greatest legacy has been to give wild species seedbanking a real voice in European conservation. The creation, in 1992,of the Convention of Biological Diversity was a defining moment forbiodiversity. Ratified by 188 governments, it challenged scientists todo something practical to halt the loss of genes, species andecosystems. ENSCONET has risen to meet this challenge in Europeand mapped out a route to secure the continent’s plant diversity foruse by this and future generations.

Front CoverA key seed banking technique is cryo-preservation of seeds inliquid nitrogen at -196°C. This method is especially valuablefor those desiccation-tolerant seeds that would otherwiselive only a few decades under conventional dry storagemethods at -20°C. Photo: Royal Botanic Gardens Kew.

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This century looks set to be a major challenge for mankind. Currentpredictions suggest that the world’s population will continue itsrapid rise. Inevitably, more people means more natural vegetationwill be converted for food and housing. This vegetation loss willcause the genetic erosion of most plant species and extinction ofmany in the wild. Yet this renewable and complex resource could becentral to the ingenuity needed to adapt to all that the next hundredyears may bring. We are in the position to limit the loss of thisbotanical diversity but there is little time to act, a few decades atmost. The current economic crisis must not deflect us from this taskof saving plants that will yield future medicines, fuels and foods. InEurope, as many as 83% of the native plant species have some knownuse (Kell et al . , 2008); and there is cer tainly much sti l l to bediscovered. The clutter of everyday life in the industrialised worldhas divorced us from the survival value of the plant products sofamiliar in our everyday lives. Most will have heard of Fort Knox, theUS gold bullion store, and yet its contents have much less survivalvalue than those of Fort Collins, the main US crop seed bank that fewwill have heard of. Ideally, plant diversity (species, populations andgenes) should be conser ved in the wild but this wil l becomeincreasingly diff icult especial ly given cl imatic uncer tainty.Consequently, seed banks are going to be key to ensuring that cropand as yet undomesticated plant diversity remain at our disposal fordiscovery and use.

Networks conserving a spectrum of diversitySeed conservation networks, such as ENSCONET in Europe and theMillennium Seed Bank Project on a global scale, have emergedduring the last two decades to complement the crop seed networksby coordinating banks conser ving wild species. There aredifferences in philosophy and practicality to conserving crop andwild species, though in reality there is a continuum between the twoand a recent publication (Maxted and Kell, 2009) shows the largeextent to which wild relatives of crop plants are used in breedingnew cultivars. I t will be interesting to see whether the crop and wildspecies seed bank networks can integrate on equal terms, beyondthe current exchange of information, to meet chal lenginginternational targets.

Linking up with the end userAt the moment, many wild species banks collect species on the basisof their threat status, i.e. the approach is one of nature conservation.This is obviously impor tant but the immediate users of thecollections, other than those involved in nature conservation, haverelatively little say in what is collected. To improve the utilitarianvalue of collections, greater involvement of end users is required inthe targeting of collecting work. To this end, ENSCONET and theproposed European Native Seed Conservation Research Infrastructure(ENSCRI) have decided to increase dialogue with potential end users.This is quite challenging because the range of potential users is verylarge. As a star t, discussions wil l focus on the university andgovernment research sector (e.g. ecologists who are likely to use thecollections to monitor and alleviate environmental change) and with

industry (e.g. biotechnology). Life science technology will be animportant focus with Europe’s push towards becoming a leadingknowledgebased economy. Greater use of the collections shouldmake clearer the immediate as well as the long-term relevance of thework in the minds of governments and other funders.

Discussions with users wil l revolve around the species andpopulations that need to be collected, and the quantity of seed andspecific types of data required. To bring about this greater use, therewill need to be a review of the terms of agreements both foracquisition and supply that permits commercial use and walks thetight-rope between encouraging research and ensuring reasonablebenefits flow back to the owner of the resource.

*Simon Linington (s.linington@rbgkew.org.uk)

Millennium Seed Bank, Wakehurst Place, Ardingly,Haywards Heath, West Sussex, RH17 6TN, UK

The future of seed banking

By Simon Linington*

Fig. 1. Designed and built in the late 1990s, the MillenniumSeed Bank building has a flexible layout to accommodate futurerequirements. Photo: Morley von Sternberg

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Better dataA key to future seed banking will be enhanced data collection in thefield. Seed collectors may be the last people to see a particular wildpopulation for many years, and in some cases, ever. Therefore, it isimportant that they maximise the value of their visit and record asmuch as possible about the ecological status of the population; thisdata will be invaluable respectively to those trying to grow out thecollection and in conservation assessment work. Electronic captureof field data will become more prevalent, leading to improvedefficiency due to reduced subsequent handling. Indeed, electronicdata exchange should get easier between organisations thoughthere is still some way to go on data standardisation and computerinterfaces. Given the correct identification, this data exchange willallow collections to be linked up to everything else already knownabout the species.

Improving the link between bank and soil I f seeds of relatively unstudied species are to be util ised, banks willhave to have good l inks to hor ticultural exper tise. Many wildspecies banks are already based in botanic gardens, so that shouldnot be a problem. However, what may be a challenge is overcominghorticultural traditions of selecting out ‘off types’ thereby losingvaluable genetic diversity, and keeping results of work in the headrather than committ ing i t to tex t that can be made readi lyaccessible to others. R ais ing plants and obser ving theirestablishment back in the wild as part of a species re-introductionor habitat restorat ion programme needs to become a more

scientific exercise. Greater emphasis will need to be placed on thequality and extent of the genetic variation returned to the wild andon the establishment and long-term viability of the plants used.Crop genetic resources developed the idea of core collections,whereby samples of a given species are mixed to give one highlydiverse collection. This might have potential not so much forreducing the number of col lec t ions curated but in providingsignificant diversity from which nature can select. This might bemore beneficial than using single collections from given ecologicalor geographical backgrounds. As with other uses, there needs to bemuch better dialogue with those involved in land conservationmanagement. This will really bring life to the oft-quoted textbookphrase that ‘ex situ (offsite) conservation complements that in situ(onsite)’.

A sound baseThe scientific base of seed banks will need to be strengthened byresearch, reinforced by training and improved by standard setting.At the minute, a one-size-fits-all approach is often taken to bankinga wide range of species with desiccation-tolerant (bankable) seeds.Evidence is emerging that while this suits most species, some maynot live sufficiently long in conventional -20°C storage to make theprocess cost- effec t ive; for these, cr yopreser vat ion in l iquidnitrogen wi l l need to be used. As we learn, we must adaptmethodology and continually look for helpful trends in behaviourof the seed material.

Rapid diagnostic methods need to be established for determiningwhether species have seeds that are bankable or not (most are) andwhether seeds are alive or not. However, the biggest headache formanagers of wild species banks is germination; improvements inprediction have started but there is a long way to go. Ultimately,accurate prediction of germination requirement will save staff time,which in Europe at least, is a major component of seed bankoperating cost. Improved processing technology will also save costs.For instance, an image recognition system that allowed seeds spreadin a thin layer to be counted accurately would be valuable. With fuelbecoming ever more expensive, cold storage will need to be moreenergy-efficient and make use of technological improvements thatare sure to arise in the coming decades.

Through the wild plant species they conserve, seed banks havenever been more relevant to the future survival of our own species.This huge array of plants will help us adapt to a challenging world.We may be the last generation with the opportunity to save thisdiversity and it essential that we get this message across to thepublic and those that can provide the means to bring about thisrescue.

