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Ex situ conservation efforts such as those of zoos, botanical gardens, and seed banks will form a vital complement to in situ conservation actions over the coming decades. It is therefore necessary to pay the same attention to the biological diversity represented in ex situ conservation facilities as is often paid to protected‐area networks. Building the phylogenetic diversity of ex situ collections will strengthen our capacity to respond to biodiversity loss. Since 2000, the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership has banked seed from 14% of the world's plant species. We assessed the taxonomic, geographic, and phylogenetic diversity of the Millennium Seed Bank collection of legumes (Leguminosae). We compared the collection with all known legume genera, their known geographic range (at country and regional levels), and a genus‐level phylogeny of the legume family constructed for this study. Over half the phylogenetic diversity of legumes at the genus level was represented in the Millennium Seed Bank. However, pragmatic prioritization of species of economic importance and endangerment has led to the banking of a less‐than‐optimal phylogenetic diversity and prioritization of range‐restricted species risks an underdispersed collection. The current state of the phylogenetic diversity of legumes in the Millennium Seed Bank could be substantially improved through the strategic banking of relatively few additional taxa. Our method draws on tools that are widely applied to in situ conservation planning, and it can be used to evaluate and improve the phylogenetic diversity of ex situ collections.

Parasitic species, which depend directly on host species for their survival, represent a major regulatory force in ecosystems and a significant component of Earth's biodiversity. Yet the negative impacts of parasites observed at the host level have motivated a conservation paradigm of eradication, moving us farther from attainment of taxonomically unbiased conservation goals. Despite a growing body of literature highlighting the importance of parasite-inclusive conservation, most parasite species remain understudied, underfunded, and underappreciated. We argue the protection of parasitic biodiversity requires a paradigm shift in the perception and valuation of their role as consumer species, similar to that of apex predators in the mid-20th century. Beyond recognizing parasites as vital trophic regulators, existing tools available to conservation practitioners should explicitly account for the unique threats facing dependent species. We built upon concepts from epidemiology and economics (e.g., host-density threshold and cost-benefit analysis) to devise novel metrics of margin of error and minimum investment for parasite conservation. We define margin of error as the risk of accidental host extinction from misestimating equilibrium population sizes and predicted oscillations, while minimum investment represents the cost associated with conserving the additional hosts required to maintain viable parasite populations. This framework will aid in the identification of readily conserved parasites that present minimal health risks. To establish parasite conservation, we propose an extension of population viability analysis for host-parasite assemblages to assess extinction risk. In the direst cases, ex situ breeding programs for parasites should be evaluated to maximize success without undermining host protection. Though parasitic species pose a considerable conservation challenge, adaptations to conservation tools will help protect parasite biodiversity in the face of an uncertain environmental future. Las especies parásitas, aquellas que dependen directamente de las especies hospederas para sobrevivir, representan una gran fuerza regulatoria dentro de los ecosistemas y un componente significativo de la biodiversidad de la Tierra. Aún así, los impactos negativos de los parásitos que se han observado a nivel del hospedero han motivado un paradigma de conservación enfocado en la erradicación, lo que nos aleja cada vez más de alcanzar objetivos de conservación sin sesgos taxonómicos. A pesar de la creciente bibliografía que resalta la importancia de la conservación incluyente de los parásitos, la mayoría de este tipo de especies sigue siendo poco estudiada, mal financiada y poco valorada. Argumentamos que la protección de la diversidad parasitaria requiere de un cambio en el paradigma de la percepción y valoración de su papel como especies consumidoras, similar al de los depredadores primarios a mediados del siglo XX. Más allá de reconocer a los parásitos como reguladores tróficos vitales, las herramientas existentes disponibles para quienes practican la conservación deberían reconocer explícitamente las amenazas únicas que enfrentan las especies dependientes. Partimos de conceptos de epidemiología y economía (p. ej.: umbral de densidad de hospedero y análisis de costo-beneficio) para diseñar medidas novedosas del margen de error y la inversión mínima para la conservación de parásitos. Definimos el margen de error como el riesgo de extinción accidental del hospedero a partir de una mala estimación del tamaño de poblaciones en equilibrio y de los pronósticos de oscilación, mientras que la inversión mínima representa el costo asociado a la conservación de los hospederos adicionales requeridos para mantener viables a las poblaciones de parásitos. Este marco de trabajo ayudará en la identificación de los parásitos conservados inmediatamente que presentan un riesgo sanitario mínimo. Para establecer la conservación de parásitos, proponemos una extensión del análisis de viabilidad poblacional para los conjuntos de hospedero-parásito y así evaluar el riesgo de extinción. En los casos más urgentes, se deberían evaluar programas de crianza ex situ para maximizar el éxito sin debilitar la protección al hospedero. Aunque las especies parásitas presentan un reto considerable para la conservación, las adaptaciones de las herramientas de conservación ayudarán a proteger la diversidad de parásitos de frente a un futuro ambiental incierto.

