The paper presents a technique for micropropagation of endangered in Europe and extinct in Poland Pulsatilla vulgaris for ex situ conservation of the genetic resources. Genotype-dependent induction of somatic embryogenesis and rooting was revealed in series of two experiments (I and II) performed under the same experimental conditions. Shoot tips of seedlings were the best explants in both experiments and Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 0.25 or 0.5 mg L−1 BAP was suitable for induction of somatic embryos (SE) and adventitious shoots. Mass SE was obtained in experiment I after explants transfer on ½ MS (2% sucrose) + 0.45 mg L−1 B1 and extending culture to 2–3 months without passages. Rooting of adventitious shoots was a critical point. Out of seven rooting media used in experiment I, only two, ½ MS hormone free (2% sucrose) + 0.45 mg L−1 B1 or MS + 5 mg L−1 NAA + 3.76 mg L−1 B2 resulted in altogether 36.4% rooted shoots. In experiment II, somatic embryogenesis, rooting and acclimatization of adventitious shoots failed. Regenerated plantlets and seedlings converted from SE from experiment I were acclimatized to ex vitro conditions. Both genome size, determined by flow cytometry, and genetic diversity analyzed by ISSR markers, confirmed the compatibility of regenerants from experiment I with P. vulgaris initial seedlings and commercial cultivar. Regenerants obtained in experiment II differed genetically from the regenerants of experiment I and cultivar. Propagated in vitro tissues/organs (SE, adventitious shoots) of P. vulgaris could be a source of material for cryopreservation, artificial seed production and/or for acclimatization of regenerated plantlets and could be used for restoration of the extinct populations. Key Message The micropropagation technique via organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis of endangered in Europe pasqueflower was developed as a tool for species recovery. The critical point is that somatic embryogenesis is genotype-dependent, which affects the repeatability of the experiments and also imposes applying molecular techniques to confirm the genetic fidelity of the regenerants with the initial material and other genotypes.

Among the 2750 species of the Polish vascular flora, about 500 species are threatened with extinction and 430 of them are strictly protected by national law. The FlorNatur project for the ex situ conservation of the most endangered species was started in 2009. The aim of the project is to collect seeds of 61 species from 161 sites in eastern Poland and store them in the Seed Bank of the Polish Academy of Sciences Botanical Garden -Center for Biological Diversity Conservation in WarsawPowsin. A complementary program is being carried out by the Forestry Gene Bank at Kostrzyca in western Poland. Their task is to collect 58 species from 129 natural sites in the western part of Poland. To date, seeds of 31 species from 56 populations have been collected, tested and stored in liquid nitrogen.

Salt-tolerant plants occur all over the world in a number of different ecosystems, ranging from pristine alkaline semi-deserts and mangrove forests; through semi-natural meadows and pastures; to man-made habitats such as the environs of graduation towers; over irrigated arable lands with poor drainage in the tropics; and to city lawns in the boreo-temperate zone polluted with NaCl and CaCl2 during deicing. Natural habitats disappear because of urbanization, tourism and agriculture intensification. Since 1980 one-fifth of the Earth's mangrove biome has disappeared as well as more than one-half of alkaline steppes and nearly all Earth's coastal and inland salt meadows, glassworts and other annual communities of muds and sands, Mediterranean and warm Atlantic halophilous scrubs, vegetated sea cliffs and machairs. At the same time halophytes colonize new, man-made habitats, becoming dominant or even the sole species there. Some salt-resistant species, such as Rhizophora mangle in Hawaii and Spartina anglica in the UK, become dangerous invasive species. Mangrove swamps deserve more efficient conservation and restoration efforts since they shelter coasts from erosion, tsunami and storm surge; trap a wide variety of heavy metals; and provide habitats for juvenile fish, oysters and crustaceans. In the temperate and boreal zones the traditional land use of saline meadows and pastures needs to be maintained to preserve the original biodiversity and ecosystem services. Further halophyte domestication will lead to establishment of completely new, artificial agro-ecosystems to yield food, fodder and fuel, as well as fibre and phytoremediation, for rapidly expanding human populations. A range of halophyte crop cultivation systems can help to reduce damage caused by salinization of soils and freshwater, increase food production up to 70% by 2050 and combat coastal erosion in the era of climate change and global pollinator crisis. At the same time we need to eradicate some monospecific thickets built by invasive, alien halophytes to restore primeval, species-rich communities in areas of naturally high salinity.