References:

Kell, S.P., Knüpffer, Jury, S.L., Ford-Lloyd, B.V. and Maxted, N., 2008.Crops and Wild Relatives of the Euro-Mediterranean Region: Makingand Using a Conservation Catalogue. In Maxted, N., Ford-Lloyd, B.V.,Kell, S.P., Iriondo, J.M., Dulloo, M.E. and Turok, J. (eds.), Crop WildRelative Conservation and Use, CABI.

Maxted, N. and Kell, S.P., 2009. Establishment of a Global Network forthe In Situ Conservation of Crop Wild Relatives: Status and Needs. FAOCommission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Rome,Italy. 266 pp.

Fig. 2. Germinating into tomorrow's world - plants will helpsolve future problems. Photo: Wolfgang Stuppy

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The State, Forests National Forest Holding in Poland administrates about7.6 million hectares of land, or almost 25% of Poland’s surface area. Morethan half the forests are under different categories of protection, with thehighest category located in strictly protected nature reserves. There aresome countrywide programmes which help to protect biological andgenetic diversity of Polish forests. One of them is called ‘The programme forpreservation of forest genetic resources and selective breeding of forest treesfor the years 1991-2010’. Forest Gene Bank activities fulfill all the demandsof that programme as one of the State Forests’ special units. Theprogramme has established 3097ha of gene reserve stands and 658ha ofgene reserve plantations. One of its activities has been to protect andrestore populations of the common yew, Taxus baccata L., in Poland.

The Forest Gene Bank was established in 1995, in the south west of thecountry between the villages of Milków and Kostrzyca in the KarkonoszeMountains, the highest mountain range of the Sudety. Why was thedecision made to locate it there, and why did the State Forests NationalForest Holding decide it needed a ’forest gene bank’? The answers to thesequestions are hidden in the past. At the turn of 1970s and in the 1980s, anarea of forest circa 13,000ha on the western Sudety Mountains died. Thereason was environmental pollution together with mass outbreaks ofinsect pests and fungi. However, closer analysis of this phenomenonproved the simple relationship between forest dieback and mistakes inmanagement that were, in the past, common. Natural mixed stands,typical to the lower mountain zone, were removed to advantage Sprucemonocultures. The seeds of the Spruce, however, were of unknown origin.This species gave better economic returns due to its faster growth rate.The future proved, that whilst profits were apparent in the short-term, thelong-term outcome was an ecological disaster. The establishment of theForest Gene Bank was thus a direct consequence of forest dieback.

In order to learn from these mistakes, the long-term storage of seeds ofmain tree and shrub species in Polish forests according to ‘SeedRegionalisation’ principles provides a safeguard against possible futureproblems. The primary reason for the establishment of the Forest GeneBank was, above all, dictated by forest management. After 14 years, the

Kostrzyca Forest Gene Bank is entering into a new area of activity, thelong-term storage of genetic resources of endangered and protectedPolish plants, in cooperation with the Botanical Garden and the Centrefor Biodiversity Protection, at the Polish Academy of Sciences inPowsin, as well as with the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, the KarkonoszeNational Park and other institutions in Poland and beyond.

OrganisationThe Kostrzyca Forest Gene Bank is governed by the General Director ofthe State Forests in Warsaw. The range of its activity involves forestsacross the whole country. Within the Gene Bank’s structure, there arespecialised units that fulfill a range of aims. The units take a direct role inthe tasks of the gene reserves storage. These are: the HarvestOrganisation and Reserves Creating Unit, which provides services for

organising harvests, receiving and curation of seeds including theirstratification, and the Research and Reserves Protection Unit thatconducts the assessments of genetic resources and is responsible forseed reserves stored in cold chambers. Furthermore, two Research andImplementations units operate here: the Cryoprotection Laboratory,whose main task is to research alternative methods of cryogenic storageof seeds and their fragments and the DNA Analysis Laboratory, whichconducts research on the genetic structure of forest trees and their seedsat individual and population levels. A supplementary, peripheral activityhelping forest breeding in the most difficult, devastated areas, isconducted by the Bio-preparation Production Unit, and is producing amycorrhizal inoculate. In the Forest Gene Bank an educational unitorganises lessons and workshops for all ages and professional groups inorder to promote the knowledge of environmental issues.

*Katarzyna Loskot(Katarzyna.Loskot@lbg.lasy.gov.pl)

Specialist, The Harvest Organization and Reserves Creating Unit,Kostrzyca Forest Gene Bank, 58-535 Milków 300, Poland

Kostrzyca Forest Gene Bank:a seed bank for forestry

By Czeslaw Koziol and Katarzyna Loskot*

Fig. 1. Kostrzyca Forest Gene Bank - the Arboretum in spring

Fig. 2. Seed treatment - separation

*Czeslaw Koziol(Czeslaw.Koziol@lbg.lasy.gov.pl)Director of Kostrzyca Forest Gene Bank, 58-535 Milków 300, Poland

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New tasks In 2008, the Kostrzyca Forest Gene Bank became an associatedmember of ENSCONET. As a result of cooperation with the Network, afaster and more efficient way of storing seeds of threatened andprotected species has been implemented. This has principally comefrom the improved methodology of seed collections, curationactivities and seed storage which often differ from traditionalmethods applied in common Polish forest tree species. Due to thisnew activity, a work group was established in 2008. The Group’s aim isto develop the programme ‘Ex situ conservation of threatened andprotected wild plants in the western part of Poland’, and to preparefor the European Regional Development Fund’s operationalprogramme ‘Infrastructure and Environment ’. This programmeincludes 58 species of native wild flora.

Some of these flora are only found in a single location, others inmany. In total, 129 populations are planned to be saved and stored ingene banks over the period 2009 - 2012. All collected samples will bestored in cold chambers of the Kostrzyca Forest Gene Bank. Somesamples will be stored additionally in liquid nitrogen. Duplicatecollections will be sent to the Botanic Garden in Powsin and to theMillennium Seed Bank, Kew in Great Britain to safeguard theseimportant genetic resources. At the same time, the Botanic Garden ofthe Polish Academy of Sciences in Powsin, is preparing a sisterprogramme for eastern Poland, including 145 populations of 65native wild species.

Each assessment will be completed by establishing in vitro plantations.The growth of seedlings bred in this way is more efficient than if

conducted in vivo . Tissue culture willprovide an opportunity to produce a largenumber of plants. Growing as ex situcollections they will provide a basis forresearch. This process may be a beginningto the restoration of endangered species totheir natural habitats.

In starting the programme, methodology(Seed Collection Manual) developed by thepar tners of ENSCONET has been ver yhelpful. With a slight adjustment for Polishconditions, the collection manual isalready in use by the work group inpreparing for the future. Access toENSCONET ’s database increases thepossibility of receiving financial supportfrom the European Regional DevelopmentFund, as it demonstrates that successfulstorage of wild plants is possible. Whenthe ENSCONET programme of activit iesconclude, it is hoped that the knowledgegained during the years of implementationwill help to provide a Polish contributionto the project ’s next potential phase,ENSCRI, dependent on its successfulfunding.

