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Table of contents
Seed storage
behaviour dataset
The information about seed survival during storage and seed
storage behaviour categories is based on the Handbook for genebanks No. 4,
“Seed storage behaviour: a Compendium”, which was compiled by T.D. Hong, S.
Linington and R.H. Ellis, and published in 1996.
Data for about 7150 species from more than 2000 genera
belonging to 251 families is provided. Each species is systematically classified
into one of 8 categories of seed storage
behaviour, and a brief summary of the storage conditions that have been applied
and/or studied is given including citations of key references to the literature.
It is frequently referred to
Bioversity International (formerly known as IPGRI) preferred conditions of long-term storage. These have been documented in
the genebank standards (FAO/IPGRI, 1994), available as
PDF.
The first part of the original publication contained an
introduction to seed storage behaviour. This is now available for download as
PDF. It provides the classification of seed storage behaviour, characteristics
of orthodox, recalcitrant and intermediate seeds, factors leading to the
misinterpretation of seed storage behaviour and approaches to predict seed
storage behaviour.
An additional publication that might be used in conjunction
with the data on seed storage behaviour retrieved from the Species Compendium
database is “The IPGRI Technical Bulletin No. 1, a protocol to determine seed
storage behaviour", available as
PDF.
Dormancy and germination requirements’ dataset
The data is based on the “Compendium of information on the
dormancy and germination of seeds of selected trees and shrubs” compiled for
Bioversity International by T.D. Hong and R.H. Ellis in 1996/97.
Information about evidence of dormancy, successful
dormancy-breaking treatments, and germination regimes for non-dormant seeds and
nursery practices for about 1150 species from more than 400 genera belonging to
102 families is provided.
The families included comprise those which are major
sources of edible fruits and nuts, resins and oils, fuel wood, construction
materials, and timber, i.e. those species used mostly in agroforestry, forestry,
and soil conservation.
Information on germination can be found also in the
Compendium of specific germination information and test recommendations
(html version), volume II of the Handbook of seed technology for genebanks, by
Ellis, R.H., Hong, T.D. and Roberts, E.H., published in 1985 by IBPGR
(International Board for Plant Genetic Resources, now Bioversity International).
This publication provides information, family by family (a
total of 58 families), on the germination of individual species of crop plants
and sometimes their wild relatives as well as general approaches, guidance and,
where available, prescriptions for removing dormancy and germinating the seeds.
The reproductive biology dataset provides information for ca. 300 crop species. These species include all crops listed in Annex I of the International Treaty for PGRFA (IT), and ca. 250 additional species, that had been suggested as important for consideration during the discussions of the IT. Information is provided about:
These data were collated for Bioversity International in 2004 by G. Gebremariam (ILRI, International Livestock Research Institute, Ethiopia) from various resources such as books, monographs, journal articles and to some extent online sources.
The taxonomic classification of families and genera is that
given in Brummitt (1992).
An exception has been made for the following eight
alternate family names. They are common and acceptable substitutes for the
families indicated in brackets but lack the standard “-aceae” ending. The
alternate names are used by Brummitt, while we are using the standard names:
The
GRIN taxonomy was adopted as standard reference for nomenclature and species
synonymy as it is the most extensive, current and accurate plant database
existing, and in addition also free available on the internet. The GRIN
(Germplasm Resources Information Network) database is maintained by the National
Plant Germplasm System
NPGS of the Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture
ARS/USDA for the management of and as a source of information on its
435,000 germplasm accessions. The taxonomic portion of GRIN provides the
classification and nomenclature for these genetic resources and many other
economic plants on a worldwide basis.
The GRIN taxonomy includes scientific names for 18,200
genera (14,400 accepted) and 61,100 species or infraspecies (38,300 accepted) of
vascular plants from throughout the world, with a focus on plants important to
agriculture or other commerce.
A discussion of content, data standards, and taxonomic
philosophy for GRIN taxonomy can be accessed
here.
The spelling of all genera and those taxa in the Species
Compendium, which are also included in GRIN (give percentage), has
been made consistent with GRIN. For these taxa the GRIN status of “accepted” or
“synonym” has been adopted, and all synonyms provided in GRIN for the accepted
taxa have been included in the Species Compendium. For those taxa
not contained in GRIN the epithets are written as provided by the original
authors of the compendia and the species names and synonyms provided by the
compendia authors are retained.
The spelling of genus and taxon names is checked using the
taxonomic nomenclature checker developed by Bioversity International in collaboration with
GRIN. This tool allows a quick and convenient checking of large numbers of
scientific names against the GRIN taxonomy.
Abbreviations used in the database and explanation of scientific terms occurring in the database can be searched at the abbreviations or glossary pages to which links are provided from the search results pages.
You can search the Species Compendium in two ways:
taxon
search: The taxon search requires that you type in the genus
and/or the species epithet of the taxon, you want to get information about.
hierarchic search: The hierarchical search offers the possibility to
select a family, within the family a genus and within the genus a species.
If you know only the common name and have to search for the scientific name, see
a list of links to databases below, that allow to execute this search.
Thormann, I.; Metz, T.; Engels, J.M.M. 2004. The Species Compendium
(release 1.0; November 2004)
http://www.bioversityinternational.org/Information_Sources/Species_Databases/Species_Compendium/
This database is built upon the conversion of publications
into database format and contributions from various people and errors of fact or
transcription might exist. While efforts are made to ensure that errors are kept
to a minimum, you can help, by notifying us of any you come across.
We
welcome all constructive criticism and other feedback. We invite all users, that can offer data, or pointers to
potential data sources, to provide these. We will give them full consideration
and they will appropriately acknowledged.
Please send your comments and feedback to Imke Thormann.