Ex situ conservation tools, such as captive breeding for reintroduction, are considered a last resort to recover threatened or endangered species, but they may also help reduce anthropogenic threats where it is difficult or impossible to address them directly. Headstarting, or captive rearing of eggs or neonate animals for subsequent release into the wild, is controversial because it treats only a symptom of a larger conservation problem; however, it may provide a mechanism to address multiple threats, particularly near population centers. We conducted a population viability analysis of Australia's most widespread freshwater turtle, Chelodina longicollis, to determine the effect of adult roadkill (death by collision with motor vehicles), which is increasing, and reduced recruitment through nest predation from introduced European red foxes (Vulpes vulpesj. We also modeled management scenarios to test the effectiveness of headstarting, fox management, and measures to reduce mortality on roads. Only scenarios with headstarting from source populations eliminated all risks of extinction and allowed population growth. Small increases in adult mortality (2%) had the greatest effect on population growth and extinction risk. Where threats simultaneously affected other life-history stages (e.g., recruitment), eliminating harvest pressures on adult females alone did not eliminate the risk of population extinction. In our models, one source population could supply enough hatchlings annually to supplement 25 other similar-sized populations such that extinction was avoided. Based on our results, we believe headstarting should be a primary tool for managing freshwater turtles for which threats affect multiple life-history stages. We advocate the creation of source populations for managing freshwater turtles that are greatly threatened at multiple life-history stages, such as depredation of eggs by invasive species and adult mortality via roadkill. Las herramientas de conservación ex situ, como la crianza en cautiverio para la reintroducción, son consideradas como el último recurso para recuperar a las especies amenazadas o en peligro, pero también pueden ayudar a reducir las amenazas antropogénicas en donde es difícil o imposible tratarlas directamente. El inicio con ventaja, o la crianza en cautiverio de huevos o animales neonatos para su liberación subsecuente a lá vida libre, es controversial porque solamente trata un síntoma de un problema mayor de la conservación; sin embargo, puede proporcionar un mecanismo para lidiar con múltiples amenazas, particularmente cerca de los centros poblacionales. Realizamos un análisis de viabilidad poblacional con la tortuga de agua dulce con mayor distribución en Australia, Chelodiina longicollis, para determinar el efecto de los atropellamientos de adultos (muerte por colisión con automóviles)，los cuales son cada vez más frecuentes，y redujimos el reclutamiento por medio de la depredación de nidos realizada por los zorros rojos Europeos introducidos (Yulpes vulpes). También modelamos escenarios de manejo para evaluar la efectividad del inicio con ventaja, el manejo de los zorros y las medidas para reducir la mortalidad en los caminos. Sólo los escenarios con inicio con ventaja a partir de poblaciones fuente eliminaron todos los riesgos de extinción y permitieron el crecimiento de la población. Los pequeños incrementos en la mortalidad adulta (2%) tuvieron el mayor efecto sobre el crecimiento poblacionaly el riesgo de extinción. En donde las amenazas afectaron simultáneamente a otras etapas de la ontogenia (p. ej.: el reclutamiento)，sólo controlar las presiones de cosecha sobre las hembras no eliminó el riesgo de extinción de la población. En nuestros modelos, una población fuente pudo proporcionar suficientes crías para abastecer a otras 25 poblaciones de tamaño similar de tal forma que se evitó la extinción. Con base en nuestros resultados, creemos que el inicio con ventaja debería ser una herramienta primaria para el manejo de tortugas de agua dulce para las cuales las amenazas afectan a múltiples etapas de la ontogenia. Proponemos la creación de poblaciones fuente para el manejo de tortugas de agua dulce que están enormemente amenazadas durante varias etapas de su historia de vida, como la depredación de los huevos por especies invasoras o la mortalidad adulta por atropellamientos.

