Biotic diversity and germplasm preservation, global imperatives : invited papers presented at a symposium held May 9-11, 1988, at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Beltsville, Maryland

Section I: Introduction and Delineation of Issues.- Systematics, Diversity, and Germplasm.- Germplasm Preservation: Objectives and Needs.- Ethical and Policy Implications.- Ecology of Agroecosystems in Relation to Natural Ecosystems.- Section II: Basic Research and Germplasm Status.- Plant Germplasm Preservation: A Global Perspective.- Program for Plant Germplasm Preservation in the United states.- Development of Research on Crop Germplasm Resources in China.- Management and Utilization of Plant Germplasm Collections.- Population Genetics and the Dynamics of Conservation.- Section III: Frontiers in Germplasm Utilization.- Sampling, Evaluation, and Utilization of Animal Genetic Resources.- An Essay on Prokaryote Diversity.- Microbial Germplasm.- Gene Transfer in Plants.- Alteration of the Genome as a Method to Increase Diversity in Animal Germplasm Resources.- Enhancement of Plant Germplasm.- The Impact of Biotechnology on Conventional Germplasm Conservation and Use.- Section IV: Germplasm Collection and Data Management.- Cryopreservation of Animal Germplasm Resources.- Invertebrate Germplasm Cryopreservation: Potential, Problems and Prospects.- Techniques for Preservation of Plant Germplasm.- Plant Germplasm Acquisition and Exchange.- Plant Germplasm Information Systems.- Animal Germplasm Information Systems.- Accessibility of World Germplasm Resources: Animal Health Constraints.- Section V: International Issues and Linkages.- Plant Genetic Resource Initiatives in International Development.- Threatened Habitats and Germplasm Preservation: A Central American Perspective.- Ownership of Plant Genetic Material.- Plant Germplasm and the Economics of Agriculture.- Summary of Symposium.