The contribution of botanic gardens to ex situ conservation through seed banking

Target 8 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation calls for 'at least 75 per cent of threatened plant species in ex situ collections, preferably in the country of origin, and at least 20 per cent available for recovery and restoration programmes by 2020'.Botanic gardens make a significant contribution to ex situ conservation of wild species with more than a third of plant species represented in botanic gardens collections. These collections are a combination of living collection and seed banked material. Seed banking can provide an efficient form of conservation for wild plant genetic diversity.Information from Botanic Gardens Conservation International's(BGCI) databases(GardenSearch,PlantSearch, ThreatSearch and GlobalTreeSearch) has been analysed as well as survey data to report on global, regional and national seed banking trends.Information from BGCI's databases indicates that there are at least 350 seed banking botanic gardens in 74 countries. In total 56,987 taxa have been banked including more than 9000 taxa that are threatened with extinction. 6881 tree species are stored in ex situ seed bank collections. More than half(3562) of these tree species are single country endemics and represent species from more than 166 countries.This study suggests that institutions are increasingly conserving plant species via seed banking.However the majority of species in collections that have a conservation assessment are not threatened with extinction. This disjunction between species that are threatened and those conserved in seed banks needs to be addressed. Data from BGCI's databases can be used to enable prioritisation of threatened plant species for collection and conservation in seed banks. Further recommendations for botanic gardens involved in seed conservation are presented.

Botanic gardens should lead the way to create a "Garden Earth" in the Anthropocene

The strength and expertise that botanic gardens bring to conservation are based on their detailed knowledge and understanding of the care. management, and biology of a diversity of plant species. This emphasis on the organism has led to many ex-situ and in-situ conservation programs aimed at protecting endangered species, restoring threatened populations, and establishing living plant and seed collections of endangered species. In China, the scale and pace of change in land and resource use, often leading to environmental degradation, has created a strong emphasis on improving environmental conditions. If done properly, being "green" can be a surprisingly complex issue, because it should encompass and exploit the whole of plant diversity and function. Unfortunately, 'green' often includes a small portion of this whole. Earth's rich plant diversity presents considerable opportunity but requires expertise and knowledge for stable and beneficial management. With the dawning of the Anthropocene, we should strive to live on a "Garden Earth", where we design and manage our environments, both built and natural, to create a healthy, beneficial living landscape for people and other organisms. The staff of botanic gardens worldwide and the living collections they maintain embody the best examples of sustainable, beautiful, and beneficial environments that thrive on plant diversity. This expertise should be a fundamental resource for agencies in all sectors responsible for managing and designing "green" infrastructure. Botanic gardens should actively engage and contribute to these opportunities, from large public infrastructure projects to small private conservation efforts. Here, we discuss several ongoing conservation efforts, primarily in China, and attempt to identify areas where botanic gardens could make a significant and meaningful difference.

Biological and cultural diversity in the context of botanic garden conservation strategies

Impacts of global climate change, habitat loss, and other environmental changes on the world's biota and peoples continue to increase, especially on islands and in high elevation areas. Just as floristic diversity is affected by environmental change, so too are cultural and linguistic diversity. Of the approximately 7000 extant languages in the world, fully 50% are considered to be at risk of extinction, which is considerably higher than most estimates of extinction risks to plants and animals. To maintain the integrity of plant life, it is not enough for botanic gardens to consider solely the effects of environmental change on plants within the context of major conservation strategies such as the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation and the Convention on Biological Diversity. Rather, botanic gardens should actively engage in understanding and communicating the broader impacts of environmental change to biological and cultural diversity.

