Seed Bank Research Articles

Topsoil Seed Bank as Feeding Ground for Farmland Birds: A Comparative Assessment in Agricultural Habitats

The topsoil seed bank was studied in four types of agricultural bird habitats: fields with cereals, maize, clover and tilled fields of a Mediterranean plain to determine the potentially richest habitat based on food supply for the wintering farmland birds. The diversity and abundance of topsoil seeds differed between seasons but did not differ significantly between habitats. The cereal habitat was the richest in food supply for the overwintering of farmland birds. The topsoil seed bank was dominated by Chenopodium album, Polygonum aviculare and Amaranthus retroflexus. The findings of this study provide insight for low-intensity management of higher-elevation mount agricultural areas of southern Mediterranean by preserving seed-rich habitats for farmland avifauna.

The Similarity between Species Composition of Vegetation and Soil Seed Bank of Grasslands in Inner Mongolia, China: Implications for the Asymmetric Response to Precipitation.

The asymmetric response of productivity to precipitation was recently proposed as an early warning signal for the shifts in temperate grassland function in China. It was hypothesized that the asymmetry was influenced by the increased growth of the newly emerged seedlings from the soil seed bank. Therefore, the seed density in the soil seed bank and the similarity between species composition of the vegetation and the soil seed bank should be maximized where asymmetry was maximized. However, this knowledge was still limited and unconfirmed. In this study, the desert steppe, typical steppe and the transition zone between them (with the highest asymmetry) were selected for studying the similarity index in both 2018 (dry year) and 2019 (wet year). Plant species composition was monitored in situ using an unmanned aerial vehicle. Soil seed bank samples were collected, and the seed bank density and species composition were then examined and identified in the laboratory. Results showed that: (1) The variation in vegetation species richness between the two years was the highest (41%) in the transition zone (p < 0.05), while it was only 7% and 13% for the desert steppe and typical steppe, respectively. The presence of herbaceous species mainly caused the differences in variation among three grassland types. (2) Seed density was the highest in the transition zone (114 seeds/m2 and 68 seeds/m2 in the transient and persistent soil seed bank, respectively) (p < 0.05). Additionally, herbaceous species were the main components of the soil seed bank. (3) The similarity index was the highest in the transition zone (p < 0.05), with 38%/44% and 33%/44% for the transient/persistent soil seed bank in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Our study demonstrated that variation in vegetation species composition was very similar to the composition of the seeds accumulated in the soil seed bank. These results warrant further investigation for the mechanism of asymmetric response of productivity to precipitation.

Влияние замораживания семян кенафа (Hibiscus cannabinus L.) на всхожесть, рост и развитие растений

Abstract A comparative study of the effect of different storage regimes of seeds (at + 5 ° С, -20 ° С and under deep freezing conditions at -196 ° С) of a valuable bast fiber culture - kenaf - Hibiscus cannabinus L. on their viability and the development of plants from them in field conditions. Freezing increases the laboratory and field germination of kenaf seeds, and also increases the energy of their germination. It did not cause the appearance of non-viable, ugly seedlings and plants, as well as their death. Plants went through a full development cycle and set full-fledged seeds. Biometric parameters of plants obtained from thawed seeds and control ones are very close. Cryopreservation is a promising way of storing seeds of the studied species, since it ensures longer periods of preservation of their viability. Keywords: KENAF, SEED BANKS, LONG-TERM SEED STORAGE REGIMES, CRYOCONSERVATION

Social Learning and Paulo Freire Concepts for Understanding Food Security Cases in Brazil

Food insecurity is a wicked, complex, and critical problem. Although evidence supporting a wide range of assertions regarding the outcomes of social learning is still being investigated, its potential to improve food security challenges is growing. Nonetheless, more work is needed to understand when and how social learning-oriented approaches are effective in food security situations. We address this gap by investigating how elements of social learning and Freire’s key concepts are exemplified in existing real-world experiences of food security in rural communities. The case studies in Brazil, Community Seed Banks in Paraíba State, in the northeast and Biodiversity Kit in Guaraciaba, Santa Catarina State, in the south, are examples of small farmers facing and overcoming their limit-situation of food insecurity through celebrating, planting, and saving traditional seeds (landraces). A mixed-methods approach was applied based on semi-structured interviews and a literature review. The key findings show that local initiatives based on the interconnections of social learning and Freire´s concepts have improved food security in two cases. The practice of landrace rescue as a food security strategy is strengthened through a culture of closeness and solidarity, through values that are celebrated in the festivities, community meetings, and other exchanges of experiences. Applications of our conceptual framework in operational interventions show clear potential for generating the necessary changes for a more sustainable world, specifically in food security and sovereignty projects, as described in the cases studies.

