How did the seed bank Regensburg come about?

The seed bank Regensburg was founded by Prof Dr Peter Poschlod as part of various projects (Bayern Arche, WEL, WIPs-De I and II). He headed these projects until his retirement at the end of September 2024. During the term of WIPs-De II, he also acted as coordinator of the joint project involving the botanical gardens of Berlin, Mainz, Osnabrück, Potsdam and Regensburg. He and his working group were responsible for seed collection, seed quality testing, all germination biology and ecology studies and analyses of seed longevity. Prof Dr Christoph Reisch was involved in all seed bank projects as a co-applicant. He and his working group investigated conservation genetics aspects of ex situ conservation. Since October 2024, Prof Dr Christoph Reisch has been responsible for the Regensburg seed bank and continues to manage it as part of the WiVi-Klima project, which he heads.

The working group members and their tasks during the previous projects were

• Dr Martin Leipold (Bayern Arche): Digitisation, seed collection, seed quality testing, conservation genetics
• Dr Simone Tausch (Bayern Arche): Seed collection, seed quality testing, germination biology and ecology, longevity, conservation genetics
• Dr Daniela Listl (WEL, WIPs-De I and II): Seed collection, seed quality testing, conservation genetics
• Dipl Hort Judith Lang (WEL, WIPs-De I and II): Seed quality testing, germination biology and ecology
• Dr Lina Begemann (WIPs-De II): Seed collection, seed quality testing, conservation genetics
• In addition, numerous Bachelor's and Master's students were involved in the seed bank projects as part of their final theses or as participants in research internships.