Fig. 3. Germination test of Pinus sylvestris L., Larix deciduaMill. and Picea abies (L.) Karst

Fig. 5. Saxifraga nivalis L.- Germination test of the first, threatened,non-woody species from the Polish flora at the Kostrzyca FGB

Fig. 4. Microseedlings of Quercus robur L. in the Cryoprotection Laboratory

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REDBAG was set up on 15 November 2002 within the framework of theIberomacaronesic Association of Botanical Gardens (AIMJB). Itsobjectives and an action plan were directed towards obtainingrecognition and support from the (at that time) Ministry for theEnvironment (MIMAM). Its beginnings were slow due to the project’snegotiation with the Ministry despite the firm determination andinterest of both parties in achieving it. Over the next few years, severalmeetings were held which facilitated the coordination between thealready existing plant gene banks (PGB) and stimulated and consolidatedothers, at all times keeping up the process of coming to an officialagreement and recognition. REDBAG was also presented at differentconferences and meetings, such as Eurogard III (Meise, Belgium) in 2003,Castilla La Mancha University REDBAG workshop (Albacete 2005), IX LatinAmerican Conference on Botany (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic)in 2006, and in that same year at the 1st Meeting of the IT (InternationalTreaty on Phytogenetic Resources for Food and Agriculture of the FAO) ina workshop promoted by ENSCONET.

At this last event, the specific role of some REDBAG germplasm banks inthe conservation of crops included in IT Annexes was alreadydemonstrated with data and figures of species and accessions, since25% of the latter conserved in the banks correspond to the IT Annex Icrops. Some banks stand out for their specific riches in certaintaxonomic groups, as in the case of the seed bank at the TechnicalUniversity of Madrid, with over 2,100 accessions included in the IT, 881of which are of the genus Brassica; the seed bank at the Viera y ClavijoGardens (Gran Canaria) has important Asparagus and Crambecollections; and the BGVA ( Wild Seed Bank of the AndalusianAutonomous Government) holds collections of pasture and forageFabaceae, and wild crop relatives of Cruciferae and Daucus.

However, the main interest of REDBAG, in addition to being aninstrument for coordination between the Spanish wild plantgermplasm banks, was to offer a national response to the commitmentsthat Spain had acquired as a result of the Global Strategy for PlantConservation (GSPC), a tool of the CBD (Convention on Biological

Diversity) approved during the 4th Conference of the Parties (CBD COPIV ). This Strategy established several objectives concerning ex situconservation, mainly through its targets 8 and 9 concerning accessibleex situ collections, recovery and restoration programmes, geneticdiversity of crops and associated indigenous and local knowledge.

The agreement with the MIMAM was finalised in a Technical AssistanceContract, convoked through a Public Contest, in which CórdobaUniversity acted as the contracting organization, representing thenine REDBAG members who expressed their wish to be integrated intothe offer. The remaining three offered their collaboration althoughwith no direct responsibility in the contract. This was signed inFebruary, 2008, so that as regards its administration andcommitments, it has now completed the first year of its existence.During this time, it has been agreed:

1) To make an inventory of the institutions involved in the ex situconservation of wild plant diversity in Spain.

2) To make a preliminary inventory of the germplasm collectionscurrently conserved in wild flora germplasm banks. There are 60institutions and organizations working on the ex situ conservation ofwild flora in Spain. The total number of accessions conserved reaches31,562, which correspond to 6,204 different taxa (species andsubspecies). The three germplasm banks with the largest number ofaccessions and taxa conserved are, the Technical University of Madrid,the Andalusian Seed Bank (CMA, Andalusian government), and the seedbank at the Botanical Gardens Viera y Clavijo (Regional Govt of GranCanaria), which together house 70% of the conserved germplasm.

3) To make an inventory of the species subjected to recuperation plansin the different Autonomous Communities. This inventory includesinformation on species, distribution areas, threatened categories,

*Francisca Herrera Molina(bgva.pherrera@jardinbotanicodecordoba.com)

Andalusian Seed Bank (BGVA),Avda. de Linneo s/n, E-14004 Córdoba, Spain

Consolidation of the seedbank networkfor wild plant species germplasm

(REDBAG)J. Esteban Hernández Bermejo and F. Herrera Molina*

Fig. 1. The Seedbank at the Technical University of Madrid

* J. Esteban Hernández Bermejo(cr1hebee@uco.es)Andalusian Seed Bank (BGVA),Avda. de Linneo s/n, E-14004 Córdoba, Spain

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communities involved, and conservation techniques, with informationon the availability of germplasm conserved in wild flora banks. Theinventory includes both those species subjected to official action plansapproved by legal regulations (38 species), and those submitted tounofficial action plans, with a total for the moment of 181 speciesbeing the object of different recuperation actions by severalautonomous communities.

4) To review the national and international regulations, and, in the CBDframework, subjects related to the access, dissemination, donationand transfers of plant germplasm. Some protocols have beenproposed for their use and application by the Spanish Seedbanks(Hernández-Bermejo and Herrera-Molina, 2005).

5) To design a corporate image for REDBAG once the acronym had beendecided on.

6) To set up a model for a web site. This page will above all be a tool forinformation and contact, with links to other web pages related to the exsitu management of wild flora and phylogenetic resources. The site willalso contain legal information and dissemination of results byhighlighting press articles and other publications.

7) To design several campaigns to complete the collections ofgermplasm of the wild species of the greatest scientific or strategicinterest or which are those most threatened in Spanish territories stillpoorly prospected. The areas most covered are, the Canary Isles,Andalusia, Valencia, the Balearic Isles, and those least covered areGalicia, Castilla La Mancha, Castilla-León, País Vasco, Cantabria, Aragón,Murcia, Navarra and La Rioja.

8) Finally, there will be a collaboration with the MARM (Ministry for theEnvironment, Rural and Marine Medium, formerly MIMAM) to draft aproposal for a National Strategy for the Conservation of Plant Diversity,especially in aspects related to ex situ conservation and to questionsconcerning the GSPC (Global Strategy for Plant Conservation ), the ABS(system of access and distribution of benefits in the use of geneticresources and on associated knowledge), as well as technical assistancein international conventions and networks related to the aims of wildflora germplasm banks.

REDBAG is currently undertaking work in the following areas:

1) The design of an updated system of seed exchange through IndicesSeminum, for wild flora germplasm banks, in a digital format, andonline.

2) The development of a future web site.

3) The creation of a database with all the information on the speciesand registers (or accessions) conserved in the seed banks of REDBAG.Its main objective will be the establishment of a coordinatedmechanism for the registration of the collections conserved, withcommon rules for the seed banks participating in the project. Thiswould permit the integration of all the information associated with thedifferent accessions in the different seed banks. For this purpose, anadaptation of the application Babilonia (Felpete et al., 2008) recentlyincorporated into the framework of the AIMJB has been considered.

4) The development of protocols for the collection and conservation ofseeds, the evaluation of their genetic variability and viability control,and the drafting of a Guide to Good Practice in the collection of wildplant germplasm.

5) The promotion of a system of duplicates to ensure the ex situconservation of plant diversity in Spanish flora.

6) The organisation of two training workshops.

References:

Felpete, A., Draper, D., Taulegne-Gomes, C. and Güemes, J., 2008 .Babilonia. Manual del usuario. Asociación Ibero-Macaronésica deJardines Botánicos 169 pp.

Hernández Bermejo, J. E. and Herrera Molina, F., 2005 . El acceso a labiodiversidad vegetal y a los recursos fitogenéticos. Jardín Botánico deCórdoba y Asociación Ibero-Macaronésica de Jardines Botánicos.Córdoba, 64 pp.

Hernández Bermejo, J. E. and Herrera Molina, F., 2005 . REDBAG: TheSpanish Network of genebanks for wild plants. BG Journal 2 (2): 18.

