Plant Biodiversity Conservation

This presentation emphasized the importance of seed saving for individuals, communities, and the planet. It traced the history of seed saving from pre-colonial Native American practices to the Spanish colonial era, highlighting the role of missions in introducing new plant varieties. The talk provided practical guidance on seed selection, harvesting, and storage, encouraging attendees to contribute to biodiversity and food security by saving seeds from their gardens.

A wood species called molave (Vitex parviflora Juss.) naturally grows in tropical nations like the Philippines. In the marginal uplands, molave is also a plant that is advised for afforestation. The ecological niche of the molave tree is significant to the balance of the terrestrial ecosystems. The trees serve as producers of the biotic organism and provide shelter, oxygen and sequester carbon dioxide. The trees also provide support that upholds the land from erosion and landslides. According to FAO (2004), people in the county continue to unlawfully cut these trees despite the Philippines' restriction on doing so, which results in an annual deforestation rate of roughly 2.48%, compared to 1.4% in the 1990s. Some of the conservation plans of the government include in situ conservation, integrated protected area systems, geographic mapping of species distribution, and education and training activities for conservation planning. Therefore, the molave tree in the Botanical Garden of University of the Philippines Los Banos has a vital role in controlling the balance of the ecosystems together with the living organisms in the area and must be sustained and protected.

Background. Predominant use of the H1 and Gro1-4 genes of resistance to golden nematode (PGN) in potato breeding requires widening the gene pool of resistance to this pathogen.Materials and methods. Thirty-four genotypes of wild potatoes from North and South Americas, 14 interspecific hybrids, and 10 Russian potato cultivars were studied for PGN resistance. Screening for resistance to PGN pathotype Ro1 and molecular screening for the presence of H1 and Gro1-4 gene markers were performed. Amplification products of the Gro1-4 gene marker were sequenced.Results. Only seven among the studied 34 potato genotypes (two of S. brachystotrichum (Bitt.) Rydb., four of S. lesteri Hawkes et Hjerting, and one of S. kurtzianum Bitt. et Wittm.) were susceptible to PGN, while the rest demonstrated high or medium resistance. Molecular screening for the presence of H1 and Gro1-4 gene markers allowed us to identify Gro1-4 in 13 South American genotypes of S. alandiae Cárd., S. × doddsii Corr., S. kurtz...

The genus Punica consists of two species, Punica granatum L. and P. protopunica Balf. Pomegranate is one of the oldest fruits known to mankind. It is important for its taste, nutritional and medicinal properties. The origin of pomegranate is considered to be in Central Asia from where it has spread to the rest of the world. Genetic diversity in pomegranate is found in a wide range of climatic conditions. Studies on center of origin, centers of diversity, characterization, evaluation and conservation would be useful for better understanding of this fruit plant and information on genetic resources and cultivars in pomegranate at different centers of the world would be quite useful for its utilization for crop improvement. In the present paper effort has been made to bring together information on pomegranate genetic resources, its conservation in different parts of the world.

Our understanding of the patterns of plant diversity in tropical forests and their responses to fragmentation are mostly based on tree surveys. But are these patterns and responses representative of other plant life-forms? We sampled trees, lianas, herbs, and ferns in a fragmented tropical forest landscape in South-west China. We compared community types generated by clustering presence-absence data for the non-tree life-forms with those generated for trees. We tested how well measures of tree diversity, density and composition, predicted cognate indices in other life-forms. We compared fragmentation responses, with respect to the three measures, of all four life-forms. Presence-absence data from all life-forms generated three community clusters, with only small differences between classifications, suggesting that tree data identified community types representative of all vascular plant life-forms. Tree species diversity and density indices poorly predicted cognate indices of lianas...

