Conservation utility of botanic garden living collections: Setting a strategy and appropriate methodology

Abstract

In the realities of the modern world, when the natural habitat is rapidly disappearing and the number of imperiled plants is constantly growing, ex situ conservation is gaining importance. To meet this challenge, botanic gardens need to revise both their strategic goals and their methodologies to achieve the new goals. This paper proposes a strategy for the management of threatened plants in living collections, which includes setting regional conservation priorities for the species, creation of genetically representative collections for the high priority species, and usage of these collections in in situ actions. In this strategy, the value of existing and future species living collections for conservation is determined by the species' conservation status and how well the accessions represent their natural genetic variation.

Ex situ seed banks and the IUCN Red List

“…Adherence to these protocols elevates seed banking above living plant collections because secure seed stores can overcome some of the disadvantages of cultivation. These disadvantages include genetic diversity loss and relatively rapid adaptation to ex situ conditions, pathogen transfer, hybridisation and lack of conservation coherence 7 . In contrast, seed banking can store species with orthodox (desiccation-tolerant) seeds at high densities, reducing costs and facilitating better genetic representation from across a species' range, and importantly, most seed accessions can last longer than the lifespan of individual plants 4 .…”

Genetic Diversity and Conservation Status of Helianthus verticillatus, an Endangered Sunflower of the Southern United States

“…There is a lack of understanding of the biology of H. verticillatus and its relation to the environment. Further research into seed viability and in vitro propagation could prove to be crucial for preservation of this species in seed banks and botanic gardens (O'Donnell and Sharrock, 2017;Volis, 2017). The continued monitoring of these populations will provide critical data of the differences of fitness from site to site and how this species interacts with its environment.…”

Ex situ collections and their potential for the restoration of extinct plants

“…). Such a risk of hybridization may considerably restrict the conservation value of botanic garden collections (Volis ). Interspecific hybridization of some ex situ collections intended for reintroduction have already been raised previously in the case of the extinct species Sinojackia xylocarpa (Zhang et al.…”

“…Spontaneous hybridization between morphologically similar congenerics can also occur in ex situ collections because of overlapping flowering period and spatial proximity (Maunder et al 2004). Such a risk of hybridization may considerably restrict the conservation value of botanic garden collections (Volis 2017). Interspecific hybridization of some ex situ collections intended for reintroduction have already been raised previously in the case of the extinct species Sinojackia xylocarpa (Zhang et al 2009) and Sophora toromiro (Püschel et al 2014).…”