Ex situ conservation of CWR species in the Nordic region. Anna Palmé Vilnius

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1 Ex situ conservation of CWR species in the Nordic region Anna Palmé Vilnius

2 Nordic conservation of plant genetic resources Strong cooperation among the Nordic countries in this field Combination of Nordic and national efforts

3 Ex situ conservation responsibility of crop genetic resources in the Nordic region is divided between NordGen (NGB) and the national programs or equivalent (NPs) Nordic genetic resources Outer circle: Seed propagated crops NGB DK- NP NGB IS-NP FI-NP Inner circle: Vegetatively propagated crops (and on farm) NGB NO- NP NGB National genetic resources (GR) Finnish GR Norwegian GR Swedish GR Danish GR Icelandic GR SE-NP NGB

4 Linking actors and information for efficient conservation NordGen responsible for facilitating cooperation and providing the IT framework Finnish NP Norwegian NP Islandic NP Meetings Projects Agreements Shared data base NordGen Swedish NP Danish NP

5 Agreement on how to share responsibility Responsibilities and tasks of NordGen and the Nordic national programs for plant genetic resources - A clarification Clear for crops No agreement for CWR

6 Division of conservation responsibility of CWR genetic resources in the Nordic region remains to be determined: a draft suggestion from 2012 divides responsibility between the national programs (NPs), national authorities for nature protection (NA) and NordGen (NGB) Outer circle: in situ in wild habitats Middle circle: on-farm/in cultivated landscapes DK- NA IS-NA IS-NP DK-NGB NP NGB NGB Inner circle: Ex situ, seed propagated crops FI-NA FI-NP NGB NO- NP NO- NA Agreements National genetic resources (GR) Finnish GR Norwegian GR Swedish GR Danish GR Icelandic GR NGB SE-NP SE-NA

7 Nordic actors (ex situ conservation of CWR) NordGen regional gene bank National programmes (National field gene banks) National gene banks for threatened species (Norway, Finland) Botanic gardens

8 NordGen Governed by the Nordic Council of Ministers Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden Three sections: Plants, Farm animals and Forest trees Regional plant gene bank for the Nordic countries Nordic Gene Bank: established in 1979 Converted to NordGen Plants January 1, 2008

9 NordGen and CWR NordGen s mandate includes conservation of CWR but the extent to which CWRs should be conserved at NordGen is not clearly defined Landrace 14% NordGen s collection Wild and semi-wild 21% Cultivars 12% Other 4% Breeding and research 47% Pending 2%

10 Wild accessions at NordGen Deschampsia Leymus Ballota Allium Angelica Verbascum Pisum Lolium Carum Malva Bromus Alopecurus Lactuca Papaver Elymus Phalaris Agrostis Dactylis Trifolium Genera <20 acc Hordeum Festuca Poa Phleum Barbarea

11 The importance of wild material varies among sub-collections Subcollections at NordGen 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Breeding and research Pending Cultivars Landrace Wild and semi-wild Other

12 Two conservation approaches for CWRs at NordGen Long-term conservation Storage in 3 locations Regular monitoring Regenerated when needed Distributed to users Flowchart longterm conservation Short-term conservation Storage in 2 locations No monitoring No regeneration Distributed to users

13 No. accessions No. accessions Wild accessions are ordered and used 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% Deliveries to all users, About 11% of the accessions delivered from NordGen are classified as wild or semi-wild 0% Breeding and research Cultivars Wild and semi wild Landrace Other Pending Deliveries excluding hobby growers 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Breeding and research Cultivars Wild and semi wild Landrace Other Pending

14 How well is the Nordic CWR diversity covered by ex situ conservation at NordGen? About wild or semi-wild accessions conserved at NordGen from 360 different taxa A few priority CWR taxa are very well covered. Focused sampling with the aim to cover the Nordic region. No systematic efforts have been made to sample a larger number of CWRs (Danish NP sampled priority taxa 2014 and 2015) National priority taxa Finland: 209, 8 at NordGen* Norway: 204, 24 at NordGen* Collection sites for timothy accessions conserved at NordGen Phleum pratense *Ref. priority taxa: Philips et al 2016 and Fitzgerald 2013

15 Ex situ conservation of CWRs - What does it cost? Back-of-the-envelope calculation Tasks Sampling (or resampling) Documentation Threshing, Seed cleaning Germination testing, packing, tgw Storage Distribution (regeneration) Rough cost estimates 100 Euro/accession 25 Euro/accession 60 Euro/accession 1 Euro/accession 15 Euro/distribution (400 Euro/accession) Low estimates: Assume that the equipment, IT infrastructure, administration and trained staff are all in place Example: 209 species from 5 locations (Finnish national strategy 209 prioritised taxa) One sampling, no regeneration, 5 distributions: ~ EUR (every years) One sampling, one regeneration, 5 distributions: ~ EUR (every years)

16 Ex situ conservation Strengths facilitates use of genetic resources safety not threatened by climate change, habitat loss or pollution duplication Weaknesses only a sample of the variation in the natural population regeneration can lead to loss of genetic variation and change in the genetic makeup no adaptation/evolution high costs

17 What role(s) should the ex situ approach have for conservation of CWRs? When should ex situ conservation be the main conservation approach? How and when should ex situ conservation serve as back-up to in situ conservation? Should ex situ storage be used as a way to facilitate the use of the material? What roles should the different ex situ actors have? How should ex situ and in situ conservation be integrated in an efficient way?

18 Thank you!