7 December: Niels Jacobsen

Changing habitats and hybridization i.e. recombination are the driving forces in plant evolution 

Niels Jacobsen 
 
Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Section of Organismal Biology, University of Copenhagen 

Studying plants and populations in the field will invariably lead to the discovery of hybrids. It will also be found that hybrids occur more frequently in some plant groups than in others, and these hybrids behave differently in the different plant groups. 

In order for hybrids to be formed, it is necessary for them to “meet” or at least be within pollination distance of one another. 

In stable plant associations hybrids are found less frequently than in unstable plant associations. You could say that habitat changes act as a promoter and hybridization acts as an operator for evolution. 

Besides studying these phenomena in nature, they can be studied with a much greater advantage in our cultivated plants. The study of the origin and evolution of our cultivated plants (ornamentals as well as crop plants) provides a mosaic of scenes of how the evolution of plants has taken and is still taking place. 

The talk will be illustrated by a wide range of examples of flowering plants including among others genera such as Crocus, Cryptocoryne, Lilium, Hordeum, and Narcissus.

9 November: Henrik Lütken

Three biotechnological methods to develop compact ornamentals

Henrik Lütken, Ph.D, Associate Professor

Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Copenhagen University


Plant height is a quality parameter of primary importance in a large number of economically important ornamental plants. Consumers prefer short, compact plants with good keeping quality and ornamental value. In addition, compact plants tolerate mechanical handling and transport far better than more elongated plants. Furthermore, smaller plants require less space in expensive production facilities, are easier to handle, have reduced transportation costs and advantages for retailers. Thus, compact plants are preferred throughout the whole production and postharvest chain increasing profit in production and distribution. Currently, the feature compactness is obtained through the extensive utilization of chemical growth retardation targeting gibberellin (GA) response, e.g. chlormequat, daminozide or paclobutrazol. The number of approved growth retardation compounds is highly dependent on the country of production. For example, application of paclobutrazol and daminozide is no longer approved in many European countries. In my talk I’ll present and discuss three biotechnological methods; a non-GMO, a cisgenic and a GMO approach to develop compact ornamentals exemplified by Kalanchoë. In the non-GMO method unmodified strains of the soil-born bacterium Agrobacterium rhizogenes are used for transformations and this method is not considered as a GMO method in the European Union and Japan. Using this method compact plants are produced by the insertion of T-DNA containing root loci (rol) genes from A. rhizogenes into potted plants. Infection of plants by A. rhizogenes induces the growth of hairy-roots at the infection sites due to the insertion of four rol-genes, rolA, rolB, rolC and rolD. In many ornamental plants, rol-genes have been successfully used, causing reduced plant height, short internodes and reduced apical dominance. The cisgenic approach involves KNOX (KN) homeotic proteins that generally are involved in stem meristem differentiation. These genes can be used to modify plant architecture by both overexpression and silencing. The compact plants derived from this method often show a higher degree of branching and darker green colour due to elevated chlorophyll content. The latter is a highly desired feature in the ornamental plant industry. In the GMO approach the Short Internodes (SHI) gene from the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana is ectopically expressed. The SHI gene encodes a transcription factor belonging to the SHI–gene family, where the members act by gene dose-effect and are partially redundant. Overexpression of the genes leads to compact plants with a phenotype of mutants defective in GA biosynthesis and response. Although flowering can be delayed it can be restored by application of minute amounts of GA. When expressed in ornamentals compact inflorescences were in particular observed.

26 October: Satu Ramula

A demographic approach for plant invasions

Dr. Satu Ramula

Biodiversity Unit, Lund University, Sweden 

 

Invaders generally show better individual performance than non-invaders and therefore, species traits could potentially be used to predict species invasiveness outside their native range. However, comparative studies have usually correlated traits with the invasiveness status of species, while few studies have investigated traits explicitly in relation to population performance in terms of the long-term population growth rate. Using data on multiple populations of an invasive herb in its invaded range, I demonstrate that the measures of a single or a few plant traits do not necessarily reflect population performance and invasiveness correctly because only some fitness-related plant traits map directly into the long-term population growth rate. Therefore, a demographic approach that takes the whole life-cycle into account is required. I illustrate that this demographic approach provides a tool for identification of the demographic processes with the greatest impact on population growth rates, enabling a better understanding of the population dynamics and potential management strategies for invasive plant species.