Xishuangbanna is on the northern margins of tropical Asia in southwestern China and has the largest area of tropical forest remaining in the country. It is in the Indo‐Burma hotspot and contains 16% of China's vascular flora in <0.2% of the country's total area (19,690 km²). Rapid expansion of monoculture crops in the last 20 years, particularly rubber, threatens this region's exceptional biodiversity. To understand the effects of land‐use change and collection on orchid species diversity and determine protection priorities, we conducted systematic field surveys, observed markets, interviewed orchid collectors, and then determined the conservation status of all orchids. We identified 426 orchid species in 115 genera in Xishuangbanna: 31% of all orchid species that occur in China. Species richness was highest at 1000–1200 m elevation. Three orchid species were assessed as possibly extinct in the wild, 15 as critically endangered, 82 as endangered, 124 as vulnerable, 186 as least concern, and 16 as data deficient. Declines over 20 years in harvested species suggested over‐collection was the major threat, and utility value (i.e., medicinal or ornamental value) was significantly related to endangerment. Expansion of rubber tree plantations was less of a threat to orchids than to other taxa because only 75 orchid species (17.6%) occurred below the 1000‐m‐elevation ceiling for rubber cultivation, and most of these (46) occurred in nature reserves. However, climate change is projected to lift this ceiling to around 1300 m by 2050, and the limited area at higher elevations reduces the potential for upslope range expansion. The Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden is committed to achieving zero plant extinctions in Xishuangbanna, and orchids are a high priority. Appropriate in and ex situ conservation strategies, including new protected areas and seed banking, have been developed for every threatened orchid species and are being implemented.

Captive breeding and reintroduction remain high profile but controversial conservation interventions. It is important to understand how such programs develop and respond to strategic conservation initiatives. We analyzed the contribution to conservation made by amphibian captive breeding and reintroduction since the launch of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Amphibian Conservation Action Plan (ACAP) in 2007. We assembled data on amphibian captive breeding and reintroduction from a variety of sources including the Amphibian Ark database and the IUCN Red List. We also carried out systematic searches of Web of Science, JSTOR, and Google Scholar for relevant literature. Relative to data collected from 1966 to 2006, the number of species involved in captive breeding and reintroduction projects increased by 57% in the 7 years since release of the ACAP. However, there have been relatively few new reintroductions over this period; most programs have focused on securing captive‐assurance populations (i.e., species taken into captivity as a precaution against extinctions in the wild) and conservation‐related research. There has been a shift to a broader representation of frogs, salamanders, and caecilians within programs and an increasing emphasis on threatened species. There has been a relative increase of species in programs from Central and South America and the Caribbean, where amphibian biodiversity is high. About half of the programs involve zoos and aquaria with a similar proportion represented in specialist facilities run by governmental or nongovernmental agencies. Despite successful reintroduction often being regarded as the ultimate milestone for such programs, the irreversibility of many current threats to amphibians may make this an impractical goal. Instead, research on captive assurance populations may be needed to develop imaginative solutions to enable amphibians to survive alongside current, emerging, and future threats.

The global amphibian crisis has resulted in renewed interest in captive breeding as a conservation tool for amphibians. Although captive breeding and reintroduction are controversial management actions, amphibians possess a number of attributes that make them potentially good models for such programs. We reviewed the extent and effectiveness of captive breeding and reintroduction programs for amphibians through an analysis of data from the Global Amphibian Assessment and other sources. Most captive breeding and reintroduction programs for amphibians have focused on threatened species from industrialized countries with relatively low amphibian diversity. Out of 110 species in such programs, 52 were in programs with no plans for reintroduction that had conservation research or conservation education as their main purpose. A further 39 species were in programs that entailed captive breeding and reintroduction or combined captive breeding with relocations of wild animals. Nineteen species were in programs with relocations of wild animals only. Eighteen out of 58 reintroduced species have subsequently bred successfully in the wild, and 13 of these species have established self-sustaining populations. As with threatened amphibians generally, amphibians in captive breeding or reintroduction programs face multiple threats, with habitat loss being the most important. Nevertheless, only 18 out of 58 reintroduced species faced threats that are all potentially reversible. When selecting species for captive programs, dilemmas may emerge between choosing species that have a good chance of surviving after reintroduction because their threats are reversible and those that are doomed to extinction in the wild as a result of irreversible threats. Captive breeding and reintroduction programs for amphibians require long-term commitments to ensure success, and different management strategies may be needed for species earmarked for reintroduction and species used for conservation research and education.

Global amphibian declines are one of the biggest challenges currently facing the conservation community, and captive breeding is one way to address this crisis. Using information from the International Species Information System zoo network, we examined trends in global zoo amphibian holdings across species, zoo region, and species geographical region of origin from 1994 to 2014. These trends were compared before and after the 2004 Global Amphibian Assessment to assess whether any changes occurred and whether zoo amphibian conservation effort had increased. The numbers of globally threatened species (GTS) and their proportional representation in global zoo holdings increased and this rate of increase was significantly greater after 2004. North American, European, and Oceanian GTS were best represented in zoos globally, and proportions of Oceanian GTS held increased the most since 2004. South American and Asian GTS had the lowest proportional representation in zoos. At a regional zoo level, European zoos held the lowest proportions of GTS, and this proportion did not increase after 2004. Since 1994, the number of species held in viable populations has increased, and these species are distributed among more institutions. However, as of 2014, zoos held 6.2% of globally threatened amphibians, a much smaller figure than for other vertebrate groups and one that falls considerably short of the number of species for which ex situ management may be desirable. Although the increased effort zoos have put into amphibian conservation over the past 20 years is encouraging, more focus is needed on ex situ conservation priority species. This includes building expertise and capacity in countries that hold them and tracking existing conservation efforts if the evidence‐based approach to amphibian conservation planning at a global level is to be further developed.

