Staff at the Faculty of Biology of the University of Gdańsk have set up a seed bank for 33 species of rare and endangered plants in Gdańsk Pomerania, as well as a bank of in vitro cultures of these species. In this way, they secured their gene resources. The work was carried out under the project 'Protection of gene resources of endangered wild vascular plant species of Gdańsk Pomerania', financed by the Provincial Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management in Gdańsk.

Due to increasing unfavourable changes in nature, more and more plant species are considered to be in danger of extinction.

- 'As part of the scientific work of our team, we try to collect information on the resources of these species, as well as on existing and potential threats to their survival in natural sites. Thanks to this, we are able to plan effective methods of protecting plant species that are particularly valuable in our region,' says dr Magdalena Lazarus from the Department of Plant Taxonomy and Nature Conservation of the Faculty of Biology, University of Gdańsk, the project manager. - 'It is not always possible to preserve species sites in the wild. Therefore, it is worthwhile, at least for selected taxa, to apply methods of protection ex-situ, i.e. outside the place of their natural occurrence, e.g. through cultivation in botanical gardens or storage of seed material. These methods are commonly used around the world. Our activities are part of this trend.'.

Thanks to the project entitled 'Protection of gene resources of wild-growing endangered vascular plant species of the Gdansk Pomerania', implemented by the Faculty of Biology of the University of Gdańsk, for selected vascular plant species considered regionally rare or threatened to a different degree, a protection of their gene resources has been created. For this purpose, four different methods of ex situ conservation were used: establishment of a seed bank, the establishment of a tissue bank in the form of in vitro cultures, establishment of a DNA isolate bank and cultivation of plants in the Golubieñski Botanical Garden.

The project covered 97 species threatened to vary degrees in the area of Gdańsk Pomerania. Of this group, 31 species are under strict legal protection and 15 are under partial protection. For 46 species any (or all) of the above-mentioned methods of ex situ protection were applied, for the remaining 51, their habitats and resources in the region were identified.

As we read in the project report, as a result of the project a seed bank for 33 species of rare and endangered plants in the Gdańsk Pomerania was created. A bank of in vitro cultures of rare and endangered species has also been established in Gdańsk Pomerania.

- 'Currently, 15 species are being cultured in the in vitro culture collection, however, for a total of 23 species we have already prepared appropriate protocols for introducing these taxa into cultivation,' - explains dr Magdalena Lazarus.

The project conducted at the UG is extremely valuable - thanks to it, many plant species have been protected, and if they become extinct in the wild, it will be possible to restore their populations in the future.

Let us remind, in 2018-2022, the employees of the Faculty of Biology of the University of Gdańsk carried out a project entitled "Protection of gene resources of wild-growing endangered vascular plant species of Gdańsk Pomerania", financed by the Provincial Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management in Gdańsk. The eligible cost of the task in the amount of PLN 50,000 was covered in full by a grant from the WFOŚiGW in Gdańsk.

A full report on the work carried out is available on the website of the Biology Department of UG.