12 October: Gaia Luziatelli

 
The hidden treasures of the Andes: future possibilities for the promotion of under-utilized Andean root and tuber crops in Bolivia.

Gaia Luziatelli, PhD student

Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Copenhagen University

In the Andean Region of Bolivia farmers cultivate more than 4,000 landraces of native potatoes, however, the majority of them never reach the market. This situation is shared also by other Andean root and tuber crops which, despite the high nutritional values, medicinal properties and low input requirements, are being substituted by other non-indigenous crops. Solutions for making Andean Roots and Tubers Crops (ARTCs) more profitable for the farmers and better accepted by the urban population might be offered by gourmet restaurants and organic markets.

In my research I use a combination of ethno-botanical methods, market studies and agronomic field trials. The first two approaches serve to understand the problems faced by the farmers in the cultivation and commercialization of ARTCs, as well as how to meet the requirements of gourmet restaurants and organic markets. The field trials assess different organic treatments on native potatoes in the region of Colomi, in the Cochabamba Department.

The results of the study will hopefully contribute to the sustainable production of Andean roots and tuber crops in Bolivia, combined with the promotion of local and international markets.

22 June: Janna Barel, Ilona Knaapen & Janneke Koster

Host-plant interaction of Phyllotreta nemorum and Barbarea vulgaris

Janna Barel, Ilona Knaapen & Janneke Koster

Wageningen UR, Laboratory of Entomology, The Netherlands

The yellow striped flea beetle Phyllotreta nemorum is an oliphagous beetle, attacking only a number of cruciferous host plants, including Sinapis vulgaris, Raphanus raphanistrum, Lepidium draba, Brassica nigra and cultivated radish (Raphanus sativus). The flea beetle is usually susceptible to chemical defenses of the G-type of Barbarea vulgaris. However in Denmark some populations are found to spread their host range to B. vulgaris. Currently the entomology group is trying to unravel the genetics behind the resistance of P. nemorum. Ilona Knaapen will investigate whether the resistance in the different populations of P. nemorum is caused by genes at the same or at different loci. Additionally field studies have shown that a surprisingly low amount of flea beetles are resistant. Janneke Koster will examine the resistance frequency to investigate the changes over time over the whole flea beetle season and the parasitic rate and choice between resistant and non-resistant beetles. Furthermore Janna Barel will look if competition between resistant and non-resistant beetles can be the cause of the low frequency of resistant beetles on Sinapis plants. She is testing the overall completion on radish plants as well as potential differences in larval development duration.

25 May: Maria Ignatieva

Plant material for urban landscapes in the era of globalization: roots, challenges and innovative solutions  

Maria Ignatieva, Professor in Landscape Architecture

Department of Urban and Rural Development, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden 

The globalisation process has not only influenced politics and economies but social and cultural life of modern society. Globalisation in landscape architecture poses a threat of homogenisation, the creation of ‘placeless’ design, and the loss of the uniqueness of the place. Usually globalisation is associated with westernisation and an acceptance of the western vision of life and cultural preferences. Today the world has accepted the Euro-American consumer’s vision with its ’routine modernism‘ of skyscraper architecture in the Central Business Districts, suburbanisation, particular landscape architecture styles, and standardised plant and construction materials. In this presentation I will concentrate on a discussion of global plant material in urban landscapes.

Each style in the history of planting design offered a special palette of plants that contributed to the Western generic ‘pool’ of fashion plants. English Picturesque, Victorian and Edwardian gardens gifted Western civilisation with several clichés such as pastoral landscapes of lawn with scattered groves and specimen trees, rock gardens, flower and carpet bedding, “wild garden” and perennial borders with an associated wide range of plant material. This plant “pool” reflected garden traditions and discoveries of new colonies and an interest in the plant world. Victorian Botanical gardens were responsible for creating the list of purposely “chosen” plants from of different historical and geographical origins. Edwardian gardens used a blend of different styles for consumption in a growing and demanding horticultural market. By the end of the Edwardian era the “core” of plants which are grown today in commercial nurseries all around the globe was almost completed. Some authors believe that UK pushed gardens to be “the main contact zones for cultural exchange between Britain and the world”. Plant material plays an extremely important role in modern globalised consumer culture. New countries which have recently entered the market system such as Russia, China and the United Arab Emirates use global plant material as an important symbol of Western landscapes and for creating ‘familiar’ comfortable landscapes which can attract global investments in their economies. Globalised plant material leads to homogenisation of our cities and towns.

