Contribution of Seed Banks Across Europe Towards the 2020 Global Strategy for Plant Conservation Targets, Assessed Through the ENSCONET Database

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Contribution of seed banks across Europe towards the 2020 Global Strategy for Plant Conservation targets, assessed through the ENSCONET database

S. RIVIÈRE and J . V . M ÜLLER

Abstract To meet the international biodiversity targets of including ‘ease of storage, economy of space, relatively low the – Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, it is labour demands and consequently, the capacity to maintain important to assess the success of coordinated ex situ large samples at an economically viable cost’ (BGCI, a). plant conservation initiatives such as the European Native In addition, ‘seeds are a convenient means of long-term Seed Conservation Network (ENSCONET), which operated storage of genetic diversity, as the samples are small in during –, and the ENSCONET Consortium, size, are easily handled, require low maintenance and fre- which was established in . In particular, analysis of quently remain viable for long periods’ (BGCI, a). In the ENSCONET database (ENSCOBASE) indicates that ex this context, regional networks of seed banks are important situ seed banks have been making significant progress to- frameworks for the development of national and regional wards meeting targets  (at least % of threatened plant conservation strategies and action plans. species in ex situ collections, preferably in the country of ori- Examples of such networks include the Australian Seed gin, and at least % available for recovery and restoration Bank Partnership, which brings together Australia’s leading programmes) and  (% of the genetic diversity of crops, botanical institutions, seed scientists and conservation and including their wild relatives and other socio-economically restoration experts to collaborate in the collecting and bank- valuable plant species, conserved, while respecting, preserving of native seed for conservation (Sutherland & Aylott, ing and maintaining associated indigenous and local knowl- ), and the U.S. Center for Plant Conservation network, edge) for native European species. However, the infraspecific which maintains the National Collection of Endangered diversity of threatened species stored in ENSCONET seed Plants, which is a bank of seeds, cuttings and other plant banks needs to be increased to meet research and conserva- material from the country’s most imperilled native plants tion objectives. (Galbraith & Kennedy, ; BGCI, b). In Europe, the European Native Seed Conservation Keywords Crop wild relatives, ENSCONET, European Red Network (ENSCONET) was funded under the European List of Vascular Plants, ex situ, Global Strategy for Plant Commission’s Sixth Framework Programme for Research Conservation, medicinal plants, seed conservation and Technological Development (FP)betweenNovember Supplementary material for this article can be found at  and October . ENSCONET aimed to integrate https://doi.org/./S the activities of partners networked through virtual centres of excellence focusing on clearly defined scientific and technological objectives. The objective of the project was to ‘improve quality, coordination and integration of European Introduction seed conservation practice, policy and research for native plant species and to assist EU conservation policy and its ob- eed banks are one of a number of complementary strat- ligations to the Convention on Biological Diversity and its Segies used in integrated plant conservation (Sharrock Global Strategy for Plant Conservation’ (Müller et al., ).    et al., ), particularly to achieve targets and of the Thirty-one partner organizations from  European coun- – Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (Wyse tries worked together in activity groups focused on areas  Jackson & Kennedy, ; Convention on Biological such as seed collecting, seed curation, data management  Diversity, ). Storing plants as seeds is a widespread prac- and dissemination of information. The final project report tice and can be used as a key approach to ex situ conserva- (ENSCONET, )listsamongthemajorachievementsof tion. There are significant advantages to seed banking, the data management activity group the implementation of the joint database platform ENSCOBASE, the European

S. RIVIÈRE (Corresponding author) Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Natural Capital Native Seed Conservation Database. At the end of the funded and Plant Health—Diversity and Livelihoods, Millennium Seed Bank, project, in October , ENSCOBASE contained entries Wakehurst Place, Ardingly, RH17 6TN, UK    E-mail [email protected] from seed banks across Europe, representing , accessions from , taxa native to Europe, and covering  bio- J. V. MÜLLER Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Conservation Science, Millennium  Seed Bank, Ardingly, UK geographical regions in Europe. Since July , access to Received  May . Revision requested  June . ENSCOBASE has been freely available via the internet. Accepted  November . First published online  May . ENSCOTOOL, a local data management system linked

