A prioritised inventory of crop wild relatives and wild harvested plants of Tunisia

Ridha El Mokni,Gianniantonio Domina,Giulio Barone,Shelagh Kell,Nigel Maxted

doi:10.1007/s10722-021-01340-z

Abstract

An inventory of crop wild relatives (CWR) and wild harvested plants (WHP) occurring in Tunisia, based on the integration of the last available floristic checklists, is presented. The taxa were prioritised according to economic value of the related crop, potential for crop improvement, threat status, endemism, inclusion in the ITPGRFA (Annex I) and average annual contributions to dietary energy (kilocalories) per capita per day by applying a scoring system based on 4 priority levels. Of a total of 2912 taxa belonging to the Tunisian Flora, 2504 CWR and/or WHP (86% of the total), from 143 families and 686 genera, were identified, 2445 of which are CWR and 847 are WHP. In detail, 1654 are solely CWR and 59 are WHP only, whereas 788 are both CWR and WHP. The final priority list for active conservation includes 1036 CWR (43% of the total CWR taxa), with 139 taxa rated as high priority, 660 medium priority and 237 low priority. The final priority list for WHP is composed of 344 taxa and includes eight high priority, 254 medium priority and 82 low priority taxa. Our results confirm Tunisia as a hotspot of CWR and WHP diversity in the Mediterranean area. The inventory here proposed provides the basis for the development and implementation of a more targeted national CWR/WHP conservation strategy for Tunisia.

Highlights

Crop wild relatives (CWR) are wild plant species closely related to cultivated species of socio-economic value, such as those providing food, fodder, industrial materials, ornamentals, and biofuels (Maxted et al 2006)
With the aim of extending and deepening the information available about the conservation and threat status of CWR and WHP in North African countries, in this paper we present a prioritised inventory of crop wild relatives and wild harvested plants of Tunisia based on the latest available checklist of the Tunisian flora (Le Floch et al 2010)
The checklist contains of 2445 CWR taxa in 2243 species, 643 genera, and 137 families, whereas 847 taxa are WHP distributed in 365 genera and 113 families

Summary

Introduction

Crop wild relatives (CWR) are wild plant species closely related to cultivated species of socio-economic value, such as those providing food, fodder, industrial materials, ornamentals, and biofuels (Maxted et al 2006). The Mediterranean region is a centre of diversity for wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), olive (Olea europaea L.), carrot (Daucus carota L.), cabbages (Brassicaceae) and other major food crops In this area, some native plants host useful traits that can improve the cultivation of their related crops, such as Brassica insularis Moris, a SW Mediterranean endemic that occurs in coastal habitats, which confers resistance to the fungal pathogen Leptosphaeria maculans (Sowerby) P.Karst. In the frame of a more sustainable, low-input agriculture (Crespo-Herrera and Ortiz 2015; Duru et al 2015), CWR often represent an under-exploited source of genes for ensuring food security (FAO 2006, 2009a) Global challenges, such as climate change and a continuous rise in the human population, are posing a huge threat to biodiversity, affecting both CWR and wild harvested plants (WHP)—undomesticated species typically harvested from the wild by local people. Food security is pursued by several means and, among them, by the development of new varieties resistant to diseases, pests, or environmental stresses, such as extreme

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