Western countries (Europe, USA, Australia and New Zealand) are the main contributors to the global plant material and general vision of consumerism and global culture. Nevertheless these countries have experienced ecological and social crisis and have to search for new alternatives to existing unsustainable landscape practice based on global cultural preferences. Today these countries are suggesting new planting design directions based on the knowledge of plant communities, hence respecting local nature and culture. At the beginning of the 21st century Western countries should understand the importance of their mission in offering a new planting design “democratic” vision that demonstrates ecological responsibility and integrity.

11 May: Juan Pablo Rodriguez

Fruit shattering character in semi-domesticated Chenopodiaceae species: case example of an Andean grain Chenopodium pallidicaule

Juan Pablo Rodriguez, PhD student
 
Department of Agriculture and Ecology / Crop Science, University of Copenhagen

Seed shattering is one of the main characters in semi-domesticated cultivated species. The fruit shattering reduces good yields compared to rice and other long time domesticated cereal crops. Among the Chenopodiaceae species it is known that the Andean Chenopodium quinoa Willd. was domesticated about 7000 years ago, and in this species the achenes are tightly compacted in an infructescence at the top of the main stem (panicle).  Worldwide quinoa is appreciated for its high nutritional value; however, there is a close relative species Chenopodium pallidicaule Aellen (cañahua or cañihua), which remains as a semi-domesticated plant. This cañahua is cultivated in the most difficult agricultural highland rural communities in Bolivia and Peru and offers highly valuable traits as low temperature tolerance; and above all the achenes are free from saponins. This character makes it more easy to prepare for food than the quinoa. One main problem with cañahua is the early fruit shattering behaviour shortly after flowering. The harvesting has to be carried out when the ripe achenes are beginning to disperse. For the farmers this is an indication of when to start harvesting. When this aspect is not taken into account, the loss of achenes can reach 30%. In my trial I have started examining a local Bolivian cañahua cultivar in Taastrup. The plants are recorded and surveyed at each developmental stage since they were sowed in pots. A more careful study of the shattering of achenes will be determined in the infructescence after the flowering stage. The shattered nuts will be collected according to physiological maturity stage. And the abscission layer at the flower-pedicel junction in the local cultivar will be examined. A more precise estimation of how many nuts are shattered during the growing season will provide better knowledge finding the optimal time to harvest plants in relation to plant development.

27 April: Rikke Bagger Jørgensen

 

Are fast adaptive changes in plants a remedy against the changing climate?

Rikke Bagger Jørgensen, senior scientist

Dept. Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, DTU

These studies from wild and cultivated Brassica and Hordeum species aim to reveal, if plant populations can undergo fast microevolution, when they are subjected to strong selection from abiotic stressors - temperature, CO₂, ozone - over a range of progressing plant generations.

Plants are facing an increase in temperature, elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Recent projections assume an increase in average global temperature of up to 5 ^°C, which would have an impact on plant populations. Where the plastic responses of a population cannot compensate for the stressful changes in the environment, only evolutionary adaptation can prevent wide-ranging declines in fitness and counter the increased risk of extinction. Especially for slowly migrating populations of plants, where migration may fail to cope with the speed of environmental change, adaptation responses will have a major importance. We present the results of a number of ‘laboratory natural selection experiments’ applying five future climate scenarios, where the effects were investigated over four plant generations. In the climate scenarios CO₂, temperature and ozone concentrations were changed (as multifactor or single factor changes), and populations were allowed to adapt freely by fertility- and mortality distributions. Biomass and reproductive output were recorded over generations and molecular markers in the unselected F0 generation compared to the selected F4 generation.

The three species studied reacted differently to the multigenerational selection experiment suggesting differences in adaptive potential.

13 April: Nina Rønsted

Phylogeny predicts chemical diversity and potential medicinal activity of plants: evidence from Amaryllidaceae
 
Nina Rønsted, Associate Professor

Botanical Garden and Museum, Natural History Museum of Denmark

During evolution, plants and other organisms have developed a diversity of chemical defence lines, leading to the evolution of various groups of specialized metabolites selected for their endogenous biological function. A correlation between phylogeny and biosynthetic pathways could offer a predictive approach enabling more efficient selection of plants for traditional medicine and lead discovery. However, this relationship has rarely been rigorously tested and the potential predictive power is consequently unknown.

