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State of the World’s Plants Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

11 – 12 May 2016

The State of the World’s Plants Symposium accompanies the launch of a ground-breaking new report highlighting the global status of the Plant Kingdom. An annual review of the major issues affecting plant diversity and abundance, the report provides baseline data on important indicator metrics to tell us how plants are faring and how this is changing over time. Along with a snapshot of present status, the report explores emerging issues and highlights critical gaps in knowledge and research.

The symposium brings together scientists and policymakers to discuss issues raised in the report and encourage international cooperation towards plant conservation and sustainable use.

The staff and trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Kew Foundation would like to thank the Sfumato Foundation for generously funding the State of the World’s Plants project.

We also thank the following sponsors for supporting the symposium:

General Information

Meeting Location

Jodrell Laboratory Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Kew Road Richmond, Surrey TW9 3DS

All talks and panel discussions will take place in the Jodrell Lecture Theatre inside the Jodrell Laboratory. Refreshment breaks, lunches and the evening poster session and drinks reception will also be held in the Jodrell Laboratory.

To access the building, please enter the Gardens via the Jodrell Gate on Kew Road. A member of staff will be manning the gate between the following times:

11 May: 08:30 – 10:30 18:30 – 19:45 12 May: 08:30 – 09:30 15:15 – 16:00

If you arrive/depart outside of these hours, please use the telephone on the wall by the gate to call RBG Kew Constabulary. You will be connected automatically when you pick up the receiver. Please give Constabulary your name and let them know that you are attending the State of the World’s Plants Symposium. They will then remotely release the pedestrian gate.

Exhibition

A trade exhibition will run throughout the symposium in the Jodrell Seminar Room. We encourage you to please take the opportunity to visit the exhibition stands and chat with our sponsors.

Posters Presentations

Posters will be open for viewing throughout the symposium. Please ensure that your poster is mounted by 12:30 on Wednesday 11 May and taken down by 17:00 on Thursday 12 May.

A designated poster session and drinks reception will take place from 18:00–19:20 on Wednesday 11 May. If you are presenting, please ensure that you are by your poster at this time.

Symposium Dinner

The symposium dinner will be held in the Orangery restaurant, a Grade I listed historic building designed by Sir William Chambers, at 19:30 on 11 May. Attendence at the dinner is by prior booking only.

Tours

We will be running half-hour tours of the Herbarium, Jodrell Laboratory and Princess of Wales Conservatory from 15:20 on Thursday 12 May. To book a tour, please sign up in advance at the registration desk. Places are limited and will be allocated on a fist-come, first-served basis. Please book early to avoid disappointment.

Internet Access

Free Wi-Fi internet access is available in all of our buildings including the Jodrell Laboratory. To connect to our Wi-Fi, please select Kew-Visitors and accept the terms and conditions.

Twitter

If you are tweeting about the symposium please use the hastag #SOTWP.

First Aid

First Aiders will be in attendance during the symposium. Should you need assistance, please ask at the Jodrell reception desk or speak with a member of staff.

Emergencies

For emergencies, please dial 020 8332 3333 (or extension 333 from a Kew telephone). Please do not dial 999, as emergency calls need to be co-ordinated by on-site Constabulary.

Fire

The signal to evacuate is a loud, two-tone alarm. On hearing the alarm, please proceed directly to the nearest emergency exit. DO NOT use the lifts. The fire assembly point is the GRASS GARDEN (at the rear of the Jodrell building).

Taxis

Kew Cars: 020 8568 6666.

Nearby Facilities

Kew’s Victoria Plaza shop (situated by Victoria Gate) sells a range of books, gifts and gardening supplies. You can also find a range of shops and restaurants near to Kew Bridge Railway Station, Kew Gardens Station and Kew Green.

Programme

Wednesday 11 May 2016

09:00–10:00 Registration and refreshments

Welcome and introduction

10:00–10:15 Lord Gardiner of Kimble, Lords Spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

10:15–10:30 Professor Kathy Willis, Director of Science, RBG Kew

Session 1 Climate Change – What will be the current and future impacts of climate change on globally important plant populations?

Sponsored by New Phytologist

Chair: Dr Aaron Davis, RBG Kew

10:40–11:00 Dr Kay Havens, Chicago Botanic Garden, USA Plant responses to climate change: phenology, adaptation, migration

11:00–11:20 Dr Alistair Seddon, University of Bergen, Norway Sensitivity of global terrestrial ecosystems to climate variability

11:20–11:40 Dr Sandra Diaz, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Argentina A global picture of essential plant form and function of vascular plants

11:40–12:00 Prof. Yadvinder Malhi, University of Oxford, UK Climate change and tropical forests: what we know and need to know

12:00–12:20 Q&A panel discussion

12:20–13:30 Lunch

Session 2 Protected Areas – Where are the most important areas to protect because of the plants they contain and how do we determine this?

Chair: Dr Eimear Nic Lughadha, RBG Kew

13:30–13:50 Dr Iain Darbyshire, RBG Kew Targeting plant conservation priorities in the tropics: the Tropical Important Plant Areas programme

13:50–14:10 Ms. Lize von Staden, South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI) Where to protect plants: a perspective from a megadiverse country

14:10–14:30 Prof. William F. Laurance, James Cook University, Australia How can we make nature reserves better arcs for conserving plant diversity?

14:30–14:50 Mr Diego Juffe-Bignoli, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) World Conservation Monitoring Centre, UK Meeting international biodiversity targets for plants and protected areas


Programme

15:10–15:30 Refreshment break

Session 3 Extinction Risk – Which plants are most at risk of extinction and why?

Chair: Dr Felix Forest, RBG Kew

15:30–15:50 Prof. Quentin Cronk, University of British Columbia, Canada and RBG Kew The living dead: plant extinction and evolutionary potential

15:50–16:10 Prof. David Richardson, Stellenbosch University, South Africa Alien plant invasions and native plant extinction

16:10–16:30 Mr Steve Bachman, RBG Kew State of knowledge on global extinction risk of plants

16:30–16:50 Prof. Vololoniaina Jeannoda, University of Antananarivo, Madagascar Plants at risk of extinction: the case of Madagascar wild yams


17:10–18:00 One-minute poster presentations

18:00–19:20 Drinks reception and poster session

19:30 Conference dinner

Programme Thursday 12 May 2016

Session 4 Useful Plants – What and where are the world’s most useful plants? What will be

the most useful plants of the future?

Chair: Dr Tiziana Ulian, RBG Kew

09:00–09:20 Ms. Ann Tutwiler, Bioversity International On not finding the world’s next superfood

09:20–09:40 Ms. Nora P. Castañeda Álvarez, CIAT, Colombia and University of Birmingham, UK Crop wild relatives: vital for agriculture but poorly represented in seedbanks

09:40–10:00 Dr Claude Fauquet, Global Cassava Partnership for the 21st Century (GCP21) Cassava, the crop of the 21st century

10:00–10:20 Dr Olwen Grace, RBG Kew Evolutionary insights into the global succulent flora as resource for the future


10:30–10:50 Refreshment break

Session 5 Plant Health – What are the biggest emerging global threats to plant health?

Chair: Dr Paul Wilkin, RBG Kew

10:50–11:10 Prof. Adam Kleczkowski, University of Stirling, UK Where's my coffee? Plant diseases – origins, impact and control strategies

11:10–11:30 Prof. Gary Foster, University of Bristol, UK Plant pathogens: threatened in the past, still threatening today, even more of a threat in the future?

11:30–11:50 Prof. Sarah Gurr, University of Exeter, UK The global movement of plant pests and pathogens: implications for food security

11:50–12:10 Mr Tony Kirkham, RBG Kew The threats to our trees in cultivation


12:30–13:40 Lunch

Programme Session 6 Invasive Plants – Are current polices and knowledge fit for purpose in combatting

globally invasive plant species?

Chair: Dr Noeleen Smyth, RBG Kew

13:40–14:00 Dr Montserrat Vilà, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), Spain Impacts and risks of invasive plants

14:00–14:20 Prof. Philip Hulme, Lincoln University, New Zealand Ornamental or detrimental: can we benefit from horticulture without the cost of invasive garden escapes?

14:20–14:40 Prof. Yvonne Buckley, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland Plant invasions now and in the future: challenges for science and society

14:40–15:00 Dr Gerda A. van Uffelen, Hortus botanicus Leiden, Netherlands How to deal with unwelcome plant guests in Europe?


15:20–17:00 Refreshments followed by optional tours Tours of the Herbarium, Jodrell Laboratory or Princess of Wales Conservatory Please book tours in advance at the registration desk

17:00 End of symposium

Speaker Abstracts

Plant responses to climate change: phenology, adaptation, migration

S1–1 Wednesday 10:40–11:00

Havens, K.1, Vitt, P.1 and Still, S.1,2 1Chicago Botanic Garden, 000 Lake Cook Rd, Glencoe, IL 60022, United States 2University of California, Davis, 1 Shields Ave, Davis, CA 95616, United States

Faced with a changing climate, plants may respond via plasticity, such as by altering flowering phenology. Over time, plants may either adapt to the new climatic conditions, migrate to regions where climatic conditions are more suitable, or go extinct locally or globally. Phenological shifts are well documented in many plant species, with most of the species studied exhibiting earlier leaf break and flowering in response to warming temperatures. During past changes in climate, many plant species were able to respond by adaptive evolution and/or shifting latitude or elevation. However, the potential to respond to today’s rapid climate change is limited by the speed of climate change and land use changes that curtail gene flow and migratory routes.

We have been using species distribution modeling to understand how plant species ranges may change and see drastically different responses in the eastern and western United States. We are also carrying out common garden studies along a latitudinal gradient to assess if assisted migration may be appropriate for some plant species. Using native plant materials for restoration, and possibly assisted migration implemented in a restoration context, may help maintain species that might otherwise be lost from the landscape. However, continued research is needed to better understand appropriate current and future seed transfer zones. Banking native seed now is necessary to maintain these future options.

Sensitivity of global terrestrial ecosystems to climate variability

S1–2 Wednesday 11:00–11:20

Seddon, A.1, Macias-Fauria, M.2, Long, P.3, Benz, D.3 and Willis, K.3,4

1 Department of Biology, University of Bergen 2 School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford 3 Long-term Ecology Laboratory, Biodiversity institute, Oxford Martin School, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford 4 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Surrey TW9 3AE, United Kingdom

The identification of properties that contribute to the persistence and resilience of ecosystems despite climate change constitutes a research priority of global relevance. Here we present a novel, empirical approach to assess the relative sensitivity of ecosystems to climate variability, one property of resilience that builds on theoretical modelling work recognizing that systems closer to critical thresholds respond more sensitively to external perturbations. We develop a new metric, the vegetation sensitivity index, which identifies areas sensitive to climate variability over the past 14 years. The metric uses time series data derived from the moderate-resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) enhanced vegetation index, and three climatic variables that drive vegetation productivity (air temperature, water availability and cloud cover). Underlying the analysis is an autoregressive modelling approach used to identify climate drivers of vegetation productivity on monthly timescales, in addition to regions with memory effects and reduced response rates to external forcing. We find ecologically sensitive regions with amplified responses to climate variability in the Arctic tundra, parts of the boreal forest belt, the tropical rainforest, alpine regions worldwide, steppe and prairie regions of central Asia and North and South America, the Caatinga deciduous forest in eastern South America, and eastern areas of Australia. Our study provides a quantitative methodology for assessing the relative response rate

of ecosystems—be they natural or with a strong anthropogenic signature—to environmental variability, which is the first step towards addressing why some regions appear to be more sensitive than others, and what impact this has on the resilience of ecosystem service provision and human well-being.

A global picture of essential plant form and function of vascular plants

S1–3 Wednesday 11:20–11:40

Díaz, S.1 and the BLOB Consortium2

1 Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal (IMBIV), CONICET and FCEFyN, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, Casilla de Correo 495, 5000 Córdoba, Argentina. [email protected] 2 Jens Kattge, Johannes H. C. Cornelissen, Ian J. Wright, Sandra Lavorel, Stéphane Dray, Björn Reu, Michael Kleyer, Christian Wirth, I. Colin Prentice, Eric Garnier, Gerhard Bönisch, Mark Westoby, Hendrik Poorter, Peter B. Reich, Angela T. Moles, John Dickie, Andrew N. Gillison, Amy E. Zanne, Jérôme Chave, S. Joseph Wright, Serge N. Sheremet’ev, Hervé Jactel, Christopher Baraloto, Bruno Cerabolini, Simon Pierce, Bill Shipley, Donald Kirkup, Fernando Casanoves, Julia S. Joswig Angela Günther, Valeria Falczuk, Nadja Rüger, Miguel D. Mahecha and Lucas D. Gorné

The Darwinian struggle for existence has resulted in an extremely wide variety of form and function among vascular plants. General principles underpinning this remarkable diversity need to be identified if we are to understand and manage biodiversity and ecosystems. By analysing worldwide variation in six major traits critical to growth, survival and reproduction within the largest sample of vascular plant species ever compiled, we provide the first quantitative picture of essential functional diversity of vascular plants on Earth. We found that the trait space occupied by extant plants is strongly constrained. Three-quarters of trait variation is captured in a two-dimensional global spectrum of plant form and function. One major dimension within this plane reflects the size of whole plants and their parts; the other represents the leaf economics spectrum, which balances leaf construction costs against growth potential. Different plant groups (woody and herbaceous growth-forms and major taxa) distribute unevenly in the spectrum. Our findings establish a backdrop against which many other facets of plant biology can be placed into a broader context. In particular within the context of past and future global environmental changes, plant lineages, evolutionary trajectories, and historical and contemporary plant communities and biomes can be mapped onto this global trait spectrum. It can also serve as an improved basis for emerging large-scale vegetation and ecosystem models.

