Articles
Ex-situ conservation and sustainable utilization of neglected and underutilized range-restricted Greek, Balkan, and Mediterranean native plants: overview of seed germination studies during the last 15 years
Article number
1439_11
Pages
79 – 88
Language
English
Abstract
The conservation of phytogenetic resources in the global context is pivotal to safeguard biodiversity, species’ genotypic variation, and locally adapted gene pools, especially under the current climate crisis, and, in specific, regarding range-restricted neglected and underutilized plants with potential pharmaceutical, nutritional, and/or ornamental–horticultural value.
The development of effective species-specific seed propagation protocols is fundamental for conservation actions or sustainable utilization efforts.
Strictly following its conservation strategy over the past 15 years, the Institute of Plant Breeding and Genetic Resources (IPBGR, ELGO Dimitra), has already focused on seed germination studies involving 78 Greek, Balkan, and Mediterranean native taxa (species and subspecies), of which 35% are threatened with extinction, 41% are local Greek endemics, 4% are local north African endemics, and 24% are sub-Balkan endemics.
Among studied taxa, 13% are supported by genetic characterization (DNA barcoding) and 45% by GIS- or R-derived bioclimatic profiling (precipitation and temperature data). The seed germination studies employed various experimentation cases in different controlled-temperature chambers (41%), in-vivo (55%), or in-vitro (4%) conditions, using freshly collected seeds (78.5%) or cold-stored (0-5°C, relative humidity <5%) seeds (21.5%) for different periods (0.5-8 years). Overall, 36% of the taxa showed high germination rates (80-100%) and 25% good germination rates (51-80%), thus acceptable for both conservation and sustainable utilization efforts, while 23% showed moderate (25-50%) or 16% limited germination (<25%). All these Greek, Balkan and Mediterranean native taxa are currently maintained ex-situ in fully documented stock mother-plant collections originally sourced from the wild using IPBGR’s authorized collection permits and are associated with unique IPEN (International Plant Exchange Network) accession numbers indicating their taxonomic and/or molecular identity, collector(s), date, locality of collection, and species-specific propagation protocols developed.
These valuable phytogenetic resources have been also used as ornamental elements in landscaping and gardening applications in botanic gardens and parks across Greece.
The development of effective species-specific seed propagation protocols is fundamental for conservation actions or sustainable utilization efforts.
Strictly following its conservation strategy over the past 15 years, the Institute of Plant Breeding and Genetic Resources (IPBGR, ELGO Dimitra), has already focused on seed germination studies involving 78 Greek, Balkan, and Mediterranean native taxa (species and subspecies), of which 35% are threatened with extinction, 41% are local Greek endemics, 4% are local north African endemics, and 24% are sub-Balkan endemics.
Among studied taxa, 13% are supported by genetic characterization (DNA barcoding) and 45% by GIS- or R-derived bioclimatic profiling (precipitation and temperature data). The seed germination studies employed various experimentation cases in different controlled-temperature chambers (41%), in-vivo (55%), or in-vitro (4%) conditions, using freshly collected seeds (78.5%) or cold-stored (0-5°C, relative humidity <5%) seeds (21.5%) for different periods (0.5-8 years). Overall, 36% of the taxa showed high germination rates (80-100%) and 25% good germination rates (51-80%), thus acceptable for both conservation and sustainable utilization efforts, while 23% showed moderate (25-50%) or 16% limited germination (<25%). All these Greek, Balkan and Mediterranean native taxa are currently maintained ex-situ in fully documented stock mother-plant collections originally sourced from the wild using IPBGR’s authorized collection permits and are associated with unique IPEN (International Plant Exchange Network) accession numbers indicating their taxonomic and/or molecular identity, collector(s), date, locality of collection, and species-specific propagation protocols developed.
These valuable phytogenetic resources have been also used as ornamental elements in landscaping and gardening applications in botanic gardens and parks across Greece.
Authors
N. Krigas, E. Karapatzak, I. Anestis, I. Samartza, E. Pipinis, S. Kostas, S. Hatzilazarou, G. Tsoktouridis
Keywords
biodiversity, GIS, medicinal, ornamental, agro-alimentary, threatened species, phytogenetic resources
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