News from the Australian seed bank partnership out of the freezer, into the fire: repatriation of a rare pea from the UK Seed Bank for bushfire recovery

News from the Australian seed bank partnership out of the freezer, into the fire: repatriation of a rare pea from the UK Seed Bank for bushfire recovery

Edge effects on the realised soil seed bank along microclimatic gradients in temperate European forests

Despite the crucial role of the seed bank in forest conservation and dynamics, the effects of forest edge microclimate and climate warming on germination responses from the forest seed bank are still almost unknown. Here, we investigated edge effects on the realised seed bank and seedling community in two types of European temperate deciduous forest, one in the Oceanic and one in the Mediterranean climatic region. Responses in terms of seedling density, diversity, species composition and functional type of the seed bank at the forest edge and interior were examined along latitudinal, elevational and stand structural gradients by means of soil translocation experiments. Moreover, we translocated soil samples from high to low elevation forests in the two regions, thus performing a warming simulation. Density, species diversity and mortality of the seedlings varied with region and elevation. Seedling density also differed between forest edge and interior position, while seedling cover mainly depended on forest structure. Both the edge and interior forest seed bank contained a high proportion of generalist species. In Belgium, a more homogeneous seed bank was found at the forest edge and interior, while in Italy compositional and ecological differences were larger: at the forest edge, more light and less moisture demanding seedling communities developed, with a higher proportion of generalists compared to the interior. In both regions, the upland-to-lowland translocation experiment revealed effects of warming on forest seed banks with thermophilization of the realised communities. Moreover, edge conditions shifted the seedling composition towards more light-demanding communities. The establishment of more light and warm-adapted species from the seed bank could in the long term alter the aboveground vegetation composition, with communities becoming progressively richer in light-demanding generalists and poorer in forest specialists.

Влияние замораживания семян Abutilon theophrasti Medik. и Eruca vesicaria (L.) Cav. на всхожесть, рост и развитие растений

A comparative study of the effect of different storage regimes of seeds (at + 5 ° С, -20 ° С and under deep freezing conditions at -196 ° С) of two cultivated plants of the Abutilon theophrasti Medik. and Eruca vesicaria (L.) Cav. on their viability and the development of plants from them in the field was carried out. Freezing increases the laboratory and field germination of the seeds of the A. theophrasti and does not significantly affect the germination of the seeds of the A. theophrasti, and also increases the germination energy of the seeds of both plant species. It did not cause the appearance of non-viable, ugly seedlings and plants. Plants went through a full development cycle and set full-value seeds. Biometric parameters of plants obtained from thawed seeds and control ones are very close. Cryopreservation is a promising way of storing seeds of the studied species, since it ensures longer periods of preservation of their viability. Keywords: ABUTILON THEOPHRASTI; ERUCA VESICARIA; SEED BANKS; LONG-TERM SEED STORAGE REGIMES; CRYOPRESERVATION

Assessing the storage potential of Australian rainforest seeds: a decision-making key to aid rapid conservation

Seed banking of rainforest species is hindered by lack of knowledge as to which species are tolerant of desiccation and freezing. We assessed 313 Australian rainforest species for seed banking suitability by comparing the germination percentage of fresh seeds to seeds dried at 15% RH and seeds stored at −20 °C after drying. We then compared desiccation responses to environmental, habit, fruit and seed characteristics to identify the most useful predictors of desiccation sensitivity. Of 162 species with ≥ 50% initial germination, 22% were sensitive to desiccation, 64% were tolerant and 10% were partially tolerant; the responses of 4% were uncertain. Of 107 desiccation tolerant species tested for response to freezing, 24% were freezing sensitive or short-lived in storage at −20 °C. Median values for fresh seed moisture content (SMC), oven dry weight (DW) and the likelihood of desiccation sensitivity (PD-S) were significantly greater for desiccation sensitive than desiccation tolerant seeds. Ninety-four to 97% of seeds with SMC < 29%, DW < 20 mg or PD-S < 0.01 were desiccation tolerant. Ordinal logistic regression of desiccation response against environmental, habit, fruit and seed characteristics indicated that the likelihood of desiccation sensitivity was significantly increased by a tree habit, fleshy fruit, increasing fresh SMC and increasing PD-S. The responses observed in this study were combined with earlier studies to develop a simple decision key to aid prediction of desiccation responses in untested rainforest species.

