期刊名称：International Journal of Environment and Bioenergy
电子版ISSN：2165-8951
出版年度：2013
卷号：5
期号：1
页码：17-41
语种：English
出版社：Modern Scientific Press
摘要：Forests are in imminent danger due to adverse biotic and abiotic stresses resulting from urban expansion, infrastructural development, agriculture and global warming. It is well recognized that genetic variation is essential or species to evolve and to adapt to changing in environmental conditions. The sustained ability of forests to provide goods and resources thus depends on the management and maintenance of forest genetic resources. It is estimated that about 49,000 species of plants occur in India, of which flowering plants accounts for 15,000 species. About, 5000 of the flowering plants are endemic. The Convention Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted in 1992, affirms that states are responsible for conserving their biological diversity and for using them in a sustainable manner. In Indian forest ecosystems, some economically important forest tree species have been conserved in gene banks, in situ and ex situ conservation sites, national parks (99), other protected areas in the form of biosphere reserves (17) and wildlife sanctuary (508) which has been regarded as in situ conservation and management of forest genetic resources at species level. In addition a variety of field repositories of genetic resources, including arboreta, botanical gardens, herbarium, seed orchards, field trials and live collection have also been developed within the frame work of selection and tree improvement programmes to increase the productivity of forest. Thus, critical information on the status, threats, extent and distribution of genetic diversity are required for planning effective strategies. Though, the basic aim of conservation of forest genetic resource are actually rooted in our understanding of genetic resources, the challenge lies in breaking them free from legacy and formulation of specific protocol that suits tree species.
