Conservatory and Botanic Gardens of the City of Geneva
(+41) 22 418 51 00
Dr. Pierre-André Loizeau (Director)
Dr. Michelle J. Price (Head of Science, Curator of Bryophytes), Michelle.Price@ville-ge.ch
Geneva CETAF consortium working group: Yamama Naciri, Philippe Clerc, Raoul Palese, Laurent Gautier, Fred Stauffer, Martin Callmander, Danièle Fischer-Huelin (Pierre-André Loizeau, Michelle Price).
Dr. Pierre-André Loizeau Tel: +41 22 418 5100 Email: Pierre-Andre.Loizeau@ville-ge.ch
Research field: Plant systematics – Aquifoliaceae
The CJB is governed via/within the administrative system of the City of Geneva under the Department of Culture and Sport. The institution itself is overseen and run by the Direction team constituting the Director, the Head of Administration and the Head of Science , the Direction team is advised by the Council of the Direction that is composed of the heads of each of the sectors of the Garden (see diagram above).
The scientific activities of the CJB are overseen by the Scientific Council that is composed of the Head of Science and five elected members of the scientific staff.
| Permanent (P) | Non – Permanent (NP) | |
|---|---|---|
| a) TOTAL scientific staff | 26 | 1 |
| b) Scientific staff linked to Collections | 14 | 16 |
| c) Post-docs / PhD students | 0 | 2 |
| d) Others (Associates, etc.) | 0 | 2 |
| TOTAL (a+b+c+d) | 26 | 21 |
| Permanent (P) | Non – Permanent (NP) | |
|---|---|---|
| e) Exhibitions | 5 | 2 |
| f) Collection managers / technicians | 12 | 2 |
| g) Others (Administr.,Gardeners) | 64 | 0 |
| TOTAL (e+f+g) | 81 | 4 |
All united under the Plant Systematics and Biodiversity Laboratory of the Department of Botany and Plant Biology, University of Geneva - http://biveg.unige.ch/labs_en.html
- Unit of Phylogeny and Molecular Genetics (http://www.ville-ge.ch/cjb/activites_labo_biomol_en.php) Aim: study phylogenies, biogeography and populations genetics in order to better understand evolution and evolutionary processes in plants. Key Tools: DNA extraction equipment, PCR machines, Automatic Sequencer, analysis programs etc.
- Unit of Anatomy and Micromorphology (http://www.ville-ge.ch/cjb/activites_labo_anatomie_en.php) Aim: to investigate floral anatomy and ontology. Key Tools: Automatic rotary microtome, manual rotary microtome, stereo microscopes with an adapted camera, stereo binoculars, precision balance etc.
- Unit of Microscopy and Chromatography (http://www.ville-ge.ch/cjb/activites_labo_microscopie_en.php) Aim: to investigate the morphology-anatomy of lichens and bryophytes. Key Tools: stereo-microscopes and light microscopes, a Leitz DC 300 digital camera coupled with an Imagicimagery system, a freeze-dry microtome and flat-bed chromatography equipment.
- Unit of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) andRemote Sensing (http://www.ville-ge.ch/cjb/activites_labo_sig_en.php) Aim: mapping and analysis of natural and semi-natural habitats, vegetation analysis. Key Tools: Equipment (hard- and software) necessary for the exploitation of tools such as Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) (servers, workstations, printers, digitalizing table, etc.).
Seed Bank (http://www.ville-ge.ch/cjb/conservation_activites_exsitu_semence.php) More than 8 million seeds from 1200 samples of ca. 300 rare Swiss species are conserved in the seed bank at the CJB. Although the focus is on the localflora many species from specific habitats within Switzerland (such as the Alps) are also conserved.
Host of Info Flora (http://www.infoflora.ch/fr/) – nationally recognized data centre for Swiss records of vascular plants.
Host of Pro Specie Rara (https://www.prospecierara.ch/fr/home) – a centre for the conservation and protection of rare and endangered cultivated plant varieties and farmed animal races.
The research programme of the CJB, focused on the main missions of exploration, conservation, research, transmission and protection, covers five main themes (Systematics and Evolution, Floras and Inventories, Ecology and Vegetation, Ethnobotany and the History of the Sciences). The scientists at the CJB conduct a wide range of research projects on plants and fungi, with the aims of:
- providing fundamental taxonomic and botanical data,
- understanding evolutionary patterns and processes, and
- conserving biodiversity.
Our research activities integrate our herbarium and library collections, our living collections, fieldwork activities, our laboratories and our various informatics resources and databases (Herbarium Catalogue, Geneva Botanical Information System, African Plant Names Database (http://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/africa/recherche.php), Index Hepaticarum (http://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/hepatic/)).
We have specialists working on the Aquifoliaceae, Arecaceae, Caryophyllaceae (Silene), Gesneriaceae, Sapotaceae, lichens (Usnea) and Swiss lichens (http://www.villege.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/cataloguelichen/recherche) and mosses (Dicranaceae and Neotropical species). We are actively working on the flora of the Alps, the flora of Switzerland (including the development of a Digital Flora of Switzerland: http://www.flora-helvetica.ch/fr/index.htmland Web-Flora for the Lichens of Switzerland), the Flora del Paraguay (http://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/fdp/index.php?lang=uk) and the Flora of Corsica (http://www.ville-ge.ch/cjb/fdc/fdc1.html). Particular areas of focus are on the floras and vegetation of South America (specifically Paraguay, Bolivia, Venezuela), Africa (specifically Madagascar, Ivory Coast) and of Switzerland.
There is an active research and conservation programme involved with the flora and vegetation of the Canton of Geneva (http://www.villege.ch/cjb/conservation_presentation.php), especially focussing on the spatial analysis of habitats using GIS techniques.