Oryx, 2018, 52(3), 464–470 © 2017 Fauna & Flora International doi:10.1017/S0030605316001496 Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. IP address: 170.106.35.229, on 28 Sep 2021 at 23:56:28, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0030605316001496 European seed banks 465

directly to the main ENSCOBASE server, was developed, and Nic Lughadha, ). However, there have been considerable released in September  to facilitate institutional data pro- barriers to progress in relation to target  because of complex viders to populate ENSCOBASE with new data records. data, and inconsistency of global data with IUCN Red List After the end of the FP-funded project, the project part- standards. To assess the contribution of seed banks across ners continued their collaborative work across Europe. They Europe towards targets  and  we compared data on seed ac- established the ENSCONET Consortium in August , cessions from ENSCOBASE against seven checklists. The first with the aim of maintaining significant levels of seed conser- two checklists ( and  below) were used to map ENSCOBASE vation activity across the continent. The ENSCONET holdings against two international taxonomic checklists to en- Consortium continues to rely on ENSCOBASE as the cen- sure consistency in the taxonomy used for ENSCOBASE, es- tral data platform for European native seed conservation. pecially with regard to accepted names/synonyms. Checklists During  there was an increase in records, to , acces-  and  were used to assess the progress of the ENSCONET sions representing , taxa (Godefroid et al., ). At that Consortium towards target . Checklists ,  and  contained time, the ENSCONET network held in long-term conserva- socio-economically important plants, such as crop wild relation storage c. %( species) of the plants listed in the tives, medicinal plants, ornamental plants, and food, forage Habitats Directive Annex II, excluding bryophytes (Council and timber species, and were used to assess the progress of Directive //EEC), and %( species) of plants listed the ENSCONET Consortium towards target . by Botanic Gardens Conservation International as threatened As targets  and  of the Global Strategy for Plant in Europe (Sharrock & Jones, ). Conservation refer to the term ‘species’,infraspecifictaxa To help data providers mobilize their data more quickly were excluded from the combined checklists  &  and ,  & and in a more standardized way, a new data import system . The following accessions were also excluded from the was developed in , with which data providers could im- ENSCOBASE holdings: seed accessions not identified to spe- port data in bulk via a web platform. As new data are being cies (i.e. species epithet was ‘sp.’); seed accessions not fully iden- uploaded into ENSCOBASE continually, it became clear tified (i.e. with identification qualifier ‘cf.’); historical seed that such a coordinated effort would become instrumental accessions, which were imported into the database but no long- in informing progress towards internationally agreed plant er refer to an active conservation accession (e.g. in cases where conservation targets such as target  (at least % of threa- the original seeds have been used for propagation purposes). tened plant species in ex situ collections, preferably in the country of origin, and at least % available for recovery Checklists 1 & 2: Euro+Med PlantBase and The Plant List We and restoration programmes) and target  (% of the gen- mapped the multi-taxonomy system represented in etic diversity of crops, including their wild relatives and ENSCOBASE against the Euro+Med checklist (Euro+Med, other socio-economically valuable plant species, conserved, ). Some names were corrected and synonyms were while respecting, preserving and maintaining associated in- identified. This, together with the analysis using checklist  digenous and local knowledge) of the – Global (The Plant List, ), resulted in a decrease in the total Strategy for Plant Conservation. In addition to assessing number of taxa under consideration from . , to the coverage of the Strategy’s targets by ENSCOBASE at ,. The synonymy system was used for all families species level, it is also essential, as highlighted by Sharrock covered by Euro+Med. In , Euro+Med comprised  et al. (), to assess the infraspecific genetic diversity of ex families (corresponding to c. % of the European vascular situ collections. A species may possess high genetic variabil- flora), but did not include an additional  families (five ity in natural stands yet may be underrepresented in ex situ non-European native families were excluded: Bignoniaceae, collections, as is the case for the Endangered tree Zelkova Cactaceae, Martyniaceae, Rafflesiaceae and Tropaeolaceae). abelicea (Christe et al., ). We therefore assessed the con- We therefore mapped these  families using a second tribution of ex situ plant conservation initiatives of the taxonomic system, represented by The Plant List (The ENSCONET Consortium to meeting targets  and  of Plant List, ; Supplementary Table S). the – Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, and the level of infraspecific diversity of the threatened species. Checklist 3: 2011 European Red List of Vascular Plants We used the European Red List of Vascular Plants (Bilz et al.,  Methods ) to assess the progress of the ENSCONET Consortium towards target  of the – Global A baseline list of threatened species, related to target  of the Strategy for Plant Conservation. From this checklist we Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (an assessment of the selected only threatened species, thereby excluding species conservation status of all known plant species, as far as pos- categorized as Extinct, Extinct in the Wild, Near sible, to guide conservation action) is essential for the report- Threatened, Least Concern or Data Deficient, following ing of progress on other targets, especially target  (Paton & the definition of a threatened species according to the

