[SOS-PCA] ARTICLE: Maximizing the Diversity of Seed Banks

[Haidet, Margaret]

A new article on "Maximizing the Phylogenetic Diversity of Seed Banks" from
Conservation Biology.
Abstract

Ex situ conservation efforts such as those of zoos, botanical gardens, and
seed banks will form a vital complement to in situ conservation actions
over the coming decades. It is therefore necessary to pay the same
attention to the biological diversity represented in ex situ conservation
facilities as is often paid to protected-area networks. Building the
phylogenetic diversity of ex situ collections will strengthen our capacity
to respond to biodiversity loss. Since 2000, the Millennium Seed Bank
Partnership has banked seed from 14% of the world's plant species. We
assessed the taxonomic, geographic, and phylogenetic diversity of the
Millennium Seed Bank collection of legumes (Leguminosae). We compared the
collection with all known legume genera, their known geographic range (at
country and regional levels), and a genus-level phylogeny of the legume
family constructed for this study. Over half the phylogenetic diversity of
legumes at the genus level was represented in the Millennium Seed Bank.
However, pragmatic prioritization of species of economic importance and
endangerment has led to the banking of a less-than-optimal phylogenetic
diversity and prioritization of range-restricted species risks an
underdispersed collection. The current state of the phylogenetic diversity
of legumes in the Millennium Seed Bank could be substantially improved
through the strategic banking of relatively few additional taxa. Our method
draws on tools that are widely applied to in situ conservation planning,
and it can be used to evaluate and improve the phylogenetic diversity of ex
situ collections.
If you have online access to the jouurnal, visit:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cobi.12390/abstract;jsessionid=11AD61F30E2979E03828F9107C355908.f03t02?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false

If you don't have access to the journal, take a look at this brief article
about the study and its findings:
http://phys.org/news/2014-09-seeding-diversity-future.html



Megan Haidet
Seeds of Success
National Collection Curator
Seeds of Success
202-912-7233

www.blm.gov/sos
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