Corresponding author: Patricia Alonso (
Academic editor: V. Chavan
The Germplasm Bank of Universidad Rey Juan Carlos was created in 2008 and currently holds 235 accessions and 96 species. This bank focuses on the conservation of wild-plant communities and aims to conserve
Alonso P, Iriondo JM (2014) URJC GB dataset: Community-based seed bank of Mediterranean high-mountain and semi-arid plant species at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (Spain). PhytoKeys 35: 57–72. doi:
Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (2013 -). URJC GB dataset: Community-based seed bank of Mediterranean high-mountain and semi-arid plant species at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (Spain), 235 data records, Contributed by Alonso P, Iriondo JM, Giménez-Benavides L, García A, Sánchez A, Albert MJ, Olano JM, Escudero A, Lara C, Pescador DS, Chacón-Labella J, Rubio ML, Morente J, Milla R, Iriarte C, Prieto S, Cuartero B, Díaz C, Galisteo E, Valiñani Y, Soto JC, Cezón K, Alonso L, Álvarez JL, Fernández B, Ferreira V, León I and González D, Online,
The URJC Germplasm Bank (URJC GB) was created in 2008 and focuses on the conservation of wild plant communities. Until now, germplasm banks have conserved plant biodiversity and have promoted the use of plant genetic resources at the species, subspecies or variety level, conserving threatened taxa or taxa with some important traits. In these cases, the aim is to conserve the species or variety regardless of its origin or natural habitat. However, as the most appropriate way to conserve a biological entity is within the ecosystem that it naturally forms part of (
Number of accessions and species in the different subcollections of the URJC GB.
Creating and managing a germplasm bank not only entails keeping the seed material under proper storage conditions, but also ensuring the correct administration of all the related data. After all, seed accessions with no associated information are virtually useless from a conservation and research perspective. Thus, it is essential for seed banks to obtain reliable data and record it in a database accessible to potential users. In addition to passport data on the location, time and other features of seed collection, additional data need to be gathered throughout the different activities involved in seed preservation, including seed processing, testing and storage. These data must be accurately compiled and efficiently managed to ensure the accuracy, consistency and wider relevance of the dataset. This information is necessary for both the management of the seed bank and for conservation and research studies on the species included in the seed bank.
Most global and national efforts in the dissemination of seed bank datasets are related to plant species of agricultural value. In this sense, it is worthy to mention the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) of the United States Department of Agriculture (
This dataset provides unique information on the occurrence of plant species in two characteristic habitats of Spain that are currently protected by the Habitats Directive of the European Union (Council Directive 92/43/EEC). Some of the species recorded in the dataset are endemic (i.e.,
Distribution map of the two species of URJC GB dataset endemic to Spain:
Basic elements of the project design.
The URJC GB holds the seeds of vascular plants from specific habitats. The high-mountain subcollection is composed of communities of siliceous psicroxerophilous pastures dominated by
Two phyla are represented in the URJC GB:
Taxonomic coverage (percentage per order) of URJC GB.
Taxonomic coverage (percentage per family) of URJC GB.
The seeds in this subcollection are from different areas along the altitudinal gradient of the Sierra de Guadarrama between the provinces of Madrid, Segovia and Ávila in Central Spain (
Geographical distribution of the germplasm subcollections in Peninsular Spain.
Peñalara Natural Park extends over 768 hectares and is located in the municipality of Rascafría (Madrid). The altitude of the Park ranges from 1640 m to 2428 m (Peñalara Peak), and the highest peaks of the Sierra de Guadarrama are found here. Habitats vary along the altitudinal gradient: from lower to higher elevations,
Climate conditions as well as its relative geographic isolation have made Peñalara Peak a biogeographic island where species characteristic of colder areas and higher latitudes have found refuge, forming the southern limit of their distribution. These species are difficult to find in other parts of Central Spain and include species such as
Mean monthly temperatures on the highest peaks range between 0 °C in the winter months and 6 °C in the summer months. Minimum and maximum temperatures range between -18 °C and 26 °C, respectively. Annual precipitation is around 1300 mm, with a large proportion in the form of snow (Peñalara Natural Park, pers. com.).