We produced the largest ever phylogenetic hypothesis for the medicinally important plant subfamily Amaryllidoideae (Amaryllidaceae) based on parsimony and bayesian analysis of nuclear, plastid and mitochondrial DNA sequences of over 100 species. We tested if alkaloid diversity and central nervous system related activities are significantly correlated with phylogeny.

  

Several genera are non-monophyletic emphasizing the importance of using phylogeny for interpretation of character distribution. Alkaloid diversity and in vitro central nervous system related activity are significantly correlated with phylogeny. This has implications for the use of phylogenies to interpret chemical evolution and biosynthetic pathways, to select candidate taxa for lead discovery, and to make recommendations for traditional use and conservation priorities.

23 March: Inger Kappel Schmidt

Plant responses to climate change in contrasting heathland ecosystems

Inger Kappel Schmidt

Dept. of Forest and Landscape Ecology, Forest and Landscape, Copenhagen University

Climate change affects the performance of species in different ways and potentially it changes community composition. In large scale climate manipulation experiments across Northern Europe, we studied the sensitivity of heathland species to climate during 12 years. A naturally occurring outbreak of heather beetles (Lochmaea suturalis Thompson) defoliated the heather at one site. This enabled studies of the climate sensitivity of adult plants as well as during the regenerative phase. We found the strongest effects of climatic change related to extreme events and biotic interactions resulting in a replacement of C. vulgaris with species connected to acid grassland. The transition was altered with extended drought periods and warming due to altered impact by the heather beetles and due to lower recruitment. The future climate with higher minimum temperatures and extended drought periods and with increased impact of herbivores and diminished window for regeneration may have major impact on the distribution of C. vulgaris heathlands and the area of heathlands in Europe may decrease further due to invasion by grasses and trees.

9 March: Sanna Huttunen

Phylogeny of moss order Hypnales - current state of knowledge and future challenges

Sanna Huttunen

Department of Biology, University of Turku, Finland

The Hypnales are the largest moss order comprising circa 4200 species, i.e. 1/3 of all mosses. Phylogenetic reconstruction of the group has proven to be difficult due to rapid radiation at an early stage of their evolution, but the most studies applying molecular systematic methods favor its position as a crown clade in the phylogeny of mosses. Within the order, however, relationships among groups have remained poorly resolved. The most recent phylogenetic inference is based on four sequence regions, namely, nuclear ITS1-5.8S-ITS2, plastid trnL-F and rps4, and mitochondrial nad5, for 122 Hypnalean species and 34 species from closely related groups. Tree topologies resolve the order as monophyletic, although monophyly, as well as the backbone nodes within the Hypnales, gained significant support only under Bayesian inferences. The phylogenetic tree differs only in few details from recent classifications, but familial relationships especially among the apical crown clade within the Hypnales were mainly unsupported. Ancestral distribution based on Bayesian dispersal-vicariance analysis support a Gondwanan origin of the Hypnales and subsequent geographical radiation in the area of the former Laurasian supercontinent. Reconstruction of historical biogeography is congruent with mainly tropical and Gondwanan distributions in the sister groups Hypnodendrales, Ptychomniales, and Hookeriales, and with the dating for the oldest pleurocarp and Hypnalean fossils. Scattered fossil data, unique character combinations in some of the fossil pleurocarps and lack of a well-supported phylogeny, however, still hamper testing diversification events using molecular dating. In the presentation I will summarize current knowledge on the evolutionary history and relationships among the Hypnales and present an overview of the recent fossil data on pleurocarpous mosses. In light of these two sources of the information I aim at discussing evolution of the Hypnales and point out potential directions for future research.

24 February: Tamara van Mölken

Three-way interactions between pathogens, plants and herbivores: consequences for herbivore feeding, disease development and plant fitness. 

Tamara van Mölken 

Department of Agriculture and Ecology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. 

