The Ex Situ Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxvi

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2. The genetic resources of plants and their value

   • J. G. Hawkes, N. Maxted, B. V. Ford-Lloyd

   Pages 1-18

3. Evolution of plants under domestication

   • J. G. Hawkes, N. Maxted, B. V. Ford-Lloyd

   Pages 19-31

4. The plant genetic resources Conservation movement

   • J. G. Hawkes, N. Maxted, B. V. Ford-Lloyd

   Pages 32-42

5. Preparing To Collect for Ex Situ Conservation

   • J. G. Hawkes, N. Maxted, B. V. Ford-Lloyd

   Pages 43-62

6. Exploration and Field Collection

   • J. G. Hawkes, N. Maxted, B. V. Ford-Lloyd

   Pages 63-81

7. Seed Gene Bank Conservation

   • J. G. Hawkes, N. Maxted, B. V. Ford-Lloyd

   Pages 82-91

8. Field Gene Banks, Botanic Gardens, In Vitro, DNA and Pollen Conservation

   • J. G. Hawkes, N. Maxted, B. V. Ford-Lloyd

   Pages 92-107

9. World Ex Situ Collections of Germplasm

   • J. G. Hawkes, N. Maxted, B. V. Ford-Lloyd

   Pages 108-119

10. Community-Based Conservation

    • J. G. Hawkes, N. Maxted, B. V. Ford-Lloyd

    Pages 120-134

11. Plant Genetic Resource Utilization

    • J. G. Hawkes, N. Maxted, B. V. Ford-Lloyd

    Pages 135-145

12. Genetic Conservation Information Management

    • J. G. Hawkes, N. Maxted, B. V. Ford-Lloyd

    Pages 146-163

13. Conservation Case Studies

    • J. G. Hawkes, N. Maxted, B. V. Ford-Lloyd

    Pages 164-189

14. The Future of Ex Situ Conservation

    • J. G. Hawkes, N. Maxted, B. V. Ford-Lloyd

    Pages 190-203

15. Back Matter

    Pages 205-250

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It is a distressing truism that the human race during the last millennium has caused the exponential loss of plant genetic diversity throughout the world. This has had direct and negative economic, political and social consequences for the human race, which at the same time has failed to exploit fully the positive benefits that might result from conserving and exploiting the world's plant genetic resources. However, a strong movement to halt this loss of plant diversity and enhance its utilisation for the benefit of all humanity has been underway since the 1960's (Frankel and Bennett, 1970; Frankel and Hawkes, 1975). This initiative was taken up by the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD, 1992) that not only expounds the need to conserve biological diversity but links conservation to exploitation and development for the benefit of all. Article 8 of the Convention clearly states the need to develop more effective and efficient guidelines to conserve biological diversity, while Article 9, along with the FAO International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources, promotes the adoption of a complementary approach to conservation that incorporates both ex situ and in situ techniques.

• DNA
• conservation
• evolution
• genes
• genetics

• The University of Birmingham, UK

  J. G. Hawkes, N. Maxted, B. V. Ford-Lloyd

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