Adapting the botanical landscape of Melbourne Gardens(Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria)in response to climate change

Botanic gardens around the world maintain collections of living plants for science, conservation, education, beauty and more. These collections change over time-in scope and content-but the predicted impacts of climate change will require a more strategic approach to the succession of plant species and their landscapes. Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria has recently published a 'Landscape Succession Strategy'for its Melbourne Gardens, a spectacular botanical landscape established in 1846. The strategy recognizes that with 1.6 million visitors each year, responsibility for a heritage-listed landscape and the need to care for a collection of 8500 plant species of conservation and scientific importance, planting and planning must take into account anticipated changes to rainfall and temperature. The trees we plant today must be suitable for the climate of the twenty-second century. Specifically, the Strategy sets out the steps needed over the next twenty years to transition the botanic garden to one resilient to the climate modelled for2090. The document includes a range of practical measures and achievable(and at times somewhat aspirational) targets. Climate analogues will be used to identify places in Australia and elsewhere with conditions today similar to those predicted for Melbourne in 2090, to help select new species for the collection. Modelling of the natural and cultivated distribution of species will be used to help select suitable growth forms to replace existing species of high value or interest. Improved understanding of temperature gradients within the botanic garden, water holding capacity of soils and plant water use behaviour is already resulting in better targeted planting and irrigation. The goal is to retain a similar diversity of species but transition the collection so that by 2036 at least 75% of the species are suitable for the climate in 2090. Over the next few years we hope to provide 100% of irrigation water from sustainable water sources, and infrastructure will be improved to adapt to predicted higher temperatures and more climatic extremes. At all times there will be a strong focus on assisting the broader community in their response to climate change.

The future of plant conservation and the role of botanic gardens

1.Introduction The papers included in this special issue are mostly based on presentations made at the IABG international conference held at Shanghai Chenshan Botanical Garden.China,November 2016,which addressed the roles that botanic gardens,both in China and elsewhere,can play in national biodiversity conservation stra-

The Conservational Role of Qur’anic Botanic Garden of Medicinal,Desert and Tropical Plants in Qatar

The scientific program of the Qur’anic Botanic Garden(QBG)is concerning with agricultural,conservational,biotechnology and medicinal fields.The QBG not only focusing on the study of the plants mentioned in the Holy Qur’an and Hadith,but also the endogenous plants of the Flora of Qatar and potential medicinal plants of the Arabic world.In the Hadith,the Prophet’s sayings,there are more than 20 plants mentioned in the occasions of cosmetic or medicinal uses.The garden is conserving special kinds of plants collected from different parts of the world to be restored at one place for preservation and study purposes.Both ex-situ and in-situ conservational programs are designed to collect and conserve plants inside and outside their natural habitats.The QBG plant nursery,herbarium,and seeds units are main components of the QBG that build to produce and preserve the plants at QBG.More than 59 plant spices are preserved from three different geographical zones:desert,Mediterranean and tropical zones.The Garden also is collecting and preserving those traditional entities from the entire world in order to be exhibited in the Botanic Museum of the QBG.By following the Islamic principles of conservation,the QBG highlights these conservational ethics and explains them for all people.Garden emphasizes multi-activities,campaigns,events,fairs and exhibitions for the students and public in order to encourage people to preserve the natural resources through an ordinately oriented educational program which is based on plant conservation.Another side of QBG’s conservation roles is the conservation based on community engagement and education.QBG’s education programs,horticulture and conservation programs,dissemination activities,and partnerships are fundamental in ensuring the transfer of this knowledge to the global community.