Our research forms part of the Laboratory of Plant Systematics and Biodiversity, which is one of eight laboratories of the Department of Plant Biology of the University of Geneva. Results of our scientific activities are diffused via our scientific publications as well as through our on-line databases or project websites and popularised scientific articles.
Boissiera (http://www.ville-ge.ch/cjb/publications_boissiera_en.php)
The news journal of the CJB - La Feuille Verte (http://www.ville-ge.ch/cjb/cjb_fv.php) - is published once a year.
Other publications (books, etc): Flora del Paraguay / Special series publications, etc.
A complete list of CJB publications is available on this link (http://www.ville-ge.ch/cjb/publications/publications_pdf/liste_publicati...)
| Typology | Primary types | Individual specimens/objects | % registered cards | % recorded cards in database |
|---|
| Typology | Primary types | Individual specimens/objects | % registered cards | % recorded cards in database | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.1 | Botany | 86000 | 5500000 | ||
| 2.2 | Mycology | 5000 | 500000 |
The herbarium (5th largest in the world) and library collection (3rd largest in the world) of the Conservatory and Botanical Garden of the City of Geneva Geneva collectively represent a huge resource of botanical specimens and botanical information.
The collection in Geneva contains a number of notable herbaria (Hedwig-Schwägrichen, de Candolle, Boissier, etc) that are invaluable for plant systematists today. The Geneva Herbarium Catalogue (http://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/chg/index.php?lang=en) is available on line, with 256551 specimen records available. The herbarium of Geneva constitutes ca. 6 million specimens from all over the world, with particularly rich representation from the Mediteranean region, Europeand the Alps, South America and Madagascar. Several large and historically important collections are housed within the G, including the closed herbaria of Herb. Hedwig-Schwägrichen (Hedwig-Schwägrichen collection: Species muscorum frondosorum), G-BOIS (Herbier Boissier: Flora orientalis); G-BU (Herbier Burnat: southern alps); G-DC (Herbier de Candolle: Prodromus; Monographiae Phanerogamarum).
G has been participating in the Global Plants Initiative, funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation since 2006, and as a result of this unique opportunity just over 90,000 vascular plant,bryophyte, lichen and fungi types have been digitised to date (mid-November 2013).
See Index Herbariorum entry: http://sweetgum.nybg.org/ih/herbarium.php?irn=124334
The databased G specimens are available on: http://www.ville-ge.ch/musinfo/bd/cjb/chg/index.php?lang=en
In the case of Botanical Gardens or institutions with living collections please give some figures on the size / importance of the living collections. The living collections with the Botanical Garden grounds contain around 12,000 species from all over the world. Most of the plants displayed in the garden have been grown from seeds that were received via the seed exchange system that operates between botanical gardens. Particular highlights of the collection are the renowned Rockeries that feature plants from mountain ranges across the World, the Greenhouses that include temperate and tropical plants as well as the arboretum that contains diverse tree species.
Yes, seed samples are exchanged with other botanical gardens. The CJB is a member of Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI).
Communication: Website, La Feuille Verte, press releases (local press, see also: http://www.ville-ge.ch/cjb/cjb_presse_en.php and http://www.ville-ge.ch/cjb/cjb_presse_archives_en.php), podcasts (http://www.ville-ge.ch/cjb/podcast.php), videos (http://www.ville-ge.ch/cjb/video.php).
Outreach: Ateliers verts (http://www.ville-ge.ch/cjb/ateliers_verts.php), school visits, teacher training, environmental education and cooperation, guided visits. Publications, activity sheets and exhibitions online.
A “digital” visit of the Botanical Garden is to be made available where information on the collections and exhibits can be downloaded and then listened to on apple or android mobile phones.
La Feuille Verte (http://www.ville-ge.ch/cjb/cjb_fv.php).
Editions CJB (http://www.ville-ge.ch/cjb/publications.php)
Yamama Naciri (Yamama.Naciri@ville-ge.ch)
Didier Roguet (Didier.Roguet@ville-ge.ch) /
Visitors are an estimation. Access to the museum is free. Trends are difficult to assess precisely. The current trend appears to be moving towards an increase in visitors, especially of families and school children.
The CJB, via its Environmental Education and Communication sector, offers a wide range of training activities, education activities and visits for local school children in close cooperation with the Geneva Schools Department.
The CJB, via its Plant Systematics and Biodiversity Laboratory (http://biveg.unige.ch/labs_en.html#Jeanmonod), forms part of the Department of Botany and Plant Biology of the University of Geneva. A number of the CJB scientific staff give courses at the University of Geneva and participate in the Masters Programme in Biology, option Biodiversity and Systematics.
No
The CJB has an active programme of cooperation with tropical countries where it plays a key role in in situ environmental education and training, including the setting up of Ethno-botanical gardens and Environmental Education Centres.
Yamama Naciri (Yamama.Naciri@ville-ge.ch)
Magali Stitelmann (Magali.Stitelmann@ville-ge.ch)
Plant systematics, evolution and Flora based research (incl. nomenclature databases)
Digital Floras
Specimen digitisation and the online Geneva Herbarium Catalogue
An expanded Synthesys (or equivalent) initiativethat would give access to the taxonomic facilitiesof all the CETAF members
A collective effort made towards generating support of taxonomy and taxonomic initiatives across Europe
A focus on the production of Digital Floras / Faunas and the collective development of digital resources for plants and animals (including recognized standards and specimen digitisation).
1. The CETAF should make contact with the Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) 2. The CETAF could explore a closer collaboration with GBIF.org 3. The CETAF could look into links with the BioSyst.EU network as well as with the International Association of Plant Taxonomists (IAPT)