GIS-facilitated seed germination of six local endemic plants of Crete (Greece) and multifaceted evaluation in three economic sectors

In the context of conservation and sustainable exploitation of neglected and underutilized plant genetic resources (NUPs), this study focused on six Cretan local endemic plants i.e., three monocots (Allium bourgeaui subsp. creticum, Allium dilatatum and Muscari spreitzenhoferi) and three dicots (Alyssum baldaccii, Campanula saxatilis subsp. saxatilis and Silene antri-jovis). We aimed at determining the ecological conditions needed for these plants to thrive based on their natural preferences which define their germination requirements and allow the development of species-specific propagation protocols. Secondly, we overviewed the potential of the targeted species for sustainable exploitation in three economic sectors (ornamental-horti-cultural, medicinal-cosmetic, agro-alimentary). The ecological profiles of each species were constructed using Geographic In-formation Systems and climate data from WorldClim. Four temperatures were examined in seed germination trials (10, 15, 20, 25 degrees C) and respective germination percentages (GP) were calculated. Seed germination of monocots showed preference in more cold temperatures (70.0%, 40.0% and 71.25% at 10 degrees C for A. bourgeaui subsp. creticum, A. dilatatum and M. spreitzen-hoferi, respectively) while in two of the dicots it exhibited a wider temperature range (83.75 -86.25% at 10, 15, 20 degrees C for A. bal-daccii and 90 -98.75% at all temperatures tested for S. antri-jovis) while in C. saxatilis subsp. saxatilis at lower temperatures (85% and 71.25% at 10 and 15 degrees C, respectively). The assessed taxa showed interesting values in terms of potential mainly for the ornamental and agro-alimentary sectors, and their prospective is discussed herein in detail (first-time for A. baldaccii). Ex-ploiting all the above results, we re-evaluated the feasibility and readiness timescale for sustainable exploitation in three eco-nomic sectors for the targeted NUPs and their upgraded assessments are first-time presented herein in detail.

Automated summary

This study aimed to determine the ecological conditions for the growth of six Cretan endemic plants and their potential for sustainable exploitation in various economic sectors. The germination requirements of these plants were analyzed and species-specific propagation protocols were developed.