Under natural conditions plants are often simultaneously exposed to pathogen attack and damage by insect herbivores. As a consequence of sharing the same host plant, interactions between pathogens and herbivores are bound to occur. The plant plays a central role in mediating such interactions, whereby pathogen induced changes in the host plant can affect herbivory and vice versa. Mechanisms underlying these effects include pathogen induced changes in: secondary metabolite levels; nutritional value; plant volatile emissions; and crosstalk between defence pathways. In turn, these biochemical changes may affect herbivore feeding and behaviour. Given that both pathogens and herbivores can impair plant performance, reciprocal effects between pathogens and herbivores are expected to result in altered plant growth and reproduction. To gain more insight into the ecological implications of pathogen infection for plant-herbivore interactions, we need a better understanding of the tripartite interactions between plants originating from wild populations and their naturally associated pathogens and herbivores. Barbarea vulgaris is well studied for its chemical defences against a range of herbivores. This herbaceous plant is susceptible to Phyllotreta nemorum flea beetles and the oomycete pathogen Albugo candida which both occur in wild B. vulgaris populations. In a series of experiments we have addressed the following questions: (i) does infection with the oomycete have an effect on flea beetle induced changes in plant nitrogen, glucosinolate and saponin levels; (ii) what are the effects of the pathogen on herbivore preference, consumption and fitness; and (iii) how do biochemical changes and variation in pathogen and herbivore damage affect plant growth, development and fitness?

10 February: Bjarne Larsen

Botanisk indsamlingstur 2011: Crocus oreocreticus på Kreta

Bjarne Larsen

dept. Agriculture and Ecology, Copenhagen University

8 February: Marco Thines

Diversity, evolution, and ecology of white blister rusts 

Marco Thines 

Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre Frankfurt, Germany

White blister rusts are a cosmopolitan group of obligate biotrophic oomycetes and are not related to true fungi, but to diatoms and other members of the Straminipila. While the host spectrum of the white blister rusts encompasses a wide range of flowering plants, recent investigations have revealed that some white blister rusts are highly host specific. Until five years ago it was believed that the Brassicaceae are parasitised by a single species, Albugo candida, which has a broad host range, encompassing several hundred species in this family. Recent molecular and morphological studies have revealed that in addition to Albugo candida, which has indeed a very broad host range, extending even to related families like Cleomaceae and Capparaceae, several specialized species exist. These include a specialized species on Arabidopsis thaliana, at least four distinct species in the genus Cardamine, and a specialized species on Barbarea. Based on the current knowledge, it seems likely that in Brassicaceae alone a few dozen species await their discovery. This could also extend to predominantly endophytic species, as we could recently demonstrate that Albugo candida can infest host plants asymptomatically and can potentially be transmitted vertically to the next generation of host plants. Potential factors influencing pathogenic development of asymptomatic endophytes will be shortly discussed on the example of two oomycete pathogens (Protobremia sphaerosperma and Pustula obtusata) infecting goatsbeard (Tragopogon pratensis agg.).

27 January: Roland von Bothmer

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault – is it important for plant genetic resources? 

Roland von Bothmer

Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Svalbard Global Seed Vault, NordGen, Sweden

The domestication of crops some 10 000 years ago lead to a process to a considerable increase in genetic variation. The process included major genetic changes in several adaptive traits. To be transferred from a state of adaptation for competition in natural habitats to an environment dominated by human interaction meant considerable genetic shifts. The domestication influenced major genetic systems such as reproduction and dispersal mechanisms, life forms, growth habits etc. The initial phase of domestication was followed by rapid migration and adaptation to completely new areas and environments. Unconscious and conscious selection lead to the establishment of a great number of locally and regionally adapted landraces. The great diversity was a starting point for modern plant breeding in the end of the 19th century. What has happened during later decades is that the great genetic variation established over centuries and millennia has diminished, due to “genetic erosion”.

The international genebank movement started comparatively late. The great Russian pioneer N. I. Vavilov developed the basic concepts with worldwide collections and conservation of plant genetic resources (PGR). In later decades a great number of genebanks have been established. Collecting expeditions in remote areas have been carried out and the current number of genebank holdings exceeds 7 million, mainly of the world’s major crops. However, this figure includes an unknown number of duplications. Since there are a number of unforeseen, serious problems facing the genebanks today there is an increasing demand for a worldwide back up system for storing safety duplications. The Global Seed Vault at Svalbard was established four years ago with the objective to store all unique accessions of the world, which has been estimated to between 3 and 4 millions. The remote and exotic location of Svalbard at 78o N puts a particular focus on the necessity for conservation and utilization of plant genetic resources to fight the big challenges of the world: overpopulation, hunger, climate change and a sustainable long term production of food. A number of international agreements and treaties regulate the access to and utilization of PGR.

