b. Global Genome Initiative for Gardens (GGI-Gardens), Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA;
c. Global Tree Specialist Group (GTSG), Species Survival Commission (SSC), IUCN, Gland, Switzerland;
d. Botanical Research Institute of Texas, Fort Worth, Texas, USA;
e. Morris Arboretum and Gardens of the University of Pennsylvania, 100 E. Northwestern Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19118 USA
The Andaman Islands, part of the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot, holds unique flora with many endemic and threatened species. However, this fragile diversity is under increasing pressure from infrastructure expansion, climate change and habitat fragmentation. The recently announced Great Nicobar Island Development project by the Government of India, which includes an international transhipment terminal, airport, township and power plant, if implemented, would cause major habitat loss and fragmentation, possibly leading to species extinctions.
To conserve the biodiversity of the Andaman Islands, the Global Genome Initiative for Gardens (GGI-Gardens), an international partnership of more than 50 botanic gardens and arboreta, supported the establishment of the first plant biorepository for the Andaman Islands. Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute, Kerala, implemented a GGI-Gardens Award project (GGI/2024/1) to establish a collection of Andaman plant diversity during April 2024 and July 2025. Target species were identified using the GGI Gap Analysis Tool, to assess whether the collections address taxonomic gaps in biobanks that are partnered with the Global Genome Biodiversity Network (GGBN). Rare, threatened, and endemic taxa were also prioritized. The original project target was 41 species from 40 genera across 27 families. However, the final collection reached 45 species from 44 genera and 33 families (Appendix A), more than half of the genera that were collected are new to the GGBN (https://www.ggbn.org/ggbn_portal/).
Young leaf tissue samples were collected, desiccated and placed in long-term storage appropriate for genomic research. Herbarium voucher specimens for these species were also collected and deposited at the JNTBGRI herbarium (TBGT). For three species, sterile vouchers were deposited until fertile specimens are available for collection. This collection effort is particularly significant as it includes eleven species assessed as threatened on the IUCN Red List, including Critically Endangered Cycas zeylanica (J. Schust.) A. Lindstr. & K.D. Hill and Endangered Bentinckia nicobarica (Kurz) Becc. Eight species (Dendrolirium andamanicum (Hook.f.) Schuit. Y. P. Ng & H.A. Pedersen, Myristica andamanica Hook.f., Amomum andamanicum V.P. Thomas, Dan & M. Sabu, Pinanga andamanensis Becc., Etlingera fenzlii (Kurz) Skornick. & M. Sabu, Pterocarpus dalbergioides Roxb. ex DC., Bentinckia nicobarica (Kurz) Becc.), Dillenia andamanica C.E. Parkinson) are endemic to the Andaman Islands (Fig. 1). By combining ex situ conservation with secure documentation and integration into the GGBN web portal, this project strengthens both regional and global capacity to address plant conservation challenges.
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| Fig. 1 A. Map of Andaman Islands; B. Collecting leaf samples from Cycas zeylanica; C. Camellia kissi flower; D. Dillenia andamanica flower; E. Endocomia macrocoma male flowers; F. Etlingera fenzlii; G. Illigera appendiculata subsp appendiculata flowers; H. Korthalsia laciniosa male inflorescence; I. Parishia insignis infructescence; J. Pomatocalpa spicatum inflorescence; K. Pterocarpus dalbergioides inflorescence. L. Vanila planifolia inflorescence. Photo credits: B, D, E, H, L by S. Suresh, C, F, G–K by Sali Palode. |
The establishment of this biorepository at JNTBGRI highlights the vital role of boots-on-the-ground fieldwork, taxonomy, and biobanking in documenting plant richness from biodiversity hotspots and safeguarding genomes from regions facing high development pressures. It also demonstrates how locally driven initiatives, when linked to global platforms such as GGI-Gardens, can advance international conservation priorities, including the targets of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.
AcknowledgementsThis research was supported by the Global Genome Initiative for Gardens (GGI-Gardens Award), United States Botanic Garden and Botanic Gardens Conservation International, United Kingdom (Grant No. GGI/2024/1).
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Anurag Dhyani: Writing — original draft, Conceptualization, Methodology, Supervision, Project administration, Funding acquisition. K.K. Sabu: Writing — review & editing, Methodology, Resources, Data Curation, Supervision. M.P. Geethakumary: Methodology, Resources, Data Curation. M.A. Jabbar: Methodology, Resources, Data Curation. S. Suresh: Writing — review & editing, Visualization. Morgan R. Gostel: Writing- review & editing.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pld.2025.10.001.