IUCN Red List Categories & Criteria version . (IUCN, Checklist 5, 6 & 7 We combined checklists ,  and  into a ). The total number of species selected was . single list and removed any duplicates. Synonyms were identified and infraspecific taxa (i.e. infraspecific ranks ‘ ’ ‘ ’  subsp. and var. ) were excluded. We then mapped this Checklist 4: IUCN Red List 2015 Checklist is not a combined checklist against checklists  and  to maintain complete Red List of European flora because it includes taxonomic consistency and to cover as many species as only selected groups. Therefore, we added additional possible. We obtained  unique accepted species. We European assessments available from the IUCN Red List    used this combined checklist to assess the progress of . (IUCN, ). ENSCOBASE regarding target  of the – Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. Checklist 3 & 4 We combined checklists  and ,and mapped the result against checklists  and  to maintain Infraspecific diversity We compiled ENSCOBASE taxonomic consistency and to cover as many species as accessions collected across all countries and all possible. Any duplicates were removed, synonyms were biogeographical regions for both target  (combined identified and infraspecific taxa (i.e. infraspecific ranks checklist  & , with synonyms, duplicates and infraspecific ‘subsp.’ and ‘var.’) were excluded, leaving a total of  taxa removed) and target  (combined checklist ,  & , species. We used this combined checklist  and  to assess with synonyms, duplicates and infraspecific taxa removed). the progress of ENSCOBASE regarding target  of the We then considered the threshold of five accessions as – Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. described in Godefroid et al. () and as recommended in Brown & Briggs () to ensure a good representation Checklist 5: Harlan and de Wet Crop Wild Relative Inventory of the genetic diversity found within and among checklist We downloaded a list of species from the Harlan populations in situ. and de Wet Crop Wild Relative Inventory website (Crop Wild Relative Inventory, ), selecting four regions (Eastern, Northern, Southern and Western Europe). Any Results duplicates across the regions were removed, as were species and subspecies that are not native to Europe (Cerasus All results presented here were produced from the data analysis  nipponica, Corylus mandshurica, Glycine max subsp. soja, menu of ENSCOBASE in November (ENSCOBASE,  Glycine soja, Fragaria mandshurica, Fragaria nipponica, ).Itisimportanttonotethatresultsobtainedfromthe Fragaria nipponica subsp. nipponica, Fragaria yezoensis, portal are dynamic and represent a snapshot in time, as the Malus baccata, Malus mandshurica, Malus pumila, database is evolving continually. Medicago cancellata, Miscanthus sacchariflorus, Miscanthus sinensis, Padus maackii, Prunus maackii, Prunus ENSCOBASE holdings mandshurica, Prunus nipponica, Prunus pedunculata, Prunus sibirica, Prunus ussuriensis, Prunus x eminens, Pyrus From mappings against Euro+Med PlantBase (checklist ) ussuriensis, Ribes mandshuricum and Rorippa cantoniensis). and The Plant List (checklist ), names of taxa were changed in ENSCOBASE because of misspellings or because differ- Checklist 6: 2014 IUCN European Red List of Medicinal ent synonymy systems were used by individual data providers. Since the end of the European Commission-funded Plants The list of species we used originated from  Appendix  of Allen et al. (). ENSCONET Coordination Action, in October , the database has been used to store data on European native seed accessions (see Table  for the evolution of holdings). Checklist 7: 1995 catalogue of the wild relatives of cultivated As of November , , native accessions were con- plants native to Europe The list of species we used served ex situ by seed banks across Europe, representing a originated from the catalogue of the wild relatives of total of , accepted taxa native to Europe, of  families. cultivated plants native to Europe (Heywood & Zohary, Thirty-four institutional data providers, most of them mem- ). To the best of our knowledge, all species and bers of the ENSCONET Consortium, collected seeds from subspecies that are not native to Europe (i.e. Avena  European and transcontinental countries such as byzantina, Brassica rapa subsp. chinensis, Brassica rapa Turkey and Georgia. All European biogeographical regions subsp. pekinensis, Brassica juncea, Cannabis spp., Ficus are covered, with the highest number of accessions from the carica, Medicago sativa subsp. sativa and Phoenix West Mediterranean region. The biggest individual data dactylifera) or garden origin (i.e. Viola x wittrockiana) provider is the Millennium Seed Bank, Royal Botanic were excluded. Gardens, Kew, with , accessions (, taxa). The

TABLE 1 Annual evolution of ENSCOBASE since October .

