Conservation Of Crop Wild Relatives Research Articles

Enhancing In Situ Conservation of Crop Wild Relatives for Food and Agriculture in Lithuania

Enhancing In Situ Conservation of Crop Wild Relatives for Food and Agriculture in Lithuania

Review of Crop Wild Relative Conservation and Use in West Asia and North Africa.

Ensuring global food security in the face of climate change is critical to human survival. With a predicted human population of 9.6 billion in 2050 and the demand for food supplies expected to increase by 60% globally, but with a parallel potential reduction in crop production for wheat by 6.0%, rice by 3.2%, maize by 7.4%, and soybean by 3.1% by the end of the century, maintaining future food security will be a challenge. One potential solution is new climate-smart varieties created using the breadth of diversity inherent in crop wild relatives (CWRs). Yet CWRs are threatened, with 16-35% regarded as threatened and a significantly higher percentage suffering genetic erosion. Additionally, they are under-conserved, 95% requiring additional ex situ collections and less than 1% being actively conserved in situ; they also often grow naturally in disturbed habitats limiting standard conservation measures. The urgent requirement for active CWR conservation is widely recognized in the global policy context (Convention on Biological Diversity post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, UN Sustainable Development Goals, the FAO Second Global Plan of Action for PGRFA, and the FAO Framework for Action on Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture) and breeders highlight that the lack of CWR diversity is unnecessarily limiting crop improvement. CWRs are not spread evenly across the globe; they are focused in hotspots and the hottest region for CWR diversity is in West Asia and North Africa (WANA). The region has about 40% of global priority taxa and the top 17 countries with maximum numbers of CWR taxa per unit area are all in WANA. Therefore, improved CWR active conservation in WANA is not only a regional but a critical global priority. To assist in the achievement of this goal, we will review the following topics for CWRs in the WANA region: (1) conservation status, (2) community-based conservation, (3) threat status, (4) diversity use, (5) CURE-CWR hub: (ICARDA Centre of Excellence), and (6) recommendations for research priorities. The implementation of the recommendations is likely to significantly improve CWRs in situ and ex situ conservation and will potentially at least double the availability of the full breadth of CWR diversity found in WANA to breeders, and so enhance regional and global food and nutritional security.

Importance of agriculture for crop wild relatives conservation in Switzerland

Importance of agriculture for crop wild relatives conservation in Switzerland

Complementary Analysis and Implementation Plan for Conservation of Crop Wild Relatives in Finland.

Crop wild relatives (CWR) are valuable wild plant species that can be used as genetic resources providing adaptive traits to crop plants and therefore they play an important role in future food security. This paper describes in situ and ex situ conservation planning of CWR species in Finland and includes the following parts: (a) drafting of the national CWR priority list, (b) undertaking the in situ conservation gap analysis and (c) identifying ex situ conservation gaps and multi-species collecting sites for the CWR in Finland. As a result of the study, essential information was acquired, which will enhance future planning of active science-based practical conservation of CWR in Finland. Based on the new data and earlier work, a number of conservation recommendations are presented. This national work has been carried out in connection with the larger Nordic regional CWR co-operation.

Genomic conservation of crop wild relatives: A case study of citrus.

Conservation of crop wild relatives is critical for plant breeding and food security. The lack of clarity on the genetic factors that lead to endangered status or extinction create difficulties when attempting to develop concrete recommendations for conserving a citrus wild relative: the wild relatives of crops. Here, we evaluate the conservation of wild kumquat (Fortunella hindsii) using genomic, geographical, environmental, and phenotypic data, and forward simulations. Genome resequencing data from 73 accessions from the Fortunella genus were combined to investigate population structure, demography, inbreeding, introgression, and genetic load. Population structure was correlated with reproductive type (i.e., sexual and apomictic) and with a significant differentiation within the sexually reproducing population. The effective population size for one of the sexually reproducing subpopulations has recently declined to ~1,000, resulting in high levels of inbreeding. In particular, we found that 58% of the ecological niche overlapped between wild and cultivated populations and that there was extensive introgression into wild samples from cultivated populations. Interestingly, the introgression pattern and accumulation of genetic load may be influenced by the type of reproduction. In wild apomictic samples, the introgressed regions were primarily heterozygous, and genome-wide deleterious variants were hidden in the heterozygous state. In contrast, wild sexually reproducing samples carried a higher recessive deleterious burden. Furthermore, we also found that sexually reproducing samples were self-incompatible, which prevented the reduction of genetic diversity by selfing. Our population genomic analyses provide specific recommendations for distinct reproductive types and monitoring during conservation. This study highlights the genomic landscape of a wild relative of citrus and provides recommendations for the conservation of crop wild relatives.

