Summary
Botanical gardens once played a key role in plant taxonomic research. For the majority of gardens, this is no longer the case. In recent years, botanical gardens have turned to conservation as one of their major goals. A “Botanical Gardens Conservation Strategy” was launched by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) Botanical Gardens Conservation Secretariat with emphasis given to wild plants of economic use. It is stated by advocates of this policy that botanical gardens are ex situ centers par excellence. However, the role that botanical gardens can play in conservation of plant species may be questioned. Doubts include the problem of in situ vs. ex situ collections in general, and the present status of collections held by botanical gardens in particular. Normally, genetic variation within species, the concern of conservation genetics, is totally underrepresented in botanical gardens, a considerable percentage of plants is mislabeled, and proper documentation is weak. It is nevertheless argued that botanical gardens can play an active role in conservation efforts. First, they can influence broad public opinion and create proper education programs. Second, they shoud establish ex situ collections for local wild plants and could propagate and provide material for reintroduction programs. To achieve these goals botanical gardens have to base their activities on a sound basis, and have to collaborate with research institutions and conservationists.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ashton, P. S. (1987) Biological considerations in in situ vs ex situ plant conservation. In: Bramwell, D., Hamann, O., Heywood, V. and Synge, H. (eds), Botanic gardens and the world conservation strategy. Acad. Press, London, pp. 117–130.
Ashton, P. S. (1988) Conservation of biological diversity in botanical gardens. In: Wilson, E. O. (ed.), Biodiversity. Nat. Acad. Press, Washington, DC., pp. 269–278.
Bermejo, J. E. H., Clemente, M. and Heywood, V. (1990) Conservation techniques in botanic gardens. Koeltz Scient. Books, Koenigstein, Germany.
Blixt, S. (1992) Gene banks for plant conservation. In: Sandlund, O. T., Hindar, K. and Brown, A. H. D. (eds), Conservation of biodiversity for sustainable development. Scandinavian Univ. Press, Oslo, pp. 204–213.
Bramwell, D., Hamann, O., Heywood, V. and Synge, H. (1987) Botanic gardens and the world conservation strategy. Acad. Press, London.
Brown, A. H. D. and Briggs, J. D. (1991) Sampling strategies for genetic variation in ex situ collections of endangered plant species. In: Falk, D. A. and Holsinger, K. E. (eds), Genetics and conservation of rare plants. Oxford Univ. Press, New York, pp. 99–119.
Eberhart, S. A., Roos, E. E. and Towill, L. E. (1991) Strategies for long-term management of germplasm collections. In: Falk, D. A. and Holsinger, K. E. (eds), Genetics and conservation of rare plants. Oxford Univ. Press, New York, pp. 135–148.
Ehrenfeld, D. (1988) Why put a value on biodiversity? In: Wilson, E. O. (ed.), Biodiversity. Nat. Acad. Press, Washington DC., pp. 212–216.
Falk, D. A. and Holsinger, K. E. (1991) Genetics and conservation of rare plants. Oxford Univ. Press, New York.
FAO and UNEP (1982) Tropical forest resources. Food and Agriculture Organization, and United Nations Environment Programme, Rome, Nairobi.
Frankel, O. H. (1974) Genetic conservation: our evolutionary responsibility. Genetics 78: 53–65.
Frankel, O. H. and Soulé, M. E. (1981) Conservation and evolution. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge.
Hamann, O. (1987) The IUCN/WWF plants conservation programme in action. In: Bramwell, D., Hamann, O., Heywood, V. and Synge, H. (eds), Botanic gardens and the world conservation strategy. Acad. Press, London, pp. 31–43.
Hamrick, J. L., Godt, M. J. W., Murawski, D. A. and Loveless, M. D. (1991) Correlations between species traits and allozyme diversity: implications for conservation biology. In: Falk, D. A. and Holsinger, K. E. (eds), Genetics and conservation of rare plants. Oxford Univ. Press, New York, pp. 75–86.
Hawkes, J. G. (1987) A strategy for seed banking in botanic gardens. In: Bramwell, D., Hamann, O., Heywood, V. and Synge, H. (eds), Botanic gardens and the world conservation strategy. Acad. Press, London, pp. 131–149.
Heywood, V. H. (1992) Conservation of germplasm of wild plant species. In: Sandlund, O. T., Hindar, K. and Brown, A. H. D. (eds), Conservation of biodiversity for sustainable development. Scandinavian Univ. Press, Oslo, pp. 189–203.
IUCN and WWF (1984) The IUCN/WWF plants conservation programme 1984–1985. International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, Gland, Switzerland.
IUCN, UNEP and WWF (1980) World conservation strategy. International Union for Conservation of Natural Resources, Gland, Switzerland.
Janzen, D. H. (1992) A south-north perspective on science in management, use, and economic development of biodiversity. In: Sandlund, O. T., Hindar, K. and Brown, A. H. D. (eds), Conservation of biodiversity for sustainable development. Scandinavian Univ. Press, Oslo, pp. 27–52.
Marshall, D. R. and Brown, A. H. D. (1975) Optimum sampling strategies in genetic conservation. In: Frankel, O. H. and Hawkes, J. G. (eds), Crop genetic resources for today and tomorrow. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, pp. 53–80.
McNeely, J. A. (1992) The biodiversity crises: challenges for research and management. In: Sandlund, O. T., Hindar, K. and Brown, A. H. D. (eds), Conservation of biodiversity for sustainable development. Scandinavian Univ. Press, Oslo, pp. 15–26.
McNeely, J. A., Miller, K.-R., Reid, W., Mittermeier, R. and Werner, T. (1990) Conserving the world’s biological diversity. International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. World Resource Institute, World Bank, World Wide Fund for Nature US, and Conservation International, Washington DC.
Naess, A. (1989) Ecology, community and lifestyle. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge.
Raven, P. H. (1981) Research in botanical gardens. Bot. Jahrb. 102: 53–72.
Simmons, J. B., Beyer, R. I., Brandham, P. E., Lucas, G. and Parry, V. T. H. (1976) Conservation of threatened plants. Plenum Press, New York.
Soulé, M. E. and Mills, L. S. (1992) Conservation genetics and conservation biology: a troubled marriage. In: Sandlund, O. T., Hindar, K. and Brown, A. H. D. (eds), Converva-tion of biodiversity for sustainable development. Scandinavian Univ. Press, Oslo, pp. 55–69.
Vane-Wright, R. I., Humphries, C. J. and Williams, P. H. (1991) What to protect? -Systematics and the agony of choice. Biol. Conserv. 55: 235–254.
WCED (1987) Our common future. World Commission on Environment and Development. Oxford Univ. Press, Oxford.
Wilson, E. O. (1988) The current study of biological diversity. In: Wilson, E. O. (ed.), Biodiversity. Nat. Acad. Press, Washington, DC, pp. 3–18.
WWF, IUCN and BGCS (1989) The botanic gardens conservation strategy. World Wide Fund for Nature, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, Botanic Gardens Conservation Secretariat, Gland and Richmond.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1994 Springer Basel AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Hurka, H. (1994). Conservation genetics and the role of botanical gardens. In: Loeschcke, V., Jain, S.K., Tomiuk, J. (eds) Conservation Genetics. EXS, vol 68. Birkhäuser, Basel. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-8510-2_29
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-0348-8510-2_29
Publisher Name: Birkhäuser, Basel
Print ISBN: 978-3-0348-9657-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-0348-8510-2
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive