Permafrost Seed Storage

8/3/2019 Permafrost Seed Storage

1/21

TAMILNADU AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY

COIMBATORE 641 003

SST 602 INSITUANDEXSITUCONSERVATION OF GERMPLASM (2+1)

TERM PAPER ON

PERMAFROST SEED STORAGE

Submitted by

S. SATHISH

10-614-003

DEPARTMENT OF SEED SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

EXTERNAL EXAMINER COURSE TEACHER Dr.A.John Joel

Professor & Head (PBG)

COURSE ASSOCIATEDr.S.Ganesh Ram

Assoc. Professor (PBG)

Department of Plant Genetic Resources


2/21

1

PERMAFROST SEED STORAGE

The world's seed collections are vulnerable to a wide range of threats - civil strife, war,

natural catastrophes, and more routinely but no less damagingly, poor management, lack of

adequate funding, and equipment failures. An in vitro root and tuber collection was lost in

Cameroon due to a weekend power outage. Temperature in Italys genebank in Bari, home to

80,000 samples, shot up from 20C to 22C in July 2004 when the refrigeration equipment

malfunctioned. The national genebank of the Philippines was severely damaged in a typhoon

in September 2006. Genebanks in Afghanistan and Iraq were destroyed in recent years, both

victims of chaos and looting during war. Unique varieties of our most important crops are lost

whenever any such disaster strikes, and therefore securing duplicates of all collections in a

global facility provides an insurance policy for the worlds food supply.

The global seed vault on permafrost (a layer of soil that is permanently frozen, in very

cold regions of the world) is an answer to provide the best possible assurance of safety for the

worlds crop diversity, and in fact the idea for such a facility dates back to the 1980s.

However, it was only with the coming into force of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic

Resources, and an agreed international legal framework for conserving and accessing crop

diversity, that the seed vault became a practical possibility.

What is permafrost?

Permafrost is defined as ground (soil or rock and included ice or organic material) that

remains at or below 0C for at least two consecutive years. Lowland permafrost regions are

traditionally divided into several zones based on estimated geographic continuity in the

landscape. A typical classification recognizes continuous permafrost (underlying 90-100% of

the landscape), discontinuous permafrost (50-90%) and sporadic permafrost (0-50%)

(http://ipa.arcticportal.org/).

Ground thermal regime

A typical example of ground temperatures within permafrost in the Yellowknife

region is shown in the figure below. The annual range in ground temperatures is shown by the

warmest and coolest temperatures occurring at depth. With increasing depth in the ground,

the seasonal difference in temperature decreases. The point at which there is no discernable

change in temperature is termed the "depth of zero annual amplitude". In Yellowknife, this


3/21

2

depth occurs at about 15 m. Below this depth, temperatures change very little during the year.

Each year a portion of the ground at the surface rises above 0C for part of the year. This part

of the ground, termed the active layer, freezes and thaws with the changing seasons.

An illustration of the range in temperatures experienced at different depths in the

ground during the year. The active layer (shown in grey) thaws each summer and freezes

each winter, while the permafrost layer remainsbelow 0C (http://cgc.rncan.gc.ca/).

Both the thickness of permafrost and the active layer depend on local climatic

conditions, vegetation cover and soil properties. The thickness of permafrost can be altered by

changes in the climate or disturbance of the surface. Permafrost thins and the active layer

thickens when ground temperatures increase. Permafrost thickness is also a function of a

number of factors, including ground surface temperatures and the rate of temperature increase

at depth. Because rock deep beneath the earth's crust is hot and molten, the temperature

beneath the earth's surface increases with depth. This change of temperature is known as the

geothermal gradient (http://cgc.rncan.gc.ca/).


4/21

3

Types of permafrost

There are two types of permafrost namely discontinuous and continuous permafrost

Discontinuous permafrost

Typically, the below ground temperature will be less variable from season to season

than the air temperature, with temperatures tending to increase with depth. Thus, if the mean

annual air temperature is only slightly below 0 C (32 F), permafrost will form only in spots

that are sheltered, usually with a northerly aspect. This creates what is known as

discontinuous permafrost. Usually, permafrost will remain discontinuous in a climate where

the mean annual soil surface temperature is between 5 and 0 C (23 and 32 F).