Botanic Garden Collections—An Under-Utilised Resource

Botanic gardens and arboreta around the world are repositories of diverse collections of useful plants in their gardens and seed banks. However, the crop and forestry communities often overlook these collections, and so they are an underutilised resource. For example, in analysis of the ex situ conservation status of 6,941 socio-economically important plant taxa using data from forestry and crop collections, but omitted collections in botanic gardens and arboreta. In this paper, we compared the socio-economically important taxa identified by Khoury et al. from GRIN-Global World Economic Plants (WEP) with data on living and seed collections held in botanic garden and arboreta, as recorded in BGCI’s global PlantSearch and ThreatSearch datasets. This analysis produced an assessment of the proportion of these taxa that are found in botanic gardens and arboreta, the number of gardens or arboreta they are found in and what potential they have to contribute to research, conservation and sustainable use. We also compared the species conservation comprehensiveness assessments carried out by Khoury et al. with the threatened status of those species, according to the IUCN Red List and other threat assessment methodologies in order to ascertain whether threatened, useful species are well-conserved in botanic gardens. At least 6017 of the 6941 socio-economically important WEP taxa (86.7%) were currently found in the living and seed collections of botanic gardens and arboreta with 1456 taxa (21%) held in >40 collections. Khoury et al. suggested that 6748 of the WEP taxa are of either medium or high conservation priority. However, our analysis suggested that just 1153 taxa have been assessed as threatened at a national or international level. We concluded that the botanic garden/arboretum community can contribute significantly to plant conservation and sustainable development, including data and material from many collections of socio-economically important taxa that are not present in the crop and forestry communities. We examined the reasons why botanic garden/arboreta collections are currently under-utilised and make recommendations for increasing their visibility and use.

Assessing Growth Parameters from Culm Cuttings of Bambusa vulgaris at the University of Dschang Botanic Garden, West Region of Cameroon: Implications for the Bamboo Resource Base and Rural Livelihoods

Dwindling supplies of bamboo resources and the increase in the demand for bamboo have led to the need for better propagation techniques. This is the only way to ensure the sustainability of the bamboo resource base and improve livelihoods. Thus, this study was carried out to examine the different growth parameters of culm cuttings of Bambusa vulgaris in propagation beds with a substrate consisting of dark soil, manure (compost) and sand in a ratio of 1:1:1. Data on different growth parameters was collected on a daily basis over a three week period and analyzed using appropriate descriptive and inferential statistics. It was found that the different growth parameters (diameter, height, leaves and sheaths) of culm cuttings of B. vulgaris evolved in like manner in three propagation beds. Descriptive statistics for growth parameters of culm cuttings of B. vulgaris showed little or no differences across three shelter/propagation beds (shelter bed 1, shelter bed 2 and shelter bed 3) with 1.4675 ± 1.6172 cm, 93 ± 112 cm, 22 ± 30 leaves, and 4 ± 6 sheaths being the mean diameter, height, number of leaves and number of sheaths for all three propagation beds, respectively. ANOVA test showed no statistically significant variation (p > 0.05) between growth parameters of culm cuttings of B. vulgaris across the three propagation beds, implying that the different growth parameters were relatively similar. Pearson correlation showed the existence of direct and inverse relationships between the different growth parameters of culm cuttings of bamboo. The existence of these direct and inverse relationships could be attributed to the rapid growth rate of bamboo, the substrate used, and the species of bamboo used (B. vulgaris). The study recommends more large-scale propagation projects of this bamboo species in order to ensure the sustainability of the bamboo resource base and improve livelihoods of bamboo dependent rural communities.

Seed Germination and Vegetative Propagation of Promising Decorative Lonicera tatarica L. (Caprifoliaceae Juss.), Introduced into the Tashkent Botanical Garden (Uzbekistan)

Seed germination (in laboratory and field conditions) and vegetative reproduction (by cuttings) of a promising decorative species—Lonicera tatarica L. (Caprifoliaceae Juss.) was studied for the first time in the conditions of introduction of the Tashkent Botanical Garden of Uzbekistan. Thus, the optimal temperature for germination of L. tatarica seeds in laboratory conditions is +20°C + 22°C, at which germination was 73%. The germination rate of seeds sown in autumn in the field was 62%, and the germination rate of seeds sown in spring was 71%. It was noted that in greenhouse conditions at an air temperature of 20°C - 22°C and a relative humidity of 49% - 53%, the rootability of cuttings was 75%. It was revealed that the studied species adapted well to the conditions of introduction. Taking into account the effectiveness of vegetative reproduction of L. tatarica, it can be recommended for improving the aesthetic condition and landscaping of cities, landscaping and landscape design.