Fig. 2. Andalusian Seed Bank. Córdoba

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The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) was adopted in 2002.It gathers a series of conservation objectives that the signatorycountries are committed to reach before the year 2010 to haltbiodiversity loss. The importance of the accomplishment of the goals isextremely imperative in areas with high biological diversity. Spain ishome to between 8,000 and 9,000 terrestrial and freshwater plantspecies, representing 80% of the European Union’s total (Prieur, 2006).It also has 1,500 endemic plants of which 500 are endemic to the Ibero-African zone that represents 35% of the plants endemic to Europe.Similarly, Spain has the greatest number of threatened vascular plantspecies in the EU. Major efforts should be made from the Government,regional administrations and individual initiatives to ensure theachievement of the GSPC’s targets.

Considering the XVI targets of the GSPC, three are closely related to thedaily work of the Plant Germplasm Bank of the Technical University ofMadrid (BGV-UPM): first (target III), the development of protocols forplant conservation and sustainable use, based on research andpractical experience; second (target VIII), 60% of threatened plantspecies conserved in accessible ex situ collections, preferably in thecountry of origin; and third (target IX), 70% of the genetic diversity ofcrops and other socioeconomically valuable species should beconserved.

As a response to the commitment made by the Spanish Governmentregarding the objectives of the GSPC, one of the most ambitiouscrosscutting programs of the CBD, the BGV-UPM, is contributing and openly

*Juan Bautista Martínez-Laborde (juanbau.martinez@upm.es)Departamento Biología Vegetal, Escuela Técnica Superior de

Ingenieros Agrónomos, Universidad Politécnica de MadridCiudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain

The role of the Plant Germplasm Bank ofthe Technical University of Madrid in the

Global Strategy for Plant Conservation

By David Draper Munt, Juan Bautista Martínez-Laborde, Félix Pérez-García and Maria Elena González-Benito*

Table 1. Germination percentages of threatened species stored at thePlant Germplasm Bank-UPM. Data corresponds to IberianPeninsula, Canary and Balearic Islands seed stored between 15 and40 years at low temperatures (between -5ºC and -10ºC) and withlow water content in glass vials containing silica gel that have beenhermetically sealed).

Fig. 1. Total taxa and collected samples (accessions) of Spanish florawith a Red List category and maintained in long term storagefacilities at the BGV-UPM

*David Draper Munt (david.draper@upm.es)Departamento Biología Vegetal, Escuela Técnica Superior deIngenieros Agrónomos, Universidad Politécnica de MadridCiudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain

*Viability percentage reached after tetrazolium test.GA3: seeds soaked in gibberellic acid water solution (1000 mg•L-1) for 24 or 48 h.

Years Best incubationFamily Species in temperature and Germination

storage pre-treatment (%)

Onopordum corymbosum 33 25ºC; GA3 94Asteraceae

Ptilostemon hispanicus 32 6ºC 95

Boraginaceae Echium auberianum 32 25/15ºC; GA3 53 (91*)

Biscutella lyrata 39 25ºC; GA3 94

Coincya rupestris 38 25/15ºC 98

Coincya longirostra 38 25/15ºC; GA3 87

Coronopus navasii 15 25/15ºC 67

Diplotaxis harra 40 25/15ºC; GA3 98

Brassicaceae Diplotaxis virgata 40 20ºC; GA3 100

Erucastrum virgatum 40 20ºC; GA3 91Erysimummediohispanicum 39 25/15ºC; GA3 95

Iberis pectinata 24 5ºC 100

Lycocarpus fugax 40 20ºC; GA3 76Moricandiamoricandioides 39 25ºC; GA3 99

Vella pseudocytisus 26 15ºC 92

Caryophyllaceae Gypsophila tomentosa 33 15ºC 99

Cistaceae Cistus symphytifolius 32 15ºC; mechanical 97scarification

Chamaecytisus proliferus 32 25/15ºC; mechanical 100scarificationFabaceae

Ononis crispa 32 25/15ºC; mechanical 98scarification

Lamiaceae Phlomis lychnitis 32 15ºC 90

Poaceae Trisetum hispidum 33 6ºC 76

Polygonaceae Rumex lunaria 33 25/15ºC 98

Resedaceae Reseda virgata 34 25/15ºC; GA3 98

Rubiaceae Plocama pendula 32 25ºC 74

Scrophulariaceae Digitalis dubia 32 25/15ºC 94

Zygophyllaceae Zygophyllum fontanesii 32 20ºC; mechanical 36 (77*)scarification

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declaring its contribution to fulfill the commitments made by theSpanish Government. The BGV-UPM is an ex situ conservation facilityformed in 1966 that has two well defined collections: (1) wildcrucifers, one of the most important crop families in theMediterranean Basin, including relatives of crops belonging to thegenera Brassica, Sinapis, Raphanus, Eruca, etc.; and (2) rare, threatenedor endemic species of any family from the west Mediterranean area(Gómez-Campo, 2007). The main objective of this facility is the long-term conservation of plant germplasm, but it is also important toensure the availability of the material in conservation programs orresearch. BGV-UPM has also extensive experience in developingprotocols for plant conservation that includes the integration of insitu and ex situ methods, such as in vitro cultivation techniques (e.g.Narcissus cavanillesi i and Borderea chouardii) , development ofprotocols for cryopreservation (e.g. Centaurium rigualii and Fragariaspp.) , maintenance of plant species within their ecosystems,establishment of conservation priorities and actions on the re-introduction or enhancement of threatened populations. Since itsbeginnings it has developed methods for efficient long-termconservation of germplasm, such as ultra-drying techniques (Gómez-Campo, 2007), which were transferred to many genebanks bothSpanish and foreign ( Table 1). Recent studies confirm the efficiency ofthese methods in conservation of endemic and endangered flora(Pérez et al., 2008). All of these actions are closely related with targetIII of GSPC.

Concerning target VIII, 354 threatened Spanish taxa are currentlyconserved at BGV-UPM (Fig. 1), as per the Red List of Spanish VascularFlora (Moreno, J.C., coord., 2008). Three of these taxa are currentlyextinct (Lysimachia minoricensis , EW; Draba incana and Clypeolacyclodontea both regional EX in Spain). In Spain 1,495 taxa have beenclassified with a threat category: the 354 taxa preserved in BGV-UPMrepresent 23.7% of the threatened flora. Given that the target VIII of theGSPC considers that 60% of threatened plant species should be

conserved in ex situ collections, preferably in the country of origin, thecontribution of BGV-UPM to this aim by itself represents more than onethird of what is necessary to achieve this goal.

It is more difficult to assess our contribution to the target IX as it relatesto 70% of the genetic diversity of crops and major socioeconomicallyimportant species and there is no list of reference for Spain . Currently,BGV-UPM preserves 1,027 taxa of wild crucifers, species related toimportant crops such as, cabbages, mustard and rapeseed.

In these ways, the Plant Germplasm Bank of the Technical University ofMadrid plays a key role in the Spanish Government commitments tohalt biodiversity loss by the end of 2010.

References:

Gómez-Campo, C., 2007. Assessing the contribution of genebanks:the case of the UPM seed bank in Madrid. Plant Genetic ResourcesNewsletter, No. 151: 40–49

Moreno, J.C., coord., 2008 . Lista Roja 2008 de la flora vascularespañola . Dirección General de Medio Natural y Política Forestal(Ministerio de Medio Ambiente, y Medio Rural y Marino, y SociedadEspañola de Biología de la Conservación de Plantas), Madrid, 86 pp.

Pérez-García, F., González-Benito, M.E. and Gómez-Campo, C.,2008 . Germination of fourteen endemic species from the IberianPeninsula, Canary and Balearic Islands after 32-34 years of storage atlow temperature and very low water content. Seed Sci. & Technol., 36,407-422.