In the moist wintered areas mentioned before, there may not be even discontinuous

permafrost down to 2 C (28.4 F). Discontinuous permafrost is often further divided into

extensive discontinuous permafrost, where permafrost covers between 50 and 90 percent of

the landscape and is usually found in areas with mean annual temperatures between 2 and 4

C (28 and 25 F), and sporadic permafrost, where permafrost cover is less than 50 percent

of the landscape and typically occurs at mean annual temperatures between 0 and 2 C (32

and 28 F).

Continuous permafrost

There are exceptions in un-glaciated Siberia and Alaska where the present depth of

permafrost is a relic of climatic conditions during glacial ages where winters were up to 11 C

(20 F) colder than those of today. At mean annual soil surface temperatures below 5 C (23

F) the influence of aspect can never be sufficient to thaw permafrost and a zone of

continuous permafrost (abbreviated to CPZ) forms. There are also "fossil" cold anomalies in

the Geothermal gradient in areas where deep permafrost developed during the Pleistocene that

still persists down to several hundred metres. The Suwaki cold anomaly in Poland led to therecognition that similar thermal disturbances related to Pleistocene Holocene climatic

changes are recorded in boreholes throughout Poland.

A line of continuous permafrost in the Northern Hemisphere (Frozen Ground 28,

2004, p5) is formed from the most northerly points at which permafrost sometimes thaws or

is interrupted by regions without permafrost. North of this line all land is covered by

permafrost or glacial ice. The "line" of continuous permafrost lies further north at some

longitudes than others and can gradually move northward or southward due to regional


5/21

4

climatic changes. In the southern hemisphere, most of the equivalent line would fall within

the Southern Ocean if there were land there. Most of the Antarctic continent is overlain by

glaciers.

In the Andes at Atacama Desert permafrost extends down to an altitude of 4,400

metres and is continuous above 5,600 metres.

SVALBARD GLOBAL SEED VAULT

Introduction

The world's seed collections are vulnerable to a wide range of threats - civil strife, war,

natural catastrophes, and more routinely but no less damagingly, poor management, lack of

adequate funding, and equipment failures. Unique varieties of our most important crops are

lost whenever any such disaster strikes, and therefore securing duplicates of all collections in

a global facility provides an insurance policy for the worlds food supply.

The global seed vault on permafrost (a layer of soil that is permanently frozen, in very

cold regions of the world) is an answer to provide the best possible assurance of safety for the

worlds crop diversity, and in fact the idea for such a facility dates back to the 1980s.

However, it was only with the coming into force of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic

Resources, and an agreed international legal framework for conserving and accessing cropdiversity, that the seed vault became a practical possibility.

Location

Svalbard archipelago was located 1000 km away from north pole governed by

Norway government.

History

The history of Svalbard Global Seed Vault starts as early as 1983.The first initiativefor the creation of a safety deposit for seeds in permafrost was taken by the Nordic Genetic

Resource Centre (NBG) as early as the early 80s. Svalbard, along with Greenland and the

Jotunheim mountains, was assessed as a possible location at an early date. NBG visited

Svalbard in 1983 and it was eventually decided to store seeds 300 metres inside a disused

mine, mine 3, near Longyearbyen, where there was a permafrost of minus 3-4 degrees.

NBGs positive experience of Svalbard led to the question of similar safety deposits

being taken up by the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR) and the UNs


6/21

5

Food and Agriculture Organisation and a meeting between the board and the Norwegian

authorities was arranged.

In 1989 IBPGR started surveying the relevant alternative sites in Svalbard. Norway

offered to take care of the actual construction of the vault, while FAO and IBPGR would take

care of the administrative operating costs through the creation of a fund based on capital from

external donors.

After the FAOs International Treaty for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and

Agriculture came into force in 2004. A group of Nordic and international experts under the

direction of Noragric at the Norwegian University of Life Scientists (UMB) were appointed

to carry out a preliminary study. In September 2004 the group put forward an unambiguously

positive report, which concluded that suitable locations were to be found in Svalbard. In

November 2004 the report was presented at FAOs Commission for Genetic Resources for

Food and Agriculture.

The Norway government backed the initiative and in 2005 an interdepartmental

steering group was set up for the project, consisting of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food

(LMD), the Ministry of the Environment (MD), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (UD), the

Ministry of Justice (JD) and the Consumer and Administration Ministry (FAD). Statsbygg, as

constructor, also participated on the steering group as an observer. The group is chaired by

and has its secretariat in the LMD. Planning commenced in autumn 2005 and building

commenced in May 2007. The facility was inaugurated on 26th February 2008.

Ownership

It is Norway which formally owns the seed vault, with Ministry of Agriculture and

Food (LMD) as the responsible authority for Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Nordic Genetic

Resource Centre is responsible for scientific operation, whilst Statsbygg operates the

technical plant. Construction has cost almost NOK 50 million and has been entirely financed

by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (UD), LMD and the Ministry of the Environment (MD).

The Global Crop Diversity Trust (GCDT) has also been brought in as an active partner and

will finance a substantial amount of the annual operating costs of the vault. The other

operating costs will be financed by the government, through LMD. GCDT is also helping to

secure operations by assisting developing countries in the packing and despatch of seed

samples to Svalbard.


7/21

6

Facilities

Svalbard Global Seed Vault lies about 1 kilometre from Longyearbyen Airport, at

about 130 metres above sea level and consists entirely of an underground facility, blasted out

of the permafrost (at about minus 3-4 degrees Celsius). The facility is designed to have an

almost endless lifetime.

The location takes into account all known scenarios for rising sea level caused by

global climate changes. The facility has also been located so deep inside the mountain that

any possible changes to Svalbards climate, which we know about today, will not affect the

efficacy of the permafrost. This will be a temporary temperature back up in the event of

technical failure, such as loss of power supplies for a period.

Underground chambers

The facility consists of three separate underground chambers. Each chamber has the

capacity to store 1,5 million different seed samples. With the aid of its own electric

machinery, powered by electricity from the local power station at Longyearbyen, it will

maintain a constant interior temperature of minus 18 degrees Celsius. The chambers will have

storage shelving for prepacked samples of food seeds from the depositors (donor countries).

Portal and Tunnel

The storage chambers themselves are reached via an access tunnel about 100 metres

long, with an entrance portal on its outside. The entrance portal will be the only visible part of

the facility. It is in the form of a long, narrow concrete fin, with an entrance of brushed

steel. An artistic decoration on the outer roof surface and on the upper part of the front will

partly reflect the polar light and partly give off a muted, glowing light.

The outer half of the entrance tunnel is constructed as a steel pipe with a diameter of

about 5 metres. This will pass through the layer of snow and ice and the loose rocks, into

solid Mountain. The innermost part and the storage chambers will be blasted out of the

mountain using tunnel drilling and rock blasting techniques. The mountain is secured with

bolts and spray concrete. The permafrost will also contribute to stability. The interior floor is

of asphalt. There is electric lighting throughout and the facility will be secured against forced

entry and will have TV surveillance.


8/21

7

Areas for filing and other administrative work of a temporary nature will be located

beside the entrance tunnel. These will be heated to normal room temperature while work is

going on. The total floor area of the facility is just under 1,000 square metres.

Management and Operations

Depositor agreement including other regulations and procedures are available through

the website (http://www.nordgen.org/ngb/ ) by the Nordic Genebank.

Seed storage

The seed samples stored in the Seed Vault are spare copies of samples stored in the

depositing genebanks. The act of depositing seeds in the Seed Vault does not diminish the

samples stored in the genebanks. Ideally each unique seed sample held in genebanks

worldwide would have a spare copy in another genebank able to conserve and to distribute

that sample effectively, as well as a copy in Svalbard. The Vault in the ideal global system

acts as a further safety backup for these genebanks.

