DNA banks and Noah’s Arc projectsthe loss of important biological resources and ecosystem functions go handin hand withthe extinction of species. An example that became popular recently was. that ofthe two gastric brooding frogs, Rheobatrachus. silus and Rhe¬obatrachus vitellinus. It was hoped that. these species would help to develop an effcient remedy for gastric infections becausethe gastric brooding. frog broods its youngin its stomach without digesting. them - however, allthe relevant species have now died. out. Collections can provide certain opportunities to usethe biological resources of extinct or largely extinct.organisms. This is one ofthe reasons, though not theonly one, why DNA and tissue banks (with special collections of sperm, ejaculates, egg cells or reproductive.organs)are fast becoming so important. Apart from themajor museums, ZFMK, MfN, Senckenberg,the Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research(IPK)in Gatersleben,the Leibniz Institute of Plant Biochemistry (IPB)in
The rapid disappearance of useful animal and useful. plant species could have fatal effects on humankind.
Currently, 60% of global nutrition is based on afew. types of plants and animals; many ofthe useful animalsand plants originally cultivated and used have already. disappeared orare quickly being lost. Every ffth species. of fern and flowering plant is amedicinal plant and ofthe 80,000 speciesin existence, roughly 15,000are endangered or threatened by extinction. Without doubt,there is an urgent need for action if weare not going to lose these vital resources for ever. The relevant institutesinthe Leibniz Associationare responding to this. challenge with groundbreaking proposals. An exemplary “Noah’s Arc Project” isthe international sperm bankin Longyearbyen on Spitsbergen whichthe Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK)in Gatersleben has been instrumentalin setting up; it. will store and sustainably conserve more than 150***
of IPK’s gene bank specimens for future generations.
Museums andthe public. Unless there is broadly-based knowledge about how. important and how endangered biological diversity actually is, it will be impossible to exploit and protect biodiversity sustainably and adequately. Apart from public. outreach activities by universities, research institutes,public authorities, associations and non-government.organisations (NGOs), natural history museums have. a particularly major role to playin this: it is here that. biological diversity, evolution and extinctionare immediately accessibl***
Laboratory for molecular evolution research. [Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung (SGN)]10the Leibniz Association is aprominent playerin thefeld of communicating biodiversity research, too. theresearch institutes with affliated museums,the Zoological Research Museum Alexander Koenig (ZFMK)in
andthe Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung(SGN)in Frankfurt as well as other institutes and museums,the Senckenberg Natural History Collections inDresden (SNSD) andthe Senckenberg Natural History. Museumin Görlitz (SMNG) attract more than amillion. visitors every year. These institutions do, indeed, offer. a unique opportunity to present research frsthand, to champion biodiversity and to promote public understanding of science and research.
5the prospects. Surveying and recording biological diversity is undoubtedly one ofthe main responsibilities of biodiversity research today, and thereare anumber of reasons. why it is necessary: so far we have only classifed between 2% and 10% of existing ecosystems whilst, atthe same time, weare losing more than 100 species. every day. No less important isthe problem of bad taxonomy - recent studies have clearly demonstrated that. too many biological and ecological studiesare based on.completely unsatisfactory taxonomic data andare thus. inaccurate and non-reproducible. The phenomenon of “cryptic species”, whereby organisms which appear to be morphologically identical actually belong to several. different species, is also becoming amajor biodiversity. research issu***
As aconsequence,the challenges to be facedin futureare particularly diverse. Onthe one hand, we need to develop fast and reliable techniques for species classifcation and taxonomy: barcoding, imaging technologies,internationally accessible collections and databasesare just afew ofthe necessary developments. On theother hand,the classifcation of species should go well. beyondthe process of straightforward identifcation.
The focus would then be placed on knowledge of thecharacteristics, adaptations andthe relevant genetic. basis with which organisms react to anthropogenic. factors like degradation of habitat, disturbance caused. by humans or human activity, environmental pollution. caused by chemical substances, noise, light, non-native. invasive competitors or pathogens (neobiota), or global. climate change. Several Leibniz institutesare leaders inthis feld includingthe Leibniz Institute of Fresh Water. Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB),the Leibniz Institute. of Plant Biochemistry (IPB),the Research Institute forthe Biology of Farm Animals (FBN),the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research (IZW),the Leibniz.
Just as important as this isthe investigation ofthe major. unknown biotopes and groups of organisms. The deep. sea isthe largest habitat still to be researched, and deep. sea expeditionsare constantly coming up with more. new than known organisms, especiallyinthe case of small organisms like copepods. Tropical climate zones. as well as soils still contain awealth of secrets. Even our. own domestic beech forests have not been investigated as thoroughly as we might imagine. Inthe context. ofthe “All Species Inventory,” for example, scientists. fromthe Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung(SGN) were able to record twice as many speciesin theHessen beech forests as had previously been assumed.
The deep sea habitat is. still largely unexplored:mussels at adepth of 3,000 metres [Leibniz.
Ediversity of “products” whichare of immediate ven ifthe diversity of life has only been partially recorded so far, it has already provided us witha. use to humans. These “ecosystem goods” range from. genes via natural products to parts of an organism orthe entire organism itself. The productsare gathered or. huntedin their natural environment or specially cultivated, reared, bred or “harvested” for use. inthe following sections specifc examples of ecosystem goods will be presented. However, thereare several important, major habitats which, so far, have only. been partially investigatedin this respect, and weare indanger of losing vast numbers of goods before we even. know what they are.