Composition of native and alien invasive species in soil seed banks of five different physiognomies in Akure Forest Reserve, Ondo State, Nigeria

The study investigated the composition of native and alien invasive species in soil seed banks of five different vegetation physiognomies in Akure Forest Reserve Ondo State, Nigeria. This was done with a view to determining and providing an insight into the population dynamics of alien, invasive species for subsequent prediction of potential plant population of the extant population. Five distinct sites (Natural forest, Teak plantation, Taungya system, Taungya + Teak + Gmelina and Teak + Gmelina + Pinus Plantation) designated as A, B, C, D and E were selected in the Forest Reserve. Two plots 25 m x 25 m each were selected for sampling in each of the five distinct physiognomies. Five replicates soil samples were randomly collected at 0-15 cm soil depth in dry and rainy seasons in each site and they were subjected to seedlings emergence for six months to determine the density and species composition (natives or aliens and percentage contribution) of the seed bank. The results of the seedling emergence revealed that the seed bank was dominated by herbaceous stems and also the proportion of aliens to natives was low. Analysis of variance revealed that there was no significant difference (P&gt;0.05) in the density of both the aliens and native species in sites A, B and C indicating similarities in the seed bank density of the aliens and natives in the three sites while in sites D and E, there was a significant difference (P&lt;0.05) indicating dissimilarity in the seed bank density of the aliens and natives in the two sites.Keywords: Plant Ecology, Forest, Seedling Emergence, Seed Bank, Alien Species, Conservation.

Role of Seed Banks in the Conservation of Plant Diversity and Ecological Restoration

An appropriate method for conservation of a particular plant gene pool needs extensive approach, collaborate the different ex situ and in situ methods. Gene banks are a type of bio repository that preserves genetic material. According to Dekker, 1997, [12] a seed bank stores seeds to preserve genetic diversity ; hence it is a type of gene bank . There are currently more than 1,000 seed banks exist around the world, varying in type, size and focus. The world's largest secure seed storage is Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Whereas in India, Indian Seed Vault is the largest secure seed bank lies in a high-altitude mountain pass on the Chang La seed vault in Ladakh. Seed banks are maintained with the objectives of improving the effectiveness of sustainable management and conservation of biodiversity through adequate conservation and preserving the genes that plant breeders need to disease resistance, nutritional quality, drought tolerance, taste, increase yield etc. of crops. There are two most important studies regarding seed bank, i.e., soil seed bank and canopy seed bank. In agroecosystem, soil seed bank is more closely related to weed seed bank study [8]. According to Karim et al., 2018 [15], Parthenium weed (Parthenium hysterophorus L., Family: Asteraceae) is an invasive alien species threatening the biodiversity and the environment in Malaysia. A canopy seed bank or aerial seed bank is the aggregate of viable seed stored by a plant in its canopy. Canopy seed banks occur in plants that delays seed dispersal for some reason. Seed dispersal in serotinous species is normally triggered by fire and seeds are short‐lived after release, germinating during the first favourable period [9]. Therefore, Seed banks have a vital role to play in supporting integrated strategies for conservation and sustainable use of plants. The cost effectiveness of seed banking technology clearly depends on the seed biology of the target species, and the role that the collection will play in long-term conservation and ecological restoration strategies. Seed bank recognises the opportunity to provide ecological restoration materials to users. Seed banks respond to the increasing demand for seed and provide information to support habitat restoration and also reintroduction of threatened species. Cite as Jui Ray, & Sanjoy Kumar Bordolui. (2021). Role of Seed Banks in the Conservation of Plant Diversity and Ecological Restoration. Research and Reviews: Journal of Environmental Sciences, 3(2), 1–16. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4922618