Sleeve to protect tunnel

from erosion and

climatic changes

Seed Vault

Portal

Office &

handling area

Seed vaults

Permafrost(-3 to -4C)


9/21

8

Priority for storage will be given to samples of crops that are important for sustainable

agriculture and food security. It receives samples from the international genebanks of the

Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), as well as certain

national genebanks. The focus will be on safeguarding as much of the worlds unique genetic

material as possible and on avoiding duplication in seed vault. Among the types of seed

samples held at Svalbard will be traditional varieties/landraces, modern varieties, and wild

species related to crops.

Free of cost

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault will provide facilities free of cost for safety deposits

under black box conditions on request from public or private holders of seeds of distinct

genetic resources that are important to humanity. Priority will be given to the safety deposit

of plant genetic resources of importance for food security and sustainable agriculture.

Packaging and shipment

Seed samples prepared and packaged for storage in the Seed vault must be dried to

low moisture content (~5%) and packaged in sealed, airtight aluminum foil pouches. The

pouches are stacked in standard sized deposit boxes and accompanied with an electronic

inventory with a set of descriptors of each individual sample. When the seed boxes arrive at

Svalbard, NordGen staff receives and registers each box in the storage system and updates the

database and its public interface at www.nordgen.org/sgsv accordingly.

Costs pertaining to the packaging and shipping of the deposited seeds will be borne by

the depositors. However, in the case of developing countries and international genebanks, the

Global Crop Diversity Trust is funding the costs of preparing, packing and shipping their

seeds to Svalbard. The material deposited will be maintained in permafrost conditions

supplemented by refrigeration in accordance with internationally agreed standards.

International regulations

The depositors who will deposit material will do so consistently with relevant national

and international law. The Seed Vault will only agree to receive seeds that are shared under

the Multilateral System or under Article 15 of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic

resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) or seeds that have originated in the country

of the depositor.


10/21

9

GMO-seeds

Import and storage of GMO seeds according to Norwegian legislation will require

advance approval. Certain other criteria will apply to "sealed internal use" for research

purposes and indoor storage of GMO, for example with regard to the risk of spreading GMO.

Norwegian genetechnology legislation was formulated before the Svalbard Global

Seed Vault (SGSV) was set up, and therefore fails to take into account the vault's special

status, or the low risk related to handling seeds in sealed packaging. Until changes can be

made to the rules or exemptions can be provided from them, long-term storage of GMO seeds

in the SGSV will not be approved.

Replacement policy

The Seed Vault will not have the opportunity to test the viability of the seeds, but will

accept new shipments of seeds when the duplicate samples at the depositors possession have

lost fertility.

Black boxes

"Black box arrangements" mean;

that the deposit of the seeds will not affect any property or other rights pertaining to

the material;

that the deposited seeds will remain in sealed envelopes, unless otherwise agreed with

the Depositor;

That the Svalbard Global Seed Vault will take no action to further transfer the

material except back to the original Depositor or the Depositors successor in title, or

in accordance with the Depositors instructions.

ADVANTAGE OF LOCATION

Spitsbergen was considered ideal due to its lack of tectonic activity and its permafrost,

which will aid preservation.

Svalbard is remote and yet accessible. Seeds can easily be transported to and retrieved

from Svalbard, and the area has good communications links.


11/21

10

Infrastructure is excellent. Locally mined coal provides power generation. Even if the

equipment fails, a considerable time will elapse before the temperature rises to the 3

C (27 F) of the surrounding sandstone bedrock.

The location guarantees stable permafrost for the foreseeable future and provides

stable storage conditions for seeds.

It is high enough above sea level to secure the facility against any rise in sea level as a

result of global warming.

The political situation is stable. The local government is highly competent and

helpful. The local community also is small and supportive.