Former Botanical Garden of ORSTOM(Côte d’Ivoire):What Remain after Thirty Years of Abandonment and Forest Restoration

Botanical gardens represent important places for ex situ conservation.One of these botanical gardens has been abandoned in Côte d’Ivoire for 30 years.This is the former botanical garden of ORSTOM.This study was conducted to determine the level of diversity of this former garden in order to assess the opportunity for its rehabilitation.The authors carried out inventories in 18 quadrats of 500 m2 through the vegetation to collect woody species.Dendrometric measurements(height,diameter)were also recorded to assess the structure of the site.A total of 190 species have been identified.They belong to 141 genera and 47 families.This former botanical garden contains important species because of their origin,status or particularity(threatened,endemic,rarity,etc.).A total of 19 threatened species including 2 endangered and west African endemic(Chrysophyllum azaguieanum J.Miège,Placodiscus pseudostipularis)were found at the site.Also,Chrysophyllum azaguieanum is declared extinct from Côte d’Ivoire.Four species are rare in the flora of Côte d’Ivoire:Balanites wilsoniana,Chrysophyllum azaguieanum,Gilletiodendron kisantuense and Loesenera kalantha.The most abundant species is Hopea odorata.Although this introduced species is considered globally vulnerable,it presents a risk of invasion in the forest of Côte d’Ivoire.The diameter and height structures show that all the stages of development are presented indicating a good regeneration on the site.Ultimately,this botanical garden deserves to be rehabilitated and especially urgent management of Hopea odorata is needed to prevent an invasion of this species.

The Role of a Modern Botanic Garden:the Evolution of Kew

The history of botanic gardens in the United Kingdom is sketched out with particular reference to the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and its changing role to meet societal requirements over 250 years.Kew's position as a modern scientific institution confronting today's environmental issues through its Breathing Planet Programme yet retaining its heritage buildings and collections is pinpointed.

Assessing the invasion risk of botanical garden's exotic threatened collections to adjacent mountain forests: A case study of Cibodas Botanical Garden

A primary objective of botanical gardens is to conserve threatened plant species from different regions and countries.However,such ex-situ conservation practices for exotic plant species may pose a significant plant invasion risks.In this study,we predict the naturalization probability of exotic threatened plant species of Cibodas Botanical Garden(CBG) collections based on leaf trait(specific leaf area,SLA) or as a function of invasion risk assessment scoring system(Tropical Weed Risk Assessment Protocol,TWRAP).We found that SLA and TWRAP were positively correlated with naturalization probability.The TWRAP model produced higher predictive probabilities with larger uncertainty compared to SLA model.Parmentiera cereifera and Burretiodendron hsienmu are two species that have highest naturalization probability based on SLA model.Chamaedorea oblongata has the highest naturalization probability based on TWRAP model.From practical and management point of view,we recommend the simultaneous use of SLA-based and TWRAP-based invasive species risk assessment to estimate the naturalization risk of exotic threatened collections of botanical gardens to adjacent mountain forests.Finally,given the important conservation value of threatened exotic collection of botanical garden,we need to be aware with the invasion risks of these species.The threatened condition of a plant species is not only caused by its natural characteristics but also may be caused(in fact mostly confounding with) by external disturbance either natural catastrophic or human related activities.Thus,a threatened species may not necessarily a noninvasive species outside their natural distribution ranges.