An experiment was conducted to know the "Effect of boron on growth and seed yield of pea cultivars" under the agro climatic conditions of Palosi Peshawar at the Horticulture Research Farm, The University of Agriculture Peshawar, during 2022. Experiment was laid out in randomized complete block design with split plot arrangement and replicated three times. The experiment consisted of two factors: First factor was different levels of boron, control, 0.50%, 0.75%, 1.0 %, and boron were added to the main plot, while the other was the pea cultivars Climax, Leena Pak, and Meteor, which were planted in the sub-plot. Different pea cultivars and the foliar application of boron both have a significant impact on pea growth, yield, and seed production. The number of primary branches per plant (13.1), the number of leaves per plant (120.8), the height of the plant (103.5 cm), number of pods per plant (16.6), the length of pod (11.1 cm), the diameter of pod (13.8 mm), number of seeds per pod (10.3), seed yield per plant (160.5), root fresh weight (4.6 g) and the total yield per hectare were all significantly increased by foliar spray of boron. According to the research, foliar application of boron should be applied at a rate of 0.75 % for better growth and production. Pea cultivar Climax should be grown under the agro climatic conditions Peshawar.

Rosa gallica is a rare, threatened, and legally protected species; hence, research on this species is important for identification of threats and development of protection strategies. The aim of the study was to characterise plant communities with Rosa gallica and to determine the habitat conditions, abundance, and diversity of selected population traits. The study was conducted in 2016-2020 in two localities (Bukowa, Kołaczyce) in Strzyżów Foothills. Twenty phytosociological relevés were made using the Braun-Blanquet method. The habitat conditions were assessed using Ellenberg indicator values. The following parameters were used to evaluate the diversity and quantitative relationships between the species in the analysed communities: Shannon-Wiener diversity (H՛), Evenness (J՛), and Simpson dominance (SIMP) indices. The size of the analysed populations was estimated based on the number of vegetative and generative shoots. Height was measured in 100 randomly selected shoots, and the ...

Gunung Kajang is one of the main area in Pulau Tioman, Pahang Darul Makmur. It is therefore, important to study her ecosystem and documenting various existing biodiversity components for management and conservation purposes. The Management and Utilization of Biological Resources Unit from Strategic Resources Research Centre (SR), MARDI Headquarters was tasked with documenting the rare and wild edible fruit species from the region and collecting the wild genetic resources of plants from this area for conservation purpose. From this survey, 51 families of flowering plants were identified, consists of 131 species, followed by monocotyledons with 11 families and 32 species. On the other hand, gymnosperm was represented by 3 species only, namely Agathis borneensis, Gnetum latifolium and Podocarpus polystachus. There were 26 species of rare and wild edible fruit species that are important for the food security and food sources for the wild animals community here. Many wild fruit species f...

The species is endemic to Indonesia. The specific epithet refers to the type locality, Flores Island, in the Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia. The known population is very restricted, and area of occupancy is only 4 km2. This tree was only found in one location. There is decline due to habitat loss caused by human intrusions, such as agriculture. Therefore, the species is assessed as Critically Endangered (CR).

Plant resource evaluation project was carried out to investigate conservation status of some important medicinal plants of Chakesar Valley, District Shangla. The valley is located in Sino Japanese region in the remote area of District Shangla, Pakistan. Conservation status of 127 plant species was evaluated through IUCN (1994-2001) criterion. Among these species 47 (37%) were endangered (E), 32 (25%) vulnerable (VU), 36 (28%) rare (R) and 12 (9%) species were infrequent (IF). The area had no nursery to grow the critically endangered species. The study confirmed that the area possessed great potential for cultivation and harvesting of economically important plant resources. It is been concluded that establishment of nurseries and botanical garden may be the best ex-situ conservation for sustainable utilization of plant resources of the area. While local community awareness and involvement to protect these national assets will be the best in-situ conservation measure.