Climate change and tropical forests: what we know and need to know

S1–4 Wednesday 11:40–12:00

Malhi, Y.

School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QY, UK

Tropical forests harbour the majority of the planet’s plant species and associated biodiversity, and the impacts of climate change on these forests will largely determine the fate of global biodiversity. I review the key features and uncertainties in our understanding of how climate change will affect tropical diversity. The key aspects of 21st century climate change in the tropics are consistently warming temperatures, increasing atmospheric CO2, and increased variability and seasonality in rainfall patterns. Scientific consensus is moving away from there being an imminent large-scale “dieback” of tropical forests associated with climate change. Instead, a range of more subtle processes may interact to affect tropical biodiversity. Increasing drought frequency may disproportionately affect large trees and shift forest structure. Higher atmospheric CO2 could potentially offset the effects of increasing drought, but shift forest structure in favour of fast growing, disturbance affected species. Plants may be able to adjust to the direct effects on increasing temperature on their physiology, but temperature may have more profound effects

through its impact in invertebrate and vertebrate populations, and thereby on plant-animal interactions.

Targeting plant conservation priorities in the tropics: the Tropical Important Plant Areas programme

S2–1 Wednesday 13:30–13:50

Darbyshire, I. and Cheek, M.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Surrey TW9 3AE, United Kingdom

With one in five plant species potentially threatened with extinction and with areas of natural habitat set to shrink further still due to clearance and degradation for agriculture, industry and urbanisation, it is critical that we work more effectively to identify the most important areas for the conservation of global plant diversity. The urgency is particularly great in the tropics, where plant diversity is being lost at an alarming rate and existing protected area networks and national legislation often fail to protect key plant species and habitats. The model of Important Plant Areas (IPAs), developed by Plantlife International, offers a simple and accessible system for determining priority sites by using three key measures of importance: threatened species, exceptional botanical richness and threatened habitats. To date, over 1,750 IPAs have been identified globally but the IPA model has been applied primarily in Europe and North Africa. Through the Tropical Important Plant areas (TIPAs) programme launched in 2015, this model is now being applied to the tropics, with seven countries and regions selected for the first phase. The original IPA criteria, designed within the European legislative framework, have been modified to better reflect the conservation issues faced in the tropics and the differing data sources and limitations for tropical plants. In addition, wild-harvested species of high socio-economic value have been factored into IPA designation for the first time, in order to emphasise the strong links between plant diversity and human livelihoods. Here we review progress in working with local partners to capture and analyse the required data to determine where the most important areas are, so that we can work together to secure their protection.

Where to protect plants: a perspective from a megadiverse country

S2–2 Wednesday 13:50–14:10

Von Staden, L.1,2, Rouget, M.2 and Raimondo, D.R.1

1Threatened Species Programme, South African National Biodiversity Institute, Private Bag X101, Pretoria, 0001, South Africa 2Land Use Planning and Management, School of Agricultural, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Private Bag X01, Scottsville, South Africa

Why do species continue to decline towards extinction in spite of extensive protected area expansion over the past three decades? I explore this conservation paradox using as a case study South Africa, a megadiverse country with more than 20,000 plant species, of which 13% are threatened. Only 6% of South Africa's terrestrial area is formally protected, and 34% of threatened plant species occur outside the protected area network. I show why a protected area expansion strategy aimed at better representation of ecosystems fails to protect threatened species. However, a systematic approach to identifying important sites for threatened species conservation indicate that only 30 sites are needed for South Africa to achieve the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation's Target 7 (defined as 75% of known threatened plant species conserved in situ). These high-priority species conservation sites are usually not included in ecosystem-level assessments because of competing land uses and costly implementation of habitats where threatened species occur. Such sites are typically avoided when the conservation goal is to increase the number of hectares protected for ecosystems. If global protected area expansion targets are to achieve a reduction in the loss of biodiversity, they must be adjusted to measure conservation impact in terms of how protected area expansion contributes to narrowing

conservation gaps. The challenge of costly implementation of habitat protection for threatened species can be overcome by focusing protected area expansion efforts on sites where many threatened species occur together, instead of the widely-used system where individual threatened species compete for conservation resources through the implementation of single-species focused action plans.

How we can make nature reserves better arcs or conserving plant diversity?

S2–3 Wednesday 14:10–14:30

Laurance, W.F.1,2 1James Cook University, Australia 2Visiting Senior Scientist, E.C. Joint Research Centre, Italy

Protected areas are a cornerstone for conserving plant diversity and the natural ecosystem processes on which these plant communities depend. I will highlight some of the most pressing challenges we face today in conserving plant diversity. Among these are managing the tsunami of human threats and land-use changes that are threatening many reserves in the tropics; the dire need to conserve rapidly disappearing linkages between lowland and upland areas in order to maintain some resilience to future climate change; the enormous challenges posed by PADDD—the trend to downsize, downgrade, and degazette many protected areas that happen to contain or overlay valuable natural resources; and a serious need for a general strategic approach to managing the contemporary avalanche of roads and other infrastructure that are greatly imperilling the world’s last wild places.

Meeting international biodiversity targets for plants and protected areas

S2–4 Wednesday 14:30–14:50

Juffe-Bignoli, D. and Kingston, N.

Protected Areas Programme, United Nations Environment Programme – World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC)

Protected areas are a fundamental tool for biodiversity conservation and sustainable development. Although their primary purpose is to conserve nature they also provide a number of important services at a local and global scales including food, timber, water, and carbon storage among many others. Protected areas are therefore also a fundamental tool for plant conservation as is recognised in several international biodiversity agreements such as, the Convention on Biological Diversity, its Global Strategy for Plant Conservation and the Sustainable Development goals. These set up a number of targets related to plant conservation and protected areas. Understanding the extent to which important places for plants are protected is the first step to assessing progress towards meeting these goals and targets and identifying key gaps in protected areas networks. Current knowledge and key challenges in meeting biodiversity targets for plants from the national to global scale are discussed and a road map to move forward in the implementation of these is proposed.

The living dead: plant extinction and evolutionary potential

Cronk, Q.C.1,2

S3–1 Wednesday 15:30–15:50

1Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver Canada 2Jodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, UK

Janzen has drawn attention to "latent extinction": the lag phase between the inevitability of extinction and actual extinction. Organisms in this lag he called the "living dead". Janzen's concept of the living dead was ecological: "An individual stripped of the ecological circumstances that allow it to be a reproductive member of its population, but which is living out its physiological life". In this talk I extend the concept of the living dead from ecosystem failure to genomic failure. Inbreeding is well known to have catastrophic effects on fitness, which in turn affects the long-term extinction prospects of species. Species with no evolutionary potential face problems in dealing with increasing levels of anthropogenic environmental change. In this talk I will examine Janzen's latent extinction and living dead concepts in the context of hyper-rare plant species of oceanic islands. I will suggest ways in which genomic technology can be used to maximise the evolutionary potential of plant lineages of conservation concern.

Alien plant invasions and native plant extinction

Richardson, D.M.

S3–2 Wednesday 15:50–16:10

Centre for Invasion Biology, Dept. of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa

Biological invasions are widely acknowledged as a major threat to global biodiversity. Species from all major taxonomic groups have become invasive. The range of impacts of invasive taxa and overall magnitude of threats to biodiversity is increasing. Plants comprise the biggest and best-studied group of invasive species. There is growing debate, however, regarding the nature of the alien plant threat – in particular whether the outcome is likely to be the widespread extinction of native plant species. The debate has raised questions on whether the threat posed by invasive plants to native plants has been overstated. A conceptual framework to guide discussion on this topic is proposed; the threat posed by invasive plants is considered in the context of a progression from no impact through to extinction. Six thresholds along the “extinction trajectory” are defined, global extinction being the final threshold. Although there are no documented examples of either “in wild” or global extinctions of native plants that are attributable solely to plant invasions, there is evidence that native plants have crossed or breached other thresholds along the extinction trajectory due to plant invasions. Management interventions focussing on the first three thresholds (a declining population through to the local extinction of a population) are likely to halt progress along the extinction trajectory. Several factors may be masking where native species are on the trajectory; these include a lack of appropriate data to accurately map the position of species on the trajectory, the timeframe required to definitively state that extinctions have occurred, and management interventions. The critical issue for conservation managers is the trend, because interventions must be implemented before extinctions occur. Thus the lack of evidence for extinctions attributable to plant invasions does not mean we should ignore the broader threat.

State of knowledge on global extinction risk of plants

Bachman, S.

S3–3 Wednesday 16:10–16:30

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Surrey TW9 3AE, United Kingdom; and School of Geography, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK

Plants have lagged behind other groups of organisms like mammals and birds in terms of our understanding of global extinction risk. In 2015, the first IUCN Sampled Red List Index for Plants value was reported. Based on a random sample of monocots, legumes, ferns and all gymnosperms, this index informs us about the level plant extinction risk globally, which can put in the context of other groups i.e. plants are as threatened as mammals, more threatened than birds and less threatened than amphibians.

Although the Red List Index supports global indicators e.g. Aichi Target 12 and SDG target 15.5, the longer term objective is to have all plant species assessed so that this can inform conservation actions. Is the goal of assessing the estimated 390,000+ plants known to science, as well as unknown number of yet to be found species, really an achievable goal? At present only ~5% of plants are on the Red List.

I review the present status of knowledge on global extinction risk of plants and explore ways in which a more comprehensive assessment for all species can be achieved.

Plants at risk of extinction: the case of Madagascar wild yams

Jeannoda, V.H.

S3–4 Wednesday 16:30–16:50

Département de Biologie et Ecologie Végétales, Faculté des Sciences, BP 906, Antananarivo 101, Madagascar

Madagascar is home to more than 40 species of wild yam (Dioscorea spp., Dioscoreaceae) which are endemic to the island. They are growing in almost all the different type of forest of the country, from dry to rainy ones. The majority of those crop wild relative species is edible, some much appreciated and therefore exploited by local communities for their tubers. About 10 species are threatened and have been assessed as endangered or critically endangered according to IUCN Red List criteria.

Those last species are threatened are threatened with extinction because they are undergoing most of the criteria that may lead to extinction if no efficient conservation measures are taken. Those criteria are restricted range of distribution, threatened and/or fragmented habitats, population with reduced size or population in continuous decline, climatic change. Wild yams in Madagascar are also subject to unsustainable exploitation and are even harvested inside protected areas. As they are harvested during lean period when the plants have not formed their seeds yet, the possibility of regeneration is low and is aggravated by the fact that yams are dioecious species.

Madagascar has set up a strategy for the cultivation of domestic yams which could contribute among all purposes in reducing the pressure on wild yams. Many development agencies and NGO have assisted local communities in yam cultivation across the whole country. Unfortunately the lack of market and the preference for wild yams taste refrained population from cultivation. The pressure on wild yams is thus still ongoing and the threats remain.

On not finding the world’s next superfood

Tutwiler, A.

S4–1 Thursday 09:00–09:20

Director General, Bioversity International, Via dei Tre Denari, 472/a, 00054 Maccarese, Fiumicino, Italy

In the last few years, superfoods such as quinoa, amaranth and goji berries have been celebrated in the international media in recognition of their rich nutrient content. But it is not just Western consumers that can benefit from rediscovering these forgotten foods.

M. Ann Tutwiler, Director General, Bioversity International, will explain how many nutritious traditional foods, which have largely fallen off menus and research-for-development agendas in favour of a handful of staple grains, are starting to make a comeback on the plates of the world’s poorest and most malnourished populations.

Bioversity International carries out research on a diverse range of underutilized crops, and advocates for their wider use in healthy diets from sustainable food systems. This overview will include examples of how research-for-development efforts on quinoa in the High Andes and minor millets in India have helped bring diverse varieties back to the farm, the market and the plate. She will highlight how these crops are often not just nutrient-rich but also have a high potential to contribute to livelihoods. They are often also highly resilient to today’s production challenges, such as climate change.

In conclusion, M. Ann Tutwiler will outline the urgent need to identify, promote and protect these useful plants which all have the potential to be placed into a diverse basket of superfoods when it comes to delivering food and nutrition security.

Crop wild relatives: vital for agriculture but poorly represented in seedbanks

S4–2 Thursday 09:20–09:40

Castañeda-Álvarez, N.P.1,2, Khoury, C.K.1,3, Achicanoy, H.A.1, Bernau, V.1, Dempewolf, H.4, Eastwood, R.J.5, Guarino, L.4, Harker, R.H.5, Jarvis, A.1,6, Maxted, N.2, Müller, J.V.5, Ramirez-Villegas, J.1,6,7, Sosa, C.C.1, Struik, P.C.3, Vincent, H.2 and Toll, J.4 1 International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Km 17, Recta Cali-Palmira, Cali 763537, Colombia 2 School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK 3 Centre for Crop Systems Analysis, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands 4 Global Crop Diversity Trust, Platz der Vereinten Nationen 7, 53115 Bonn, Germany 5 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Conservation Science, Millennium Seed Bank, Wakehurst Place, Ardingly RH17 6TN 6 CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), Km 17, Recta Cali-Palmira, Cali 763537, Colombia 7 Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK

The wild relatives of crops are plants useful for agriculture because of the novel traits and genetic diversity they possess and that can be transferred to the related crops. Crop wild relatives have been used in plant breeding to expand the genetic base of crops, and to develop crop varieties tolerant to heat, drought, pest and diseases, as well as many other adaptive characteristics. For being used, crop wild relatives need to be conserved and to be readily available to researchers, plant breeders and the community in general via genebanks (also known as seedbanks). However, crop wild relatives are currently poorly represented in genebanks, and are exposed to multiple threats in their native habitats. We analyzed the extent of ex situ conservation of 1,076 unique wild relative taxa associated with 81 crops of global importance for food security and income generation. In our analysis we identified 765 taxa (71.1%) that are currently poorly represented in ex situ holdings, which therefore need to be urgently collected and conserved. In addition, we mapped the distributions of these wild relatives to identify hotspots where future collecting may be pursued. Geographic hotspots for further collecting were identified in South America, the Mediterranean basin, the Near East, East and South East Asia and the Malay archipelago. Our approach enabled us to identify needs for further

ex situ conservation in terms of taxa, crop genepools and geographic distributions. It also provides a baseline of the current status of the ex situ conservation of crop wild relatives. A systematic application of our approach is likely to prove useful in tracking progress towards achievement of the comprehensive conservation of genetic diversity required by the CBD Aichi Biodiversity Target 13 and Sustainable Development Goals’ Target 2.5.

