Kew Scientist

www.kew.org ISSN: 0967-8018 Kew Scientist Spring 2011 Issue 39 News from The Living Collections, The Herbarium and The Laboratories at Kew & Wakehurst Place M.Sacande Farmers planting seedlings of Carapa procera, Gardenia sokotensis, Khaya senegalensis and Senna alata in a communal garden in Mali for use as natural pesticides. Tree planting in Africa The United Nations MSBP intends to conserve 25% of plant species has declared 2011 as seed and make seed available for sustainable as the International use in agriculture, horticulture, forestry and Year of Forests to habitat restoration (Strategy 5 of Kew’s new raise awareness Breathing Planet Programme — ‘Save seed and of sustainable prosper’). One use of the scientific knowledge management and generated from the MSBP seed collections is to Save seed and prosper conservation of solve impediments to wild plant propagation. In M.Sacande forests. In Africa, as in many parts of the a recent initiative the MSBP, through its African world, communities are highly and directly partners, has been using its expertise in seed dependent on a diverse range of useful forest handling and germination to support local, Farmers in Mali receiving training in nursery techniques for seedling production. products and services for food, health and government and NGO-led tree propagation a variety of livelihood activities. These wild and planting schemes by the provision of resources are often over exploited, so the advice and training. The planting schemes will enable domestication and cultivation of forest species communities to benefit from their native is necessary to address the needs of the local During 2010, nearly 62,000 seedlings of useful tree species in a sustainable way. people and reduce the pressure on natural 203 tree species were produced in the Following the initial success of MSBP populations. However, the complexity of this initiative, and over 90% of these seedlings involvement, discussions are underway process, requiring biological and ecological have been planted out. In Mali tree seedlings to scale up the initiative. This would research on candidate species, has long been were planted in village woodlands, sacred consolidate the opportunity for the MSBP to a factor limiting the planting programmes of forests, schools and home gardens to mark play a significant part in the afforestation, many forestry and horticulture departments in the 50th anniversary of independence of restoration, preservation of biodiversity developing countries. the country from France, and in Ghana and sustainable use of wild tree species, (where the VodaFone Foundation has helped and contribute to the International Year of The Millennium Seed Bank Partnership (MSBP) support the MSBP programme) seedlings Forests 2011. is a repository for the seed of over 10% of were planted in cocoa farms. Species planted Contact: Dr Moctar Sacande ([email protected]) the world’s flowering plants, and by 2020 the in these countries included Securidaca longepedunculata, Erythrina senegalensis, Researchers at Kew, the Natural Resources Institute (UK) and the World Agroforestry Centre (Southern Garcinia kola, Tetrapleura tetraptera, species Africa Programme) have reviewed the roles that of Terminalia and Spondias mombin. Some phytochemical screening and in vitro propagation techniques have to play in reducing over-harvesting of schemes resulted in certain tree species, medicinal and pesticidal plants and generating income for the rural poor. Plant Cell Rep., in press, doi: 10.1007/ such as Pseudocedrela kotschyi, Pterocarpus s00299-011-1047-5. santalinoides and Gardenia nitida, being Contact: Dr Viswambharan Sarasan cultivated for the first time. ([email protected]) 1 Direction Awards Conserving trees Paul Smith was named in a list of the 100 most important contemporary figures in British science published by The Times in its Eureka magazine. and forests The Kew Plant Glossary (by Henk Beentje; Kew Publishing, 2010) won Reference Book of The newly created the Year at the Garden Media Guild 2010 Awards (1 December, 2010). Other Kew books, Directorate of Kew Magazine and Kew’s website were finalists. Conservation, Living Collections and Estates PhDs at the Royal Botanic Henk Beentje (left) Gardens, Kew offers The following students, co-supervised by Kew receiving the Garden Media Guild Award. an opportunity to staff, passed their PhD vivas recently: bring together science, Jennifer Ison, ‘Pollination of Echinacea horticulture and policy to address the big angustifolia: effects of flowering phenology issues effecting plant conservation. None and spatial isolation’ (October 2010). could be bigger than the need to conserve Sharon Zytynska, ’The genetic basis to species our trees and forests. interactions in model and natural ecosystems’ Kew is well known for its extensive (November 2010) collection of living trees. Kew Gardens has Cynthia Sothers, ‘Systematics of Couepia 14,000 trees, representing some 5,000 (Chrysobalanaceae)’ (November 2010). different species, and Wakehurst Place about the same again. Elizabeth McCarthy, ‘Biosystematics of Mike Wyatt/GMG Nicotiana (Solanaceae) (November 2010). These trees include rare and threatened species, representative selections from Yael Kisel, ‘Evolutionary studies in Neotropical various families and regions of the world, orchids’ (November 2010). and horticulturally challenging species that need a helping hand. This is a vast resource for science and conservation, backed up Seeds and stress Short-lived alpine seed by the Millennium Seed Bank’s swelling Recent research by the Millennium Seed Bank collection of woody plant seeds. Partnership had shown that seed structure and In coming months we will establish the climate of origin correlate with seed longevity. Millennium Seed Bank as the UK national Seeds with small embryos from cool wet hub for the long term storage of forestry regions of the world are more likely to be short A recent ‘Tansley seed – part of the evolution of the seed C. Seal lived compared to seeds with large embryos Review’ in New bank from a storage vault to a service- from warmer, drier regions. Now studies by Phytologist addresses delivery facility. It means that Kew will have international partners at the University of Pavia the lack of attention Germinating seed of one of the strongest collections of tree Suaeda maritima, model (Italy) and Kew’s seed conservationists have given to stress concepts species used to study seed germplasm on the planet. responses. extended this evidence by comparing seeds of of seeds and plants. Ilse alpine species and their lowland relatives. In this International Year of Forests, we are Kranner and Charlotte forging ahead with research in restoration Seal (Kew) together with Farida Minibayeva Controlled ageing experiments on 63 species at home and abroad, seed banking and (Kazan Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, revealed that seeds of alpine species and germination and mapping and survey Russia) and Richard Beckett (University of populations were consistently shorter lived than projects around the world. Our conventions KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa) have taken the their lowland counterparts. The results cannot and policies group continue to make sure General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS), one of be explained by differences in seed maturity, legal protection is available for trees under the most widely accepted stress concepts in and further work is needed to confirm the threat, while we also make sure we can medicine, to the molecular level and modified extent that these differences are due to genetic still provide the science needed to improve it for seeds, identifying three stages of stress makeup resulting from selection pressure for conservation and management. response. seed survival after dispersal. Seed banking will From the perspective of the new Directorate be an important strategy for the conservation In the ‘alarm phase’, a stress factor is perceived and its responsibilities, we also need to of alpine floras but extra care will be needed by a signalling network of seed hormones and find ways to reflect this commitment to in setting viability monitoring intervals, and for various other small molecules. Under continuing tree conservation in our plant displays and some species cryopreservation may be needed stress, the ‘resistance phase’ is reached when landscapes. Every visitor to our estates, in order to maximise seed longevity. Ann. Bot. the stress response is sufficient for cellular or our website, should leave with no 107, 171 (2011). protection and repair, maintaining seed viability. doubt that trees are essential to life on If these mechanisms fail, the final ‘exhaustion Contact: Dr Robin Probert ([email protected]) earth – whether as carbon sinks, oxygen phase’ leads to the breakdown of essential producers or sources of food, timber or molecules and, ultimately, seed death. pharmaceutical products. Seeds of this alpine population of Silene vulgaris Of course trees are more than a survival This modified GAS also has relevance to ssp. glareosa are significantly shorter lived than a lowland relative. toolbox for our species. Many other plants plants generally as many stress causes and and animals depend on them, and anyone response systems are common to both. who can’t draw inspiration and hope from a Stresses that impact upon seeds can affect majestic forest tree isn’t looking hard enough. plant reproduction and productivity. Therefore, understanding how seeds cope with stress is Dr Tim Entwisle, Director of

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