Abstract
In the Midwest U.S. dominated corn-soybean landscape, agroforestry systems can be particularly valuable for increasing the provisioning and regulatory capacity of the agricultural landscape. However, these systems have not yet been broadly integrated into the landscape of this region since they are mostly relegated to marginal lands. A growing body of literature suggests a path to increase the adoption of agroforestry in the Midwest U.S. lies in the incorporation of low-input food-producing tree species that provide economic incentives for farmers. Studies of the system-level integration of such approaches have proceeded by using the currently available cultivars and breeding selections of various tree nut and fruit species. While existing varieties and breeding selections provide the opportunity for initial system development and integration, their broad adaptability to the Midwest U.S. and its marginal land-types is unexplored. Thus, a second tier of research includes the genetic improvement and adaptation of tree crop selections to their respective target environments throughout the Midwest U.S. Fortunately, select tree crops of interest are amendable to systematic breeding and have wild relatives that are endemic across the region. In this paper, we discuss the value of these wild relatives for broadening the adaption of cultivated tree crop selections by using the hazelnut as an example species. We present a framework using geospatial tools to define and prioritize target environments for breeding and, in turn, exploiting wild relative germplasm.
Highlights
The benefits of agroforestry’s regulatory services are well characterized for the Midwest U.S, where annual cropping systems such as the corn-soybean rotation dominate the landscape [1,2,3]
Many tree crops are good targets for schematic breeding, and they have wild relatives that are endemic to the range of the Midwest U.S To be relevant for broad adoption within the region, a framework for tree crop improvement must include systematic steps to target selection environments within the marginal lands of row-crops and, in doing so, identify the associated adaptive traits required of tree crop wild relatives
While the term “marginal” can imply a general lack of suitability for crop cultivation, in this context, the term is specific to the profitability of the maize-soybean rotation in the Midwest U.S areas considered marginal under this definition could be productive for other crop species especially those that are low-input
Summary
The benefits of agroforestry’s regulatory services are well characterized for the Midwest U.S, where annual cropping systems such as the corn-soybean rotation dominate the landscape [1,2,3]. Many tree crops are good targets for schematic breeding, and they have wild relatives that are endemic to the range of the Midwest U.S To be relevant for broad adoption within the region, a framework for tree crop improvement must include systematic steps to target selection environments within the marginal lands of row-crops and, in doing so, identify the associated adaptive traits required of tree crop wild relatives. Systematic exploitation of existing resources offers an opportunity to scale these crops and capitalize on regional and domestic market growth [11,40] Foremost, this exploitation entails expanding the production range well-suited for cultivated tree crop selections to additional regions throughout the Midwest U.S, which is discussed at depth in subsequent sections. Disproportional reductions in soil erosion and nitrate leaching have been demonstrated by targeting these areas with perennial cropping systems [9]
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