13 January: Henrik Ærenlund Pedersen

The relevancy and perspectives of scientific flora projects: two examples from the Flora of Thailand project

Henrik Ærenlund Pedersen

Associate Professor, Ph.D., Botanical Garden & Museum, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen


Is it really worthwhile revising the same flora repeatedly? A case study in Thai Orchidaceae. – In many contexts, scientific floras (dealing with one, several or all plant families on a national or regional scale) are the most intensively used surveys and identification tools for species of vascular plants. Flora of Thailand will be the first real standard flora to cover all families of flowering plants in Thailand. Nevertheless, the Thai representatives of a number of plant groups have undergone one or more revisions previously. Is it worthwhile revising such groups again for Flora of Thailand – and would it even make sense to start thinking of a second edition of the flora? To throw some light on this, I compared three successive revisions of the orchid subfamily Orchidoideae in Thailand (published in 1958–1964, 1977–1978 and 2011, respectively). Together, the three revisions exhibited a progressive increase in the net number of accepted taxa. The relative increase was highest from the first to the second revision, but still substantial from the second to the third. The net results covered an even higher number of changes (additions end exclusions of taxa) that partly neutralized each other – and other changes were in themselves neutral in relation to the net number of taxa accepted. Classification at species level, but not at genus level, tended to stabilize over time. Altogether, the results demonstrate that both the second and the third revision were worthwhile indeed, as each of them provided comprehensive changes (arguably improvements) compared to the latest previous revision.

Flora projects as drivers of biodiversity research, exemplified by the treatment of the Orchidaceae for Flora of Thailand. – Any scientific flora project relies primarily on a taxonomic revision of the flora accommodated in the region covered by that project. Furthermore, it is commonly recognized that once the flora handbook has been published, it represents a major source of knowledge and data that can be utilized in other research fields such as biogeography, vegetation ecology and macro-ecology. On the other hand, surprisingly little attention has been given to the fact that flora projects can to a wide extent initiate and facilitate complementary research activities during their own lifetime. Using the ongoing treatment of the Orchidaceae for Flora of Thailand as an example, it is demonstrated how the organization of field trips and the establishment of research groups within the framework of the flora project – together with the recurrent need for achieving taxonomic clarity beyond the borders of Thailand – have given rise to complementary research on multiple aspects of orchid-related biodiversity. Examples include: the preparation of global monographs; traditional or morphometrically based revisions of intricate species complexes throughout mainland Asia; minor biogeographic studies and autecological studies of epiphytic as well as terrestrial species. Additionally, it is demonstrated how the efforts of making existing data available for the flora project (e.g. through the Seidenfaden Database of Orchids and the Native Thai Orchid Network) may highly benefit non-floristic research as well.

6 January: Else Østergaard Andersen

Thy National Park – the first National Park in Denmark

Else Østergaard Andersen, M.Sc. & MPA, Manager, Thy National Park

Denmark inaugurated its first National Park in 2008 – 99 years after the first European National Parks were established in Sweden. Thy National Park lies in the north-westernmost part of Denmark. It is often said to be the largest – and last – wilderness in Denmark. The main habitats of the park are Atlantic dunes and dune heaths.

Thy National Park is also a landscape with a special cultural history. A natural catastrophe starting in the 15th century and lasting almost 400 years ruined arable land by sand drift. The sand drift lead farmers to move their farms further inland, or to settle by the sea and survive by fishing. During the fight against the sand, plantations have been created – with tree species from central Europe and even North America.

Officially, the Danish national parks do not correlate with the IUCN Protected Area Management Categories. However, Thy National Park contains most of the IUCN categories, ranging from strict nature reserve with no access from man (category Ia), through Wilderness Areas (Ib), National Park (II), etc., and to Protected Area with sustainable use of natural resources (VI).

The seminar will focus on the process since the 1999 OECD Environmental Performance Review, the Danish National Park Act from 2007, and till 2012, 3½ years after the inauguration of Thy National Park. What are the legal aims? How does the national park operate? What are the plans? How will nature benefit from the National Park? Can rural development go hand in hand with nature protection?