The Austrian Botanic Gardens Work Group,an Example of Active Networking to Promote Small Botanic Gardens

The continuously increasing demands on botanic gardens during the last few decades have led to a huge in increase administration and an urgent need for additional specialized personnel,especially botanists,teachers,database specialists and administrative staff.Instead of meeting these requirements,many botanic gardens are faceing a severe decrease in funding and personnel.Larger gardens provide the opportunity to distribute several tasks to different employees,whereas small gardens are short staffed and often run by a single curator who has to fulfill all functions.In order to meet actual demands more easily,the Austrian botanic gardens are linked nationally via an active workgroup.This network not only allows the distribution of information but also facilitates the sharing of duties.A listserver speeds up the communication and correspondence within the workgroup,collection priorities and projects(e.g.,GSPC) are coordinated,seedbanking becomes decentralized,printed matters are shared and distributed,etc.Small gardens with only few employees can participate in projects by taking on small-ideally using with their special resources-in order not to fall behind.In addition,there is also an urgent need for international networking by means of plant and seed exchange(Index Seminum),BGCI membership,discussion groups,personal contacts and projects.Mission statements,special marketing strategies for public relations,integrating projects of other workgroup members and adapted public awareness programs are important to focus attention to small gardens and to help them keep alive.

Preliminary Study on Prevention and Control against Pests in Actinidia Plants in Lushan Botanical Garden of China

Survey on pests in Actinidia plants in Lushan botanical garden of China found that the insects causing damage on Actinidia plants mainly were grasshop- pers, scarabs, stinkbugs, leafhoppers, larvae of butterflies and moths, leaf milers and borers, belonging to 50 species and 23 families. According to the regularity of their reproduction and development, as well as the characteristics of pest d mnages on plants, chemical agents were applied in flower bud expansion stage and early fruit setting stage of Actinidia plants. The results showed that rational application of chemical agents before and after flowering stage could effectively control largescale occurrence of pests.

Research on the Planning of Medicinal Botanical Gardens Based on the Theme of Science Popularization Education

The functions of medicinal botanical gardens are introduced firstly,and then the application status and planning principles of medicinal botanical gardens based on the theme of science popularization education are analyzed.Moreover,a typical application case is analyzed and summarized.Constructing a scientific medicinal botanical garden is conducive to increasing people's understanding of medicinal plants,and also meets the requirements of current national policies,thereby generating greater economic and social benefits.

Vegetative Reproduction through Green Cuttings of the Introduced Form <i>Weigela florida</i>f. “<i>Bristol ruby</i>” (Caprifoliaceae) in the Conditions of the Tashkent Botanical Garden (Uzbekistan)

For the first time, work was carried out on the vegetative reproduction of Weigela florida f. “Bristol Rubru” (Caprifoliaceae) was introduced into the Tashkent Botanical Garden (Uzbekistan) through green branches. As a result of the research conducted, it was noted that the vegetative reproduction possibilities of the “Bristol Ruby” form of Weigela florida were high. When placed on stimulants of two types (kornevin, heteroauxin), it became known that kornevin stimulants are effective in taking root. It was found that the effective way to multiply this form by green branches in a vegetative way—when placed on the stimulator of kornevin from the middle part of the rod, the indicators of root extraction of the cuttings were 93.3%, which is more effective than other options. When vegetative reproduction of this decorative form, it is recommended that the seedlings come to the standard state in 3 - 4 years and the root extraction indicators are high—this is its use as the second row shrubs in the case of growing on strongly saline soils in the conditions of Uzbekistan. The cultivation of green cuttings of the form in the fog showed that they are more effective than in the open ground.

Boosting the Development of CAS Botanical Gardens

CAS is to initiate a 150-millionyuan (about US $18 million) project to boost the development of its network of botanical gardens throughout the country. ……

CAS Botanical Gardens

China is a large country with rich plant resources. Because of its unique geographical position, on its 9,600,000 km2 of territory are found about 30,000 species of higher plants, accounting for 10% of the world's flora species and ranking the country third in the world in abundance of plant species.

上海城市山林——佘山国家森林公园

文章介绍了上海佘山国家森林公园的自然人文条件,重点阐述其植物景观资源,最后介绍了辰山植物园建设。1佘山国家森林公园地理人文条件及建园历史上海佘山国家森林公园——位于上海西郊松江区境内,占地401hm2,距市中心35km,是上海唯一的自然山林。分为东、西佘山园。