Annual evolution Accessions (Annual increase) Taxa (Annual increase) Until Oct. 2009 39,249 8,549 Nov. 2009–Oct. 2010 39,249 (+0) 8,549 (+0) Nov. 2010–Oct. 2011 43,678 (+4,429) 8,675 (+126) Nov. 2011–Oct. 2012 43,678 (+0) 8,675 (+0) Nov. 2012–Oct. 2013 46,930 (+3,252) 9,068 (+393) Nov. 2013–Oct. 2014 48,498 (+1,568) 9,216 (+148) Nov. 2014–Oct. 2015 52,205 (+3,707) 9,529 (+313) Nov. 2015–Nov. 2016 63,582 (+11,377) 11,515 (+1,986)

TABLE 2 Summary of progress towards meeting targets  and  of the – Global Strategy for Plant Conservation using ENSCOBASE.

Target 8a Target 8b Target 9 Checklists used for mapping 3 & 4 3 & 4 5, 6 & 7 Target threshold, % 75 20 70 Mapping with ENSCOBASE, % 62.68 (351/560 48.04 (269/560 75.36 (688/913 accepted species) accepted species) accepted species) Target met? No Yes Yes No. of species to reach target 71 Not applicable Not applicable

project ‘Ensuring the survival of endangered plants in the  additional species from the  European Red List of Mediterranean’ (Bacchetta et al., ), which was run by Vascular Plants and the IUCN Red List . by  seven partner seed banks during –, used (Table ). ENSCOBASE as its data platform for ex situ conservation The second part of target  (b) states a requirement of ‘at storage, and added , accessions representing  ac- least % (of threatened plant species) available for recovery cepted native taxa to the list of holdings. and restoration programmes’ (Convention on Biological Diversity, ). ENSCOBASE introduced a seed availability field to record whether an accession is available for recovery 2011–2020 Global Strategy for Plant Conservation and restoration programmes. The number of accessions targets 8 and 9 held for each threatened taxon conserved ex situ by ENSCONET and available for recovery and restoration pro- Mapping the target  accessions against checklists  and  grammes (target b) is reported in Table . ENSCOBASE in- produced accepted names and synonyms, but also invalid cludes  (.%, thus already exceeding the set target) of designations (one species) and misapplied names (two spe- the  species on the combined checklist  & . The num- cies) with the Euro+Med checklist, unresolved names with ber of accessions held for each threatened taxon conserved The Plant List ( species) or no hits with either list (nine ex situ by ENSCONET (target b) is in Supplementary species). Mapping the target  accessions against checklists Table S. ,  and  produced accepted names and synonyms, but also With respect to target  (% of the genetic diversity of unresolved names with The Plant List ( species) or no hits crops, including their wild relatives and other socio- with either list ( species). economically valuable plant species, conserved, while Regarding the first part of target  (a: at least %of respecting, preserving and maintaining associated indigen- threatened plant species in ex situ collections, preferably ous and local knowledge; Convention on Biological in the country of origin; Convention on Biological Diversity, ), the mapping shows that ENSCOBASE in- Diversity, ), ENSCOBASE holdings were mapped cludes  (.%, thus already exceeding the target for the against the  European Red List of Vascular Plants European region) of the  species of the combined check- (Bilz et al., ). ENSCOBASE includes  (.%) of lists ,  & . This analysis derives from the combined check- the  species on the combined checklist  and . The num- lists  (Crop Wild Relative Inventory, ),  (Allen et al., ber of accessions held for each threatened species conserved ) and  (Heywood & Zohary, ). The numbers of ac- ex situ by ENSCONET (target a) is in Supplementary cessions conserved ex situ by ENSCONET for each taxon of Table S. To reach the  species required to meet target the combined lists (target ) are reported in Supplementary a, European seed banks would need to collect and conserve Table S.

