Section

A unique reproductive system – Canina meiosis – has developed in dog roses (Rosa sect. Caninae), which originated by hybridisation. It enables polyploid species to reproduce sexually despite having an uneven number of chromosomes. Together with our cooperation partners, we are investigating the origin and inheritance patterns of the genomes involved, as well as their behaviour during Canina meiosis.

Collaboration partners

Jana Lunerová, Aleš Kovařík, Institute of Biophysics, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Brno

Andre´ Marques, Department of Chromosome Biology, Max Planck Institute for Plant Breeding Research, Cologne

Volker Wissemann, Systematic Botany, Justus Liebig University Gießen

Funded by the German Research Foundation

European strawberries species differ in their reproductive system and chromosome number: Fragaria moschata is dioecious (2n = 6x = 42), F. viridis (2n = 2x = 14) is hermaphroditic and self-incompatible, and F. vesca (2x) is also hermaphroditic but self-compatible. We are investigating the influence of chromosome number and reproductive system on the genetic diversity of strawberry populations.

Cooperation partner

PD Dr. K. Olbricht, Hansabred GmbH & Co. KG, Dresden

We believe that sound knowledge on species is key for sound botanical research. We thus provide a range of identification aids and species information systems for a broad spectrum of users.

We also contribute our data to Germany’s central information hub for vascular plants, that we run jointly with a range of partners.

Partners: TU Dresden – Dresden University of Technology, University Halle Wittenberg, Federal Agency of Conservation – BfN, Senckenberg Frankfurt and Jena, Thomas Meyer

The last decades witnessed unprecedented losses of biodiversity in the cultural landscape of Europe. We do not only study trends and their consequences, but also contribute to mitigation such as restoration measures

Central Asia, i.e. Mongolia and northern and China, hosts the world’s finest steppes and temperate drylands. Our research focuses on the impact of changing land use and climate on this unique social-ecology system.

Herbaria are our key research infrastructure. In line with the Senckenberg Collectomics approach (Sigward et al. 2025 – Natural History Collections and Museomics), we aim at providing access to our collections for an increasing range of users, and also develop new methods to retrieve data from collections (digital extended specimens)

We employed Micro-CT for assessing patterns in fine nerves of plant leaves, which are of importance in ecology and systematics. Equally non-invasive are our studies using NIRS spectroscopy to measure long-term changes in leaf nutrient contents. Currently, we are assessing the potential of multispectral imagery for herbarium-based work. We also use our collections to detect trends in plant size and flowering phenology. New tools for linking and analysing data are needed, and we thus have strong role in the Senckenberg Data and Modelling Centre.

Partners: Senckenberg Jena and Frankfurt, Univ. of Halle-Wittenberg, National University of Mongolia, and collaboration within the SDMC incl. the DINA- consortium

The museum’s herbarium comprises approximately 185,000 vascular plant specimens, 40,000 moss specimens and 3,200 algae specimens. In addition, the Görlitz Herbarium contains approximately 70,000 lichen specimens and more than 110,000 fungal specimens. To date, 190 types of vascular plants, approximately 200 types of lichens and approximately 500 types of liverworts are known. The foundation of the collections is the herbarium of the Görlitz Natural History Society, which dates from the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century.

The geographical focus of our collections is Upper Lusatia and the neighbouring regions of Saxony, Poland, Brandenburg and the Czech Republic. We also maintain substantial collections from Central and North Asia, as well as the Caucasus. In addition, we hold individual collections from various regions around the world, some of which were assembled by members of the Moravian Church.

Our collections form part of the larger Herbarium Senckenbergianum. Together with the other Senckenberg institutes, we also operate specialised digital collections, such as the Virtual Herbarium of taxonomically critical taxa of the Flora of Germany, the Chromosome Number Database of the Flora of Germany and the Virtual Herbarium of the Flora of Germany.

For vascular plants, the collection data from the Upper Lusatia region has been fully digitised. It is forwarded to the ‘Botanical Node’ at the Botanical Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin-Dahlem of the Free University of Berlin and can be searched via the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF).

The Herbarium Senckenbergianum Görlitz is a JSTOR Global Plants Partner.