Prieur, M., 2006 . Report on the implementation of the BernConvention in Spain. ( T-PVS/Inf (2006) 7) Convention on theConservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats. StandingCommittee. 26th meeting Council of Europe.

*Félix Pérez-García (felix.perez@upm.es)Departamento Biología Vegetal, Escuela Universitaria deIngeniería Técnica Agrícola, Universidad Politécnica de MadridCiudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain

*Maria Elena González-Benito (me.gonzalezbenito@upm.es)Departamento Biología Vegetal, Escuela Universitaria de

Ingeniería Técnica Agrícola, Universidad Politécnica de MadridCiudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain

Fig. 2. In vitro shoot of Borderea chouardii aiding conservation of this species. Photo: Carlos Ruiz

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In June 2009 the Ensconet consortium met for its final Annual GeneralMeeting in Trento and Campitello di Fassa, Trentino, in the Italian Alps. Thismeeting provided the last opportunity for all the Network members to discussproject development and pave the way forward for future collaborativeactivities. It also gave the opportunity to highlight two key documentsproduced during its five years of activity that will make a lasting contributionsto European conservation. These are the 'Seed Collecting Manual for WildSpecies' and 'Curation Protocols & Recommendations'.

During the evenings AGM delegates experienced the local atmosphere andtraditions thanks to the parallel celebrations held in Trento for the citypatron St. Vigililus that culminated on June 26th with a medieval contestbetween locals from Trento and invaders from the east of the city.

The associated field work days were held inthe Dolomites (recently designated aUNESCO World Heritage Site) in the massifsof Catinaccio, Pale di San Martino, Brenta andaround lake Garda in Mt. Baldo and Tremalzoareas. This area served as a location for a seedcollecting workshop for additional staff thatjoined the group from June 29th.

A particularly interesting highlight from thefield excursions was the demonstration of anelectronic collecting sheet that was developedby MTSN in cooperation with the local highschool for IT technicians (ITI Marconi,Rovereto). This system works by PDA

technology and enables collection information to be recorded electronicallyin the field. This data can then be downloaded directly to a database savingtime and potential operator error such as typing mistakes that can beoften made when copying large amounts of information to a database.

Data such as date, time andGPS coordinates are directlyprovided by the system, theoperator only needs toconfirm the information iscorrect. There is also a 'dropdown' menu providing arange of choices to minimisetyping errors. A PDA wasdistributed between pairs ofdelegates for the duration ofthe field days in order to testthe electronic collectingsheet and report observations and comments for its improvement. It alsoprovided practice in the use of GPS moving map technology, as all localtechnical and trekkers maps had been pre loaded for field trip locations.

July the 1st was dedicated to a critical case study on seed collection: The Mt.Baldo narrow endemic Callianthemum kernerianum has seeds that dispersewhen the outer fleshy layer of the achene is still green and apparentlyphotosynthesizing. This presents a challenge to the seed collector who has noclues to identify the natural dispersal time. Consequently this risks the loss offruits if they wait too long before collection. An interesting debate arose fromthis case study.

The closing dinner at the foot of the Brenta Dolomites took place in atraditional restaurant that has been open for nearly 200 years and manned byfour generations of the same family. The venue included a much appreciatedbotanical treat. The dining room was decorated with local wild flowers andherbs that were also included in the evening menu: cured meat with Cicerbitaalpina, lasagne with Allium ursinum, deer with Vaccinium vitis-idaea andCornus mas and ice-cream with Pinus mugo extract. A fitting conclusion to aproductive meeting.

*Costantino Bonomi(bonomi@mtsn.tn.it)

Trento Natural History MuseumVia Calepina 14 - 38100 Trento, Italy

ENSCONET 5th Annual MeetingAlpine seeds and PDAapplications

By Costantino Bonomi*

Fig. 2. Species rich dolomitic meadows.Catinaccio. Photo: Costantino Bonomi

Fig. 1. Callianthemumkernerianum dispersinggreen seeds on Mt. Baldo.Photo: Costantino Bonomi

Fig. 3. ENSCONET delegates at Catinaccio

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The Nordic countries have an exceptionally favourable climate for theirhigh latitudes due to the warm Gulf Stream. Consequently, they are hometo the most northerly area of the world where agriculture and forestryproduces sustained yields. Nordic countries receive plenty of light in springand summer with areas north of the Arctic Circle experiencing a period ofcontinuous daylight during summer.

The underlying rock of the Baltic Shield (Finland, most of Sweden and parts ofNorway) is very old, mainly comprised of siliceous bedrock, with acidic gneissesand granites. These Precambrian rocks have been uncovered and levelled byerosion over hundreds of millions of years. Their mineral composition doesnot favour plant growth. In contrast, remnants of more or less calcareous,old-Paleozoic sedimentary rocks (0.1% of bedrock) (Map 1.) is of greatimportance for the demanding flora (Sjörs et al., 2004). In Eastern and NorthernFinland serpentine rocks can be found with special associated plant species.

The effect of the latest glaciation to the flora of Finland• EskersThe enormous weight of inland ice during the latest glaciation (ca.116,000 –11,500 years ago) caused a depression of the Earth’s crust, which has still notcompletely levelled in Finland. At present land uplift is about 90cm per centuryin the Bothnian Bay region (Map 1), but zero along the periphery ofFennoscandia. The Nordic landscape is to a large extent formed by the lastglaciations. Ice-scoured, crushed rocks deposited in huge amounts are evidentin the landscape. This left loose material and new geological formations whenice retreated. The most conspicuous glaciofluvial deposits are eskers. These arelong and often quite high ridges, mainly consisting of coarse gravel depositedat the mouths of subglacial rivers. Here the special flora includes plant speciesthat in Eastern Europe are found on steppes. Esker plants are adapted to firesthat once occurred naturally. Nowadays, the fires are not allowed to naturallyburn, consequently, previously open eskers forests have become too dense fortypical esker species to thrive. As a result a remarkable proportion of thespecial esker plant sites are confined to roadsides in these area.

• Seashore meadowsThe seashore meadows of the Bothnian Bay region harbour several unrelatedrare plants with disjunctive distributions in the Arctic and northern parts ofthe Baltic Sea. This group of seashore species is named the Primula sibiricaGroup relating to the former scientific name of the Siberian primrose Primulanutans ssp. finmarchica. Rautiainen (2006) and Kreivi (2009) have studiedconservation genetics and population biology of species belonging to thisgroup from this region. The distribution of these pioneer species hasconsiderably reduced in the past decades as the number and size of extantpopulations has declined. This is thought to result from a decrease intraditional cattle grazing and hay making that used to keep seashorehabitats open and from increased eutrophication that has increasedcompetition for space (Siira, 1994). In addition, climate models (e.g., Jylhä etal., 2004) predict the future loss of winter ice cover in the Bothnian. Thiswould mean that ice scouring would no longer expose soil to secondarycolonisation. Moreover, rising sea water levels are counteracting geologicalisostatic land uplift (Johansson et al., 2001), slowing the emergence of virginland for early successional plant colonisers.

• Low level of endemismThe level of endemism is low in Nordic countries as far as sexualspecies are concerned due to the area’s relatively short post glacialperiod. The differentiation of most species has not even proceededto the variety level. On the other hand, if infraspecific and apomictictaxa are included, the number of endemics is fairly high (Jonsell &Karlsson, 2004). In total, 127 endemic taxa (46 species, 45 subspeciesand 32 varieties) are known from Nordic countries, and if thegeographical scope is widened to include north western Russia andthe Baltic area, the number of taxa increases to 180. Of the 127Nordic endemics 28 are present in Finland, which is the lowestnumber out of the Nordic countries. Of these, 28 taxa, all except one(Arabidopsis suecica , st i l l widespread outside Finland asanthropochorous) , are shared with at least one neighbouringcountry. Most Nordic endemics are of hybrid origin (allopolyploids orother hybrids) or apomictic.