GRIN‐U.org: Online portal for learning materials on plant genetic resources

Effective conservation and use of plant genetic resources (PGR) require specialized knowledge and skills. The repository website GRIN.org was established to provide free public access to a wide array of learning materials that support PGR education and professional development training. Learning materials. Current items include 71 videos, 8 eBooks, 17 infographics in 6 languages, and 8 webinars, as well as links to fee-based courses. The videos are also accessible through a YouTube channel, GRIN-U Education. To maintain quality standards, materials are peer-reviewed by at least two knowledgeable persons prior to posting. Topics. Among the topics covered are the fundamentals of genebanking, cryopreservation techniques, conservation of crop wild relatives, applications of plant pathology, impacts of climate change, success stories of PGR use, and virtual tours of field plots and the National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation. Usage. The materials can be used in a variety of educational settings, including high school and college academic courses, employee training, and upskilling. PGR knowledge is utilized in many interconnected disciplines and is relevant to career paths such as germplasm conservationist, plant breeder/geneticist, botanical garden curator, seed technologist, and plant science educator.

Crop wild relatives in Lebanon: mapping the distribution of Poaceae and Fabaceae priority taxa for conservation planning

Lebanon is a part of the Fertile Crescent recognized for its agrobiodiversity wealth in terms of both cultivated plants and crop wild relatives (CWR) diversity. Within the context of climate change and its adverse effect on agrobiodiversity, conservation of CWRs in Lebanon is essential to prevent the loss of potentially useful genetic diversity and to facilitate their use in crop breeding. To establish a comprehensive conservation plan for Lebanese CWR belonging to Poaceae and Fabaceae, in this study we prioritized 16 taxa based on their value for world security and local economy, gene pool (primary and secondary) and genome type (A, B and D for Triticum genera). Georeferenced occurrence data of populations belonging to the prioritized taxa list were retrieved from different sources and imported into QGIS to visualize by mapping their distribution in-situ and ex-situ on the Lebanese territory, highlighting sites with highest density per genus and sites characterised by the highest taxa richness. The analysis allowed to identify Lebanese areas that still need further surveying actions (mainly the south-west parts of the country) and showed that priority taxa had different distribution pattern independently from genus. Bekaa and Baalbak governorates were evaluated to include sites represented with highest taxa richness, which makes them preliminary contenders to be included within in-situ conservation actions. This study provided a foundation for further research into the conservation planning of crop wild relatives belonging to Poaceae and Fabaceae in Lebanon by identifying areas with highest taxa richness.

The impact of climate change on the future distribution of priority crop wild relatives in Indonesia and implications for conservation planning