Military activity is prohibited in the region under the terms of the Treaty of Svalbard

(1920).

FIRST ANNIVERSARY DEPOSITS (26 February 2009)

As part of the vault's one year anniversary, more than 90,000 food crop seed samples

were placed into storage, bringing the total number of seed samples to 400,000. Among the

new seeds includes 32 varieties of potatoes from Ireland's national gene banks and 20,000

new samples from the U.S. Agricultural Research Service. Other seed samples came from

Canada and Switzerland, as well as international seed researchers from Colombia, Mexico

and Syria. This 4-tonne shipment brought the total number of seeds stored in the vault to over

20 million. The vault now contains samples from one-third of the world's most important food

crop varieties. Also part of the anniversary, experts on food production and climate change

met for a three-day conference in Longyearbyen.

Institutions Expected to Deposit Seeds on the Opening Day:

Centres of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR):

Africa Rice Center (WARDA), Benin

Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT), Colombia

Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maiz y Trigo (CIMMYT), Mexico

Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP), Peru

International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), Syria

International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Nigeria

International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Ethiopia


12/21

11

International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Philippines

World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), Kenya

Centre for Genetic Resources (CGN), The Netherlands

Institute of Agri-Biotechnology and Genetic Resources, Pakistan

Institute of Plant Breeding, College of Agriculture, University of

The Philippines Los Baos, Philippines

Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), Germany

N.I. Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry, Russia

National Genebank of Kenya, Kenya

Nordic Gene Bank (NGB), Sweden

Plant Gene Resources Canada, Canada

Seed Savers Exchange, USA

United States Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service

(USDA/ARS), National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation, USA

World Vegetable Centre (AVRDC), Taiwan

List of Crops for Deposit in Svalbard Global Seed Vault (from inventory lists as of

February 1, 2008)

Alfalfa

Amaranth

Asparagus

Azuki bean

Bambara groundn

Barley

Basil

Bean

Beet

Blackberry

Brassica

BroccoliBrussel sprouts

Cabbage

Cajanus

Calendula

Cantaloupe

Caraway

Carrot

Cauliflower

Celery

Chickpea

Chicory

Chinese cabbage

Chinese kale

Chives

Clover

Collards

Coriander

Cowpea

Crambe

Cranberry

Cress

Cucumber

CurrantEggplant

Endive

Faba bean

Fenugreek

Finger millet

Flax

Forages

Foxtail millet

Grasspea (Lathyrus)

Groundnut

Hops

Jackbean

Jerusalem artichoke

Kale

Leek

Lentil

Lettuce

Leucaena

Lima bean

Loofah

Maize

Marrow

MelonMint

Mizuna (brassica)

Mung bean

Mustard

Oat

Okra

Onion

Oregano

Pak choi (brassica)

Parsley

Pasture grasses

Pea

Pear

Pearl millet

Pepper

Pigeon pea

Potato

Proso millet

Soybean

Spinach

Squash

Strawberry

SunflowerSweet potato

Tomatillo

Tomato

Tree seed species

Trefoil

Triticale

Turnip

Water spinach

Watermelon

Wheat

Wing bean


13/21

12

CASE STUDY

In order to compare the germinability loss of the Svalbard collection with that of the

base collection held at the NGB in Alnarp, a 100-year testing programme was set up

(http://www.kew.org/msbp/).

The experiment was initiated in 1987 in coal mine situated at Longyearbyn in

svalbard. The material consists of a number of cultivars from a range of species presented in

Table 1. Each cultivar is represented by 25 sealed glass ampules each containing 1,000 seeds.

All 25 ampules originate from the same seed lot. Every 2 years during the first 15 years and

subsequently every fifth year, the viability of the stored seeds is being checked according to

the International Seeds Testing Association (ISTA) method using 4 100 seed examples. In

addition, occurrence of pathogens on the seed surface is being checked during the first 20

years of the experiment. Statens Frkontroll in Norway carry out all analyses.