The altitude of this area confers climatic conditions characteristic of high mountains. This is shown by the high contrast in daily temperatures, strong winds, extreme minimum temperatures, the accumulation of snow during long periods, high insolation in summer accompanied by seasonal drought and high UV radiation (
This habitat (number 6160) is included in the Habitats Directive of the European Union (Council Directive 92/43/EEC) due to its singularity and reduced area (
The seeds in this subcollection are from different areas along the altitudinal gradient in the Tajo valley. These communities occur at 700–900 m elevation in the gypsum steppes in the southeastern area of the Madrid Autonomous Region and in the northeastern area of the Castilla - La Mancha Autonomous Region (Guadalajara and Cuenca) (
These communities generally occur in the mesomediterranean floor in semi-arid or dry ombroclimates. They rarely penetrate the supramediterranean floor or occur in subhumid ombroclimates, where conditions are no longer favourable for their development, and they are substituted by other communities from base-rich soils (
The different texture and composition of gypsum soils influence the floristic composition of this vegetation. These peculiar communities are exclusive to Iberian steppes and have a high number of plants, including several endemics. This, together with their adaptation to a substrate that is very selective for other plant communities, makes them of singular interest. They are considered a “priority habitat” (number 1520) according to Council Directive 92/43/EEC (
The seeds in this subcollection are from different locations in Spain: Madrid, Valencia y Ávila (
38°58'58,8"S and 40°51'3,6"N Latitude; 5°43'4,8"W and 0°31'1,2"E Longitude.
2001 – 2012. The earliest collection event dates back to 2001 and the latest to 2012. The highest number of accessions was collected in 2012, 2008 and 2006 for the High-mountain subcollection, the Semi-arid subcollection and the
Temporal coverage in the different subcollections of the URJC GB.
The Sierra de Guadarrama and gypsophylic steppes of Central Spain are the most significant areas represented in URJC GB. Seeds have been collected from 8 provinces in Spain: Ávila, Cuenca, Guadalajara, Madrid, Salamanca, Segovia, Valencia and Zaragoza (
Geographical distribution of accessions in Peninsular Spain.
In the collection phase, seed samples were collected from several different localities to cover the distribution range of the communities in the study area and thereby obtain genetic material from the different species with the potential to adapt to different local conditions.
To plan seed collection, it was essential to determine the timing of seed dispersal. In this sense, the literature related to the phenology of the collected species was consulted. Other morphological indicators of the timing of natural dispersal were also used. These included tissue hardness, changes in color in seeds and fruits, dryness of pods and capsules, among others.
The physical quality of the seeds was evaluated at the time of collection to avoid collecting specimens that were infected or clearly unviable. We aimed to collect between 3000 and 5000 seeds per accession to guarantee that there would be enough material for germination assays, long-term conservation and, if necessary, propagation (
Once samples were collected for each species, they were placed in paper bags and labeled with the name of the species, the site where they were collected, altitude, site coordinates, the date of collection and the name of the collector. This information constituted the passport data for each seed accession.
The URJC GB has a protocol which describes the seed processing methods for collection, processing in the laboratory, germination assays, dessication, recording accessions, labeling, scanning and freezing. Seed collectors are professors and researchers with great knowledge of the flora characteristic of each ecosystem. They are all members of research groups that have worked in this field for years and, therefore, have great experience in the phenology and identification of the species. Herbarium specimens associated with the seed accessions are preserved at the Department of Biology and Geology of URJC or at the Herbarium of the Royal Botanic Garden of Madrid. 63% of the records are georreferenced with GPS and radio points. When this information is not available, the geographic coordinates of the site and the extension of the municipality are used as a surrogate of this measure. Since the subcollections are active and continuously growing, data are updated regularly every six months.
The different steps of the process are summarized in
URJC Germplasm Bank workflow.
The URJC Seedbank is funded by projects LIMITES (CGL2009-07229), AdAptA (CGL2012-33528) and Remedinal-2 projects. We are thankful to all those who have contributed to the growth of this germplasm bank, to Katia Cezón and Francisco Pando (Spanish GBIF node-CSIC) for technical support and to L. De Hond for linguistic assistance.