This study deals with populations of the European-South-Siberian geoelement Adenophora liliifolia (L.) A. DC. in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Poland, where this species has its European periphery distribution. We studied the population size, genetic variability, site conditions, and vegetation units in which A. liliifolia grows. Recent and historical localities of A. liliifolia were ranked into six vegetation units of both forest and non-forest character. A phytosociological survey showed differences in the species composition among localities. Only a weak pattern of population structure was observed (only 22% of total genetic variation present at the interpopulation level, AMOVA analysis), with moderate values for gene diversity (H j = 0.141) and polymorphism (P = 27.6%). Neighborjoining and Bayesian clusterings suggest a similar genetic background for most of the populations from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Poland, contrary to the populations from Hungary, Romania, as well as two populations from Central and South Slovakia. This might be explained by a relatively recent fragmentation of the A. liliifolia populations in Central Europe. Nevertheless, it seems that several populations in Romania, South Hungary, and Slovakia were isolated for a longer period of time and their genetic differentiation is more evident.

The Poaceae is the second most abundant family among crop wild relatives in Poland, representing 147 taxa. From these species, 135 are native taxa, and 11 are archeophytes. In addition, one taxon is now considered to be extinct. Among the 147 taxa, 8 are endemic species. Central Europe, including Poland, does not have many endemic species. Only a few dozen endemic species have been identified in this paper, mainly in the Carpathians and the adjacent uplands, e.g., the Polish Jura in southern Poland. The most numerous genera among the 32 present in the crop wild relatives (CWR) of Poaceae family are: The genus Festuca (33 species), Poa (19), and Bromus (11). In turn, ten genera are represented by only one species per genus. A good representative of groups of grasses occur in xerothermic grasslands, and other smaller groups can be found in forests, mountains, or dunes. CWR species from the Poaceae family have the potential for different uses in terms of the ecosystem services benefit. They can impart for humans, animals, and the environment, including fodder, edibles, biomass grasses (fuels and raw material), and amenity grasses, and are used for ecological purposes. In the central Polish gene bank in Radzików (NCPGR), all accessions are represented by approximately 30% of grasses germplasm, 10% of which are CWR grasses. In the case of CWR grasses, 56% are stored in the NCPGR gene bank, and approximately 80% in botanical gardens, but frequently in a single accessions. Together, crop gene banks and botanical gardens can maintain a large range of ex situ collections useful for the preservation, breeding, and research of crop wild relatives along with the necessary information for plant breeders.

Pre-Linnaean herbaria have a growing value for botanists and historians of science. A unique example is a four volume herbarium from the early 18th century preserved in the archives of the Herbarium of the Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw. They consist of one, originally five volume set. We proved that the plants had been gathered by the famous naturalist Georg Andreas Helwing (1666-1748), and his son-in-law, Matthias Ernst Boretius (1694-1738), and they annotated and classified the exhibits. Boretius was born in Prussia, in Lec (now: Giżycko). He acquired his academic training in Königsberg and Leiden, and deepened it by scientific travels. He was the first in Masuria to promote vaccination against smallpox. Earning the reputation of a distinguished scholar, he was appointed Royal Physician and Crown Councilor of the Prussian court. He died in 1738 at the age of just 44, leaving the herbarium vivum – a magnificent remnant of his times. There are over 900 cards with glued specimen, signed in three languages: Latin, German and Polish. It includes vascular plants, liverworts, true mosses, clubmosses, algae and macrofungi. Boretius implemented the system made known by the French botanist Joseph Pitton de Tournefort (1656-1708). His system divided the plant world into 22 classes, based on flower morphology but also retaining the traditional split into trees, shrubs and forbs. The choice of this arrangement by Boretius was an innovation; the earlier plant collections of his tutor Helwing lacked any attempt to classify plant species.

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Państwowe Gospodarstwo Wodne Wody Polskie (PGW WP) to podmiot odpowiedzialny za krajową gospodarkę wodną w skali zlewni, dorzeczy oraz całego państwa, wykonujący prawa właściciela w stosunku do wód Skarbu Państwa. Zadaniem PGW Wody Polskie jest ochrona mieszkańców kraju przed powodzią i suszą, zrównoważone gospodarowanie wodami w celu ochrony zasobów wodnych, a także zapewnienie dobrej jakości wody dla obecnych i przyszłych pokoleń. Dynamiczny postęp cywilizacyjny mocno wpłynął na życie ludzi i środowisko naturalne. Przez stulecia, stosunek człowieka do przyrody ewoluował w kierunku zrównoważonego rozwoju. Wszystkie inwestycje realizowane przez nasze Gospodarstwo wykonuje się zgodnie z obowiązującymi przepisami i dobrowolnymi, dobrymi praktykami, tak polskimi, jak wspólnotowymi. Naszym priorytetem są działania prośrodowiskowe, które już na etapie projektowania inwestycji uwzględniają idee zrównoważonego rozwoju, w tym zachowania lub przywracania ciągłości rzek, jak również ochronę siedlisk oraz gatunków. Celem artykułu jest prezentacja najciekawszych projektów PGW Wody Polskie zrealizowanych w latach 2017–2022, tj. od momentu powstania Gospodarstwa. Słowa kluczowe: Wody Polskie, miasta, błękitno-zielona infrastruktura, retencja, przepławki, łąki kwietne