Table 1. Nordic cultivars and their species used at storage experiment in permafrost

Plant species Nordic cultivar

Hordeum vulgare Inga Abed ,Tunga

Triticum aestivum Vakka,Solid

Secale cereale Pektus ,Vioma

Lolium perenne Pippin,RiikkaPhleum pratense Tammisto,Bodin

Poa pratensis Annika,Hankkijan Kyosti

Trifolium pratense Jokioinen,Molstad

Pisum sativum Weitor parti 10468,Hankkijan Hemmo

Beta vulgaris 70500,Hilleshog 81458

Brassica napus Jupiter,Linrama

Allium cepa Hamund,Owa

Lactuca sativa Hilro,Attraktion

Cucumis sativus Gigant,Rhensk

Daucus carota Nantes Fancy,Regulus

Brassica oleracea var. botrytis Savit,Pari

Results and Discussion

The first data on germination of the seed samples is illustrated in Figures 1 to 6. The

viability of the different plant species and cultivars under permafrost storage conditions has

during the last 12 years been very close to their initial value although some fluctuation of

the germination percentage has occurred. Some genotypes seem to lose their viability


14/21

13

relatively fast, such as Secale cereale cv. Vioma in Figure 2. As a consequence, such

genotypes should be replaced with a new sample more often in the safety base collection.

Some of the samples show an apparent large decrease in viability followed by an increase

(Figures 1, 3 and 4). This would appear to be due to the differing interpretation of

abnormal/normal germinating seeds over time. As a consequence, these results should be

viewed with caution.

The permafrost trial will be evaluated in more detail in the future. So far, the results

are promising. It should be emphasised that using permafrost storage is a safe and cheap way

to maintain plant genetic resources for the future.

Fig 1: The germination percentages for cereal crops at Svalbard in permafrost conditionsduring 12 years.


15/21

14

Fig 2: The germination percentages for grass crops at Svalbard in permafrost conditions

during 12 years.

Fig 3: The germination percentages for legume crops at Svalbard in permafrost conditions

during 12 years.


16/21

15

Fig 4: The germination percentages for beet cv.and Brassica crops at Svalbard in permafrost

conditions during 12 years.

Fig 5: The germination percentages for vegetable crops at Svalbard in permafrost conditionsduring 12 years.


17/21

16

Fig 6: The germination percentages for cucumber and carrot crops at Svalbard in permafrost

conditions during 12 years.


18/21

17

Seed samples at SGSV by continent for the country of collecting or source

The map shows the number of seed samples deposited at Svalbard Global Seed Vault split bycontinent of the country of collecting or source. This is the continent of the country where the

source germplasm originally comes from, not the country who have deposited the seeds. Themap is dynamic and displays the current status for the SGSV portal. For each continent the

number printed on the map shows the number of seed samples originally from this continent.


19/21

18

Seed samples at SGSV by Country of collecting or source

The map shows the number of seed samples deposited at Svalbard Global Seed Vault split by

country of collecting or source. This is the country where the source germplasm originallycomes from, not the country who have deposited the seeds. The map is dynamic and displays

the current status for the SGSV portal. For each country the number printed on the mapshows the number of seed samples originally from this country.


20/21


21/21

20

REFERENCES

http://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/lmd/campain/svalbard-global-seed-vault/front-

page.html?id=462227

http://www.nordgen.org/sgsv/.

http://www.croptrust.org/main/arctic.php?itemid=211

http://www.statsbygg.no/Aktuelt/Nyheter/7201/

www.nortrade.com/index.php?cmd=show_news&id=3667]

science.howstuffworks.com/.../doomsday-vault.htm

http://www.kew.org/msbp/scitech/publications/SCTSIP_digital_book/pdfs/Chapter_5

0.pdf

http://cgc.rncan.gc.ca/permafrost/whatis_e.php

http://ipa.arcticportal.org/resources/what-is-permafrost.html

The Hindu, 2010. http://www.hindu.com/2010/02/17/stories/2010021755451100.htm

Documents

Permafrost Seed Storage