SEED BANKS
in botanic gardens:
present and future
César Gómez-Campo, Universidad Politécnica, Madrid, Spain
1966 (UPM)
A seed bank of wild Crucifers was started in the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) by 1966 At that time
only five seed genebanks existed in the World, all devoted to crop species.
Naufraga balearica
Echium aculeatum
Artemisia granatensis
Erodium paularense
Soon after, the UPM bank scope was extended to include rare or endemic species of the West Mediterranean region.
Las Palmas
Córdoba
Blanes
In the 70s and 80s the number
of seed banks devoted to wild
species boomed. They were
mainly installed in botanical
gardens.
The photo shows a few exam-
ples from Spain.
Similar banks were also created
in the UK (Kew), Italy (Palermo),
Germany (Berlin) and France
(Porquerolles)
Sóller
Madrid B.G
Seed banks devoted to wild species in the West Mediterranean region
Alcalá de Henares (Spain)
Botanical Garden
Wild plants of Madrid and Castilla-La Mancha.
Blanes (Girona, Spain)
Botanical Garden
Medicinal plants, Androcymbium.
Córdoba (Spain)
Botanical Garden
Threatened Andalousian Flora; plants of ethnobotanical interest.
Las Palmas (Canarias, Spain)
Botanical Garden
Threatened Canarian Flora.
Lisboa (Portugal)
Instituto de Agronomía
Portuguese Flora.
Madrid (Spain)
Universidad Politécnica
Endemic plants of the Iberian Peninsula ; Cruciferae in general.
Madrid (Spain)
Botanical Garden
Wild Spanish Flora.
Málaga (Spain)
J. Botánico de la Concepción)
Local and ornamental plants.
Palermo (Italy)
Botanical Garden
Sicilian Flora.
Pisa (Italy)
Botanical Garden
Peninsular Flora.
Porquerolles (France)
Conservatoire Botanique
Flora of SE France and Corsica.
Sóller (Mallorca, Spain)
Botanical Garden
Flora of the Balearic Islands.
Valencia (Spain)
Botanical Garden
Flora of the E and SE of the Iberian Peninsula.
THE FUTURE of SEED BANKS of WILD SPECIES
SOME SUGGESTIONS:
1. To improve the definition of their aims, priorities and
responsabilities.
2. To improve the coordination among themselves.
3. To emphasize the sense of urgency associated to the
conservation of endangered species.
4. To ensure an efficient future use of the stored material.
5. To improve seed preservation procedures to a maximum
in order to minimize regeneration.
THE FUTURE of SEED BANKS of WILD SPECIES
SOME SUGGESTIONS:
1. To improve the definition of their aims, priorities and
responsabilities.
2. To improve the coordination among themselves.
3. To emphasize the sense of urgency associated to the
conservation of endangered species.
4. To ensure an efficient future use of the stored material.
5. To improve seed preservation procedures to a maximum
in order to minimize regeneration.
In other words: a seed bank … for what?
 To preserve the seeds produced every year by the garden trees?
It has not much meaning indeed.
 To preserve seeds of the annual or biennial species grown in the garden?
It might have some more meaning.
 To preserve threatened species growing in the region?
It is obvious that it would be very meaningful.
 Specialised collections (taxonomic, etc.) may also be very useful for
prospective users.
THE FUTURE of SEED BANKS of WILD SPECIES
SOME SUGGESTIONS:
1. To improve the definition of their aims, priorities and
responsabilities.
2. To improve the coordination among themselves.
3. To emphasize the sense of urgency associated to the
conservation of endangered species.
4. To ensure an efficient future use of the stored material.
5. To improve seed preservation procedures to a maximum
in order to minimize regeneration.
Coordinating bodies are many: regional, national, continental, international. Just in project or  developed. Some are only
indirectly related to the banks through their gardens or institutions. Someones refer to crop species. The situation is not bad
though coordination should never mean homogenisation.
Perhaps only the exchange of seed duplicates is much behind a
desirable situation.
