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In situ or ex situ seed conservation: which is the more effective way to maintain seed longevity of an endangered cactus?
Author(s) -
Nascimento Joana Paula Bispo,
Meiado Marcos Vinicius
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
plant species biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.419
H-Index - 36
eISSN - 1442-1984
pISSN - 0913-557X
DOI - 10.1111/1442-1984.12131
Subject(s) - ex situ conservation , endangered species , biology , in situ , cactus , longevity , cold storage , horticulture , botany , agronomy , ecology , physics , genetics , habitat , meteorology
With restricted populations and a small number of individuals, Discocactus bahiensis B ritton & R ose ( C actaceae) is an endangered species in B razil and its capacity for the formation of seed banks in the soil and the maintenance of seed viability remains unknown. Thus, the aim of the present study was to determine the most efficient way to maintain viability during storage of seeds of D. bahiensis . Seeds were stored in paper bags and either kept in a cold chamber (7 ± 2°C) in the dark ( ex situ conservation) or buried in the soil to a depth of 5 cm in an area of natural occurrence of the species ( in situ conservation). Germinability of the seed banks was evaluated monthly for 20 months. During the first 10 months of storage, germinability of the seeds conserved in situ and ex situ was similar to that of recently collected seeds. After this period, a 70% reduction in germinability was found for the seeds maintained in situ and there was nearly complete loss of viability after 12 months of storage in the field (germinability < 10% in the last 8 months of the experiment), indicating the ability to form persistent soil seed banks. In contrast, the seeds stored in the cold chamber maintained greater than 70% germinability throughout the entire analysis period, demonstrating that ex situ conservation is the most efficient way to maintain the viability of the seeds of this endangered species.