Germplasm Bank of Olarizu Botanical Garden (Vitoria-Gasteiz) - Euskadi Nature Information System

The Plant Germplasm Bank of the Botanical Garden of Olarizu (Vitoria-Gasteiz) was created in 2010 as a fundamental piece to be able to develop functions of conservation of plant biodiversity and research (reproductive biology, germination, plant production methods, etc.) beyond other botanical studies that are carried out within the JBO (floristic catalogs, characterization of vegetation, thematic cartography, monitoring of species, etc.). The Plant Germplasm Bank of the Olarizu Botanical Garden (Vitoria-Gasteiz) was created with the aim of ensuring the long-term ‘ex situ’ conservation of endangered wild flora, endemic, rare, singular, structural and characteristic of the habitats of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, the Pyrenees-Cantabric area and the Centre-North of the Iberian Peninsula. Understanding ‘ex situ’ conservation as an indispensable tool and a necessary complement to ‘in situ’ conservation (recovery plans, population reinforcements, reintroductions, translocations, habitat restoration, etc.). The JBO Germplasm Bank has the scientific and technical staff, facilities and equipment necessary for the processing and conservation of seeds in the long term. Priorities are defined for the conservation of the target species. Based on the defined conservation priorities, planning is carried out and field surveys are carried out, collecting seed samples in natural populations. The samples collected are deposited in the reception and cleaning room, where the witness herbarium sheets of each collection are made (which become part of the OLA Herbarium collection) and the seeds are separated from the fruits, protective covers and other impurities. Once cleaned, the seeds are deposited in the drying room (10oC and 15% RH) until they are balanced with the conditions of the room. The seeds then enter the ultra-drying chambers with silica gel (7-12% RH), located inside the desiccation room. In this way, the collected seed samples are kept viable in the long term following international standards: ultra-dried, packaged in thermosealed glass capsules or ampoules and stored in the storage room (-18oC). In parallel, in the research laboratory the samples are characterized by: image analysis (morphocolorimetry), feasibility tests, germination studies and control of their moisture content. For plant cultivation and production tests there are four germination and growth chambers, a greenhouse, a umbarnacle and production terraces.