The conservation status of the Finnish floraThe latest Finnish Red List was published in 2001 and the nextevaluation will be drawn up in 2010. The status of the various biotypeswere evaluated in a recent report. A fifth of the Finnish vascular Flora(total ca. 1300 species) has been assigned an IUCN threat category. Theproportion of threatened species is especially high in farmlandhabitats, on limestone and serpentine rocks, in herb-rich forests, fens,shores and open arctic fells. Most threatened plants of Finland werenaturally uncommon due to climatic and soil related reasons. Many arewidely distributed in Eurasia, but in Finland live in the northern mostand western most edge of their distribution area. However,preservation of the whole geographical and ecological diversity of aspecies is crucial for adaptation to the changing environment, such asglobal warming.

06 Special characteristics andconservation of the Finnish flora

By Mari Miranto*

*Mari Miranto(mari.miranto@helsinki.fi)Botanic Garden, University of HelsinkiP.O. Box 44, FIN-00014, Finland

Fig. 1. Typical land uplift area in the Bothnian Bay regionPhoto: Ritva Hiltunen

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• In situ conservationThe in situ network of Finnish conservation areas will be extensivewhen Natura 2000 is fully implemented (Ministry of the Environment,2007). In addition, biodiversity is also conserved in commercial forests,especially the METSO (Forest Biodiversity Programme for SouthernFinland) project that has been successful by offering new voluntarybased methods for the conservation of privately owned forests inSouthern Finland. Still, both the mid-term assessment of implementingthe EC Biodiversity Plan (2008) and the report published by theNordBio2010 project (Normander et al., 2009) reveals that Finland, theother Nordic countries and the whole of the EU are highly unlikely tomeet the 2010 target of halting biodiversity decline. However, one hasto bear in mind that many protective measures already implemented,such as increasing the amounts of decaying wood in the forest areoften slow to take effect.

In Finland, the focus is to concentrate on the management insideand in the vicinity of conservation areas. There is also a need tobuild natural corridors between protected areas. Farmland habitatsand shore meadows must be properly managed and habitatrestoration work has to be conducted in some threatened mire andforest types.

• Ex situ conservationDue to the large expanse of natural areas (75% of Finland is coveredby forest), ex situ conservation is in its infancy in Finland. It has beenconducted among crops ( Veteläinen et al . , 2008), but little effort hasbeen spent on wild plant species. The membership of HelsinkiUniversity Botanic Garden in ENSCONET has been an importantinitial step. In March 2009, a thorough survey of the threatenedFinnish plant species cultivated in Finnish botanic gardens began.The survey is a part of an EU funded initiative VACCIA ( VulnerabilityA s s e s s m e n t o f e c o s y s t e m s e r v i c e s f o r C l i m a t e C h a n g eI mpac ts and Adaptat ion, see w w w.environment . f i /syke/vaccia) .I ts ult imate aim is to compile an (ex situ) action plan for the f lorao f Fi n l a n d i n c o l l a b o r a t i o n w i t h r e l e v a n t Fi n n i s h i n s t i t u t i o n sa n d e x p e r t s .

References:

European Commission, 2008. A mid-term assessment of implementingthe EC biodiversity plan. SEC 2008/3045. European Commission, Brussels.

Johansson, M. M., Kahma, K. K., Boman, H. and Launiainen, J., 2004.Scenarios for sea level on the Finnish coast. Boreal Environment Research, 9: 153-166.

Jonsell, B. and Karlsson, T., 2004. Endemic vascular plants in Norden,pp. 139-160, In: Jonsell, B. (ed.), Flora Nordica. General Volume. TheBergius Foundation, Stockholm.

Jylhä, K., Tuonenvirta, H. and Ruosteenoja, K., 2004. Climate changeprojections for Finland during the 21st century. Boreal EnvironmentResearch, 9: 127-152.

Kreivi, M., 2009. Conservation genetics and phylogeography ofendangered boreoarctic seashore plant species. Acta UniversitatisOuluensis A521. University of Oulu.

Ministry of the Environment, 2006. Saving nature for people. Nationalstrategy and action plan for the conservation and sustainable use ofbiodiversity in Finland 2006-2016. Ministry of the Environment, Helsinki.

Normander, B., Levin, G., Auvinen, A., Bratli, H., Stabbetorp, O., Hedblom,M., Glimskär, A. and Gudmunsson, G. A., 2009. State of biodiversity in theNordic countries. TemaNord 509. Nordic Council of Ministers, Copenhagen.

Rautiainen, P., 2006. Population biology of the Primula sibirica groupspecies inhabiting frequently disturbed seashore meadows: implicationsfor management. Acta Universitatis Ouluensis A 453. University of Oulu.

Ryttäri, T. and Kettunen, T., 1997. (eds.). Uhanalaiset kasvimme.Kirjayhtymä ja Suomen ympäristökeskus, Helsinki.

Siira, J., 1994. The occurrences and ecology of Arctophila fulva (Poaceae) onthe Liminka Bay (the Gulf of Bothnia). Aquilo, Series Botanica, 33: 107-120.

Sjörs, H., Jonsell, B. and Elven, R., 2004. Features of Nordic environmentand vegetation, pp. 37-100, In: Jonsell, B. (ed.), Flora Nordica. GeneralVolume. The Bergius Foundation, Stockholm.

Veteläinen, M., Huldén, M. and Pehu, T., 2008. (eds.). State of plantgenetic resources for food and agriculture in Finland. Second Finnishnational report. Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Helsinki.

Map 1. The most important limestone(Lm), serpentine rock (Se) and eskerand end moraine (E) areas in Finland

Fig. 2. Primula nutans var. jokelae is a typical but currently threatened pioneer species fromseashore meadows of the Gulf of BothniaPhoto: Ritva Hiltunen

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A decentralised ex situ seed bank project for native plant species hasrecently been initiated as a collaborative approach by the AustrianBotanic Gardens Working Group (Arbeitsgemeinschaft ÖsterreichischerBotanischer Gärten). The project is taking advantage of the experiencesof the EU-funded project ENSCONET and is laid out as a contribution tothe Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. In a first step, the projectfocuses on Austrian endangered species from particular regions andenvironment types, thus providing a supportive measure to maintaintheir genetic resources by long-term seed preservation.

The backgroundIn April 2002, the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)committed themselves “...to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of thecurrent rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national level asa contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of all life on Earth”.Within the EU, an even more ambitious target was phrased: “to halt

biodiversity loss within the EU by 2010”. In 2002, the Global Strategy forPlant Conservation (GSPC) specified targets related to ex situ and in situconservation.

Seed banks for native wild species, especially when connected with insitu measures, are now widely accepted as a powerful tool to contributeto a successful conservation of rare and endangered species. In order tomaximize the effectiveness of such seed banks, ENSCONET has cruciallydeveloped guidelines for collection and storage of plant material and

provided an opportunity for theexchange of best practice.

