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As an introduction to the Special Issue on the restoration of threatened plant species and their habitats, this editorial shows how the various papers in the issue address the range of in situ interventions involved in species population management and restoration of their habitat, together with examples of case studies implementing these actions. It stresses the need for integrating these various interventions. It highlights the importance of protected areas in providing a degree of protection for threatened species but also the need to complement this with actions at the species level to ensure the effective conservation and long term persistence of these species. It emphasizes that ecological restoration is a complement to, not a substitute for conservation, and that the balance of effort and allocation of resources between them is a key issue. Keywords: Threatened species management, Habitat restoration, In situ conservation, Protected areas

Ethnopharmacological relevance It is becoming increasingly clear that ethnopharmacology cannot be disassociated from food production, human nutrition and the conservation of the biodiversity that constitutes its resource base. Aim of the study This paper aims to provide a perspective of ethnopharmacology that explicitly extends the range of disciplines it covers so as to embrace food and nutrition and the biodiversity basis, both wild and agricultural, and also places it in the context of the dramatic changes to our planet that we are experiencing during a period of rapid global change and the impacts that these changes are having on human health and nutrition and on its resource base. Materials and methods A review is made of recent initiatives and developments that show linkages between ethnopharmacology, agriculture, food production, nutrition and biodiversity conservation. Results Ethnopharmacology, biodiversity, agriculture, food and nutrition are inextricably linked but suffer from compartmentalization and a lack of communication which have to be overcome if progress is to be made. Fortunately, a convergence of interest between the agricultural biodiversity and the biodiversity conservation sectors has emerged in recent years and there is an increased appreciation of the need to adopt a wider approach to human nutrition than the conventional agricultural model allows; there is also a greater awareness of the important role played by diversity of crops, especially local species, and consumption of wild species in achieving balanced nutrition. An increased recognition of the key role of local communities in managing agricultural biodiversity is evident. While ethnopharmacologists have expressed concern at the relentless loss of biodiversity, there has been little direct involvement but it is perhaps now time to consider a more proactive role. Attention is also drawn to the need to assess the implications of global change for ethnopharmacology. Conclusions Ethnopharmacologists need to take much more cognizance of the fate of the resource base – the plants, animals and microorganisms – and of the actions being undertaken under the auspices of treaties, such as the Conservation on Biological Diversity and its Global Strategy for Plant Conservation, and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, to counter its degradation and loss. In addition, they should play a more active role in determining the actions needed to assess, monitor and conserve the resource base. Although it has been suggested that the ‘golden days’ of ethnopharmacology may be over, it is proposed that by embracing the challenges of broadening the remit so as to include the health aspects of wild biodiversity employed in nutrition, a new ‘golden age’ beckons. The paper concludes with some suggestions for action.

Conservation of crop wild relatives (CWRs) is a complex interdisciplinary process that is being addressed by various national and international initiatives, including two Global Environment Facility projects ('In situ Conservation of Crop Wild Relatives through Enhanced Information Management and Field Application' and 'Design, Testing and Evaluation of Best Practices for in situ Conservation of Economically Important Wild Species'), the European Community-funded project 'European Crop Wild Relative Diversity Assessment and Conservation Forum (PGR Forum)' and the European 'In situ and On Farm Network'. The key issues that have arisen are: (1) the definition of what constitutes a CWR, (2) the need for national and regional information systems and a global system, (3) development and application of priority-determining mechanisms, (4) the incorporation of the conservation of CWRs into existing national, regional and international PGR programmes, (5) assessment of the effectiveness of conservation actions, (6) awareness of the importance of CWRs in agricultural development at local, national and international levels both for the scientific and lay communities and (7) policy development and legal framework. The above issues are illustrated by work on the conservation of a group of legumes known as grasspea chicklings, vetchlings, and horticultural ornamental peas (Lathyrus spp.) in their European and Mediterranean centre of diversity.

A review is given of the major conceptual changes that have taken place during the last 50 years in our understanding of the nature of plant conservation and of the principal methodological advances in undertaking conservation assessments and actions, largely through the incorporation of tools and techniques from other disciplines. The interrelationships between conservation and sustainable use are considered as well as the impact of the development of the discipline of conservation biology, the effects of the general acceptance of the concept of biodiversity and the practical implications of the implementation of the Convention on Biological diversity. The effect on conservation policy and management of the accelerating loss or conversion of habitats throughout the world and approaches for combating this are discussed.

The flavonoids, both external aglycones and vacuolar flavonoid glycosides, have been identified in the aerial parts of endemic North African Sideritis species. The flavonoids produced by these African species are very similar to those produced by Spanish species, being mainly 7-allosylglucosides of 8-hydroxyflavones. Two new flavonoid glycosides, apigenin and luteolin 7-allosylglucosides, have been identified in these plants. Species of the section Sideritis are characterized by the accumulation of the 7-glycosides of 8-hydroxyflavones (isoscutellarein, hypolaetin and their methyl ethers) whereas those of section Hesiodia accumulate 7-glycosides of the common flavones (apigenin, luteolin and chrysoeriol).

Yellow flavonols have been identified in flowers of Coleostephus myconis, Glossopappus macrotus, Lepidophorum repandum and Leucanthemopsis flaveola . In addition to quercetagetin, gossypetin, patuletin and quercetagetin 3′-methyl ether previously reported in other species of the tribe Anthemideae of the Compositae, spinacetin, the 6,3′-dimethyl ether of quercetagetin, has been found for the first time as a flower pigment. It occurs as the 7-glucoside in flowers of Lepidophorum repandum , the leaves of which contain patuletin 3-rhamnoside. The presence of spinacetin and the 3′-methyl ether of quercetagetin in Lepidophorum fits in with the results of recent taxonomic studies which place this genus closer to Chrysanthemum than to Anthemis . Similarly, the occurrence of quercetagetin and gossypetin in Leucanthemopsis confirms its recently proposed separation from Tanacetum . The chemical data indicate that there is an evolutionary trend in yellow flower pigmentation, with Leucanthemopsis and Chrysanthemum segetum as the two least specialized species and Lepidophorum as the most advanced.

Seeds of 100 species from fifty genera of the Umbelliferae were surveyed for the psychotropic aromatic ether myristicin. It was found for the first time in the tribe Caucalideae, in Daucus glochidiatus, Pseudorlaya pumila and P. minuscula. Its presence in the tribes Peucedaneae (three genera) and Apieae (eight genera) was confirmed. Variation within species was noted in that it occurred in seed of both the cultivated parsnip Pastinaca sativa and the cultivated fennel (Foeniculum vulgare) but was absent from wild collections of these species. The only genus where it occurred regularly was Oenanthe (in all of five species examined). It could not be detected in any other of the Umbelliferae tribes nor in the related family, Araliaceae, and thus appears to be rare as a seed constituent.

Five species of Ostericum can be separated from Angelica s.l. by the presence in the former of high concentrations of flavonoids in leaf and mericarp. Some 15 glycosides of apigenin, luteolin, kaempferol and quercetin were characterized in Ostericum , while seven of eight species of Angelica s.s. surveyed lacked flavonoids in significant amount. Within Ostericum , each species gave a characteristic pattern; additionally in O. sieboldi , two chemical races were detected.