BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The Pyrenees extend all along 415 km, and take an area of over 30,000 km2, from the Mediterranean Sea on the east (Cap de Creus in Catalonia), to the Cantabrian Sea on the west (Bay of Txingudi in Basque Country). They are divided in 8 administrative entities of Spain (Basque Country, Navarre, Aragon and Catalonia), France (Aquitania, Midi-Pyrénées and Languedoc-Roussillon) and Andorra. It is a mountain range with a very complex orography, that goes from the basal zone, in the Mediterranean and Atlantic coast, to peaks that easily exceed 3000 m, already in the alpine-subnival zone. Besides, the Pyrenees have a very strong climatic gradient, from an oceanic clime in the west, to a Mediterranean clime in the east, as well as zones with a continental character. Due to the complexity of this mountain range, the different climatic regions and the resulting ecosystems richness, Pyrenees are a geographic area whose plant diversity is one of the biggest in Europe, with around 4,000-4,500 vascular plants. Among all these species, about 200 are considered exclusive to this range.
PROBLEMS FOR THE CONSERVATION OF THE FLORA OF PYRENEAN PEAKS
Most of the Pyrenean endemic species live between the subalpine zone (around 1700-2300 m) and the alpine-subnival zone (around 2300-3400 m), for example Saxifraga hariotii, Aegonychon gastonii (Buglossoides gastonii), Minuartia cerastiifolia, Androsace ciliata or Saxifraga pubescens subsp. iratiana. Plant species that live in those altitudinal ranks are precisely the ones with a more uncertain future within a context of a global climatic change. In several researches, such as GLORIA project, has been observed that the Pyrenees, together with Sierra Nevada, are one of the mountain ranges where it is most evident that the species of high altitude (more adapted to cold temperatures), are replaced by more thermophilic plants. Such data demonstrate the vulnerability of flora form the highest peaks of Pyrenees and the need to develop programmes focused on their conservation. In that sense the ex situ conservation of seeds, spores and live plants and the development of germination, propagation and reintroduction/reinforcement protocols are very important tools for supporting the in situ conservation programmes.
OBJECTIVES
1) Ex situ conservation of genetic material (seeds, spores or live plants) of rare, threatened or structural plants of Pyrenean mountain range, using technics to ensure their long-term conservation.
2) The development of germination, propagation and reintroduction/reinforcement protocols for threatened and structural plants.
3) Coordination of these activities with other entities all around the Pyrenees.
OUR WORK, STEP BY STEP
1) Development of a priority list based on endemic rank, rarity or threat.
2) Planning collections by the priority list of plants, their distribution and phenology.
3) Monitoring of the populations for determinate the optimum ripeness for collection.
4) Collection of genetic material of selected species and populations.
5) Processing and conservation of the collected material.
6) Development of germination, propagation and reintroduction/reinforcement protocols.
7) Raising awareness on the results that are obtained.