Ex situ conservation is of increasing importance to prevent the extinction of endangered animals in the wild. Despite low success rates of reintroduction programs few researchers have investigated empirically the efficacy of captive breeding regimes for the release of captive-bred vertebrates. We used guppies (Poecilia reticulata) from two populations in Trinidad to compare different conservation breeding regimes. The upper Aripo population was chosen for its small effective population size ($N_{e} \\approx 100$) and genetic isolation, which makes it representative of many endangered natural populations. By contrast, the lower Aripo population is a genetically diverse, much larger population ($N_{e} \\approx 2400$). We examined three captive-breeding regimes: (1) inbreeding fish crossed with their full siblings, (2) minimized inbreeding, no consanguineous matings, and (3) control fish crossed at random. We kept pedigree records for all regimes so that we could calculate inbreeding coefficients over four generations. The body size and fertility of guppies was significantly reduced due to inbreeding depression. The genetic load of sterile equivalents was particularly high for the lower Aripo population. Body size also declined due to breeding conditions in the captive environment. After four generations in captivity, the fish were released into a mesocosm in Trinidad. Captive-bred guppies were extremely susceptible to gyrodactylidparasites (58% survival rate) compared with their wild counterparts (96% survival). A reduced level of immunogenetic variation due to inbreeding and lack of exposure to natural parasites may have rendered captive-bred individuals more prone to infectious disease. The threat of disease outbreak is particularly high when naive captive-bred hosts are released in wild populations. Susceptible, captive-bred hosts could facilitate the transmission of parasites throughout the wild population, thus initiating an epidemic. This risk could potentially be reduced by prior exposure to parasites before release and gradual release of captive-bred individuals.

Se estudió la propagación por semillas y por estacas de Orites myrtoidea (\"Radal enano\"), un arbusto con potencial ornamental de la familia Proteaceae, nativo de Chile y Argentina. A partir de material recolectado en otoño en la cordillera de la comuna de Pinto, Región de Ñuble, se evaluó el efecto en la germinación de semillas de 4 niveles de estratificación húmeda a 10° C (0, 7, 14 y 21 días), más uno de ácido giberélico (250 ppm) como control positivo, y el porcentaje y grado de enraizamiento de estacas con 5 niveles de inmersión rápida en solución de Ácido Indol Butírico (AIB) (0, 1.000, 2.000, 3.000 y 4.000 ppm) y un nivel de AIB en formulación en polvo (1.500 ppm). Los mayores porcentajes de germinación se obtuvieron con estratificación por 21 días y con inmersión en ácido giberélico, 80 y 92%, respectivamente. En la propagación vegetativa el porcentaje de enraizamiento superó el 90% en todos los tratamientos, sin embargo, todas las estacas tratadas con AIB presentaron un enraizamiento moderado a abundante, superior al control, en el cual se obtuvo un enraizamiento escaso a moderado.

Los recursos fitogenéticos comprenden la diversidad vegetal cultivada que tiene un valor real o potencial en la seguridad alimentaria de la humanidad. Desde esta perspectiva, cada una de las especies que han presentado un proceso de domesticación tanto a nivel local o mundial, asociando sus parientes silvestres, poseen un patrimonio genético invaluable. Por tal motivo, las especies cultivadas pueden beneficiarse mediante el flujo genético de sus parientes en busca de resistencia a plagas y enfermedades, fitomejoramiento o material adaptado al cambio climático. De tal manera, la conservación del germoplasma que posee una especie es prioridad para mantener la variabilidad genética inter e intra-especifica, así como la de sus accesiones. Las estrategias de conservación ex situ, en campo, presentan el riesgo de pérdida por condiciones climáticas adversas, ataque de agentes patógenos, altos costos asociados al manejo agronómico, preparación de terreno, insumos y dificultad del manejo e intercambio de material. No obstante, las técnicas de cultivo de tejidos vegetales permiten mantener las plántulas en bancos de germoplasma in vitro, libres de patógenos, en espacio reducido, a bajo costo y condiciones controladas que facilitan el manejo a corto y largo plazo de material vegetal, particularmente, de especies con propagación vegetativa. Esta investigación tuvo como objetivo determinar los componentes claves para introducir especies cultivadas y establecer bancos de germoplasma in vitro que faciliten el intercambio de material vegetal entre entidades y personas, para garantizar la conservación, disponibilidad y uso de la diversidad genética obtenida por los cultivadores.