The analysis of climate change impact is essential to include in conservation planning of crop wild relatives (CWR) to provide the guideline for adequate long-term protection under unpredictable future environmental conditions. These resources play an important role in sustaining the future of food security, but the evidence shows that they are threatened by climate change. The current analyses show that five taxa were predicted to have contraction of more than 30 % of their current ranges: Artocarpus sepicanus (based on RCP 4.5 in both no dispersal and unlimited dispersal scenario and RCP 8.5 in no dispersal scenario by 2050), Ficus oleifolia (RCP 4.5 5 in both no dispersal and unlimited dispersal scenario by 2080), Cocos nucifera and Dioscorea alata (RCP 8.5 in both no dispersal and unlimited dispersal scenario by 2050), and Ficus chartacea (RCP 8.5 in both no dispersal and unlimited dispersal scenario by 2050 and 2080). It shows that the climate change impact is species-specific. Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and dispersal scenarios influence the prediction models, and the actual future distribution range of species falls in between those scenarios. Climate refugia, holdout populations, and non-analogue community assemblages were identified based on the Protected Areas (PAs) network. PAs capacity is considered an important element in implementing a conservation strategy for the priority CWR. In areas where PAs are isolated and have less possibility to build corridors to connect each other, such as in Java, unlimited dispersal scenarios are unlikely to be achieved and assisted dispersal is suggested. The holdout populations should be the priority target for the ex situ collection. Therefore, by considering the climate refugia, PAs capacity and holdout populations, the goal of keeping high genetic variations for the long-term conservation of CWR in Indonesia can be achieved.

Community-Level Incentive Mechanisms for the Conservation of Crop Wild Relatives: A Malawi Case Study

Despite being an increasingly important source of genes for crop breeding aimed at improving food security and climate change adaptation, crop wild relatives (CWRs) are globally threatened. A root cause of CWR conservation challenges is a lack of institutions and payment mechanisms by which the beneficiaries of CWR conservation services (such as breeders) could compensate those who can supply them. Given that CWR conservation generates important public good values, for the significant proportion of CWRs found outside of protected areas, there is a strong justification for the design of incentive mechanisms to support landowners whose management practices positively contribute to CWR conservation. This paper contributes to facilitating an improved understanding of the costs of in situ CWR conservation incentive mechanisms, based on a case study application of payments for agrobiodiversity conservation services across 13 community groups in three districts in Malawi. Results demonstrate a high willingness to participate in conservation activities, with average conservation tender bids per community group being a modest MWK 20,000 (USD 25) p.a. and covering 22 species of CWRs across 17 related crops. As such, there appears to be significant potential for community engagement in CWR conservation activities that is complementary to that required in protected areas and can be achieved at modest cost where appropriate incentive mechanisms can be implemented.

Maximizing the crop wild relative resources available to plant breeders for crop improvement

Crop breeders are currently facing the need to continue increasing crop production to feed the growing human population, while mitigating the negative impacts of climate change on agriculture. Taxonomic and genetic diversity, which includes taxa, genes and alleles that offer novel sources of resistance to pests, disease and abiotic factors that affect crop quality and quantity, are a key tool for crop breeders to address these challenges. Lack of access to this diversity is currently limiting crop improvement. This paper focuses on how the breeder's requirement for greater diversity may be met despite the continue challenges of growing human population, and the impacts of climate change. It is argued that gene pool diversity is largely concentrated in crop wild relatives (CWR) and their more active conservation, especially focusing on in situ conservation applications, will enable the breeding challenges to be met. Further, that the science of in situ conservation is only now coming of age but is sufficiently advanced to facilitate the establishment of integrated national, regional, and global in situ CWR conservation networks. For humankind to substantially benefit from the additional adaptive diversity made available through these collaborative networks for CWR in situ conservation for the first time, breeders need to be provided with the critical resources necessary to address the negative impacts of climate changes on food production—therefore promoting greater global food security.

Incorporating evolutionary and threat processes into crop wild relatives conservation

Crop wild relatives (CWR) intra- and interspecific diversity is essential for crop breeding and food security. However, intraspecific genetic diversity, which is central given the idiosyncratic threats to species in landscapes, is usually not considered in planning frameworks. Here, we introduce an approach to develop proxies of genetic differentiation to identify conservation areas, applying systematic conservation planning tools that produce hierarchical prioritizations of the landscape. It accounts for: (i) evolutionary processes, including historical and environmental drivers of genetic diversity, and (ii) threat processes, considering taxa-specific tolerance to human-modified habitats, and their extinction risk status. Our analyses can be used as inputs for developing national action plans for the conservation and use of CWR. Our results also inform public policy to mitigate threat processes to CWR (like crops living modified organisms or agriculture subsidies), and could advise future research (e.g. for potential germplasm collecting). Although we focus on Mesoamerican CWR within Mexico, our methodology offers opportunities to effectively guide conservation and monitoring strategies to safeguard the evolutionary resilience of any taxa, including in regions of complex evolutionary histories and mosaic landscapes.

