Abstract With the increased risk of extinction of woody species, there is a great need for botanical gardens for the ex situ conservation of threatened woody species in devoted conservation collections. The box tree (Buxus hyrcana Pojark.) is an endemic and endangered species of Hyrcanian forests, northern Iran. In recent years, many individuals of this species have been dried in a considerable range of Hyrcanian forests due to box blight disease and box-tree moth. Since the construction of the National Botanical Garden of Iran (NBGI) in 1967, B. hyrcana seedlings have been gathered from Hyrcanian forests and planted in the Hyrcanian habitat of the garden, so that the healthy individuals of B. hyrcana in the garden today have a good natural reproduction. In this study, we studied the successful experience of the NBGI as the only reliable source of healthy B. hyrcana seedlings to restore the destroyed habitats of B. hyrcana in Hyrcanian forests. This study emphasizes on two main issues: the foresight of garden staff in ex situ conservation of endangered species and the important role of NBGI in this conservation.

中文翻译：

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伊朗国家植物园在异地保护 Buxus hyrcana Pojark 中的作用。濒危物种

摘要 随着木本物种灭绝风险的增加，非常需要植物园在专门的保护收藏中对受威胁的木本物种进行异地保护。黄杨树 (Buxus hyrcana Pojark.) 是伊朗北部希尔卡尼亚森林的特有和濒危物种。近年来，由于箱枯病和黄杨蛾，该物种的许多个体已在相当大范围的希尔卡尼亚森林中干燥。自 1967 年伊朗国家植物园（NBGI）建成以来，从希尔卡尼亚森林中采集海尔卡纳的幼苗，种植在花园的海尔卡尼亚栖息地中，从而使今天花园中健康的海尔卡纳个体拥有良好的自然繁殖。在这项研究中，我们研究了 NBGI 作为健康 B. hyrcana 幼苗的唯一可靠来源的成功经验，以恢复 Hyrcanian 森林中 B. hyrcana 被破坏的栖息地。本研究重点关注两个主要问题：园林工作人员在濒危物种异地保护中的远见以及 NBGI 在该保护中的重要作用。