Cassava, the crop of the 21st century

Fauquet, C.M

S4–3 Thursday 09:40–10:00

International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Colombia, Km 17, Recta Cali-Palmira, Valle del Cauca, Colombia; GCP21; and WCRTC

The African population will double to reach 2.4 billion by 2050, and Africa will be impacted by the Global Climate change more than any other continent. Food security has always been a major issue for Africa but with these new challenges, the continent will face an unprecedented situation.

Cassava, originally an American plant, is the best food security crop and now the number one food crop in sub-Saharan countries, producing more than 55% of the global production. But its productivity is the lowest in the world with 10t/Ha while it reaches 21t/Ha in Asia. It has been calculated that 30t/Ha will be needed in 2050 to feed Africa at the level of 2015!

Cassava is the most resilient crop to global warming; it can grow on all types of soils from Mt Cameroon with 6m of rains to Timbuktu with less than 250mm, it will respond very well to very high CO2 concentrations, and to high temperatures, and it can survive 4 months of complete drought! However, because the crop is propagated via its stem, pest and diseases are already the number one problem, which we have not been able to control for the last 100 years in Africa. But with elevated temperatures we can predict the emergence of new pests and diseases.

For all these reasons, cassava could be a savior for Africa and the tropical world, but we have to tremendously increase R&D to double or triple its productivity under all the new challenges of the 21st Century.

Evolutionary insights into the global succulent flora as resource for the future

S4–4 Thursday 10:00–10:20

Grace, O.M.


Drought-tolerant plants are likely to become increasingly valuable for delivering ecosystem services in regions where conditions are anticipated to become hotter and drier in future. Plants exhibit a wide array of morphological and physiological features to withstand the effects of drought-prone environments, such as the ability to store water (succulence), the ability to photosynthesise with high water-use efficiency using crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM), and morphological features which reduce radiation and UV damage. The succulent syndrome has evolved repeatedly in the plant kingdom as an adaptive response to periodic water stress, and is found in thousands of species across the phylogenetic and geographic diversity of flowering plants. Major succulent plant lineages in Africa (e.g. Aloe, Euphorbia and Aizoaceae) and the Americas (e.g. Cactaceae and Agave) appear to have undergone simultaneous diversifications that tracked atmospheric CO2 levels. Because succulent plants evolved in a time of elevated atmospheric CO2 and low water availability, they share potential to provide raw materials for bio-based industry and ecosystem services under climate change scenarios. Recent research at Kew on the African genus Aloe illustrates that the evolutionary histories could be informative in understanding patterns in the potential use of succulent plant diversity.

Where's my coffee? Plant diseases – origins, impact and control strategies

S5–1 Thursday 10:50–11:10

Kleczkowski, A.

University of Stirling, Mathematics - CSM Dept., Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK

Plant pests and diseases have always been a threat to food security, ecosystem health and human well-being. More recently, progress in development and application of chemical control and resistant varieties, improvement in agricultural practices and globalisation of trade, have allowed us to reduce risk of a devastating famine and to mitigate its impact on human population. However, the threat has not only not gone away but is increasing as the balance between pests and hosts is only precariously held throughout the world. In this talk I will identify four key factors affecting plant health. Firstly, evolution constantly drives a race between pests and pathogens on one hand and our actions to control them on the other. For example, introduction of new chemicals is quickly met by a rise in resistance to them; new resistant crop varieties are quickly overcome by pests. Secondly, economics of production favours selection of few varieties or even monoculture. Thus, the reduction in genetic variability can yield to large scale outbreaks which otherwise would have been limited. The new varieties are also often chosen not for their resistance but for high yield, consumer preference or ease of processing. Thirdly, trade in plants and plant material drives income growth, lifting millions of people out of poverty worldwide and helping to prevent large scale famines, but it also creates opportunities for pests and pathogens to spread very quickly well beyond their natural range (geographically or biologically). Finally, climate change is a big challenge to food and ecosystem security. It can act in different ways, by shifting the ranges of pests and disease vectors, by driving the extinction of natural habitat for wild plants thereby reducing the genetic bank, and by creating changes in land use opening up possibilities of outbreaks. I will finish with a discussion of possible ways in which we can start to address resistance and resilience of world plant communities.

Plant pathogens: threatened in the past, still threatening today, even more of a threat in the future?

S5–2 Thursday 11:10–11:30

Foster, G.D.

School of Biological Sciences, Life Sciences Building, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TQ

The theme of this talk will be centred around 'the impact of plant pathology on everyday lives', be it in the food we eat, the plants we grow in our gardens, to the trees we walk through in the woods. The talk will not only present the impact on modern day lives worldwide, but will provide a chilling reminder of the impacts and influences plant pathogens have had right throughout history. This retrospective will also provide an insight to what we may well face again in the future. There is saying often used 'we have just won the battle, but we have yet to win the war', in the case of plant pathology it could be said that 'we have yet to win the battle' and that 'the battle will continue for some time' and the 'war may never end'.

The global movement of plant pests and pathogens: implications for food security

Gurr, S.

S5–3 Thursday 11:30–11:50

Biosciences, University of Exeter, Geoffrey Pope Building, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QD

Over the past centuries, crop diseases have led to the starvation of the people, the ruination of economies and the downfall of governments. Of the various challenges, the threat to plants of fungal infection outstrips that posed by bacterial and viral diseases combined. Indeed, fungal diseases have been increasing in severity and scale since the mid-20th Century and now pose a serious threat to global food security and ecosystem health.

We face a future blighted by known adversaries, by new variants of old foes and by new diseases. Modern agricultural intensification practices have heightened the challenge – the planting of vast swathes of genetically uniform crops, guarded by one or two inbred resistance genes, and use of single target site antifungals has hastened emergence of new virulent and fungicide-resistant strains. Climate change compounds the saga as we see altered disease demographics – pathogens are on the move poleward in a warming world.

This presentation will highlight some current notable and persistent fungal diseases. It will consider the evolutionary drivers underpinning emergence of new diseases and allude to the accelerators of spread. I will set these points in the context of recent disease modelling, which shows the global distributions of crop pathogens and their predicted movement and will discuss the concept of crop disease saturation. I shall conclude with some thoughts on future threats and challenges, on fungal disease mitigation and of ways of enhancing global food security.

The threats to our trees in cultivation

Kirkham, T.

S5–4 Thursday 11:50–12:10


Many of the temperate woody collections in our Arboreta and gardens around the world are some of the original introductions from the early collectors and are under threat for a variety of reasons. Many of these trees are rare not only in cultivation, but also in their natural habitat and we need to conserve these in our collections. Trees in the landscape in many of our parks, streetscapes etc. also share the same threats which range from climate change, invasion from existing and potential introductions of exotic pests and diseases and building development. These threats will change our native and planted tree-scape and will have an impact on the biodiversity that share these living resources. In order to retain the authenticity of many of these collections with the collector’s code and number, they must be vegetatively propagated using techniques such as grafting and by cuttings.

Impacts and risks of invasive plants

Vilà M.1, González-Moreno P.2 and Kenis M.3

S6–1 Thursday 13:40–14:00

1Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), Avda. Américo Vespucio s/n, Isla de la Cartuja, 41092 Sevilla, Spain 2CABI, Bakeham Lane, Egham, TW20 9TY UK 3CABI, Rue des Grillons 1, CH-2800 Delémont, Switzerland

Many plant species have been introduced by humans into new regions and some might establish and spread (be invasive) even if the environmental conditions are very different from their area of origin. Indeed, many invasive species are more competitive than native species, reduce community diversity, change nutrient cycling, and can even modify the hydrology and the disturbance regime at the landscape scale. Some impacts can even affect socioeconomic sectors

such as forestry, agriculture or public health. We will present some synthesis work on the ecological and socioeconomic impacts of invasive plant species in Europe compared to other taxa.

From the management and policy perspective it is important to identify which invasive species are causing, or have the potential to cause, the major impacts. This analysis can be conducted through a formal risk assessment. Within the COST Action AlienChallenge we compared similarities among European impact risk protocols and how consistent they are across assessors. We have found that the outcome of these risk analysis depends on whether the risk protocol considers or not socioeconomic impacts. Consistency across assessors depends on how much a particular species is known and on whether the outcome of the protocol is continuous or categorical. Our study indicates that invasive species priorization through risk assessments require a collective and consensus effort except when species impacts have been very well studied, which is almost never the case.

Ornamental or detrimental: can we benefit from horticulture without the cost of invasive garden escapes?

S6–2 Thursday 14:00–14:20

Hulme, P.E.

Bio-Protection Research Centre, PO Box 85840, Lincoln University, Lincoln, 7647, Christchurch, New Zealand

Across the world ornamental horticulture is recognised as the primary source of most alien plant species established in the wild. Yet this important agricultural sector brings immense economic and social benefits. As a consequence, managing this particular pathway of plant introduction is a major challenge and has been a source of considerable conflict between conservation biologists and horticulturalists. Here, I examine the evidence for ornamental horticulture being the primary source of invasive alien plant species, explore temporal trends in garden escapes and highlight the characteristics that make species both ideal garden plants and also invasive species. By examining the horticulture supply chain from plant breeder to wholesaler, retail outlet and then on to consumer, key points are identified where interventions might be applied to reduce the risk of promoting potentially invasive plant species. These steps include risk assessment tools, blacklists, voluntary codes of conduct, promotion of alternatives, plant labelling and improved garden management. The role of botanic gardens, private gardens and commercial landscape professionals in managing these risks is discussed. A key insight is that while many tools could be applied to manage the risks of garden escapes more effectively, they are rarely used in concert. Better management will require whole-of-system governance that involves industry, government and scientists to not only coordinate actions but also report on system performance.

Plant invasions now and in the future: challenges for science and society

S6–3 Thursday 14:20–14:40

Buckley, Y.

School of Natural Sciences, Zoology, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland

Humans have created novel ecosystems through environmental modification and mass movements of species around the planet. Many ecosystems are therefore composed of both native and non-native species. We face new challenges in understanding the functioning of these ecosystems and how we want to manage them. It is vital that we also understand the ecological role of humans in creating, shaping and determining future trajectories for these ecosystems. Differences between native and non-native species in novel ecosystems arise through multiple pathways including: biased sampling, different co-evolutionary histories with resident species, different species pools and pre-adaptation to human modified environments. I will present work

from new global data sets that suggest that important differences in function between native and non-native dominated grassland ecosystems arise from biased species selection. I finish with a discussion of the challenges in the near to mid future which will shape how we think about and manage plant invasions.

How to deal with unwelcome plant guests in Europe?

Uffelen, G.A. van

S6–4 Thursday 14:40–15:00

Hortus Botanicus Leiden, Rapenburg 73, 2311 GJ Leiden, The Netherlands

With the hunt for and cultivation of crops and garden plants, the escape of many of these species has begun to pose serious problems. Sometimes botanic gardens have played a role in the spread of such unwanted plant guests. We are now more aware of our responsibilities, trying to confine them to our gardens and focusing on raising public awareness on the subject of invasive alien species.

European legislation on the prevention and management of the introduction and spread of invasive alien species was implemented January 1st, 2015: Regulation (EU) No 1143/2014. This law has been adopted by the governments of all EU-members, and a first list of invasive alien species has been accepted.

Species are added to this list on the basis of scientific reports from member countries. It now contains species that pose no threat to Nature in every country, and are not expected to do so in the future: the law does not provide for the different climate zones in the EU.

Botanic gardens might take a lead and play a role in the following processes, together with other stakeholders such as nurseries and zoos:

– Change the present legislation, so that different lists may be maintained in different countries

– Specify for which part of Europe a certain species has to be regarded as (potentially) invasive

– Enable modification of the present species list

– Advise on the addition of species to the next versions

– Enable stakeholders to obtain exemption from this legislation for certain species, for educational purposes.

Poster Abstracts

Climate Change

P01 Sarah Brotherton Plant responses to extreme climate events – is resilience possible?