The demographic and ecological factors shaping diversification among rareAstragalusspecies

AbstractAimEvolutionary radiations are central to the origin and maintenance of biodiversity, yet we rarely understand how they are jointly shaped by demography and ecological opportunity.Astragalusis the largest plant genus in the world and is disproportionately comprised of rare species restricted to narrow geographic and ecological regions. Here, we explored the demographic and ecological mechanisms underlying patterns of diversification in a threatenedAstragalusspecies complex endemic to a small desert region in the western United States.LocationSoutheast Utah, USA.MethodsWe used high‐throughput DNA sequencing to infer genetic structure, genetic diversity, and demographic history (i.e., the timing of population divergence, effective population sizes and gene flow) amongAstragalustaxa. We performed landscape genetic analyses to quantify the relationships between genetic differentiation, geographic distance, and ecological distance based on bioclimatic and soil variables. Finally, we identified putative adaptive loci that show higher genetic differentiation between taxa than expected based on our inferred neutral demographic model.ResultsWe found evidence of low gene flow between three highly differentiated taxa (currently delineated asA.iselyi,A.sabulosusvar.sabulosusandA. sabulosusvar.vehiculus) that rapidly diverged from a small ancestral population near the beginning of the last glacial period. Genomic signatures revealed long‐term effective population sizes are 2–10× larger than recent census sizes, perhaps due to the maintenance of standing genetic variation through seed banks. Consistent with limited dispersal and local adaptation, genome‐wide patterns of differentiation are shaped by geographic distance (isolation‐by‐distance) and climate and soil variation (isolation‐by‐environment). Taxon‐specific adaptation is further supported by uncovering putative adaptive loci.Main ConclusionsOur findings suggest that interactions between demography (i.e., dispersal limitations and seeds banks) and ecological opportunity (i.e., spatial and temporal environmental heterogeneity) may promote diversification, endemism, and rarity among closely relatedAstragalusspecies and similar plant clades distributed across complex landscapes.

Influence of Short and Long Period Abandonment from Agriculture on Vegetation and Soil Seed Bank Composition Compared to Undisturbed Forest in Zagros Region

Influence of Short and Long Period Abandonment from Agriculture on Vegetation and Soil Seed Bank Composition Compared to Undisturbed Forest in Zagros Region

Community Seed Banks in China: Achievements, Challenges and Prospects

The rich agrobiodiversity of China is under unprecedented threat, experiencing a dramatic loss of many valuable local varieties and wild relatives of main crops. The country's formal conservation system of ex situ genebanks faces serious challenges to address this loss. Community seed banks can play a key role to complement the conservation activities of these genebanks and provide other important collective goods, such as evolutionary services, but although they have been around for some 35 years in various parts of the world, in China they have a much shorter history. In recent years though the number has increased to almost 30 in 2020, in particular due to the efforts of the China Farmers' Seed Network. The community seed banks in the country are very diverse in terms of functions and services, forms of management and institutional linkages. Compared to the most common functions of community seed banks in other countries, China is bringing an important design innovation through two new functions: adding value to seed and produce through innovative marketing strategies, and building regional and national seed system linkages and fostering collaboration. The review of community seed banking not only provides rich empirical evidence, but also makes an important contribution to theory. Building on the achievements of community seed banking in the last decade, there is scope to scale this kind of very valuable agrobiodiversity conservation approach through more effective uptake and support by relevant national policies.

Distribution and ecology of the Hajar Mountain endemic Schweinfurthia imbricata in the United Arab Emirates

ABSTRACT Field studies of the distribution and ecology of endemic species are fundamental for conservation planning. Schweinfurthia imbricata A.G.Mill., M.Short & D.A.Sutton is a scarce regional endemic found in the Hajar Mountains of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Northern Oman, and their periphery. Based on recent fieldwork by the Sharjah Seed Bank and Herbarium (SSBH) and literature data, this paper presents the first detailed account of the distribution, habitat preferences and phenology of S. imbricata in the UAE. Among other things, our fieldwork indicates that S. imbricata is more common and widespread in the UAE than has previously been recognized, including at least 19 heretofore unpublished localities, all hosting multiple individual plants. The implications of our findings for the conservation status of S. imbricata in the UAE are briefly discussed.