restoration and reintroduction programmes and may want to check first whether a seed lot has already been used in such programmes. Some information on restoration and reintroduction use has already been provided by institutes in France, Germany, Poland, Spain and the UK, and is available via a search menu in ENSCOBASE. Overall, activities undertaken by the ENSCONET Consortium are key for plant conservation in Europe. ENSCOBASE has become instrumental in disseminating information about the status of conservation of native seeds in Europe, especially with regard to targets  and  of the – FIG. 1 Number of species considered for targets  and  of the –  Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. When seeking  Global Strategy for Plant Conservation according to number of to compare our results with those of other studies examin-  – $  accessions stored in European seed banks ( , and ). ing progress towards the Strategy’s targets we found little published information at either national or regional/contin- Infraspecific diversity ental levels (Table ). A study focused on target  in Greece  Regarding the infraspecific diversity of the collections held found that of threatened and near-threatened national   in the ENSCONET Consortium seed banks, the results for endemics, ( %) are conserved ex situ (Krigas et al.,    target  show that  species on the combined checklist  & ). Of these, . % are accessioned in a single botanic    are represented by – accessions in ENSCOBASE, in- garden and . % in a single seed bank accession. Krigas  cluding  species not represented at all (i.e.  accessions) et al. ( ) concluded that a significant effort needed to  (Supplementary Table S). We can consider  species to be be made to achieve target . In a regional study in North   conserved effectively, according to Godefroid et al. (), America, Hird & Kramer ( ) found that % of North ’   with five or more accessions conserved ex situ (Fig. ). America s nearly , threatened taxa were stored in ex With respect to target , the results show that  species situ collections. They recommended further conservation on the combined checklist ,  &  are represented by actions focusing on increasing the representation of threa- – accessions in ENSCOBASE, including  species not tened species in ex situ collections and on assessing their represented at all (i.e.  accessions) (Supplementary genetic diversity. In a study of the Hawaiian flora,   Table S). We can consider  species to be conserved Weisenberger & Keir ( ) found that % of the threa- effectively, according to Godefroid et al. (), with five tened species of conservation importance were represented or more accessions conserved ex situ (Fig. ). in ex situ collections. To our knowledge, there is no published literature on progress towards target  in tropical regions, and a single reference suggested that the coverage was ‘  ’  Discussion most likely well below the % goal (Krupnick, ). Although this global comparison suggests that the situation Seed banks across Europe belonging to the ENSCONET in Europe is advanced compared to other areas, the Consortium have made significant progress in the conserva- ENSCONET Consortium will need to continue steering tion, storage and dissemination of information of European activities related to seed collection, curation, ex situ conser- native species, meeting targets b and  of the – vation and data-mobilization among its contributing mem- Global Strategy for Plant Conservation well in advance of bers in future years to meet international conservation the  deadline. The Consortium could also meet target target aby. New targeted seed collecting activities a with a push towards collecting and conserving ex situ an- should be started, focusing on the gaps in European ex other  species. Clearly, after each update of checklists  and situ collections highlighted in this study. In particular, add-  our analysis would need to be rerun. The Consortium has itional species should be targeted for collection based on a been able to reach such targets by keeping and collating in- coordinated effort across biogeographical regions to fill in formation on European ex situ seed conservation through the infraspecific gaps (i.e. threatened species occurring in its partnership and through the virtual infrastructure a specific bioregion that are missing) and tailor specific col- developed since . This has been aided by automated lection targets, for example for crop wild relatives. This can procedures that have been implemented for importing, ana- be facilitated by the ENSCONET Consortium network of re- lysing and disseminating the information uploaded into presentatives responsible for collection in specific biore- ENSCOBASE. gions, with collectors going beyond country borders to Another feature offered by ENSCOBASE is the possibil- cover as much infraspecific diversity as possible. A gap ity to order a seed lot from an institute where it is flagged as analysis of crop wild relatives in England showed that being available. Those ordering may be concerned with clear gaps existed in ex situ collections of crop wild relatives

TABLE 3 Summary of studies of progress towards targets  and  of the – Global Strategy for Plant Conservation in various geographical regions.

