Abstract
The Germplasm Bank of Universidad Rey Juan Carlos was created in 2008 and currently holds 235 accessions and 96 species. This bank focuses on the conservation of wild-plant communities and aims to conserve ex situ a representative sample of the plant biodiversity present in a habitat, emphasizing priority ecosystems identified by the Habitats Directive. It is also used to store plant material for research and teaching purposes. The collection consists of three subcollections, two representative of typical habitats in the center of the Iberian Peninsula: high-mountain pastures (psicroxerophylous pastures) and semi-arid habitats (gypsophylic steppes), and a third representative of the genus Lupinus. The high-mountain subcollection currently holds 153 accessions (63 species), the semi-arid subcollection has 76 accessions (29 species,) and the Lupinus subcollection has 6 accessions (4 species). All accessions are stored in a freezer at -18 °C in Kilner jars with silica gel. The Germplasm Bank of Universidad Rey Juan Carlos follows a quality control protocol which describes the workflow performed with seeds from seed collection to storage. All collectors are members of research groups with great experience in species identification. Herbarium specimens associated with seed accessions are preserved and 63% of the records have been georreferenced with GPS and radio points. The dataset provides unique information concerning the location of populations of plant species that form part of the psicroxerophylous pastures and gypsophylic steppes of Central Spain as well as populations of genus Lupinus in the Iberian Peninsula. It also provides relevant information concerning mean seed weight and seed germination values under specific incubation conditions. This dataset has already been used by researchers of the Area of Biodiversity and Conservation of URJC as a source of information for the design and implementation of experimental designs in these plant communities. Since they are all active subcollections in continuous growth, data is updated regularly every six months and the latest version can be accessed through the GBIF data portal at http://www.gbif.es:8080/ipt/resource.do?r=germoplasma-urjc. This paper describes the URJC Germplasm Bank and its associated dataset with the aim of disseminating the dataset and explaining how it was derived.
Highlights
This paper describes the URJC Germplasm Bank and its associated dataset with the aim of disseminating the dataset and explaining how it was derived
The objective of this germplasm bank is to conserve ex situ a representative sample of the entire plant biodiversity characteristic of a habitat with special emphasis on habitats defined as priority habitats by the Habitats Directive
The Sierra de Guadarrama and gypsophylic steppes of Central Spain are the most significant areas represented in URJC Germplasm Bank (URJC GB)
Summary
The URJC Germplasm BankThe URJC Germplasm Bank (URJC GB) was created in 2008 and focuses on the conservation of wild plant communities. As the most appropriate way to conserve a biological entity is within the ecosystem that it naturally forms part of (Gómez-Campo 1985, Prance 1997), the concept of seed banks can be reconsidered, at least for wild species. In this context, the objective of this germplasm bank is to conserve ex situ a representative sample of the entire plant biodiversity characteristic of a habitat with special emphasis on habitats defined as priority habitats by the Habitats Directive. There are 153 accessions and 63 species in the high-mountain subcollection, 76 accessions and 29 species in the semi-arid subcollection and 6 accessions and 4 species in the Lupinus subcollection
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