Seed banking for the future Jennifer McElwain, Professor of Botany, School of Natural Sciences, explains how Trinity College Botanic Garden is helping conserve Ireland’s native flora through the Irish Threatened Plant Seed Bank T here are fifteen plant species in the Irish flora which are now extinct from our shores. They have been extirpated or - to put it more simply - they are now classified as locally extinct (Wyse-Jackson et al, 2016). All of the species pictured in this article can be found in other parts of the globe but our native flora is now poorer because of their regional extinction. Each has a story of its demise. The Western oakfern likely suffered from over grazing. Rannoch rush thrived in sodden wet habitats but went extinct in Ireland in the 1950’s due to drainage and commercial harvesting of our raised bogs. The striking iridescent red rough poppy likely declined with herbicide use and intensification of farming. The pictures are the plant ‘faces’ of a century of biodiversity loss on our doorstep. According to Kew Gardens’ State of the World’s Plants report, two in five plant species globally are now threatened by extinction. It starts with the loss of individual plants - no one seems to notice; then whole populations of plants decline in number and geographical area, still only a few people notice; then the plant is completely lost from a geographical region such as an island the size of Ireland. Ultimately, extensive demise of plant populations across many regions can signal a pathway to global extinction if action is not taken to reverse the decline. The global network of Botanic Gardens is however taking action. Target 8 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation is to conserve at least 75% of plant species that are threatened by extinction in the seed banks and living collections of Botanic Gardens across the globe. There is a strong preference within the strategy for local Botanic Gardens and seed banks to conserve their local flora. We are delighted therefore to announce substantial funding from Dr Beate Schuler that will enable Trinity College Botanic Garden (TCBG)to redouble our conservation efforts of Ireland’s native flora by increasing our holdings of wild collected seeds within the Irish Threatened Plant Seed Bank . Seeds are remarkable biological structures. They contain the embryo of a plant with all its developmental potential and genetic information in a state of suspended animation. Most seeds can withstand almost complete dehydration and freezing followed by defrosting and rehydration without suffering critical cell damage. Few other plant or animal parts can withstand such treatment – consider what lettuce or spinach looks like when defrosted from the freezer: it is a pile
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