Effective conservation of Medicago crop wild relatives in Russia and neighbouring countries: gap analysis points the way forward.

Abstract

AbstractThe objectives of this study were to focus on cultivated Medicago species and their crop wild relatives (CWR) which occur throughout the region of the Former Soviet Union (FSU). The area includes the Russian Federation, the countries of Estonia, Latvia, Belarus and Ukraine in eastern Europe, Georgia, Armenia and Azerbaijan in the Caucasus region, and Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan in south-central Asia. A gap analysis was conducted to:(i) determine if these taxa are adequately represented in ex situ germplasm collections; (ii) assess the extent to which these species are found in protected areas; and (iii) identify protected areas rich in species diversity that warrant further investigation to establish in situ reserves. Datasets listing Medicago ex situ accessions were obtained from VIR, the USDA National Plant Germplasm System, the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dryland Areas and the South Australia Research and Development Institute. Species distribution maps were taken from the online Interactive Agricultural Ecological Atlas of Russia and Neighboring Countries. Species and observation richness maps of lucerne and annual medic CWRs using the ex situ collection dataset. The gap analysis suggested that ex situ representation of CWR species of lucerne was limited in the Crimea, Mountain Central Asia (with the exception of M. sativa ssp. sativa) and Eastern Siberia. This study found that gaps exist in current ex situ efforts to conserve the CWRs of both lucerne and the cultivated annual medic species that occur in the area of the FSU. Ex situ representation of cultivated annual medic species reflected the Mediterranean origins of these species. Fewer species occurred in the more northern reaches of our study area and fewer accessions were represented in ex situ collections.The Caucasus region had the richest occurrence of lucerne CWRs, and was also rich in annual medic CWRs. There was a serious gap in ex situ collections for rare and/or vulnerable species, although they are in the secondary and tertiary gene pool of lucerne. The gap analysis helped identify seven geographic areas that, together, represent Medicago species and ecogeographic diversity of the study area.