Papers by Sandrine Godefroid
Belgian Journal of Botany, 2002
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1National Botanic Garden of Belgium, Domein van Bouchout, BE-1860 Meise, Belgium 2Biodiversity an... more 1National Botanic Garden of Belgium, Domein van Bouchout, BE-1860 Meise, Belgium 2Biodiversity and Landscape Unit, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège, Passage des Déportés 2, BE-5030 Gembloux, Belgium 3Faculté d’Agronomie, Université de Lubumbashi, Campus de la Kasapa, Lubumbashi, D.R.Congo 4Tenke Fungurume Mining SARL, Avenue Panda n° 790, Lubumbashi, Katanga, D.R.Congo *Author for correspondence: sandrine.godefroid@br.fgov.be
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There is growing concern throughout the world about the uncontrolled exploitation and depletion o... more There is growing concern throughout the world about the uncontrolled exploitation and depletion of the earth's natural resources, especially affecting the plant biodiversity of tropical forests. The extinction potential of a species is related to the degree of its biological vulnerability and the degree of threat by biotic and abiotic factors. Therefore, the need for conservation is exceptionally high and of paramount importance to preserve this plant heritage for posterity. One of the most effective biological techniques to conserve this biodiversity is the establishment of gene banks, i.e. ex situ conservation. Conventional seed storage is believed to be a safe, effective and inexpensive method of ex situ conservation of plant genetic resources, which not only maintains its viability but also its vigour without hampering the genetic makeup. The elucidation of various factors that regulate seed viability and vigour in storage is essential. An ideal condition to prolong the seed...
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Even though plants represent an essential part of our lives offering exploitational, supporting a... more Even though plants represent an essential part of our lives offering exploitational, supporting and cultural services, we know very little about the biology of the rarest and most threatened plant species, and even less about their conservation status. Rapid changes in the environment and climate, today more pronounced than ever, affect their fitness and distribution causing rapid species declines, sometimes even before they had been discovered. Despite the high goals set by conservationists to protect native plants from further degradation and extinction, the initiatives for the conservation of threatened species in Europe are scattered and have not yielded the desired results. The main aim of this Action is to improve plant conservation in Europe through the establishment of a network of scientists and other stakeholders who deal with different aspects of plant conservation, from plant taxonomy, ecology, conservation genetics, conservation physiology and reproductive biology to pr...
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The conservation of plants ex situ, i.e. in living collections or as seeds in seed banks, has bec... more The conservation of plants ex situ, i.e. in living collections or as seeds in seed banks, has become a central pillar in current global conservation efforts. The Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) has set the ambitious target of safeguarding 75% of all endangered plants ex situ. This has resulted in a major boom of the ex situ conservation sector worldwide, and botanic gardens as major ex situ facilities, have strongly increased their investment in wild plant collections. There are currently more than 2,300 horticultural institutions such as botanic gardens, and over 350 professional seed banks worldwide storing and cultivating around 30% of known wild plant species (Donnell & Sharrock 2017; Mounce, Smith & Brockington 2017). While these numbers are impressive, there is not much knowledge about the quality of these collections, neither is there about how cultivation and seed storage can alter plant traits, and how these changes could affect the reintroduction success of a...
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Seedling emergence techniques provide an estimate of viable seeds in the soil seed bank based on ... more Seedling emergence techniques provide an estimate of viable seeds in the soil seed bank based on germination of seeds under favourable germination conditions. The present contribution is aimed at studying whether artificial stratification in a cold chamber is capable of revealing more viable seeds in soil samples compared with natural cold-stratification in the soil through a winter period in order to estimate density and composition of soil seed bank in temperate forest ecosystem. A total of 384 soil samples were collected in December and June from permanently marked plots in a forest ecosystem from central Belgium. December samples were artificially stratified (AS) by undergoing a cold-moist stratification, before laying them in the greenhouse. June samples were put in a greenhouse for direct germination of seeds which were naturally stratified (NS). Emerging seedlings were identified and counted during 12 months. A total of 6960 seedlings emerged in the AS samples and 14,928 seed...
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Journal for Nature Conservation
Abstract The reintroduction of plant species is a technique increasingly used to restore extirpat... more Abstract The reintroduction of plant species is a technique increasingly used to restore extirpated populations. Although most often used to improve the conservation status of endangered species, it can also be considered for species extinct in the wild. The process of resurrecting extinct plant species is however still in its infancy, and it entails additional challenges compared to the reintroduction of locally extinct populations. This study proposes a framework to analyse constraints to post-extinction recovery based on the case of Bromus bromoideus, a species endemic to southern Belgium and northern France, extinct in the wild since 1935. The plant still exists in ex situ collections, and seeds stored for decades at 5% moisture content and -20 °C have shown a good viability. We initiated a feasibility study to assess the risks associated to a programme aiming at reviving this long-extinct species. Several constraints were identified. Biological constraints are related to the fuzzy taxonomy of the species, the unknown origin of the seeds and undocumented ex situ cultivation, and the likely low genetic diversity of the material available for reintroduction. Ecological constraints are linked to the habitat of the species. B. bromoideus has no known natural habitat and is only found in cultivated fields, which are by definition highly anthropized unprotected areas. This study shows the importance of undertaking a preliminary study that addresses all aspects of technical feasibility, scientific justification, biological and societal risks. Based on this exercise and inspired by international standards, we developed a decision tool to assist conservationists to resurrect a plant species in the best possible way.
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Journal for Nature Conservation
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Plant Species Biology
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Conservation Biology
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Journal of Applied Ecology
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Plant Biosystems - An International Journal Dealing with all Aspects of Plant Biology
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Urban Ecosystems
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Restoration Ecology
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PhytoKeys, 2017
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AbstractTemperate heaths have an unfavorable conservation status in most European biogeographical... more AbstractTemperate heaths have an unfavorable conservation status in most European biogeographical regions. Increasing nitrogen levels promote competitive grass species such as Molinia caerulea, which is a main threat to heathland conservation in Europe. This article investigates the long-term influence of sod cutting and the resulting changes in soil properties on the heath composition, integrity, and structure. In 15 nature reserves across the northern half of Belgium, we used (1) a large number of plots (203); (2) a broad range of sod cut depths (2–40 cm), and (3) a temporal dimension that describes how long the effects of sod cutting persist (census up to 19 years after sod cutting). Multivariate analyses were used in order to explore the influence of sod cut depth and time after sod cutting on the soil and vegetation properties. There was a positive relationship between sod cut depth and soil pH and water level, and a negative relationship with Al3+, NH4+, and total organic matter (TOM). However, only a limited number of typical (target) species appeared after sod cutting, and then only weakly. Most of the time they remained a minor component of the restored vegetation. Moreover, M. caerulea reappeared and its cover significantly increased during the years following sod cutting. Although we were able to show that sod cut depth has a differential effect on soil properties and vegetation recovery, it also appeared that sod cutting does not restore wet heaths in the long term when applied in regions with high nitrogen deposition.
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Plant Ecology, 2015
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Biodiversity and Conservation, 2010
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Papers by Sandrine Godefroid