Exploring the End-Use Quality Potential of a Collection of Spanish Bread Wheat Landraces.

Modern plant-breeding practices have narrowed the genetic base of wheat, such that there is a need to introduce new germplasms with underexploited diversity into breeding programs. Wheat landraces are a very valuable resource when searching for genetic variation, which not only possess increased adaptability, but also quality-related traits. Several studies have shown a wide genetic diversity in Spanish wheat landraces compared to other germplasm collections; therefore, the main objective of this study is to analyze the variability in a collection of 189 landraces from the Spanish National Plant Genetic Resources Centre (Centro de Recursos Fitogenéticos, CRF-INIA, Alcalá de Henares), in relation to end-use quality traits. We characterized the whole collection for high-molecular-weight glutenin and puroindoline allelic composition, and for gluten strength. In addition, grain protein content, grains per spike, and thousand kernel weight were evaluated in samples from four-year field trials. The relationship between glutenin composition and quality was evaluated, and some alleles strongly associated with high quality were identified in the collection, some of them specific for Iberian landraces. The results also show the presence of novel variability within high-molecular-weight glutenin and puroindolines, which needs to be characterized further in order to assess its influence on wheat quality. In addition, a set of landraces showing outstanding values for gluten quality and a good agronomic performance was selected for testing in field trials in order to evaluate the suitability of their direct use in cropping systems.

Seed Banks as Incidental Fungi Banks: Fungal Endophyte Diversity in Stored Seeds of Banana Wild Relatives.

Seed banks were first established to conserve crop genetic diversity, but seed banking has more recently been extended to wild plants, particularly crop wild relatives (CWRs) (e.g., by the Millennium Seed Bank (MSB), Royal Botanic Gardens Kew). CWRs have been recognised as potential reservoirs of beneficial traits for our domesticated crops, and with mounting evidence of the importance of the microbiome to organismal health, it follows that the microbial communities of wild relatives could also be a valuable resource for crop resilience to environmental and pathogenic threats. Endophytic fungi reside asymptomatically inside all plant tissues and have been found to confer advantages to their plant host. Preserving the natural microbial diversity of plants could therefore represent an important secondary conservation role of seed banks. At the same time, species that are reported as endophytes may also be latent pathogens. We explored the potential of the MSB as an incidental fungal endophyte bank by assessing diversity of fungi inside stored seeds. Using banana CWRs in the genus Musa as a case-study, we sequenced an extended ITS-LSU fragment in order to delimit operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and used a similarity and phylogenetics approach for classification. Fungi were successfully detected inside just under one third of the seeds, with a few genera accounting for most of the OTUs–primarily Lasiodiplodia, Fusarium, and Aspergillus–while a large variety of rare OTUs from across the Ascomycota were isolated only once. Fusarium species were notably abundant–of significance in light of Fusarium wilt, a disease threatening global banana crops–and so were targeted for additional sequencing with the marker EF1α in order to delimit species and place them in a phylogeny of the genus. Endophyte community composition, diversity and abundance was significantly different across habitats, and we explored the relationship between community differences and seed germination/viability. Our results show that there is a previously neglected invisible fungal dimension to seed banking that could well have implications for the seed collection and storage procedures, and that collections such as the MSB are indeed a novel source of potentially useful fungal strains.

Common Vetch, Valuable Germplasm for Resilient Agriculture: Genetic Characterization and Spanish Core Collection Development.