Food. Ever since humans have existed they have used fungi,plants, animals andthe products thereof as asource of food, gathering and hunting naturally occurring stocks.
All overthe world peopleare engagedinthe business. of gathering as well as hunting wild animals on landand at sea. The impact on biodiversity is enormous. Onthe one hand,in many places dreaded enemies and. food competitors, particularly predators and birds of prey, have been wiped out - Western and
One ofthe main tasks ofthe Leibniz Institute for Zooand Wildlife Research (IZW)in
The advent of “agriculture” with its targeted cultivation. of useful plants and livestock farming brought abouta. 3
Ecosystem Goods. signifcant change forthe human race. Modern human. nutrition is largely based on afew plants (rice, maize,wheat, oats, rye, barley, millet etc. ) and fve species of animals (cattle, pigs, chickens, sheep and goats). They. have been domesticated overthe last 8,000 to 12***
years and bred to create avast number of local breeds.
Not wanting to be restricted tothe plants and animals. originally domesticated, which largely came from theNear and
Now, alarge proportion of (old) varieties of useful. plants and breeds of domestic animals arein danger of being eliminated for ever; many arein acute danger of extinction. And this despitethe fact that many breeds. Cave paining ofa. hunting scene. [Leibniz. Institute for Natural. Product Research and. Infection Biology, Hans. Knöll Institute (HKI)]12
of domestic animals have enormous advantages if theyare considered lessin terms of high performance yieldsand moreinthe light ofthe challenges posed bythe future: their frugality, for example, and extreme flexibility. with regard tothe choice and use of “inferior” fodder. plants, their great tolerance of extreme, changeable environmental conditions, including climate fluctuations,their high resistance to pathogens andthe fact that. they require very little care, which means aconcomitantly low use of energy and resources. In order to gain. a more comprehensive understanding of these problems and of breed-specifc performance it is essential to understandthe genomic and physiological diversity of domestic animals and useful plants as well asthe variationin performance parameters associated with them.
Internationally signifcant workin these felds is conducted bythe Leibniz Institute for Farm Animal Biology(FBN)in Dummerstorf,the Leibniz Institute of Plant. Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK)in Gaterslebenandthe Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental. Crops (IGZ)in Großbeeren/Erfurt.
It is impossible to carry out intensive crop and animal. farming for human and animal foodstuffs without reshapingthe environment. Consequently, aconsiderable proportion of natural habitats have been transformed into agricultural landscapes. In
7%,in
Agrobiodiversity - agrofuel - forestry. Agrobiodiversity isthe term used forthe diversity of domesticated animals and plantsin an agricultural. landscape. Againstthe backdrop of rapidly disappearing ancient varieties and breeds of domestic animalsand useful plants, we have already drawn attention tothe fact that it is one of our responsibilities vis-à-vis thefuture to ensure that this agrobiodiversity is preservedand used sustainably. As indicated above, several Leibniz institutesare addressing this issue. Bothinthe western world andinthe Tropics and Subtropics natural and. planted forestsare exploited as sources of energy and. building materials as well as for producing paper and. top quality furniture. The differences between agricultural landscapes and forests, which once seemed so. obvious,are now disappearing as aresult of biodiversity as awhole being under threatin these ecosystems. An aggravating factor is aparallel development that is. transforming relatively low-yield natural systems rich inbiodiversity into oligo- and monoculturesinthe form of plantations where diversity is degraded.
Additional links between agricultural landscapes and. forests also ensue from other relationships. “Double”. use is aknown practice bothin many tropical savannahsand rain forests, where it takesthe form of traditional. slash and burn, as well asin
And agricultural landscapes and forestsare especially. predestined to be linked togetherin areas likethe Tropics and Subtropics where natural forests and savannahsare cleared to make way for grazing land for beef and. dairy cattle or additional acreage for useful plants like. sugar cane and maize to produce agrofuels for vehicles.
However, technological progress now means that we. can usethe by-products of agriculture and forestry(straw, wood shavings and so on) to produce secondgeneration agrofuels, making it totally unnecessary to destroy natural habitatsin this way. The evaluation of agrofuel sources to determine their ecological sustainability, climate compatibility and economic effciency. is an important research topic being addressed, for. example, bythe Kiel Institute forthe World Economy(IfW). In afurther development,the Leibniz Institute. for Agricultural Engineering (ATB)in Potsdam-Bornim. Diversity of squash. varieties. [Leibniz.
is intensively investigatingthe use of ecological communities of microorganisms to develop biogas reactors. as afuture source of energy.
Medicinal plants and health products of animal origin. Many fungi, plants, animals and their products contain. ingredients that promote human (as well as plant and. animal) health and can be used to treat disease. theuse of special plants to treat illnesses has precursors inthe animal kingdom - from apes to elephants there are. a number of species of wild animals that self-medicate. by specifcally eating special plants or substances.
So far, only afew ofthe traditionally used species of plants have been investigated to determine th e chemical identity ofthe substances, their effect and dose.dependence. And there is every evidence to suggest. that other plants not traditionally used contain important ingredients, too. Star Anis (Illicium verum), for. example, afrost-sensitive evergreen native to Vietnamand
Many animal species also produce extremely interesting substances. Frogs and amphibians,in particular, are. thought to be especially “inventive” when it comes to creating natural products or special biochemical. processes which,inthe course of evolution, have allowed them to adaptin order to ward off enemies, hunt. prey or successfully hibernate, procreate or survive thedry season. Whether potential inhibitors of acidic gastric juices from
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