Symphyotrichum ciliatum (Ledeb.) G.L. Nesom is an adventive plant first reported in Romania in 1967, which has spread rapidly over the last few decades in Moldova, Muntenia and, more recently, in Transylvania. Although the species has been known for a while in Europe and Romania, there is no information about the anatomy of the vegetative organs of this invasive taxon. This paper presents a series of structural aspects of the vegetative body, of Symphyotrichum ciliatum collected from a sandy and salty substrate (Sacalin Island - Danube Delta). These demonstrate the ability of this plant to adapt to the environment and its capacity to achieve a wide spread. As such, although this plant is an annual species, the root and stem achieve secondary growth in their width, which offers robustness to the corm; the palisade tissue has an ecvifacial disposition which enhances efficiency in capturing light, especially on sandy soil that reflects light; there are aeriferous and aquiferous formati...

We report a relatively rare study of a national forest inventory in a megadiverse country with the systematic collection of herbarium specimens. The taxonomic identification of 22,659 herbarium collections from 6942 sites of Mexico’s national forest inventory resulted in 1464 native tree species (approximately half of Mexico’s estimated total), in 470 genera and 117 plant families. We compared visual tree-species identifications in the field by hired crews, with much more rigorous identification of submitted (mostly sterile) herbarium specimens by experienced taxonomists and specialists at the National Herbarium: for 40% of the 22,659 collections, the identification of species names from the field was confirmed, for 32% it was corrected at the herbarium, and 27% had been sent without any identification. The most commonly collected plant families were Fagaceae (oak family, 21.7% of all collections), Fabaceae (legumes, 17.7%), and Pinaceae (pine family, 13.3%). The most commonly colle...

For the first time, chromosomal polymorphism in karyotypes of three species from the section Hedysarum (= syn. Gamotion) of the genus Hedysarum L. (Fabaceae) grown in Southern Siberia has been studied with the useof molecular cytogenetic markers. This comparative molecular cytogenetic analysis revealed high similarity in morphology of chromosomes in H. alpinum L., H. austrosibiricum B. Fedtsch. and H. theinum Krasnob. as well as in patterns ofdistribution of 45S and 5S rDNA loci in their karyotypes confirming their close relationships. Considerable intra-specificpolymorphism on 45S rDNA chromosome localization was detected in H. theinum. In karyotype of H. alpinum, unlikethe other two species, two chromosome pairs bearing 5S rDNA locus were observed which could be used as additionalspecies-specific markers.

En Tonaya, el agave verde (Agave angustifolia Haw) se cultiva desde 1845, pero en la actualidad el agave azul (Agave tequilana Weber) lo ha reemplazado casi en su totalidad. El cambio de cultivo y el incremento en la demanda del licor de agave provocó daños ambientales. En este artículo se describe el contexto histórico, los efectos socioambientales generados por la industria destiladora de agave, y también se analiza cómo intervienen las instituciones gubernamentales; un estudio hasta hoy inexistente para la región. Se trabajó con información de archivos bibliográficos y de entrevistas a actores clave, mediante la técnica bola de nieve. Además, se analizaron los efectos causados a la biodiversidad y a la calidad del agua del vertido de desechos líquidos o vinazas en el río Tuxcacuesco. Se tomaron decisiones que redujeron la contaminación ambiental, sin embargo, muchas de las acciones se han abandonado, lo que de nuevo pone en riesgo la integridad del sistema acuático y lo que repre...

Aims: This study aims to analyze the diversity of endemic flora of North Sulawesi Indonesia as a potential for sustainable ecotourism. Place and Duration of Study: This research was conducted in the Batuputih Nature Tourism Park (BNTP), Bitung, North Sulawesi (Sulawesi Utara), Indonesia from April until June 2022. Methodology: The data collection method is carried out using vegetation analysis where this method is a combination method between the path method and the banded line. The number of plot paths used in this study was 47 plots. The distance between the plot of the paths is 20 meters. Determination of the observation path plot is carried out by purposive sampling. Data obtained in the field were analyzed using the Shannon-Wienner species diversity index. Results: The study's results found 61 types of plants at the sapling level, 29 at the pole level and 47 at the tree level. The plants that dominate Batuputih Nature Tourism Park (BNTP) at the level of mature trees belong ...