In Austria, activities related to the Target2010 and the GSPC are coordinated bythe Austrian Focal Point at the AustrianMinistry for Agriculture, Forestry,Environment and Water Management. Inthe context of a “roadmap to 2010” exsitu measures were also proposed. Theseproposals were adopted by the AustrianBotanic Gardens Working Group and, in2008, a collaborative approach withdecentralized seed banks was initiated.These were based on already existinglocal seed banks and including new seedbank projects. In a first step, this projectfocuses on Austrian endangered speciesof certain regions and environmenttypes (Bernhardt et al., 2008).

Th e Au s t r i a n B o t a n i c G a r d e n’sWorking GroupThe Austrian Botanic Gardens WorkingGroup was founded in 1998 and, todaycomprises 18 members, representingdifferent types of Botanic Gardens

(federal, state, university, public, private) with collection sizes from less than400 species to more than 25,000 in the Austrian Federal Gardens(http://www.bgci .org/f i les/Wuhan/PapersConser ving/Kiehn. pdf ) .For joint activities related to seed banking or seed collection activities inaccord with Target 8 of the GSPC, the expertise and standards developedin the context of the ENSCONET project provided by the two Austrian

07 Seed banking endangeredspecies of the Austrian nativeflora: first steps towards adecentralised approach

Michael Kiehn, Karl-Georg Bernhardt and Christian Berg*

*Michael Kiehn(Michael.kiehn@univie.ac.at)Department of Biogeography and Botanical Garden, Faculty Center ofBiodiversity, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, 1030 Vienna, Austria

*Karl-Georg Bernhardt (karl-georg.bernhardt@boku.ac.at)Population Biology and Biodiversity of Plants, Institute of Botany, Department

of Integrative Biologie, University of Agriculture, Gregor Mendel-Strasse 33,1180 Vienna, Austria

Fig. 1. Collecting seeds in the Styrian Alps for the regional seed bank at the University of GrazPhoto: Christian Berg

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project partners (the botanic gardens of the University of Vienna and ofthe University of Agriculture, Vienna) are used. Seed collecting and seedbanking are intended to be linked with ex situ cultivation and/or in siturestoration projects.

Seed banks for endangered plant species in AustriaCurrently, seed storage facilities for this project have been established attwo Austrian botanic gardens (University of Agriculture, Vienna, and Karl-Franzens-University Graz). Related to habitats, the first phase of theproject mainly concentrates on rare and endangered alpine plants, dryregion species, and taxa from aquatic and semi-aquatic habitats. Besidesspecies from such habitats the seed bank in Vienna also contains aregional seed bank for Vienna and Lower Austria and serves as adepository for seeds collected by other botanical gardens (e.g., the BG ofthe University of Vienna). The seed bank in Graz focuses on taxa from thelocal flora of the Austrian province of Styria (Steiermark). At least onemore local seed bank at a botanical garden is planned (probably at theBotanic Garden of Carinthia at Klagenfurt).

Sharing the expertise: The seed bank at the Botanic Garden,University of Agriculture, ViennaThe establishment of a seed bank began in 2004 with the main emphasison populations of endangered Austrian species of aquatic andsemiaquatic habitats, incl. species of Annex II of EU-Habitats-Directiveand water and river bank species of the “Red Lists of EndangeredAustrian Plant Species”. More recently, regional collections from Viennaand Lower Austria have been added (mainly dryland species, currently120 populations of 28 species). In the future, seeds of species from dryregions (mainly from Eastern Austria) collected by the BG of theUniversity of Vienna in the context of ENSCONET follow up projects willalso be stored here. Seed storage is carried out at temperatures between-5°C and -10°C and at low humidity (between 1.5 - 3%). Seeds are storedin glass vials also containing silica-gel (Gomez-Campo, 2006). Since 2007,all holdings are documented in a database which was developed inaccord with the “EURISCO-Descriptors“ (ISO 3166-1 Code List) andrequirements discussed during the ENSCONET project. All accessions aredocumented by herbarium vouchers. Selected taxa of conservationconcern will also be tested for phenotypic and genetic variability.

Transferring expertise from ENSCONET to regional seed banks: theStyrian Seed Bank Project The Austrian province of Styria has a high plant biodiversity andendemism. Encouraged by participation at an Austrian ENSCONETworkshop on seed banking and by the GSPC-related seed bank projectfor endangered Austrian plant species, a long-term seed bank of wildplants of Styria was established in 2008. Financially supported by theStyrian government, it is the first of its kind at the provincial level inAustria.

The Project is located at the Graz Botanical Garden (Institute for PlantScience, Karl-Franzens-University). Its main goal is to collect diaspores ofall of Styria’s wild vascular plants together with a herbarium voucherspecimen and accompanying locality data. It is not solely focused onendangered plants. Collection data are added by an on-field-measurement of GPS-coordinates.

All diaspores are preserved through the method of ultra-drying (Gómez-Campo 2006), and stored in cool conditions (~5°C). This seems to be arather simple and cost saving exercise.

A species list of the taxa stored in 2008 includes such interesting taxa asAchillea clavenae, Anemone narcissiflora, Narcissus radiiflorus, Potentillaclusiana, Pulsatilla alpina subsp. austriaca, Pulsatilla alpina subsp.schneebergensis, Rosa jundzillii, Sempervivum montanum subsp. stiriacumor Succisella inflexa (Berg et al., 2008). The project will continue and ishoped to be supported by broad-based participation of professional andamateur botanists in Styria.

References:

Berg, C., Drescher, A. and Gigerl, P., 2008. Samenkatalog - Ernte 2008.Botanischer Garten Graz, 64 p.

Bernhardt K.-G., Kiehn, M. and Kropf, M., 2008. Genbanken undENSCONET in Österreich. Osnabrücker Naturw. Mitt. 33/34: 71-80.

Gómez-Campo, C., 2006. Long term seed preservation: updated standardsare urgent. Monographs ETSIA, Univ. Politecnica de Madrid 168: 1-4.

*Christian Berg(christian.berg@uni-graz.at)

Karl-Franzens-University Graz, Institute for Plant ScienceHolteigasse 6, 8010 Graz, Austria

Fig. 2. Dracocephalum austriacum - a highly endangered species ofPannonian rock slopes and subject of ex situ and in situconservation efforts in Austria. Photo: D. Prehsler, Univ. Vienna

Fig. 3. Seed bank of the Botanic Garden, University of Agriculture,Vienna: storage of vials with seed samples in glass containers withsilica gel at -10°C. Photo: K.-G. Bernhardt

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Enjoying wild f lowers and cult ivated poppies in her parent ’sDerbyshire garden is one of Sara Oldfield’s earliest childhood mem-ories. Enthused by plants from these early days she went on to studybotany and geography at the University of London in the 1970s. Thiscemented her passion for nature conservation and has formed hercareer path to this day. Now as Secretary General of the global net-work, Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) Sara isacutely aware of the perils Europe’s native plants face. I asked her toshare with ENSCOnews her thoughts on the conser vation ofEuropean plants.

Inaction threatens our floral heritage and future food securitySara believes that while habitat destruction, climate change and theencroachment of alien species score high amongst the most seriousthreats to native flora, it is the lack of action that severely hampersprogress and maintains the level of threat: “It is a job that just needs to be

done. If one of the richest continents in the world is unable to safeguard itsown plant species, what hope is there elsewhere? ENSCONET has providedmuch needed coordinated action in Europe helping to develop and maintainstrong links across the continent”.

Incredibly, reliable data on how many threatened species occur inEurope does not exist. Recently, BGCI and ENSCONET have workedtowards this goal by developing provisional l ists. These have pro-vided us, for the first time, with a realistic indication of the propor-tion of species safeguarded in ex situ collections. “Disappointingly,somewhat less than half of European threatened plants occur in l ivingcollections or seed banks and many older collections of plants inbotanic gardens have variable and often scant accession data, sincethey were collected long before the need for conser vation was widelyappreciated. This renders them, in many cases, less useful for conser va-tion and research“.