P02 Martin Hamilton Impacts of past and future sea level rise on the Puerto Rican Bank Endemic, Varronia rupicola (Boraginaceae)

P03 Hugh Pritchard Climate change and food security – how environmental change impacts on seed quality

P04 Lassina Sanou Contribution to native plant conservation of Burkina Faso : results of the partnership between CNSF and the Royal Botanical Garden of Kew, UK

P05 Rebecca Upson Assessing the potential impacts of climate change on the native flora of the Falkland Islands

Extinction Risk

P06 David Baines The Sampled Red List Index project: motivation and methods for a botanical biodiversity barometer

P07 Sara Bárrios Conservation genetics of Vachellia anegadensis, a threatened British Virgin Island endemic plant species

P08 Sarah Darrah Predicting extinction risk in plants

P09 Manuel de la Estrella

Global biodiversity legume assessments in Africa: West Central Africa as a case study

P10 Eduardo Fernandez

Back from the brink? The future of an Extinct in the Wild (EW) tree rediscovered

P11 Lauren Gardiner Citizen science to ramp up assessments of conservation status

P12 Jennifer Mark Impacts of deforestation on extinction risk of the world’s timber tree species

P13 Ben McCarthy The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation – progress towards the 2020 targets

P14 Aisyah Faruk Study of reproduction capacity of threatened plant species of Georgia’s flora and their ex situ conservation

P15 Rosalía Piñeiro Next Generation Sequencing: polyploidy and hybridization in whitebeams

P16 Vanessa Richardson

Temporal decay in timber species composition and value in Amazonian logging concessions

P17 Benno Simmonds Plant co-extinctions following pollinator abundance declines

P18 Anastasiya Timoshyna

PlantWatch: market transformation towards responsible sourcing of wild plant ingredients

Invasive Plants

P19 Wayne Dawson The Global Naturalized Alien Flora (GloNAF), a new resource for understanding plant invasions worldwide

P20 Katharina Dehnen-Schmutz

Identifying potentially invasive garden plants: utilising gardeners’ knowledge

P21 Adam Devenish Invasive synergy in an ant-plant mutualism

P22 Nicola Morris Research, response, result – a scientific approach to local action on INNS

P23 Laura White The impact of Impatiens glandulifera (Himalayan Balsam) on the pollination of native plant species in the UK

Plant Health

P24 Laura Kelly Genome sequencing of Fraxinus species to identify loci relevant to ash dieback and emerald ash borer

P25 Michele Sanchez A strategy to save the Caicos pine forests

Protected Areas

P26 Zoe Goodwin More than 50% of the world’s natural history collections do not have the correct name

P27 Cicely Marshall Using big data to measure tropical Africa's botanic hotspots

Useful Plants

P28 Juan Beltrán Environmental niche differentiation between CAM and C3 species in the montane genus Puya (Bromeliaceae)

P29 Tim Flowers eHALOPH. Halophytes: plants for the future

P30 Elena González Benito

Conservation of Brassicaceae seeds: water content effect on seed longevity

P31 Efisio Mattana Supporting reforestation through seed conservation of useful native trees

P32 Khadijah Awang Collection, handling and quality seed processing of crop wild relatives (CWR) for ex situ conservation in Malaysia

P33 Jayanthi Nadaranjan

Cultivated plants: threats and conservation

P34 Svein Solberg Indigenous vegetables: a case study from Papua New Guinea

P35 Paul Twigg Developing switchgrass as a better biomass fuel source

P36 Alex Hudson Useful plants conservation across Africa and Mexico through the MGU – Useful Plants Project

Plant responses to extreme climate events – is resilience possible?

P01

Brotherton, S.J.1, Joyce, C.B.1, Berg, M.2 and Awcock, G.J.1 1 School of Environment and Technology, University of Brighton, Brighton, UK 2 School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, University of Brighton, Brighton, UK

Extreme climate events (ECE) such as floods and droughts are of greater magnitude over shorter duration than incremental climate means and are expected to increase in frequency, duration and intensity in response to climate change. Evidence suggests ECE can provoke profound and disproportionate changes in ecosystems due partly to the speed at which environmental change may occur following such an event.

Wet grasslands such as those on floodplains provide ecologically diverse and economically productive habitats. Climate change is likely to affect these grasslands most severely through any changes in their hydrological regime. However, floodplain plant communities are already adapted to regular disturbance from flooding and management. Many plant species carry physiological and mechanistic traits to deal specifically with these disturbance regimes unique to floodplains. Floodplain grasslands may therefore remain resilient to particular extreme climate events through traits they possess at the plant species level, and/or plant-plant facilitation at a community level, whereby one plant indirectly modifies the environment to the benefit of another.

This research aims to determine whether survival, growth and reproductive phenology are significantly altered or remain stable under sudden extreme hydrological changes in plant species from floodplain communities. The outcome will indicate specific plant responses to sudden changes in hydrology, and will also be useful in gauging wider implications or impacts on other wet grassland communities to ECE. The findings will therefore contribute to the conservation and management of these valuable wetland systems under future climate scenarios.

Impacts of past and future sea level rise on the Puerto Rican Bank Endemic, Varronia rupicola (Boraginaceae)

P02

Hamilton, M.A.1, Clubbe, C.P.1, Monsegur, O.2, Sustache, J.3 and Sanchez, M.D.1

1 Royal Botanic Gardens Kew (Kew) 2 Caribbean Ecological Services, US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), Puerto Rico 3 Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (DNER), Puerto Rico

Varronia rupicola (Boraginaceae) is a woody shrub endemic to the Caribbean where the effects of climate change and anthropogenic induced threats could push the species to extinction over the coming century. Population genetic and biogeographical research have shown that V. rupicola is endemic to the islands of Puerto Rico, Vieques and Anegada where five populations were detected. Eustatic changes have caused significant variations in the amount of submerged and exposed land across the PRB in the past and are projected to continue to do so into the future. IPCC RCP sea level rise scenarios by 2100 will have varying direct impacts on V. rupicola ranging from a loss of 29 (4%) to 75 (12%) individual localities on Anegada to none expected on Vieques or Puerto Rico. The 1 m, 2 m, 3 m and 6 m scenarios explored for 2100 to 2300 will have no direct impact on extant plant locations on Vieques or Puerto Rico; however, these scenarios will have significant impact on the species current locations across Anegada with losses of extant individual’s locations varying from 20% to 99% between the 1 m and 6 m scenarios. The indirect impacts of future sea level rise on all three islands could be very high, especially on Puerto Rico Island outside of existing protected areas. An integrated approach to the species conservation is needed to maximise genetic diversity and potentiality allow adaptation of V. rupicola to environmental change and new threats.

Climate change and food security – how environmental change impacts on seed quality

P03

Castillo Lorenzo1, E., Seal1, C.E., Finch-Savage2, W. and Pritchard, H.W. 1 1Comparative Plant and Fungal Biology, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK 2Warwick University, Warwick, UK

The looming challenges of climate change and food security require new knowledge of how environmental change impacts on seed quality. In an EU-funded project entitled “Impacts of Environmental Conditions on Seed Quality” (EcoSeed), we are investigating the effects of the maternal environment on seed quality in three crop species, Brassica oleracea (cabbage), Hordeum vulgare (barley) and Helianthus annuus (sunflower), as well as 15 wild relatives and the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. As one of 11 partners, RBG Kew’s role is to characterise the germination behaviour using various threshold models in relation to the critical temperatures and water potentials for the progress of germination, as well as seed water relations with implications for storability, and life span.

When drought was directly applied to the mother plants, the resulting seeds of sunflower had a broader environmental window for germination than those produced under normal irrigation, through a lowering of the minimum, or base, water potential and an increase in the maximum, or ceiling, temperature for germination to occur. In cabbage and barley, drought treatment during seed production had no significant impact on germination thresholds. We also observed up to 10 % higher oil content in seeds produced when heat was applied to the mother plant, and are currently investigating the implications of this for seed water relations and consequently storability and life span. Our future goal is to develop a risk framework for seed quality in response to climate change.

Acknowledgement for funding: FP7 project KBBE2012.1.1-01 – Impacts of Environmental Conditions on Seed Quality (EcoSeed).

Contribution to native plant conservation of Burkina Faso: results of the partnership between CNSF and the Royal Botanical Garden of Kew, UK

P04

Sanou L.1, Sina S.1, Belem B.1 and Sacandé M.2 1 National Forest Seed Center (CNSF) 01 BP 2682 Ouagadougou 01 Burkina Faso 2 FAO, Forest Resources and Policy Division/ Forestry Department - Room, Viale delle Terme di Caracalla, 00153 Rome, Italy

Burkina Faso is experiencing a loss of biodiversity mainly plants species caused by climate change, bush fires, unsustainable plant parts collection. In order to contribute to the country native plants species conservation, the National Forest Seed Centre (CNSF) and the Royal Botanical Garden of Kew, UK are working to implement a collaborative project since September 2000; the project is the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership. The main objective of this project is to collect and conserve seeds and herbarium vouchers. Joint research in the field of seed conservation and strengthening of scientific and technical capacities of CNSF researchers are key components of this partnership. After fifteen years of field and laboratory works, collected species include 125 botanical families of plants for 1,260 species representing approximately 65% of the country flora. Among this collected species about one hundred are becoming rare or endangered. The number of herbarium vouchers is 12 500 and the weight of seeds which are collected and stored in the cool room of CNSF is 2 tons. The main constraints related to the partnership are (a) the weak capacity building of CNSF staff, (b) the insufficient valuation and dissemination of the research results. In order to improve this partnership there is a need (a) to use the collected seeds to grow seedlings in nurseries and plant them in communities chosen sites, (b) to keep on collecting the herbarium vouchers and seeds of new species in targeting

wetlands habitats, sacred groves, galleries and mountain forests, (c) to frequently monitor and assess the viability of the stored seeds in the cold room at CNSF.

Assessing the potential impacts of climate change on the native flora of the Falkland Islands

P05

Upson. R.1, McAdam, J.2 and Clubbe, C1 1Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AB, UK 2Agri Food and Biosciences Institute and Queens University of Belfast, Newforge Lane, Belfast, BT95PX, Northern Ireland

The Falkland Islands are predicted to experience an up to 2.2°C rise in mean annual temperature over the coming century, greater than four times the rate of warming experienced in the last 100 years. Our study is the first to investigate the likely climate change vulnerability of the native flora of the Falkland Islands. We investigated both the likely impact on the ranges of a suite of species whose distributions are associated with broad climatic trends across the archipelago and also the sensitivity of the native flora as a whole, based on a suite of climate-sensitive traits. In light of the results we discuss possible implications for ecosystem services and adaptation. These results are being incorporated into a Climate Change Risk Assessment to enable the Falkland Islands Government to mainstream climate change implications and mitigation strategies into new policy developments.

The Sampled Red List Index project: motivation and methods for a botanical biodiversity barometer

P06

Baines, D.1, Bachman, S.1,2, Black, M.1, Budden, A.1, Canteiro, C.1, Carretero, J.1, Chadburn, H.1, Hargreaves, S.1, Murray, L.1 and Williams, E.1

1Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, UK 2School of Geography, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK

The IUCN Red List is an indicator of global extinction risk for species that is based on a rigorous set of criteria. Scientists can study variation in species extinction risk over time and generate an overall index of change that can be used to measure progress towards the Convention on Biological Diversity, Aichi targets, UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation.

With an estimated 390,000 plant species, a comprehensive assessment of every taxon repeated over 5–10 years would be impractical, so a sampled approach was adopted. All known gymnosperms were included, complemented by a sample of 1,500 species drawn from each of the other groups included in the Sampled Red List Index (SRLI) for plants: bryophytes, pteridophytes, monocots and legumes (~7,000 species in total).

During Phase 1 (2006–2010) IUCN Red List assessments for the sampled species were prepared based on herbarium specimen data, GIS analysis, published literature and, where available, expert knowledge. The results of the first SRLI for plants showed that more than 20% are threatened with extinction. Compared to the Red List Index for other groups, plants are more threatened than birds, as threatened as mammals but less threatened than amphibians.

During Phase 2 (2015–2020) the sampled species will be reassessed through checking for new records and knowledge using the original sources of data, potentially complemented by other methods, for example, citizen science initiatives, remote sensing and ground truthing. A new index value will then be calculated to determine the trend in extinction risk.

Conservation genetics of Vachellia anegadensis, a threatened British Virgin Island endemic plant species

P07

Bárrios, S.1, Cowan, R.1, Hawkins, J.2, Hamilton, M.1, Fay, M.1 and Clubbe, C1. 1. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, TW9 3AB, UK 2. School of Biological Sciences, Reading University, Reading, RG6 6AS, UK

During a botanical expedition in 2008 the Critically Endangered Vachellia anegadensis (Britton) Seigler and Ebinger was discovered on the volcanic island of Fallen Jerusalem in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). Previously this species was thought to be endemic to the limestone island of Anegada, also part of the BVI Archipelago. Urgent work was needed to inform conservation action by detailing the distribution of V. anegadensis across both islands, investigating the genetic variability within and between islands and by documenting the main threats affecting this species.

Results of the genetic variability and the genetic structure of the wild populations of V. anegadensis rule out an obvious relationship between the geography of this species and its genetic variability. The genetic diversity of individuals of V. anegadensis on Anegada and Fallen Jerusalem is equally spread across both islands and soils types. For the reassessment of V. anegadensis, a down-listing of extinction risk from Critically Endangered (CR) to Endangered (EN) was proposed. Conservation recommendations include an increase to the in situ protection for V. anegadensis on the island of Anegada, by establishing the proposed protected areas designated in the BVI protected areas system plan 2007–2017, published in 2008. The implementation of these findings will improve the long-term conservation status and secure a future for this globally threatened species.

Predicting extinction risk in plants

P08

Darrah, S.1, Bland, L.2, Bachman, S. P.3,4, Clubbe, C.3 and Trias Blasi, A.3

1 United Nations Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre (UNEP-WCMC), Cambridge, CB3 0DL 2 School of BioSciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, Victoria, Australia 3 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AB, UK 4 School of Geography, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK

Less than 6% of the world’s described plant species have been assessed and published on the IUCN Red List, leaving many species ignored by conservation prioritisation schemes. Large scale plant species assessments are a challenge as most species ranges have only been resolved to a coarse scale, for example in checklists. We evaluate the use of such data in predictive models to assess the global scale and drivers of extinction risk in an economically important group, the Bulbous Monocotyledons. We train a random forest model on biological and environmental variables for species assessed on the IUCN Red List in order to identify correlates of high extinction risk and map the resulting predictions to identify potential hotspots of threat.

Results: Our model showed excellent predictive power with 91% classification accuracy between threatened and non-threatened species. As many as 35% of Bulbous Monocots presently ‘Not Evaluated’ under IUCN criteria are predicted to be threatened. The model confirmed some known hotspots of threat, including Turkey and Cape Provinces, and also predicted new hotspots such as central Chile, where no Bulbous Monocots have been assessed on the IUCN Red List.

