United Kingdom
Recent Achievements
Collections (2001-2005)
The UK DNA Bank has increased considerably in size and DNA samples are held for >40% of native angiosperms. For many rare species, multiple DNA samples are held, representing the genetic diversity of these species in the UK.
Representation of the UK flora in the Millennium Seed Bank has been raised to 96%, including 98% of threatened species.
Approximately 15,000 additions have been made to the British mycology collections at Kew.
Baseline Plant Diversity Research (2001-2005)
The Checklist of British and Irish Basidiomycota was published in 2005.
Comparative Plant Biology (2001-2005)
Since 2004, Kew staff have collaborated with researchers at the University of Sheffield and the University of Bayreuth to study mycorrhizal relationships between orchids and fungi.
Sustainable Utilisation of Plant Resources (2001-2005)
A report entitled Commercial Uses of Wild and Traditionally Managed Plants in England and Scotland (2002) was completed for the Countryside Agency, English Nature and Scottish Natural Heritage.
Britain’s Wild Harvest (Prendergast and Sanderson) was published in 2004.
The Friends of Kew Medicinal Plant Appeal was launched in 2004 to support research on the medicinal properties of 300 species of British plants.
Due to the increased use of plant-derived extracts by companies in UK, Kew became more involved in authentication of these extracts to ensure the correct species were being used and the extracts contained the profile of compounds associated with their proposed use.
Timber is sustainably harvested at Wakehurst Place for charcoal production.
Conservation and Environmental Monitoring (2001-2005)
Conservation genetics studies continued to be a mainstay of our activities in support of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan, notably for orchids, but also for other taxa including Carex, Limonium and Sorbus.
A range of native orchids and bryophytes were propagated in the Micropropagation Unit for reintroduction.
Kew hosted and participated in meetings of the UK Fungus Conservation Forum and Biodiversity Action Plan Technical Committee.
An official Red Data List for endangered UK fungal species has been produced with input from Kew. This will be finalised and published in 2006.
Kew provided data on important British sites for fungi, in support of the Plantlife/British Mycological Society publication Important Fungus Areas in the UK.
The Warden of the Loder Valley Reserve (Steven Robinson) carried out monitoring of dormice populations in the reserve as part of a national dormouse monitoring scheme and data from two butterfly transects contribute to the national scheme.
Over 21,000 entries have been made on Kew's Widlife Database, recording details of native and naturalised flora and fauna on both estates. Priority is given to the results of ongoing or recent surveys since these are relevant to the management of both sites, but Kew's astonishing legacy of records for more than 130 years is also being databased.