Transcript `plant micro-reserve`.

PGR Forum – Workshop 4
Mahon, Minorca (Spain), 20-24 april 2004
From ex situ to in situ conservation: an
assessment of the micro-reserve initiative.
Dr. Emilio Laguna
Servicio de Conservación de la Biodiversidad
Conselleria de Territorio y Vivienda , Generalitat Valenciana
Key words
Wild relatives of cultivated plants
Ex situ conservation / Botanic
Gardens
In situ conservation:
-Plant microreserves
-Habitats restoration
Territory:
The Valencian
Community (Spain)
23.260 sq. Km
3,8 million inhabitants
51%: Natural areas; 49% Agriculture and cities
Altitude: 0-1836 m
Coastline: 430 km
Mean annual rainfall: 180-980 mm/year
Mean annual temperatures (cities): 9,0-19,5ºC
Legal status: Authonomous Community*
*The regional Parliament (Corts Valencianes) and Government (Generalitat Valenciana) are fully empowered to draft and
pass all types of laws and decrees concerned with the conservation of natural heritage (i.e. List of protected species,
proposal and declaration of protected sites, etc..), both on emerged lands and marine sites. The role of the Spanish
Parliament is restricted to the declaration of National Parks and the approval of frame laws. The in situ and ex situ
conservation of wild relatives of cultivated plants in the Valencian Community is fully regulated and managed by the
Generalitat Valenciana.
Wild relatives of cultivated plants (WRCP)
The Valencian Community shelters an outstanding richness of wild plants (3.200
species of vascular plants, 350 of them being Spanish endemic plants), including
a large representation of WRCPs. Over 15% of the wild vascular plant species
can be considered as WRCPs. WRCPS include:
-A large list of native wild species, relatives of present or past crops, ancestors of cultivated species
around the Mediterranean bassin (i.e., Brassica, Raphanus, Vicia, Lathyrus, Prunus, Hordeum,
Avena, Allium, etc.)
-Wild species used in the past to generate the genetic pool of present crops (i.e., Prunus insititia, Malus
sylvestris, Beta maritima, ...)
-Naturalized representatives of cultivated species, integrated in the natural vegetation (i.e., Olea
europaea oleaster, Pinus pinea, Ceratonia siliqua, Prunus avium, P. dulcis, Juglans regia, ...)
-A large group of neglected crops, naturalized or integrated in natural areas (i.e., Crataegus azarollus,
Mespilus germanica, Sorbus domestica, Rubia tinctorum, Crathamus tinctorius, ...)
-Wild species used as food or industrial plants, and cultivated/domesticated in the past (i.e., Silene
vulgaris, Portulaca oleracea, Sonchus sp. pl, Cichorium intybus, Scolymus hispanicus, Stipa
tenacissima, Silybum marianum ...)
-Wild or naturalized plants used as rootstocks for productive crops (i.e., Olea europaea sylvestris,
Prunus mahaleb, Crataegus monogyna brevispina, Pistacia terebinthus, ...)
Scolymus hispanicus
Stipa tenaccissima
Ziziphus jujuba
Salix viminalis, S. purpurea
Lathyrus pulcher
Sonchus tenerrimus
Valencian policy on plant conservation
The regional government (Generalitat Valenciana) is developing a policy based on
‘multispecific’ measures (those which simultaneously benefit a large amount of
species). The most remarkable activities are:
-In situ conservation through the plant micro-reserve network
-Ex situ conservation through the regional germplasm bank (Botanical Garden of the Universitry
of Valencia) and the establishment of micropropagation protocols for the most endangered
species (Valencian Institute for Agronomic Research)
-Establishment of a catalogue of ex situ and in situ protocols for germination, culture and
plantation of target species (endemic, rare and dominant taxa for all types of natural
habitats)
-Network of experimental plots for the monitoring of restoration practices – partially overlapping
with the micro-reserve network)
-New crops for sustainable development: Domestication of endemic species useful as scented
plants, medicinal crops, etc.
It deals with inter-dependent activities, not being considered as isolated initiatives.
Plant micro-reserves network
Projects LIFE93 NAT/E/000766 (1994-99) and
LIFE99 NAT/E/006417
Plant micro-reserves facts
The Regional Wildlife Service of the
Valencian Community created in 1994 a
new statutory protection figure for plant
conservation named ‘plant microreserve’. The objectives were twofold:
•
1) Scientific monitoring of target
species — ca. 600 taxa, 350 of which
Spanish endemics — and vegetation
types to establish long-term trends.