This is the first time Machine Learning techniques have been used to determine extinction risk at a global scale in a large plant group. As checklist data exists for more plant groups, our methods can be replicated to provide extinction risk predictions for more species. Our approach can be used as a low-cost and valuable prioritisation tool for targeting field-based assessments.

Global biodiversity legume assessments in Africa: West Central Africa as a case study

P09

de la Estrella, M.1, Bruneau, A.2 and Forest, F.1

1Comparative Plant and Fungal Biology, Jodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK 2Institut de Recherche en Biologie Végétale and Département de Sciences Biologiques, Université de Montréal, Canada

Tropical rain forests are one of the most biologically diverse habitats on the planet. Yet their description and the understanding of their evolutionary history are far from complete. Because of their role as global biodiversity repositories, there is an increasing and pressing need to assess global biodiversity changes in tropical rainforests. West Central Africa represents the area of greatest biodiversity richness in tropical Africa and has the highest percentage of untouched pristine forest in all of Africa and Madagascar. West Central African biodiversity not only faces the challenges linked to climate change, but also human pressure with the highest population growth rates in the world. This project will contribute to the ongoing Global Legume Diversity Assessment programme aiming at improving our understanding of biodiversity loss using legumes, the third largest family of angiosperms, as a proxy. The project focuses on tribe Detarieae, which are the dominant tree components of West Central African forests, and thus an ideal exemplar clade for this study.

Project Objectives:

–Produce a comprehensive phylogenetic framework for West Central African Detarieae.

–Investigate geographic patterns of species richness, endemism and phylogenetic diversity.

–Estimate extinction risks for each species and integrate this information with phylogenetic data to determine conservation priorities.

Project Outputs (expected):

–Conservation assessments for species of tribe Detarieae.

–A phylogenetic analysis using genomic data for tribe Detarieae.

Back from the brink? The future of an Extinct in the Wild (EW) tree rediscovered

P10

Fernandez, E.P.1,2,3, Martinelli, G.2, Hawkins, J1. and Nic Lughadha, E.3 1 University of Reading, Berkshire, UK 2 Instituto de Pesquisas Jardim Botanico do Rio de Janeiro/ Centro Nacional de Conservacao da Flora (JBRJ/ CNCFlora) 3 Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Richmond, Surrey, UK

Establishing extinction of a given species is difficult, and species thought to be extinct are rediscovered with surprising frequency. Achieving precision in the fact or date of extinction of a plant species is particularly challenging. Before extinction is declared, analysis is required of factors such as collecting effort over time, life history traits including reproductive biology and life form, combined with historical and potential distribution and threats. The magnificent “guarajuba” tree Terminalia acuminata (Combretaceae), endemic to Rio de Janeiro’s Mata Atlantica Hotspot, was the first Brazilian plant species declared Extinct in Wild on the IUCN Red List. Guarajuba was historically over-exploited for its useful timber, and had not been observed in the wild for almost 70 years when declared extinct. Guarajuba’s rediscovery in 2015, in an intensively collected area < 50km from the city, shocked the Brazilian scientific community and raised important questions about specimen collection strategies and specimen-based assessments of conservation status. Long-lived trees such as guarajuba are considered more resistant to fragmentation effects than other life forms, but habitat loss may affect breeding

success, reproductive output and progeny fitness, directly affecting population viability. We selected guarajuba as a case study in order to explore factors underlying declarations of extinction and the fate of rediscovered plants. Project aims include: (i) confirming known locations and locating additional sites of occurrence; (ii) gathering quantitative population data and leaf tissue from all individuals; (iii) investigating population genetic diversity and structure using AFLPs. Results will inform participatory conservation action towards long-term species survival.

Citizen science to ramp up assessments of conservation status

P11

Gardiner, L.M.1,2 and Bachman, S.P.1,3 1Conservation Science, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AE, UK 2Kew Madagascar Conservation Centre, Ambodivoanjo, Ivandry, Antananarivo 101, Madagascar 3School of Geography, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK

Citizen science networks and tools offer researchers innovative ways of gathering data which can be used for conservation purposes. By engaging multiple stakeholders (from non-specialist members of the public to professional researchers), harnessing the enthusiasm and goodwill of a global community of interested parties can enormously speed up the collection of data.

Conservationists urgently need to accelerate the rate at which the extinction risk of species are assessed, ideally using International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List criteria. The citizen science tool iNaturalist may be one way in which we can promote communities working together to gather data for prioritization and conservation outcomes.

Kew is currently using iNaturalist in Madagascar to record plants in the field, as part of the Kew Madagascar Conservation Centre's project Zavamaniry Gasy ('Plants of Madagascar'). Within a year and a half of its creation the project has gathered nearly 5,000 observations from the wild, representing more than 1700 of Madagascar's 14,000 plant species, greatly improving our knowledge of species' distributions.

Impacts of deforestation on extinction risk of the world’s timber tree species

P12

Mark, J.1, Newton, A.1, Oldfield, S.2, Rivers, M.3, Cantarello, E.1 and Golicher, D.1

1 Faculty of Science and Technology, Bournemouth University 2 IUCN/SSC Global Tree Specialist Group 3 Botanic Gardens Conservation International

Each year, the global timber trade contributes approximately 500 billion US dollars to GDP (World Bank, 2014). Above and beyond their economic importance, the harvested trees themselves are invaluable ecosystem components. However, wild-growth commercial timber trees face immediate threat on two fronts: selective harvest and deforestation. Future sustainable use and conservation of wild timber populations is dependent on knowledge of their threat status.

This study uses remote sensing datasets of global forest cover change (Hansen et al., 2013) and land use (World Resources Institute, 2015), recently made available through the Global Forest Watch initiative, to analyse the impacts of forest clearance and plantations on extent of occurrence, habitat quality, and population density of 332 priority timber tree species.

Despite the economic and ecological importance of these species, up-to-date knowledge of their extinction risk has hitherto been lacking. We use the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (Red List) to assign preliminary threat categories and, additionally, report on best practice application of the Red List to harvested trees.

Our poster presents novel application of quantitative IUCN guidelines to angiosperm timber trees as a group, utilising online monitoring platforms and digital occurrence datasets. This study is part of ongoing PhD research into application of the Red List to timbers.

The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation – progress towards the 2020 targets

P13

Sharrock, S.1 and McCarthy, B.2 (on behalf of the Global Partnership for Plant Conservation) 1 Botanic Gardens Conservation International, Descanso House, 199 Kew Road, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3BW 2 Plantlife International

The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) sets out 16 plant conservation targets to be achieved by 2020 as a specific contribution towards the Aichi targets and is a work programme of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The GSPC targets were the first ever biodiversity-related target to be adopted at the international level and they provide an innovative framework for plant conservation action at the national and international level.

Covering the same themes as the SoWP Symposium, the GSPC has proved to be a useful model for developing national and regional plant conservation strategies and as a result, better coordination and collaboration has allowed significant progress to be made in key centres of botanical diversity including Africa, Europe and the Americas.

A consortium of international and national plant and conservation agencies have formed the Global Partnership for Plant Conservation (GPPC). The Partnership is working to implement the GSPC and provide tools and resources to help countries meet the targets. Efforts to achieve the GSPC targets have also stimulated the development of a number of new initiatives and partnerships focused on specific targets, such as the Consortium for the World Flora Online, developed in response to Target 1.

This poster will provide an overview of progress towards the GSPC targets, highlighting specific achievements at the national and global level that contribute to meeting the themes of the Symposium and will provide opportunity to identify future priority work areas to ensure plant diversity is sustained into the future.

Study of reproduction capacity of threatened plant species of Georgia’s flora and their ex situ conservation

P14

Mikitadze-Panstulaia, T.1, Kobakhidze, L.1, Melia, N.1, Gabedava, L.1, Jgenti, L.1, Barblishvili, T.1 and Faruk, A.2 1 National Botanical Garden of Georgia (NBGG), Department of Plant Conservation 2 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Millennium Seed Bank, Wakehurst Place, Ardingly RH17 6TN

Flora of Georgia counts almost 4130 species of vascular plants, 21% of which (~900 species) are endemics of Caucasus and Georgia. The state of the 50 endemic, rare and threatened species, singled out from Georgian endemics as the priority for conservation (Nakhutsrishvili, G., R. Gagnidze, et al., 2015), which require urgent conservation measures were studied and protection methods elaborated.

State of particular species in the wild is in direct relationship with the capacity of its population for seed formation and self-reproduction by seeds.

Research of seed formation processes of plant is especially urgent due to the increased human impact on nature and climate change. These circumstances complicate prediction of results of

habitat degradation or change of existing climate conditions, to which the species was adapted by the character of reproduction strategy.

Economically important species: Gymnospermium smirnowii (Trautv.) Takht. EN; Campanula armazica Charadze (EN), Campanula kachetica Kantsch. CR(PE), Campanula kemulariae Fomin (VU), Hibiscus ponticus Rupr (EN), Paeonia steveniana Kem.-Nath (EN), Cyclamen colchicum (Albov) Albov (EN), Aquilegia colchica Kem.-Nath. (EN), Pulsatilla georgica Rupr. (EN), Amygdalus georgica Desf. (EN/VU) and Muscari alpanicum Schchian (VU) were studied, their biological peculiarities, seed formation capacity, potential/actual seed forming capacities determined, the main factors (abiotic and biotic), responsible for the declining of particular species investigated.

Ex-situ conservation activities were carried out, seeds deposited for long-term storage at the Caucasus Regional Seed Bank (NBGG) and duplicated to Kew’s MSB.

Living collections of seedlings, grown from seeds are created for some of these species. Stock of seeds and documented living collections is a precondition for in situ re-introduction.

Next Generation Sequencing: polyploidy and hybridization in whitebeams

P15

Piñeiro, R. and Fay, M.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, TW9 3DS, Richmond, Surrey, UK

Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) opens exciting opportunities for DNA research on polyploid plants by sequencing large portions of the genome. The English whitebeams (Sorbus aria aggr.) are an emblematic case study of polyploid evolution of natural tree populations. SW England is a “Sorbus hotspot”, with ca. 30 polyploid species (3X, 4X, and even 5X), many of them occurring in just a few localities. Recent studies have provided detailed knowledge of the morphology, ploidy levels, and classic molecular markers in British populations. Despite this effort, some essential questions remain unsolved: (i) who are the parental species of these local polyploid taxa? (ii) Did polyploidisation take place once or several times? (iii) Are they allo- or autopolyploids? More specifically, we intend to test the role of three species as putative parents of these local polyploids: the diploid sexual species S. aria, and the facultative apomictic tetraploids S. rupicola and S. porrigentiformis. Interestingly, SW England is the only area where these two tetraploids overlap with natural populations of the diploid S. aria. We have launched a pilot study using double digest RADseq and 20 nuclear microsatellite makers in order to estimate genetic diversity and trace the hybrid origin of 500 trees across UK, together with closely related relatives in continental Europe. The project has a strong bioinformatics component, including the exploration of novel methods to genotype tetraploid organisms. The evolutionary proximity of apple, for which the whole genome sequence is available, is an advantage for the genomic analyses.

Temporal decay in timber species composition and value in Amazonian logging concessions

P16

Richardson V.A., and Peres, C.A.

Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Conservation, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, NR47TJ, UK

Throughout human history, slow-renewal biological resource populations have been predictably overexploited, often to the point of economic extinction. The advance of industrial-scale logging frontiers leaves forest landscapes with varying histories of logging. Harvesting in unlogged old-growth forests can be highly selective, initially targeting slow-growing high-grade, shade-tolerant hardwood species, but may subsequently shift towards fast-growing, light-wooded long-lived pioneer trees. Brazil controls the largest natural tropical timber reserve, accounting for 85% of

native neotropical forest roundlog production, and the State of Pará for almost half of all offtake in Brazilian Amazonia. Yet the degree to which timber harvests beyond the first-cut can be financially profitable or demographically sustainable remains poorly understood. Here, we report data on legally planned logging of ~17.3 million m3 of timber across 314 species extracted from 824 private and community-based concessions. Using data from government-approved concession management plans, we document patterns of timber offtake by volume, species composition, and monetary value along aging eastern Amazonian logging frontiers, which are then explained on the basis of historical and environmental variables. Generalized linear models indicate that relatively recent logging operations farthest from heavy-traffic roads are the most selective, concentrating gross revenues on few high-value species. We find no evidence that the post-logging timber species composition and total value of forest stands recovers beyond the first-cut, suggesting that the commercially most valuable timber species become predictably rare or economically extinct in old logging frontiers. The logging history of Amazonian forests likely mirrors temporal patterns of timber depletion elsewhere in the tropics.

Plant coextinctions following pollinator abundance declines

P17

Simmons, B. I., Dicks, L.V. and Sutherland, W.J.

University of Cambridge, Department of Zoology, Downing St, Cambridge CB2 3EJ

Pollination is a key ecosystem service of ecological and economic importance. Documented declines in insect pollinators and a range of ongoing threats to them have given pollination a very high profile in environmental policy. The importance of animal pollinators for crop production has been well characterised and evaluated. By contrast, their importance for wild plants has not been rigorously examined, although it is widely acknowledged as a key element of the value of pollination. Here I modify the recent Stochastic Coextinction Model developed by Vieira and Almeida-Neto (2014) to incorporate link deletion, a process which more accurately mimics gradual pollinator abundance declines in ecological networks than the more traditional node removal. I use this to assess the effects of pollinator abundance declines on plant species persistence using an extremely large dataset of over 1,000 plant-pollinator networks distributed globally. I also evaluate the topological properties of networks that lead to robustness against pollinator declines.

