Abstract
Crop wild relatives are important for agriculture because they contain high levels of genetic diversity and grow in a wide range of habitats and environments. Colombia has the largest number of cacao crop wild relatives in the world, including different species of the genus Theobroma and its sister genus Herrania. This paper investigates diversity and distribution of cacao crop wild relatives in Colombia using species occurrences extracted from museum and herbarium archives, fieldwork collections gathered on recently conducted expeditions and species distribution modelling. A total of 211 botanical collections comprising 174 samples of Theobroma species, and 37 samples of Herrania species were collected on expeditions to Caguán–Caquetá in the upper Amazon basin and La Victoria, in the Pacific region of central Choco. These collections represent 22 taxa of cacao crop wild relatives. On the Chocó expedition, we reported the highest richness and endemism, where seven taxa of Theobroma and three of Herrania were found within a radius of 10 km, which has never been recorded before. On the Amazon expedition, we found an abundance of wild populations of Theobroma cacao on the river banks. We estimated that 95% of the most suitable environments for wild cacao in Colombia are in unprotected areas. Our study reveals that species diversity and endemism of cacao crop wild relatives in Colombia is under sampled and distributional patterns are incomplete. Based on the findings of our study, we propose a conservation strategy that consists of further expeditions to collect herbarium and germplasm samples, and habitat protection of cacao crop wild relatives in Colombia.
Highlights
As part of the peace agreement signed in 2016, the Colombian Government resolved to implement a crop replacement program to eradicate coca crops (PNIS 2017; Barrera-Ramırez et al 2019; Torres Rodrıguez et al 2020)
Based on the findings of our study, we propose a conservation strategy that consists of further expeditions to collect herbarium and germplasm samples, and habitat protection of cacao crop wild relatives in Colombia
We present our analyses of newly collected cacao Crop Wild Relatives (CWR) data from two expeditions to the upper Amazon and central Chocoregions; map biogeography patterns of species diversity and endemism; apply the latest species distribution modelling (SDM) techniques to map cacao CWR climate suitability; and propose germplasm collections and habitat protection strategies for cacao CWRs in Colombia
Summary
As part of the peace agreement signed in 2016, the Colombian Government resolved to implement a crop replacement program to eradicate coca crops (PNIS 2017; Barrera-Ramırez et al 2019; Torres Rodrıguez et al 2020). Colombia contributes only 1% of the worlds cocoa production compared to the Ivory Coast, the biggest producer, with nearly 40% (Abbott et al 2018). There are several threats to cacao cultivation in Colombia, including disease, extreme climate variability and deforestation. The Moniliophthora roreri disease, a fungus that causes frosty pod rot disease, has affected cocoass quality and production in the highest producing regions in the country and across Latin America (Jaimes et al 2016). Extreme climate variability threatens its cultivation, with the cacao more affected by rainfall than any other climatic variable (Omolaja et al 2009; Mena-Montoya et al 2020). Cacao trees are susceptible to water deficiency, and in areas that have suffered from drought in Colombia such as the eastern plains of the Casanare Department in 2014, the Guajira peninsula of the
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