BGCI (Botanic Gardens Conservation International)
IABG (International Association of Botanical Gardens)
AIMJB (Ibero-Macaronesian Association of Botanical Gardens)
REDBAG (Spanish Network of Germ Plasm Banks for Wild Plants)
ENSCONET (European Native Seed Conservation Network)
BioCASE (Biological Collections Access Service for Europe)
GBIF (Global Biodiversity Information Facility)
IPGRI (International Plant Genetic Resources Institute)
EPGRIS (European Plant Genetic Resources Information Service)
etc. etc.
THE FUTURE of SEED BANKS of WILD SPECIES
SOME SUGGESTIONS:
1. To improve the definition of their aims, priorities and
responsabilities.
2. To improve the coordination among themselves.
3. To emphasize the sense of urgency associated to the
conservation of endangered species.
4. To ensure an efficient future use of the stored material.
5. To improve seed preservation procedures to a maximum
in order to minimize regeneration.
A tentative scale on which to select priorities:
Endemic, threatened or rare species (local, regional or national).
Taxonomic specialisation in a genus, a family, etc.
Ecological specialisation, as in halophytes, succulents, alpine, etc.
Utilitary specialisation: aromatics, medicinal, etc.
Underutilised or abandoned crops.
Wild species promisory for domestication.
Wild relatives of crop species.
Autoctonous flora of a country or region.
Flora of a country or region, in general.
“Flora” of the botanical garden: anuals, biennials, etc.
“Flora” of the botanical garden: perennials.
PHYTOGENETIC RESOURCES
modern cultivars
breeding lines
land races
underutilised crops
abandoned crops
cultivated
------------------------------------wild
promising species
wild relatives of crops
of direct use
potentially useful (all)
threatened species
The economic world of phytogenetic resources and the world of pure conservation can be linked through this scale.
THE FUTURE of SEED BANKS of WILD SPECIES
SOME SUGGESTIONS:
1. To improve the definition of their aims, priorities and
responsabilities.
2. To improve the coordination among themselves.
3. To emphasize the sense of urgency associated to the
conservation of endangered species.
4. To ensure an efficient future use of the stored material.
5. To improve seed preservation procedures to a maximum
in order to minimize regeneration.
Main destinations of Crucifer germplasm distributed by the UPM seed bank
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To assess the impact of seeds distributed by a genebank is difficult in general but easier for a specialised collection as
that of UPM Crucifers. Red circles show the main places where these seeds have been used more fructiferously. Molecular studies in Canada, Germany and Spain, citogenetics and cancer research in the UK, taxonomy in Spain, interspecific crosses and use of cytoplasmic male sterility in India and Japan, etc.
A primary objective of genebanks (germplasm preservation) is here exemplified by the case of
the Crucifer Diplotaxis siettiana.
The species lived exclusively in this illet, where it disappeared by 1985. Fortunately, some seeds
had been collected and stored in the UPM bank in 1974. That collection was crucial to save
the species from extinction.
“Black-box” collections exclusively aimed at the future might contribute to save other species.
Alborán Island (S. Spain)
THE FUTURE of SEED BANKS of WILD SPECIES
SOME SUGGESTIONS:
1. To improve the definition of their aims, priorities and
responsabilities.
2. To improve the coordination among themselves.
3. To emphasize the sense of urgency associated to the
conservation of endangered species.
4. To ensure an efficient future use of the stored material.
5. To improve seed preservation procedures to a maximum
in order to minimize regeneration.
REGENERATION brings:
- Unwanted crossings.
- Unwanted selection.
- Reduction in genetic variability.
- Possibility of mis-labelling and other mistakes.
. . . . and consumes:
- Time, labour, space, money, etc.
For wild species, to re-collect in the wild might be better than to regenerate by cultivation!
Defficient moisture control is most often
behind failures in seed preservation.
(above). Only these four containers (10%) proved
to be completely hermetic to water vapour after 7
years of observation.
(right). Representative containers of all other
thirty-six (90%) allowing moisture intake after
periods between 2 months and 3 years. Some
are still used in many seed genebanks.
see details in: www.seedcontainers.net
In short …
LOW TEMPERATURES
must be
OBTAINED and MAINTAINED
LOW MOISTURES
must be
OBTAINED and MAINTAINED
Thank you for your attention!
and … long life to your seeds!