PlantWatch: market transformation towards responsible sourcing of wild plant ingredients

P18

Timoshyna, A.1,2, Leaman D.J.2, Morgan, B.1,3

1 TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network 2 IUCN Species Survival Commission, Medicinal Plant Specialist Group 3 FairWild Foundation

Wild plants are used in products consumed daily around the world, including food, medicines and cosmetics, often as ‘hidden ingredients’ that consumers and companies are unaware of due to the complexity of trade chains. This trade contributes to the livelihoods of millions of people, but many of the plant species used are under pressure from unsustainable harvesting and all too often the economic benefits are inequitably shared. Best practices for verifying wild collection sustainability are available (e.g. the FairWild Standard), but the number of companies involved with it to date is not yet large enough to create a significant change in this business or to have an impact on the number of species and volume of wild-collected material in trade. Lack of consumer awareness or demand for responsibly sourced ingredients means that companies are under no pressure to demonstrate traceability, sustainability and equity of their sourcing practices.

The poster provides an update on the FairWild implementation, demonstrating sustainable wild-harvesting and trade in plants. It highlights the existing business models and approaches for responsible sourcing practices, emphasizing the relevance of the FairWild Standard and its certification scheme to the implementation of the Target 12 of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC). It further outlines the gaps between the 2020 Target and its delivery, including the priorities for the conservation status assessments of priority plants in trade, engagement of stakeholders in conducting the development of management plans, as well as catalysing the partnership (PlantWatch) around the priority exemplar species in trade.

The Global Naturalized Alien Flora (GloNAF), a new resource for understanding plant invasions worldwide

P19

Dawson, W.1, Essl, F.2, Kreft, H.3, Pergl, J.4, Pyšek, P.4,5, van Kleunen, M6, Weigelt, P3, Winter, M7 and GloNAF Data Providers and Collaborators* 1School of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Durham University, South Road, Durham, DH1 2LF, United Kingdom

2Division of Conservation, Vegetation and Landscape Ecology, University Vienna, 1030 Wien, Austria

3Biodiversity, Macroecology and Conservation Biogeography, University of Göttingen, Büsgenweg 1, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany

4Institute of Botany, Department of Invasion Ecology, The Czech Academy of Sciences, CZ-252 43 Průhonice, Czech Republic 5Department of Ecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Viničná 7, CZ-128 44 Prague, Czech Republic 6Department of Biology, University of Konstanz, Universitätsstrasse 10, D-78464 Konstanz, Germany 7German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv), Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Germany

*see van Kleunen et al. 2015

Despite intensive research on plant invasions, a comprehensive global database of regional alien floras has been missing up to now. Here we introduce the Global Naturalized Alien Flora (GloNAF) database, which summarizes information on naturalized floras for over 840 terrestrial regions. At >80% global coverage by 2015 we were able to describe and quantify, for the first time, the biogeographic, taxonomic and phylogenetic patterns of naturalized alien plants worldwide.

We revealed that ~12,000 plant species, corresponding to ~4% of the extant vascular flora, have become naturalized somewhere on the globe. While Europe and North America have accumulated the largest numbers of naturalized species, we showed that the Northern Hemisphere is a major donor of naturalized plants to other parts of the world. Thus, at the global scale, naturalization processes are not random phenomena, but exhibit clear phylogenetic and biogeographic patterns.

The GloNAF database has served as a unique data source for testing various aspects of invasion ecology, including models describing the flow of invasive plants as a function of trade, testing Baker’s law at a global scale, the role of apomixis in invasions, and whether alien plants can be used as an indicator for hotspots of other alien species. We outline further ways in which GloNAF can be a key tool to better understand changes in plant diversity around the world as a result of human-mediated introductions.

Reference: van Kleunen M. et al. (2015). Global exchange and accumulation of non-native plants. Nature 525: 100–103.

Identifying potentially invasive garden plants: utilising gardeners’ knowledge

P20

Dehnen-Schmutz, K.

Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience, Coventry University, Priory Street, Coventry, CV1 5FB, UK

Most non-native plants including the plants with the highest negative impacts have been introduced as ornamental plants. Long delays from the introduction in a garden to the recognition of a problematic invasive plant in the wild make effective control strategies very difficult and often impossible. Gardeners will notice first if ornamental plants show characteristics, e.g. vigorous growth, spread and difficulty to control, that may contribute to their potential to become a problematic invader. This project explores if the reporting of early warning signs from gardens could help to design more effective prevention strategies at the first stages of the invasion process. An online reporting form was developed and botanists and professional gardeners in Britain were asked to report ornamental plants that are spreading and difficult to control in their gardens. Results show that the most frequent plants reported are also frequently recorded outside cultivation. However, the list of reported plants also includes species with a recently increasing distribution and species not reported outside cultivation. The results provide evidence that gardeners’ knowledge could help to identify potentially problematic invasive plants early in the invasion process. The main obstacle for the expansion of the approach to the wider gardening public is the potential difficulty with plant identification. At the same time, however, raising awareness for the problem by actively involving gardeners could be of equal importance for the prevention of ornamental plant invasions.

Invasive synergy in an ant-plant mutualism

P21

Devenish, A.J.M.1, Sumner, S.1 and Newton, R.2

1School of Biological Sciences, Life Sciences Building, University of Bristol, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK 2Conservation Science, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Millennium Seed Bank, Wakehurst, Ardingly, West Sussex, RH17 6TN, UK

South Africa is home to one of the world's six floral kingdoms, with over 6200 endemic plant species; yet this unique region is threatened by a number of invasive plant and animal species, including the notorious Argentine ant (Linepithema humile). This ant species threatens not only the native ants’ community structure, but also the seed dispersal services they provide. This study explores the seed dispersal ability of invasive and native ant communities in the Jonkershoek Nature Reserve. Through the use of cafeteria experiments, ant dispersal preferences were determined for both native fynbos and invasive Acacia plant species.

Three ant communities were identified in this study. The community invaded by Linepithema humile were able to disperse a range of smaller seeded plant species, with the highest rate of removal recorded for three invasive Acacia plant species. In contrast, the native community dominated by Anoplolepis custodiens showed a preference for larger native seeded species, with the lowest removal rates recorded for Acacia plant species. Whereas the native community dominated by Pheidole capensis showed no clear preference for either native or invasive plant species.

In conclusion the invasion of Linepithema humile is likely to facilitate the invasion of Acacia plants, whilst at the same time limiting the dispersal of native fynbos species, in particular larger seeded species, such as Leucospermum. This invasive synergy highlights the need for plant conservationists to consider a wider number of influential factors when estimating at-risk species.

Research, response, result – a scientific approach to local action on INNS

P22

Morris, N.J.

Cornwall College Newquay, Wildflower Lane, Newquay TR7 2LZ

The Student Invasive Non-Native Group (SINNG) is a Local Action Group based at Cornwall College Newquay. Since 2010 SINNG has been raising awareness of, and taking action on, invasive species. From the outset there have been several strands of the project and students have an impact through outreach, education, control and monitoring. Student research informs awareness and action. Research on the oxygenating properties of Lagarosiphon major (an invasive aquatic plant currently sold as an oxygenator) is showing that a native counterpart is not only a better oxygenator, but also supports more biodiversity than the invasive. Such research can change awareness of the species and contribute to policy making. SINNG’s actions often involve removal of invasive waterweed, raising the issue of safe disposal. Current research on Myriophyllum aquaticum indicates that existing removal and disposal methods should be reviewed due to the regeneration potential of fragments. The results of this study will help guide management principles and control programmes. Ichthyosaura alpestris (Alpine newt) have been introduced to the wild in the UK through intentional and accidental release of pets. The control of this species poses particular problems. The potential for adverse publicity regarding control of vertebrates needs to be approached in a careful manner. Maintaining good public relations is essential and can be achieved by providing evidence of impacts. Research is showing direct competition with native amphibians backing up their role as disease vectors informing public awareness campaigns. Genetic analysis combined with geographic profiling enables exploration of invasion sources and the potential for spread.

The impact of Impatiens glandulifera (Himalayan Balsam) on the pollination of native plant species in the UK

P23

White, L.M., Pérez-Barrales, R. and Horn, G.

University of Portsmouth, School of Biological Sciences, King Henry Building, King Henry 1 Street, Portsmouth, PO1 2DY

Biological plant invasions have devastating effects on the biodiversity. Management of invasive species can be costly, with 900 ‘alien’ plant taxa in the UK since 2000. In-depth understanding of invasive species and what native ecological processes they disturb can help manage an invader’s spread.

The invader species Impatiens glandulifera (Himalayan Balsam) was introduced to Britain in 1839 and is now well established in natural environments. In the present study, we aimed at studying the impact of I. glandulifera on the pollination ecology of native species, with focus on Stachys sylvatica. Specifically, we observed bee visitation and pollen load on the stigmas in pristine and invaded localities. Secondly, in pristine sites, I. glandulifera was introduced to study the initial biological invasion on pollination services.

Visitation rate to I.glandulifera was not direct competition for native species, and even facilitated visits. In contrast, the pollen load from native species carried by bumblebees decreased in the presence of the invader. The probability of invasive pollen transferred varied depending on where pollen was placed on insects and specialisation of bumblebees’ fit with native and invasive flower morphology.

The probability of finding conspecific pollen on S. sylvatica stigmas decreased up to 80% after the invader’s introduction. These results suggest that the invader had a negative impact on pollen transfer to S. sylvatica stigmas, resulting in decreased female fitness. This study highlights

how biological invasions can modify the function of natural environments by changing insect behaviour and disrupting the pollination flow of native flowering species.

Genome sequencing of Fraxinus species to identify loci relevant to ash dieback and emerald ash borer

P24

Sollars, E.S.A.1,2, Kelly, L.J.1, Swarbreck, D.3, Clavijo, B.3, Kaithakottil, G.3, Zohren, J.1, Boshier, D.4, Clark, J.5, Lee, S.6, Koch, J.7, Carlson, J.E.8, Kjaer, E.D.9, Nielsen, L.R.9, Crowther, W.1,10, Rossiter, S.J.1, Joecker, A.2, Ayling, S.3, Caccamo, M.3,11 and Buggs, R.J.A.1 1School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK 2Qiagen Aarhus, Silkeborgvej 2, Prismet, 8000 Aarhus C., Denmark 3The Genome Analysis Centre, Norwich Research Park, Norwich, NR4 7UH, UK 4Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3RB, UK 5The Earth Trust, Little Wittenham, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 4QZ, UK 6Forest Research, Northern Research Station, Roslin, Midlothian, EH25 9SY, UK. 7U.S.D.A. Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Delaware, OH 43015, USA 8Department of Ecosystem Science and Management, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA 9Department of Geosciences and Management of Natural Resources, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 21, Frederiksberg, Denmark 10Current address: School of Life Sciences, Gibbet Hill Campus, The University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK 11Current address: NIAB, Huntingdon Road, Cambridge, CB3 0LE, UK

Fraxinus (ash) species are highly threatened by emerald ash borer (EAB) in North America and ash dieback (ADB) in Europe. Their future may depend on genomically assisted breeding for low susceptibility to these threats. We have produced a de novo reference genome from a low-heterozygosity British F. excelsior (European ash) tree (N50 = 99Kbp, total length = 875Mbp; see www.ashgenome.org), and sequenced 38 further trees from this species across Europe, including a Danish tree with low susceptibility to ADB, which we are comparing. We are now sequencing the genomes of 35 other Fraxinus species from around the world. Genome size in Fraxinus varies from c. 750Mbp to c. 4Gbp (1C-values), encompassing diploid, tetraploid and hexaploid taxa. Preliminary evidence suggests that Asiatic Fraxinus species have low susceptibility to EAB and ADB, which we are testing with genus-wide experimental EAB inoculation experiments in Ohio, and genus-wide field exposure to ADB in Britain. We aim to find loci relevant to low susceptibility to ADB and EAB by detecting genes in the genus Fraxinus that yield phylogenetic trees incongruent with the “species-tree” for the genus, but congruent with patterns of low susceptibility among species. If successful, this method will be applicable to other tree pest/pathogen interactions.

A strategy to save the Caicos pine forests

P25

Sanchez, M.D.1, Corcoran, M.R.1, Manco, B.N.2, Blaise, J.2, Green, P.W.C1, Martinez-Suz, L.1, Barlow, S.1 and Hamilton, M.A.1 1 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AB, UK 2 Department of Environment and Maritime Affairs (DEMA), Turks and Caicos Islands

Pine forests in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) have been under extreme threat of disappearing since the non-native, invasive and pine-specific pine tortoise scale insect (Toumeyella parvicornis) was accidentally introduced to the islands over a decade ago. This invasive species has killed the vast majority of the Vulnerable and endemic Caicos pine, Pinus caribaea var. bahamensis, in TCI, altering the pine’s population structure. However, action by the TCI Government in partnership with the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew (Kew) have ensured a genetically diverse ex situ collection with locally grown Caicos pines and built local capacity to manage the TCI pine forests. A recent Darwin Plus project (2014–2016) led by Kew with local partner DEMA applied Kew’s expertise in genetics, mycology, chemical interactions, restoration ecology, seed physiology, horticulture and biogeography to enhance the knowledge on the Caicos

pine, its habitat and threats. It was observed that chemical composition changed and water stress levels increased in pines with scale infection. Essential mycorrhizal fungi for the pine’s establishment have been identified, the ex situ collection expanded and the local pine seed orchard genotyped. Core conservation areas for the pine forests in TCI were identified and a restoration strategy developed to guide future management and restoration needed, while enhancing the species resilience to invasive species and climate change.

More than 50% of the world’s natural history collections do not have the correct name

P26

Goodwin, Z.A.1, 2, Harris, D.J.2, Filer, D.1, Wood, J.R.I.1 and Scotland R.W.1 1Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3RB, UK 2Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh, EH3 5LR, UK

Specimens of plants and animals preserved in museums are the primary source of verifiable data on the geographical and temporal distribution of organisms. Museum datasets are increasingly being uploaded to aggregated regional and global databases (e.g. the Global Biodiversity Information Facility; GBIF) for use in a wide range of analyses. Here a detailed examination of recently revised genera of African gingers (Aframomum) and morning glories (Ipomoea) demonstrates that more than 50% of natural history collections may not have the correct name.