Target 8a Target 8b Target 9 (target threshold (target threshold (target threshold Geographical region 75%) 20%) 70%) Source Europe (including Macaronesia) 59.96% 45.91% 73.40% Current study Greece 48.03% Krigas et al. (2016) North America 35% Hird & Kramer (2013) Hawai‘i 73% Weisenberger & Keir (2014) Tropical regions ‘Most likely well Krupnick (2013) below’ England c. 50% Fielder et al. (2015)

(target ), with only just over half of priority crop wild rela- across groups of species. Regarding target ,thefirstindicator, tives having any stored accessions (Fielder et al., ). The ‘genetic diversity of wild relatives maintained’,showednopro- genetic diversity of these collections was also underrepre- gress towards the objective, and although there was a gradual sented, with only % of priority crop wild relatives having increase in ex situ conservation of crop wild relatives, their more than five stored accessions. A gap analysis, through conservation in situ remained largely insecure. There were in- ENSCOBASE, of the use of stored and available collections sufficient data available to evaluate a second indicator for this for research and conservation indicates that some threa- target. Our analysis of the ENSCOBASE holdings has in- tened species are represented by only one or a few collec- creased the information available related to the status of the tions. This should spur the establishment of more diverse ex situ conservation of threatened plant species in Europe, as collections, especially across biogeographical regions. well as the genetic diversity of crop wild relatives and other Although storing, for example, one accession per species socio-economically valuable plant species. is only a start in aiding research and conservation, the ENSCONET Consortium network, with limited resources, has been trying to assemble the widest range of genetic di- Acknowledgements versity in the shortest time. The ENSCONET Consortium We would like to thank all ENSCOBASE data providers. We now needs to improve the infraspecific diversity of its collec- are especially grateful to Alexander Antonakakis and tions, and for this it can rely on ENSCOBASE, which pro- Nicolas Boretos for the ongoing maintenance of the vides key information to identify necessary targets. ENSCOBASE server at the Mediterranean Agronomic – In an effort to extend our comparison to Aichi Institute of Chania, Crete, Greece. We also thank Suzanne ‘ Strategic Goal C to improve the status of biodiversity by Sharrock, Malin Rivers, Adelaide Clemente and Simon ’ safeguarding ecosystems, species and genetic diversity Linington for their constructive feedback on an earlier ver-  (Convention on Biological Diversity, ), we found that a sion of this article. We are very grateful to Eckhard von first midterm review did not indicate any relevant progress to- Raab-Straube (Botanischer Garten und Botanisches wards the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation targets Museum Berlin-Dahlem) for providing us with the latest  – (Tittensor et al., ).Inanotherstudy,twotargetsof version of the Euro+Med taxonomic data.  Aichi Strategic Goal C were reviewed (Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, ): target  ‘by , the extinction of known threatened species has been prevented Author contributions and their conservation status, particularly of those most in de- cline, has been improved and sustained,’ and target  ‘by , Both authors planned the study, and contributed to the art- the genetic diversity of cultivated plants and farmed and icle. SR carried out the data compilation and analysis, and domesticated animals and of wild relatives, including other produced the results. socio-economically as well as culturally valuable species, is maintained, and strategies have been developed and imple- References mented for minimizing genetic erosion and safeguarding their genetic diversity.’ Regarding target ,twoindicators ALLEN, D., BILZ, M., LEAMAN, D.J., MILLER, R.M., TIMOSHYNA,A.& showed either no progress towards the objective, with further WINDOW,J.() European Red List of Medicinal Plants. extinctions expected by  (e.g. for amphibians and fish, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg. Http:// cmsdata.iucn.org/downloads/iucn_european_red_list_of_ whereas for bird and mammal species some actions had pre- medicinal_plants_web.pdf [accessed  November ]. vented extinctions), or a regression, as the Red List Index was BACCHETTA, G., GIL GIL, T., VICENS FORNÉS, M., MÜLLER, J., still declining, and no overall sign of reduced risk of extinction KYRATZIS, A., FOURNARAKI, C. et al. () Ensuring the Survival of

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J ONAS M ÜLLER is a plant ecologist Strategy for Plant Conservation: lessons learned from the North with a wide range of research interests. He is particularly interested American collections assessment. Annals of the Missouri Botanical in the behaviour of individual plants, such as seed germination, in re- Garden, , –. lation to environmental factors, and in the responses of plants to IUCN ()  Categories & Criteria (version .). Http://www. human interference at various temporal and spatial scales. He is also iucnredlist.org/static/categories_criteria__ [accessed  November interested in crop wild relatives and their contribution towards global ]. food security.