Common vetch (Vicia sativa L.) is a legume used for animal feed because of its high protein content and great capacity for nitrogen fixation, making this crop relevant in sustainable agriculture. The Spanish vetch collection, conserved at the Spanish Plant Genetic Resources Center (CRF), is one of the largest collections of this species worldwide, including landraces, wild relatives mainly collected in Spain, and commercial cultivars, but also accessions of international origin. The analysis of the genetic diversity of this material, whose genome has not been sequenced yet, and the assembly of a representative collection could play a pivotal role in conserving and exploiting these genetic resources in breeding programs mainly in those focused on consequences and demands of climate change. In this work, a set of 14 simple sequence repeat (SSR) reference alleles for genetic diversity analysis of the CRF vetch collection has been developed, used for genotyping more than 545 common vetch accessions from all over the world and validated. All the tested markers were polymorphic for the analyzed accessions. Overall, at least 86 different loci were identified with 2–11 alleles per locus with an average of 6.1 alleles per locus. Also, the analyses of the generated SSR database support that most of these SSR markers are transferable across closely related species of Vicia genus. Analysis of molecular variance revealed that wild relatives have a higher genetic diversity than landraces. However, cultivars have similar diversity than landraces, indicating that genetic variability has been barely lost due to the breeding of this legume. Low differences of genetic variations between Spanish and non-Spanish accessions have been observed, suggesting a high degree of diversity within Spanish genotypes, which provide 95% of the total genetic variation, so we have focused our efforts on characterizing genotypes of Spanish origin that were further studied using storage protein profiles. Based on SSR, seed protein profiles, and agromorphological and passport data, a vetch core collection (VCC) containing 47 V. sativa accessions of Spanish origin has been established. In this collection, the characterization has been expanded using ISSR markers, and it has been reevaluated with new agromorphological data, including drought tolerance characters. This VCC presents a minimum loss of genetic diversity concerning the total collection and constitutes an invaluable material that can be used in future breeding programs for direct use in a resilient agricultural system.

Making Post/Anthropocentric Futures in Agrobiodiversity Conservation

Abstract Since the mid-twentieth century global modernization of agriculture, seed banking has become a core technoscientific strategy to counteract agrobiodiversity loss and ensure future food security. This article develops a post-anthropocentric reading of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault as a nodal point of global ex situ conservation efforts. Based on qualitative expert interviews, I explore the rationality of crisis and salvation that underlies these efforts and discuss its roots in an anthropocentric relation to nature as a resource. By arguing that the latter produces the crises that conservation measures intend to counteract, I show how the Seed Vault conserves this resource-orientation. I then illustrate a concurrent unruliness of more-than-human worldly becoming the embracing of which, I argue, is a way for conservationism to cultivate different, non-crisic futures.

Making Post/Anthropocentric Futures in Agrobiodiversity Conservation

Since the mid-twentieth century global modernization of agriculture, seed banking has become a core technoscientific strategy to counteract agrobiodiversity loss and ensure future food security. This article develops a post-anthropocentric reading of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault as a nodal point of global ex situ conservation efforts. Based on qualitative expert interviews, I explore the rationality of crisis and salvation that underlies these efforts and discuss its roots in an anthropocentric relation to nature as a resource. By arguing that the latter produces the crises that conservation measures intend to counteract, I show how the Seed Vault conserves this resource-orientation. I then illustrate a concurrent unruliness of more-than-human worldly becoming the embracing of which, I argue, is a way for conservationism to cultivate different, non-crisic futures.

High seed viability recorded in an endangered endemic species, 'Isoplexis isabelliana' (Scrophulariaceae), after more than 30 years of storage in a conservation seed bank

Conservation seed banks are essential for ex-situ conservation of genetic biodiversity. These institutions are especially relevant for threatened species and play a vital role in their conservation by preserving genetic material. However, samples deposited in the seed banks must germinate when necessary to use them (i.e., recovery plans, etc.). This study uses four accessions of the endemic endangered species from Gran Canaria Island (Canary Islands), Isoplexis isabelliana (Webb &amp; Berthel.) Masf. (Scrophulariaceae). Germination tests were carried out to measure seed viability through time and the possible impact of seed storage on their viability. These accessions have been kept in the seed bank for four months to thirty years under different storage conditions. Germination results differed for seeds after 45 days of exposition using 16 hours light and 8 hours darkness at 17 °C. Accessions kept in the seed bank, independently of storage, showed a high germination percentage (89%). Whereas the accessions with rough storage conditions showed a 0% germination rate. The results highlighted the good state of conservation of the material deposited in the Seed Bank of the Botanical Garden "Viera y Clavijo" and the reliability of the temperature and humidity conditions in which the seeds of I. isabelliana have been stored. We consider these results as momentous since several natural populations of I. isabelliana has been affected by the last forest fire on the island.