Using big data to measure tropical Africa's botanic hotspots

Marshall, C.A.M. and Hawthorne, W.D.

P27

Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3RB

A plant biodiversity hotspot analysis is a useful tool for land-use planning, particularly in areas with high conservation value. Existing botanic hotspot analyses for tropical Africa have either limited geographic resolution or taxonomic coverage, or focus on species richness or local rarity. Such gaps hinder their application in many practical scenarios.

Here, we present a 'big data' botanic hotspot map for tropical Africa, with full taxonomic coverage for vascular plants and a flexible geographic resolution interface, derived from > 3 million taxonomically and geographically cleaned and geolocated records of >30,000 taxa and their global distributions. We measure biodiversity 'heat' using the categorised global ranges of all the lowest named taxonomic units recorded from a sample area, so that an area where a high proportion of the species have small global ranges achieves a high hotspot score.

These results can already serve as a practical and globally-sensitive framework for local and regional land-use planning in tropical Africa. Moreover, we provide the tools and methods to allow the framework to be extended to the rest of the world, and to provide more detail to resolve the tropical African picture further.

Environmental niche differentiation between CAM and C3 species in the montane genus Puya (Bromeliaceae)

P28

Beltrán, J.D., Harris, S.A. and Smith, J.A.C.

Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3RB, United Kingdom

Crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) is a photosynthetic pathway characteristic of succulent plants regarded as a very effective water-saving mechanism, as CO2 uptake from the atmosphere is largely restricted to the night, when evaporative demand is much reduced. A number of valuable crops are CAM plants, such as Agave, Aloe, Ananas, Opuntia and Vanilla, that are well suited to cultivation in semi-arid regions. Identification of further potential CAM crops would be facilitated if the environmental niche of CAM species could be more precisely defined. To differentiate the niches of CAM and C3 species, we have studied the monophyletic genus Puya (Bromeliaceae, approx. 230 spp.), which has a predominantly Andean distribution, extending from Chile and Argentina in the south to Costa Rica and the Guiana Shield in the north.

Approximately 20% of Puya species are CAM plants, of which at least 10 taxa are found at elevations above 3,000 m. Using information on photosynthetic pathway from 13C/12C isotope analysis, combined with the georeferenced locations of 147 Puya species, we analysed 30 climatic variables by means of principal component analysis and random forest ordination. The variables that most strongly differentiated the environmental niches of CAM and C3 species of Puya were related to water availability, namely precipitation seasonality, soil water content, ratio of actual to potential evapotranspiration, and aridity index. Surprisingly, elevation and annual mean temperature were not significant distinguishing variables, indicating that CAM species are not necessarily restricted to low-elevation habitats and may be suitable for cultivation in arid upland sites.

eHALOPH. Halophytes: plants for the future P29

Santos, J.1, Aronson, J.2,3, Al-Azzawi, M.4 and Flowers, T.4 1Centre for Functional Ecology, Departamento de Ciências da Vida, Universidade de Coimbra, 3000 456 Coimbra, Portugal 2Centre d’Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (UMR 5175 – CNRS Campus) 1919, Route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier, France 3Missouri Botanical Garden, P.O. Box 299, St. Louis, MO. 63166-0299, USA 4School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Falmer, Brighton, BN7 9QG, UK

The salt-laden water that covers about 71% of the surface of the earth has, over the millennia, led to the presence of large areas of salt-affected land. In the future, expansion of ocean waters following global warming will have consequences for the hinterland of significant areas behind 356,000 km of coastline. Saline flood-waters together with the salinization that can follow forest clearance and poorly managed irrigation will have consequences for world agriculture, as nearly all our crops are salt-sensitive. Less than 400 plant species can grow in seawater and less than 3,000 plant species tolerate the equivalent of 80 mM NaCl. eHALOPH (http://www.sussex.ac.uk/affiliates/halophytes/) is a database of these salt-tolerant plants. Records in eHALOPH of these halophytes contain information on plant type, life form, ecotypes, maximum salinity tolerated, the presence or absence of salt glands, photosynthetic pathway, antioxidants, secondary metabolites, compatible solutes, habitat, economic use and whether there are publications on germination, microbial interactions and mycorrhizal status, bioremediration and of molecular data. eHALOPH can be used to analyse traits associated with salt-tolerance and for choosing species that might be valuable for saline agriculture, bioremediation or other ecological services.

Conservation of Brassicaceae seeds: water content effect on seed longevity

P30

Mira, S.1, Estrelles, E.2, Martínez-Laborde, J.B.1 and González-Benito, M.E.1

1 Departamento de Biotecnologia-Biologia Vegetal, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria s/n, 28040 Madrid, Spain 2 ICBIBE-Jardí Botànic, Universitat de València, Quart 80, 46008 València, Spain

Numerous useful species belong to the Brassicaceae: vegetables, oleaginous, condiments … There is increasing interest in this family due to an antitumor activity of glucosinolates and isothiocyanates from these plants. The family comprises over 3,500 species and many remain unexplored, but could have a direct potential use or may serve as a source of genes for cultivated plants. In order to conserve this remarkable germplasm, long-term seed storage is crucial to develop plant ex situ conservation strategies. Water content and temperature are critical factors contributing to seed longevity during storage.

The effect of water content on seed ageing was studied for a storage period up to eight years in seven (wild and cultivated) species. Seeds were stored at different environments comprising a factorial combination of temperatures and eight water contents. Storage temperatures ranged from 45ºC to ca. -170ºC. Seed longevity showed high variability among species. Extreme desiccation at 45ºC showed damaging effects to seed longevity for some species, while for others no effect was detected. Lipid content could be related to longevity, but only in some storage conditions. The relative longevity of a species at high water contents did not correlate with that observed at low water contents. The relative position of some of the species as long- or short-lived varied depending on the humidity at which the storage behaviour was evaluated. Therefore, predictions of survival under desiccated conditions based on results obtained at high humidity might be problematic for some species.

Acknowledgement: This work was supported by the project RF2012-00014-C02-02

Supporting reforestation through seed conservation of useful native trees

P31

Ulian, T.1, Téllez-Valdés, O.2, Jiménez Rodríguez, F.3, Way, M. 1, Pritchard, H.W.1 and Mattana, E.1 1 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AB, UK 2 Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, F.E.S. Iztacala, Mexico City, Mexico 3 Jardín Botánico Nacional “Dr. Rafael Ma. Moscoso”, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

Forest ecosystems play an important role in biogeochemical processes of the earth, and are crucial to mitigate the impacts of climate change. Trees also provide many benefits to humans, such as the production of timber, firewood, ritual aspects, etc., as well as vital ecosystem services such as clean water provision and prevention of soil erosion.

The Global Tree Seed Bank Project is one of Kew's major projects, funded by the Garfield Weston Foundation, aiming to secure in safe long-term storage seeds of at least 2,000 tree species from across the world, among them the world rarest, most threatened and useful plants important for the livelihoods of rural communities.

In Latin America the project started in 2015 and it focuses in Mexico and Dominican Republic. In Mexico, the expected outputs are: (1) a list of tree species of Mexico with information on distribution, conservation status and uses and a map of tree species biodiversity hotspots; (2) seed conservation of 200 tree species; (3) seed germination and plant propagation protocols for at least 25 priority useful tree species; and (4) a predictive model on seed desiccation tolerance. In the Dominican Republic, the project aims to protect the forestry diversity in Hispaniola by (1) activating seed conservation of at least 200 tree species; (2) screening seed desiccation

tolerance for at least 100 tree species; and (3) propagating 25 priority tree species to support reforestation activities.

Collection, handling and quality seed processing of crop wild relatives (CWR) for ex situ conservation in Malaysia

P32

Mat Ali, M.S.1, Awang, K.1, Abdul Rahman, S.N.2, Tahir, M.1, Ghazalli, M.N.1, Bustam. S.1, Mohd Nordin, A.R.1 and Mohamad, S.S.1

1Genebank and Seed Centre, MARDI Headquarters, 43400 Serdang, Malaysia 2Genebank and Seed Centre, MARDI Seberang Perai, 13200 Penang, Malaysia

As one of the twelve mega-biodiversity countries, Malaysia has rich diversity of flora and fauna that needs to be conserved and sustainably utilised for food and agriculture. However, not much studies are being conducted on conservation and utilisation of crop wild relatives (CWR) in Malaysia. In this study, few expeditions to collect several species of CWR including wild rice (Oryza sp.) and wild banana (Musa sp.) were conducted in Peninsular Malaysia. The targeted areas were selected based on the secondary data mainly reports and publications. The collecting strategies were carried out by interviewing local people at the targeted areas and through field observation. For O. officinalis, the seeds and life samples were collected and brought to MARDI Rice Genebank in Seberang Perai, Penang for seed processing, (herbarium specimens-di HQ) and for conservation at the nursery. The seeds were dried to below 10% moisture content and kept in medium term cool storage (3–5ᵒC). For Musa spp., few samples from different species i.e. Musa acuminata ssp. truncata, M. violascens, M. acuminata ssp. acuminata, M. acuminata ssp. microcarpa, M. balbisana ssp. balbisana, M. acuminata ssp. flava, M. acuminata ssp. malaccensis and M. gracilis were collected. Only few samples collected with matured seeds. The seeds were tested for initial moisture content, seed cut and embryo rescue test. Passport data and characterisation data were taken in situ. Other data consists of GPS coordinates, site descriptions, sample descriptions as well as photos of each sample and collection sites were taken. Plant samples including vegetative and reproductive parts and herbarium specimens were taken for further evaluation and processing. This paper describes the whole processes from collection to ex situ conservation at the genebank. Several issues and challenges are discussed such as species extinction, environmental changes and threats during the project implementation.

Cultivated Plants: threats and conservation

P33

Nadarajan, J., Pitman, L. and Leguil, S.

Plant Heritage, 2 Home Farm, Loseley Park, Guildford, Surrey GU3 1HS

Cultivated plants have been selected, sometimes over millennia of domestication efforts, to fulfil the needs of mankind for food, medicine, or aesthetic pleasure. They encapsulate unique combinations of genetic traits which are essential to be preserved in order to ensure future sustainability and to face global challenges such as climate change or emerging diseases. However, just as their wild relatives, cultivated plants have been facing a range of threats, for example habitat loss with development of agricultural land.

Plant Heritage, previously known as the National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens, is a UK and Ireland based charity formed in 1978 to address the ongoing loss of cultivated plant diversity and promote the conservation of species and cultivars through cultivation. Its highly successful network of 630 National Plant Collections©, “living libraries” safeguarding over 100,000 taxa has set an example for many other organisations worldwide.

In 2009, Plant Heritage set up the Threatened Plants Project (TPP) with the aim of identifying all known cultivars in British and Irish horticulture, then to establish those which have become rare or threatened (in tandem with the IUCN Red List criteria for species). The project aims to provide a more robust estimate of cultivated plant scarcity, amassing data indicating their heritage value, a measure of conservation worthiness and promoting practical conservation through a network of individual and institutional partners. The TPP is also used to prioritise conservation efforts, for example by allowing for a targeted recruitment of National Collections.

Indigenous vegetables: a case study from Papua New Guinea P34

Seta-Waken, P. 1, Solberg, S.O.2 and Paul, T.3

1 National Agricultural Research Institute, Papua New Guinea 2 AVRDC – The World Vegetable Center, Taiwan 3 Charles Darwin University, Australia

Many food plants are classified as minor or underutilized, as they are used only by a minority of people or occur in a limited geographical area. We surveyed five plants consumed as vegetables in Papua New Guinea: Amaranth (Amaranthus spp.), black nightshade, (Solanum nigrum L.), vegetable fern (Diplazium esculentum (Retz) Sw.), and tree leaves from Ficus copiosa Steud. and Gnetum gnemon L. Amaranth and nightshade are fast growing annual crops; they are suitable for small plot cultivation and have high nutritional value. Vegetable fern and tree leaves are widely enjoyed but commonly harvested from the wild, usually by women and young children.

Occasionally people are lost in the forest in the search for these ferns and leaves; cultivation would help avoid such incidents. A first step would be access to germplasm. We used the Global Gateway to Genetic Resources (GENESYS) to survey germplasm conserved around the globe and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility to check georeferenced occurrences. No accessions of fern or the two tree species were found in GENESYS. Occurrences were concentrated in Oceania. Our search revealed 180 accessions of black nightshade and 6380 amaranth accessions worldwide; 0 and 7 from Papua New Guinea, respectively. The results highlight that except for amaranth, indigenous vegetables identified as relevant for Papua New Guinea are not part of the global food plant conservation system. To move forward, an interdisciplinary collaboration including botany, agronomy and conservation should be initiated and local germplasm collection and cultivation trials should be conducted.

Developing switchgrass as a better biomass fuel source

P35

Twigg, P.1, Donze-Reiner, T.2, Kodin, K.1, and Bartunek, K.1

1 Biology Department, The University of Nebraska-Kearney, Kearney, NE 68849, USA 2 Department of Biology, West Chester University of Pennsylvania, West Chester, PA 19383, USA

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is a perennial warm season clump-forming grass native to North America from Canada to Mexico. Lowland varieties are more highly productive and native to the southern portion of the range, whereas the more hardy upland varieties are native to the northern portions. Switchgrass is useful in animal forage, providing wildlife habitat, and for erosion control in many critical areas. Many groups have begun to study switchgrass as a possible biofuel resource especially in the production of cellulosic ethanol. These efforts in the U.S. have been hampered by the lack of hardiness in the more productive lowland varieties. Our research group has sought to produce new varieties that combine the hardiness of the upland varieties with the higher productivity of the lowland varieties. Towards this end, we have developed elite high yielding crosses of these varieties and have used RNA-seq to analyze the transcriptome to better understand what makes a variety more hardy, establish more quickly, highly productive, or insect resistant. We would like to highlight the pathways involved in lignin production and a large-scale up-regulation of transcription factors belonging to the NAC, WRKY,

and MYB classes as being especially important. Our ongoing work continues to analyze these aspects with emphasis in illuminating the targets of the primary transcription factors indicated by the RNA-seq. It is our goal to make switchgrass a more useful and less environmentally damaging biofuel source.

