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Title: Curating seeds and other genetic resources for ethnobiology. In: Salick,J.Konchar, K. and Nesbitt, M., editors. Curatring Biocultural Collections: A handbook

Author
item Dierig, David
item Blackburn, Harvey
item Ellis, David
item NESBITT, MARK - Royal Botanical Gardens

Submitted to: Book Chapter
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/1/2013
Publication Date: 7/1/2014
Citation: Dierig, D.A., Blackburn, H.D., Ellis, D.D., Nesbitt, M. 2014. Curating seeds and other genetic resources for ethnobiology. In: Salick,J.Konchar, K. and Nesbitt, M., editors. Curatring Biocultural Collections: A handbook. Book Chapter. Richamand, Surrey, UK: Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew. p. 107-125.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation (NCGRP) is one of the largest genebanks in the world, currently safeguarding over 875,000 plant collections and 652,295 animal collections, most with agriculture emphasis. This number represents 7,474 different plant species of 1,274 genera. The animal collection represents 13 species and over 130 breeds. These accessions are freely distributed to any qualified research scientist in the world. The Center is the long term storage facility for the base collection of the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System. Since Bioculture Collections broadly considers agriculture as a subset, the discussion here will focus on the conservation strategy being utilized for these agriculturally important crops and animals and their wild relatives. Genebanks are a living bio-cultural collection and pose their own distinct challenges to curation, which is discussed in this chapter.