•
2) Development of experiences of active
conservation: ecological restoration,
population reinforcements, etc.
The micro-reserves are mainly focused on the protection of microhabitats, sites
which concentrate a significant amount of target species in a small surface,
i. e. Mediterranean temporary ponds, small islands, petrifying springs,
coastal cliffs, relict forests, etc.
This statutory protection figure was first established in public land.
Subsequently, it included private grounds where landowners
showed a patent interest in plant conservation.
Traditional activities (i.e. livestock grazing) compatible with plant
conservation are maintained, so as to conserve rare or endemic
species dependent on open vegetation (i.e. heliophytes that rely on
vegetation clearing)
Currently, 230 plant micro-reserves have been officially
declared. They comprise a surface of 1.440 ha and
include examples of natural and semi-natural
habitats.
Over 85% of the endemic species are represented with
at least one population within micro-reserves
The official declaration includes a management plan,
which is published in the official gazette (together
with the declaration of the protected site itself)
The management plan of all micro-reserves includes at
least 1 or more active conservation measures. For
instance, the Regional Wildlife Service transfers
seeds of the target species, from the microreserves to the germplasm bank of the Botanical
Garden of Valencia.
Experiences of habitat restoration and/or management
of endangered species have been carried out in
more than 30% of the micro-reserves during the
1999-2003 period, in the framework of the LIFE
project NAT/E/006417 ‘Conservation of priority
habitats of the Valencian Community’
Micro-reserves and crop relatives
Most microreserves shelter relatives of crop species, including
neglected or abandoned crops such as:
Remnants of old plantations or naturalized populations of tree crops, i.e.
Ceratonia siliqua, Prunus avium, Juglans regia, etc.
Wild relatives of formerly cultivated plants, i.e. Crataegus gr. monogyna
(relative of C. azarollus)
Wild relatives of currently cultivated trees, i.e. the only regional population of
Malus sylvestris (micro-reserve ‘Barranco de la Pegunta, SCI
Penyagolosa)
Wild relatives –often considered as ‘weeds’- of herbaceous crops, i.e.,
Rapistrum rugosum, Beta maritima, B. patellaris, Atriplex patula, Malva sp.
pl., Apium nodiflorum, Daucus sp. pl., Foeniculum vulgare subsp.
piperitum, Pimpinella sp. pl., etc.
Wild populations of species formerly cultivated as medicinal plants – mainly
Eurosiberian relict plants-, such as Anethum graveolens, Conium
maculatum, Ferula communis subsp. catalaunica, Laserpitium sp. pl.,
Smyrnium olusatrum, etc.
Micro-reserves: the meeting point for in situ
and ex situ actions
Microreserves bring together in situ and ex situ
conservation actions. For instance, micro-reserves serve
as:
•
Preferred source of germplasm for seedbanks
•
Areas for structural management of vegetation: clearing, removal of ancient
reafforestations using unsuitable species, conservation of reference trees
for forestry purposes, control of alien invasive species
•
Sites where reinforcement or re-introduction of endangered species are
carried out. Most often plant material for reinforcements is obtained from
propagules collected within micro-reserves, stored in the germplasm bank
of BGs and reared in research centres or official nurseries.
•
Places where practical applications of restoration ecology principles can be
carried out
Restoring priority habitats
Project LIFE99 NAT/E/006417
Quantifiable results of the LIFE99 NAT/E/006417 project
(1999-2003)
226 plots (over 966 ha) of 17 priority habitats (Directive 92/43/CEE annex I)
managed
90.400 plantlets (168 species, 174 plots, 16 habitats) and 39.092 pre-treated
seeds (20 spp, 17 plots, 5 habitats) planted; 7.611 plants (47 spp., 49 plots,
8 habitats) translocated from endangered to neighbouring safe sites for
conservation.
Eradication experiences of 6 alien invasive species in 85 ha (17 plots);
vegetation clearcutting of 119 ha (34 plots); tree removal or lowering of tree
density in 19 plots.
152 plots signalized, fencing experiences in 90 plots (5.540 posts, 15,1 km of
rope), 17 explanatory boards.