This work is funded by USDA-NIFA grant numbers 2011-67009-30096, 2011-67009-30026 and a grant from the NU Foundation.

Useful plants conservation across Africa and Mexico through the MGU – Useful Plants Project

Ulian, T. Hudson, A., Gomez Barreiro, P. and Mattana, E.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AB, UK

P36

Many inhabitants in developing countries depend on natural vegetation for everyday needs such as food, medicine, fuel and building materials. At the same time, these plants face a range of threats that include climate change, over-exploitation, droughts, habitat loss and invasion of exotic species.

Since 2007 the MGU – the Useful Plants Project (UPP) has been working with partners in Botswana, Kenya, Mali, Mexico and South Africa to conserve and sustainably use indigenous plants which are important to local communities. This has been achieved through their conservation in seedbanks, propagation in community nurseries and planting in community gardens, woodlots and forests, supported by research. In 2010 a new phase was started, the project was scaled up by doubling the number of communities involved and by the inclusion of additional useful plants.

Seed collections of useful plants have been made, seed lots stored in the partner country, duplicated and tested in the Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank (MSB). The capacity of communities to conserve and sustainably use a wide range of plant species has been enhanced through training workshops and the improvement of local facilities. Research has been carried out on plant species including ethnobotanical, phytochemical, plant physiological, plant population studies, DNA profiling and in vitro propagation.

The UPP could be a significant model for succeeding biodiversity conservation at the local level, integrated with activities to improve livelihoods.

Delegate List

Marcus Agius RBG Kew and Foundation Trustees

Alessandro Allegra Royal Society of Biology

Arit Anderson Garden Designer

Felicity Anderson Centre for Middle Eastern Plants, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

Alexander Asen The Great Green Wall Initiative

Khadijah Awang MARDI

Steve Bachman RBG Kew

David Baines RBG Kew

Bill Baker RBG Kew

Sharon Balding RBG Kew

Hannha Banks RBG Kew

Abigail Barker RBG Kew

Richard Barley RBG Kew

Sara Barrios RBG Kew

Joanne Barton University of Western Australia

Juan D. Beltran University of Oxford

David Benz University of Oxford

Antony Berry Kew Foundation

Moira Black RBG Kew

Sandra Botterell RBG Kew

Joan Bovarnick RBG Kew

Kathryn Bray Cambridge University Botanic Garden

Samuel Brockington Cambridge University Botanic Garden

Sarah Brotherton University of Brighton

Yvonne Buckley Trinity College Dublin

Andrew Budden RBG Kew

Niki Bunch JNCC Defra

John Burke Queen's University

Ryan Burke University of Oxford

Stuart Cable RBG Kew

Catia Canteiro RBG Kew

Sandra Cappelletti University of Toronto

Julia Carretero RBG Kew

Nora P. Castañeda Álvarez

CIAT

Helen Chadburn RBG Kew

Neil Chalmers University of Oxford

Martin Cheek RBG Kew

Richard Choksey Cambridge University Botanic Garden

Colin Clubbe RBG Kew

Laura Cole Geographical Magazine

Endymion Cooper Queen Mary University of London

David Cope RBG Kew

Quentin Cronk University of British Columbia

Francesco DAdamo RBG Kew

Franziska Dahlmeier University of Leicester

Iain Darbyshire RBG Kew

Sarah Darrah UNEP-WCMC

Alexandra Davey RBG Kew

Marc Davies New England Biolabs

Patricia Davila UNAM

Aaron Davis RBG Kew

Paul Davis Hansatech Instruments Ltd

Wayne Dawson Durham University

Manuel De La Estrella RBG Kew

Katharina Dehnen-Schmutz

Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience, Coventry University

Sebsebe Demissew Addis Ababa University

Christopher Dennis Fera Science Ltd

Adam Devenish University of Bristol

Richard Deverell RBG Kew

Aisling Devine Swansea University

Alessio di Capua Kew Foundation

Sandra Diaz Universidad Nacional de Córdoba

John Dickie RBG Kew

Michele Dominy Bard College

Jonathan Drori WWF

Wolf L. Eiserhardt RBG Kew

Joanna Ellams Kew Foundation

Julia Fahrenkamp Science magazine

Aisyah Faruk RBG Kew

Claude Fauquet Global Cassava Partnership for the 21st Century (GCP21)

Suzanne Featherstone Plant Heritage

Eduardo Fernandez RBG Kew

Richard Field University of Nottingham

Maria Fitzpatrick RBG Kew

Tim Flowers University of Sussex

Felix Forest RBG Kew

Alison Foster RBG Kew

Gary Foster University of Bristol

Ib Friis Natural Hustory Museum of Denmark

Lauren M. Gardiner RBG Kew

Lord Gardiner of Kimble House of Lords

Roberta Gargiulo RBG Kew

Shahina Ghazanfar RBG Kew

David Gill Fauna & Flora International

Peter Giovannini RBG Kew

Elizabeth Gladin University of Kent

M. Elena González-Benito Universidad Politécnica de Madrid

Zoe Goodwin Department of Plant Sciences, Oxford

Olwen Grace RBG Kew

Pat Griggs RBG Kew

Zigmantas Gudžinskas Nature Research Centre, Lithuania

Sarah Gurr University of Exeter

Martin Hamilton RBG Kew

Serene Hargreaves RBG Kew

Simon Harold Nature Ecology and Evolution

Bryan Harty Botanic Garden

Yvette Harvey-brown RBG Kew

Kay Havens Chicago Botanic Garden

Sarah Havery RSPB

William Hawthorne University of Oxford

Charlie Heatubun RBG Kew

Charlotte Heffernan Oxford University Parks Department

Tom Heller RBG Kew

Oriane Hidalgo RBG Kew

Pete Hollingsworth RBGE

Elizabeth Howard RBG Kew

Alex Hudson RBG Kew

Philip Hulme Lincoln University

Kigge Hvid INDEX: Design to ImproveLife

Ed Ikin RBG Kew

Lance Ingram Ipsn

Ivis Chan Plantlife

Vololoniaina Jeannoda University of Antananarivo

Paul Jepson University of Oxford

Ben Jones Oxford University Harcourt Arboretum

Diego Juffe-Bignoli United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) World Conservation Monitoring Centre

Noor Juna RBG Kew

Rachel Kaleta Eden Project Learning

Ian Karet RBG Kew

Laura Kelly Queen Mary University of London

Tony Kirkham RBG Kew

Adam Kleczkowski University of Stirling

Tiffany Knight Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg

Jill Kowal RBG Kew

SK MD Kudrot-E-Khuda Plant Health

Nicola Kuhn RBG Kew

Phil Lambdon RBG Kew

William F. Laurance James Cook University

Sophie Leguil Plant Heritage

Ilia Leitch RBG Kew

Marta Lejkowski Kew Foundation

Peter Long University of Oxford

Jon Lovett University of Leeds

Pete Lowry Missouri Botanical Garden

Yadvinder Malhi University of Oxford

Jennifer Mark Bournemouth University

Cicely Marshall University of Oxford, Dept. Plant Sciences

Ian Martin Eden Project, Tropical Agriculture Association and Society for Economic Botany

Kristin Martin Kew Foundation

Mohd Shukri Mat Ali MARDI

Siti Munirah Mat Yunoh RBG Kew

Efisio Mattana RBG Kew

Ben Mccarthy Plantlife International

Kevin McGinn RBG Kew

Jill McLaughlin RBG Kew

Justin Moat RBG Kew

Nicola Morris Cornwall College

Keith Morris

Ross Mounce University of Cambridge

Jonas Mueller RBG Kew

Pablo Muñoz-rodríguez Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford

Lynda Murray RBG Kew

Jayanthi Nadarajan Plant Heritage

Ruth Neiland Heriot-Watt University

Rosemary Newton RBG Kew

Luiseach Nic Eoin Nature Plants

Eimear Nic Lughadha RBG Kew

Camilla Nordheim-Larsen The Great Green Wall Initiative

Ian Owens Natural History Museum

Paul Pearce-Kelly Zoological Society of London

Jaume Pellicer RBG Kew

Raquel Perez Rubio RBG Kew

Sarah Perillo RBG Kew

Gillian Petrokofsky University of Oxford

Lukas Petrulaitis Nature Research Centre, Lithuania

Rosalía Piñeiro RBG Kew

Elaine Porter RBG Kew

Gerhard Prenner RBG Kew

Hugh Pritchard RBG Kew

Alison Purvis Kew Foundation

Elizabeth Radford RSPB

Tom Reader University of Nottingham

James Richards Kew Global Ambassador, Kew Foundation

David Richardson Stellenbosch University

Vanessa Richardson University of East Anglia

Alex Roberts RBG Kew

Carla Romeu-Dalmau University of Oxford

Laura Rozario RBG Kew

Paula Rudall RBG Kew

Michele Sanchez RBG Kew

Lassina Sanou CNCNSF Research Institute

Kazi Mohammad Abu Sayeed

Plant Health

Alistair Seddon University of Bergen

Marion Seier CABI

Sadaf Shadan Nature

Tushar Shah Promega

Autumn Sharp University of Kent

Oliver Shiell RBG Kew

Benno Simmons University of Cambridge

Julian Smith Fera Science Ltd

Lisa Smith Defra

Matthew Smith RBG Kew

Noeleen Smyth RBG Kew

Stewart Snape Forestry Commission

Svein Oivind Solberg AVRDC -The World Vegetable Center

Nicola Spence Defra

Alex Stephenson Kew Foundation

Andy Stott Defra

Tim Stowe Plantlife

Richard Strange University College London

Wolfgang Stuppy RBG Kew

Andrew Sugden Science magazine

Tony Sweeney RBG Kew

Mimi Tanimoto RBG Kew

Adam Taylor Skye Instruments Ltd

Anastasiya Timoshyna TRAFFIC

Carolina Tovar RBG Kew

Liz Trenchard Coventry University

Clare Trivedi RBG Kew

Janet Turner Kew Guide

Ann Tutwiler Bioversity International

Paul Twigg University of Nebraska at Kearney

Tiziana Ulian RBG Kew

Rebecca Upson RBG Kew

Gerda A. van Uffelen Hortus botanicus Leiden

Sonal Varia CABI

Sarah Veniard RBG Kew

Montserrat Vilà Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC)

Lize von Staden South African National Biodiversity Institute

Adrian Washbourne BBC

Michael Way RBG Kew

James Wearn RBG Kew

Eleanor Webster RHS Climate Scientist

Laura White University of Portsmouth

Paul Wilkin RBG Kew

China Williams RBG Kew

Emma Williams RBG Kew

Kathy Willis RBG Kew

Suzy Wood CABI

Sasha Zavjalova Kew Foundation

Notes

Cover photo: J Eden

The Plant JournalImpact Factor: 5.972Published in association with the Society for Experimental Biology

Plant Biotechnology JournalImpact Factor: 5.752Published in association with the Society for Experimental Biology and the Association of Applied Biologists

Molecular Plant PathologyImpact Factor: 4.724Published in association with the British Society for Plant Pathology

New PhytologistImpact Factor: 7.672

Plant, Cell & EnvironmentImpact Factor: 6.960

Leading Plant Science ResearchWiley is the world’s leading society publisher and a market leader in publishing research in Plant Science with 3 journals in the top 10 of the Plant Science category.

Curtis’s Botanical MagazinePublished on behalf of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Nordic Journal of BotanyPublished in association with the Nordic Society OIKOS

Current Protocols in Plant Biology Published in association with the American Society of Plant Biologists

Featuring contributions from experts around the globe, Current Protocols in Plant Biology is an essential tool for anyone involved in plant science research today!

Launching May 2016! Current Protocols in Plant Biology – Coming in 2016!

CURRENTPROTOCOLSinPlant Biology

Plants provide, either directly or indirectly, all of our food, as well as the clothes on our backs, the material for our homes and the energy that fuels our society. The progress in plant science research has been spectacular over the past 50 years, with many fundamental discoveries occurring only in the last few years. The advancements cannot come too soon because the planet faces significant challenges with respect to increasing population, climate change, and limitations of natural resources.

In most areas of science, advancement in knowledge is driven largely by the development and application of new methods, either invented de novo or adapted from other disciplines. Plants clearly provide their own challenges, as well as unique characteristics that require, at a minimum, modification of current methods to optimize their utility. Indeed, it is often necessary to develop unique methods that are applicable to one or a select group of plant species.

The aims and scope of Current Protocols in Plant Biology are to provide a curated compilation of current methods that cover all aspects of plant biology with the goal of advancing the progress of plant science research. As with all of the Current Protocols titles, experts from around the globe, many of whom have invented the methods described, will provide their step-by-step protocols and expert advice to ensure that even novice plant biologist can confidently apply these methods to their own research.

Edited by: Gary Stacey, Editor-in-Chief; James Birchler, Joseph Ecker, Cathie Martin, Mark Stitt, Jian-Min Zhou

Visit currentprotocols.com to view all content areas

• Extraction of DNA, RNA, Proteins• Chromosome Analysis• Transcriptional Analysis• Protein Expression Analysis

• Arabidopsis• Maize• Poplar• Rice• Soybean

Areas Covered in Initial Launch Include:

Species Covered in Initial Launch Include:

• Metabolite Analysis• Plant Enzymology• Epigenetics• Plant Genetic Transformation

Publication Date: May 2016Published jointly with the American Society of Plant Biologists

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