238 • Technologies To Maintain Biological Diversity 



Photo credit L McMahan 



Greenhouses of the Berry Botanic Garden, Portland, OR. 



Botanic gardens are becoming increasingly important to 



the effort to conserve diversity. 



For inclusion into the national program (16). 

 CPC also has agreements with NSSL for long- 

 term storage of selected wild species (40). 



Arboretums and botanic gardens historically 

 have not considered the maintenance of wild 

 plant diversity a goal (37). They have generally 

 provided display gardens— areas where showy 

 flowers or unique plants are presented — with 

 a secondary objective of preserving wild plant 

 species. Interest in maintaining diversity is in- 

 creasing, however (37,59). In some cases, re- 

 productive individuals of rare plant species may 

 be found only in arboretums or botanic gardens. 

 Yet, aquatic plants are underrepresented in bo- 

 tanic institutions, and few aquatic gardens ex- 

 ist to conserve such species. 



Regardless of their objectives, these botanic 

 institutions and the individuals who run them 

 contribute to the maintenance of plant diver- 

 sity. However, no coordination exists for in- 

 formation exchange or evaluation of contribu- 

 tions. Although it is too early to assess results, 

 the Center for Plant Conservation may provide 

 significant coordination of such efforts. 



One possible way to improve offsite wild 

 plant maintenance is to expand NPGS to in- 

 clude nonagricultural varieties. The objective 

 is to take advantage of existing Federal, State, 

 and private cooperation. Crop advisory com- 

 mittees could be established for species that are 

 important but have little market value. NSSL 

 could be expanded to serve as a repository for 

 wild species' seeds that may have future eco- 

 nomic or ecological significance. Existing plant 

 centers and scientists could play a larger role 

 in propagation and reintroduction programs 

 for wild plant species, particularly threatened 

 or endangered species. 



The underlying responsibilities of NPGS 

 would need to be changed to accommodate 

 nonagricultural species. Biological differences 

 between agricultural and wild species, such as 

 dormancy and seed production barriers, would 

 increase the need for research to prepare plans 

 for storage, germination, and regeneration. 



Expanding the role of the system to include 

 wild plant species could reduce already insuffi- 

 cient funding for existing programs, however. 

 The Agricultural Research Service budgeted 

 nearly $16 million (gross) for germplasm work 

 in 1986, but one report has estimated that by 

 the 1990s, annual allocations of almost $40 mil- 

 lion (1981 dollars) will be needed to support pro- 

 grams (43,60). Adding approximately 20,000 

 new plant species (perhaps millions of acces- 

 sions to represent the diversity of each species) 

 would severely strain an already underfunded 

 program. 



Animal Programs 



The United States has no organized program 

 for maintaining diversity in agricultural ani- 

 mals (6). Federal activities to conserve genetic 