Some examples of experimental works
Germplasm bank (Botanical Garden of Valencia): 528 new accessions of
329 species
In vitro propagation experiences of 36 species of native orchids
Population reinforcement of rock dwelling plant species, using different
techniques for seed fixation
Plantation of Pinguicola dertosensis using leaf cuttings and basal bulbs
Comparative experiences brackish peatbog recovery (with very low
recovery rates), using underwater plantations, floating platforms, etc.
Establishment of protocols for the removal of Agave americana; control
experiences with Austrocylindropuntia bigelowii / tunicata
Case studies
- the turning of abandonned paddy fields into high-biodiversity
lagoons
- plant conservation in Columbretes islands: the case of Medicago
citrina
Case studies: the turning of abandonned paddy fields
into high-biodiversity lagoons
Newly created lagoons on abandoned rice fields in the SCIs Albufera de
Valencia* and Marjal dels Moros**, earmarked for the reintroduction of
endangered species of endemic fishes (Valencia hispanica, Lebias
ibera) have been planted with up to 30.000 plants/ha of over 60
species, among which some of the rarest helophytes and hydrophytes
of the region (i,e, Kosteletzkya pentacarpa, protected by the Habitats
Directive and also a crop plant around the Black Sea plante for
natural fiber production); some extinct species reintroduced (i.e.,
Marsilea quadrifolia).
Landscape restoration is attained within 3-4 years of the intervention,
including the tree canopy (recovery of the endangered, endemic
plant-association Lonicero biflorae-Populetum albae).
*Plant micro-reserve Laguna del Samaruc d’Algemesi
**Plant micro-reserve Laguna del Fartet de Sagunt
The Laguna del Samaruc: a success story
1997 and 2001 aerial views of the Laguna del Samaruc, SIC Albufera de Valencia.
Examples of WRCPs and/or
useful plants involved in
the restoration processes
-Kosteletzkya pentacarpa
-Typha dominguensis
-Iris pseudacorus
-Nymphaea alba
-Apium repens
Plant conservation in Columbretes islands* (terrestrial and marine
Nature Reserve ; 2 plant micro-reserves)
Eradication of rabbits (1988)
Monitoring of invaders species
(Cuscuta, Yceria)
August 1988
Removal of Opuntia maxima
Vegetative propagation of the most endangered
shrubs (only 1-4 remaining) to increase seed
production:
Lycium intricatum,
Withania frutescens
Reintroduction of Medicago citrina in ‘Columbrete
Gran’ island (extinct in 1960; but still living in 2 of
the remainder islands)
Plant restoration, following the successional stages of
local vegetation
*The archipelago is formed by 4 small islands, only covering 14 ha and
placed 55 km far form the continent. Remained uncolonized until
1850. Only the bigger island (Columbrete Gran, 12 ha), was
colonized, and its vegetation severely destroyed.
November 1988
Conservation of Medicago citrina
1997: widespread dieback of Medicago citrina
(endemic plant of Columbretes Islands and Cabrera archipelago)
2/3 of Columbretes population dead or severely damaged
(ca. 30% world population)
Causal agent: Attack of Icerya purchasi
(Cottony cushion scale)
1996: Citrus trees in the Valencian Community
suffered the attack of the citrus leafminer
Phyllocnistis citrella
1996-97: Valencian farmers fight Ph. citrella with
chemicals that eliminate the ladybird beetle
Rhodolia cardinalis (traditionally used in
biological control of I. purchasi)*
*Rh. cardinalis was introduced by 1920s to combat I.
purchasi; both species came from Eastern Asia
1997: Valencian citrus tress undergo a severe attack
of I. purchasi
1997: I. purchasi dispersed from the Iberian
peninsula to the Columbretes islands by April,
presumably by migrant birds; the population of
M. citrina was severely damaged
1997-2003: The Wildlife Service culls the population
of I. purchasi liberating small amounts of Rh.
cardinalis ; new plantets of M. citrina are
produced to restore the damaged areas
showing lower rates of natural regeneration
In addition, the habitat restoration
has been reinforced with public
awareness raising campaigns
and educational activities, with
the intervention of NGOs and
the Botanical Garden of the
University of Valencia.
For further information
Please contact [email protected]
www.microhabitats.org