*David Aplin(daveaplin@gmail.com)The Kingcombe Centre, Toller Porcorum,Dorchester, Dorset DT2 OEQ ,U.K.

08 Interview with Sara Oldfield,Secretary General BGCI

By David Aplin*

Sara Oldfield is Secretary General of Botanic Gardens ConservationInternational. The aim of the BGCI is to mobilise botanic gardens and engagepartners in securing plant diversity for the well-being of people and the planet.

“…the continued funding of seedbanking and support from theEuropean Union, beyond 2009, isvital and represents one of the bestuses of Member States’ money,insuring future generations benefitfrom our diverse and valuable flora”.

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Sara continued: “BGCI is just f inalising a repor t on the conser vationof threatened plants in botanic gardens in Europe, and this includes anumber of case studies that i l lustrate the growing interest in nativeplant conser vation amongst European botanic gardens. One issuethat has become clear in gathering data for the repor t has been theneed to ensure that conser vation actions meet agreed standards, andENSCONET 's Seed Collection Manual wil l provide best practice for ga-thering information about seeds and maximising their potential use.We h o p e o u r r e p o r t w i l l p r o v i d e a ‘ wa ke - u p ca l l ’ f o r E u r o p e a nb o t a n i c g a r d e n s , h i g h l i g h t i n g t h e s c a l e o f a c t i o n r e q u i r e d , b u ta l s o ce l e b ra t i n g s o m e o f t h e s u cce s s e s t h a t h a ve b e e n a c h i e ve d(see www.bgci.org/ourwork/threatenedeurope) . Consequently, thecontinued funding of seed banking and suppor t from the EuropeanUnion, beyond 2009, is vital and represents one of the best uses ofMember States’ money, insuring future generations benefit from ourdiverse and valuable flora.

After all, living collections and seed banking offer the best solutions forconserving many plant species, temporarily conserving diversity both asan insurance policy against the loss of species in the wild and as a basisfor ecological restoration. In addition, they can offer a basis forsafeguarding our future food security, since many native species arewild crop relatives”.

Maintaining biodiversityMaintaining biodiversity in natural habitats is important on manylevels. Plants are a key component of habitats, the basis of life andprovide food and shelter for many organisms. For example, manyinsects are monophagous (feed on a single plant species) so losing aparticular plant from a habitat also translates to the loss of thatinvertebrate along with all of its associated parasites and fungi. Theimportance of plants in maintaining ecosystems will be doublycelebrated during 2010 as the United Nation’s mark the InternationalYear of Biodiversity and also by celebrating the successfulcontributions of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC).“BGCI will pay tribute to both events by highlighting the essential role ofbotanic gardens in achieving plant conser vation successes andemphasise the importance of ex situ conservation as one strand inmaintaining plant, and hence, biological diversity. BGCI are planning aspecial ‘Plant Conservation Day’ celebration as a means for botanicgardens worldwide to draw attention of their conser vation role to

millions of garden visitors. More specifically, we will also produce a GSPCTarget 8 report to show the status of ex situ plant collections on a globalscale and where the major gaps in species protection are. On a personallevel, I have written a book ‘Botanic Gardens – Modern Day Arks’ that willbe published in 2010”.

The need for plant conservation effort has never been greater, inthe last few years the potentially devastating effects of climatechange has been highlighted. This is expected to impact Europeseverely with Mediterranean regions suffering from desertificationand the migration of alpine plants to the summits of peaks andprobable extinction. As Sara reminds us, “The work of botanicgardens has never been in a better position to complement the work ofthat in the field”.

Sara Oldfield, passionate about conservationPhoto: BGCI

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Systematic approaches to conservation have been developed over the last twodecades to guide the efficient allocation of scarce resources to protectbiodiversity. However, it remains unwise, at this stage, to attempt to protect rarespecies and discern ecological reasons for their rarity when no obvious man-made causes are evident. Valuable baseline surveys of rare species conductedfor the IUCN estimate that 48% of rare species occur in the Mediterraneanregion. The Mediterranean part of Portugal is very heterogeneous in terms ofsoil, climate and anthropogenic history where few species are able to maintainthe capacities of dispersion and recruitment and therefore cope with scarcity.Consequently, plant species in Portugal’s Mediterranean region are generallyrare. Some of these are endemic. As a result, limitations in dispersal orestablishment may constrain species inhabiting small geographical ranges,small population sizes and specific habitats.

Despite frequent recruitmentf o l l o w i n g e n v i r o n m e n t a lalteration, most plants retainmycorrhizal (symbiotic fungi)partners throughout their lives.Several plant species form a guildby sharing the same mycorrhiza.T h e m o s t e nv i ro n m e n t a l l yfavoured plants will maintain soilorganisms required by others. Thismechanism al lows graduals u c c e s s i o n i n a m a t u r i n genvironment and lessens thedetrimental consequences ofenvironment change. Sincemycorrhizal fungi can influencecompetitive hierarchies, they canhave strong impacts on plantcommunity structure and onplant species composition.

The Botanical Garden of the University of Lisbon devised a project toevaluate the hypothesis that ‘geographically and/or demographically rarespecies, plant-soil microflora interactions are less effective at bufferingenvironmental shifts at the habitat scale’. Consequently, mutualisticinteractions promote population stability by favouring biological traits thatcannot be attained by either partner in isolation.

The outcome of this project may have impacts for conservation policiestargeting both species and their habitats, such as those included inAnnexes II and IV of the Habitats Directive (Directive 92/43/CEE) anddistributed throughout the Mediterranean region of Portugal. The effects ofmycorrhiza may have consequences for conservation practice. In situconservation in particular could be directed to manage, or try to manage,soil patches and thus increase the stability of species, and at the ex situconservation level, establish effective seed bank storage and research theconditions for successful restoration or re-introductions.

Four rare species were selected: Narcissus cavanillesii A. Barra & G. López, anautumn flowering geophyte included under Annexes II and IV of theHabitats Directive (Directive 92/43/CEE). This is because it only has twoisolated populations in the SE region (Alentejo) and as a result is consideredcritically endangered (CR, B2ab (ii, iv)); Narcissus scaberulus Henriq. aLusitanian endemic, with all known populations located in the two marginsof the Mondego Valley (central region of Portugal); Plantago almogravensisand its sister species P. algarbiensis, two Portuguese endemic plants that aregeographical and demographically rare and ecologically specialised (SWAlentejo and Algarve respectively).

09 Opening mutualistic stability inthe battle to explore new tools forrare plant conservation

M. A. Martins-Loução, H. Serrano, C. Branquinho and M J. Pinto*

*Maria Amelia Martins-Loução, Helena Serrano(maloucao@reitoria.ul.pt), (hcserrano@fc.ul.pt)Universidade de Lisboa. Museu Nacional de História Natural. Jardim Botânico. Rua da Escola Politécnica, 58, 1250-102 Lisboa. PortugalUniversidade de Lisboa. Faculdade de Ciências. Centro de Biologia Ambiental. Campo Grande C2. Piso 5. 1749-016 Lisboa. Portugal

Fig. 2. Narcissus cavanillesii A. Barra & G. LopezPhoto: A. Rosselò

Fig. 1. Plantago almogravensis FrancoPhoto: MJ. Pinto

Fig. 3. Narcissus scaberulus Henriq.Photo: S. Gonçalves, T. Gonçalves