The new third edition of ‘Plant Germplasm Conservation in Australia – strategies and guidelines for developing, managing and utilising ex situ collections’ brings together decades of research and experience in conserving Australian plants in seed banks, botanic gardens and nurseries.
This germplasm – living plants, seeds, leaves, pollen or spores – is essential for understanding basic plant biology and ensuring that collections are available ex situ (off site) to supplement populations in situ (in the natural habitat). Ex situ collections are often critical for translocation or rewilding but also have many other uses. They can be held for years, even decades, before seeds or living plants are returned to the landscape; so how do we ensure collections are genetically representative, in good health and will thrive when planted? The Germplasm Guidelines provide a comprehensive and easy-to-read overview of all the tools of ex situ conservation and include 50 case studies that showcase plant conservation in action. In this seminar, ANPC’s Project Manager Dr Amelia Martyn Yenson will give an overview of the new edition, which includes updated chapters on planning, seed collection and storage, tissue culture, cryopreservation and living collections. New chapters in this edition outline best practice to ensure good genetic representation in ex situ collections, an overview of nursery practice and propagation techniques, how to identify species with seeds that are ‘exceptional’ or difficult to store, handling of orchid seeds and mycorrhizae (symbiotic fungi), storage of non-seed plants such as ferns, conservation of carnivorous and parasitic plants, and utilisation of ex situ collections.
Dr Amelia Yenson from the Australian Network for Plant Conservation and the PlantBank will present her work in an online seminar on Tuesday, 16 Nov 2021 at 11.00 AEDT.