Berries as a case study for crop wild relative conservation, use, and public engagement in Canada

Societal impact statementPlant biodiversity is fundamental to the future of food security and agriculture. Berries are the most economically important fruit crops in Canada. Within this article, we explore the nutritional, cultural, and botanical importance of berries, including crop wild relatives (plant species that are closely related to domesticated crops) and plants that are significant to Indigenous Peoples. Using berries as a case study, we explore opportunities for the conservation, use, and public engagement of crop wild relatives. Our objective is to lay the groundwork for future collaborative efforts across these diverse plants.SummaryConservation of plant biodiversity, in particular crop wild relatives including those tended and cultivated by Indigenous Peoples, is critical to food security and agriculture. Building on the 2019 road map for crop wild relatives, we examine berries as a case study for crop wild relative conservation, use, and public engagement. We focus on berries due not only to their economic, cultural, and nutritional importance but also because they are consumed fresh, providing a unique opportunity for individuals and communities to connect with plants. We outline health benefits, geographic distribution, and species at risk for Canadian berries. We describe practices, strategies, and approaches used by Indigenous Peoples to steward berries and emphasize the importance of traditional knowledge. We highlight opportunities for in situ and ex situ berry conservation and use of berries in plant breeding and Indigenous foodways. Our aim is to lay the groundwork for future collaborative efforts in these areas and to showcase berries as a useful case study for conservation of food plant biodiversity and public engagement.

Climate Change Reveals Contractions and Expansions in the Distribution of Suitable Habitats for the Neglected Crop Wild Relatives of the Genus Vigna (Savi) in Benin

Sustainable conservation of crop wild relatives is one of the pathways to securing global food security amid climate change threats to biodiversity. However, their conservation is partly limited by spatio-temporal distribution knowledge gaps mostly because they are not morphologically charismatic species to attract conservation attention. Therefore, to contribute to the conservation planning of crop wild relatives, this study assessed the present-day distribution and predicted the potential effect of climate change on the distribution of 15 Vigna crop wild relative taxa in Benin under two future climate change scenarios (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5) at the 2055-time horizon. MaxEnt model, species occurrence records, and a combination of climate- and soil-related variables were used. The model performed well (AUC, mean = 0.957; TSS, mean = 0.774). The model showed that (i) precipitation of the driest quarter and isothermality were the dominant environmental variables influencing the distribution of the 15 wild Vigna species in Benin; (ii) about half of the total land area of Benin was potentially a suitable habitat of the studied species under the present climate; (iii) nearly one-third of the species may shift their potentially suitable habitat ranges northwards and about half of the species may lose their suitable habitats by 5 to 40% by 2055 due to climate change; and (iv) the existing protected area network in Benin was ineffective in conserving wild Vigna under the current or future climatic conditions, as it covered only about 10% of the total potentially suitable habitat of the studied species. The study concludes that climate change will have both negative and positive effects on the habitat suitability distribution of Vigna crop wild relatives in Benin such that the use of the existing protected areas alone may not be the only best option to conserve the wild Vigna diversity. Integrating multiple in situ and ex situ conservation approaches taking into account “other effective area-based conservation measures” is recommended. This study provides a crucial step towards the development of sustainable conservation strategies for Vigna crop wild relatives in Benin and West Africa.

Supporting in situ conservation of the genetic diversity of crop wild relatives using genomic technologies.

The last decade has witnessed huge technological advances in genomics, particularly in DNA sequencing. Here, we review the actual and potential application of genomics in supporting in situ conservation of crop wild relatives (CWRs). In addition to helping in prioritization of protection of CWR taxa and in situ conservation sites, genome analysis is allowing the identification of novel alleles that need to be prioritized for conservation. Genomics is enabling the identification of potential sources of important adaptive traits that can guide the establishment or enrichment of in situ genetic reserves. Genomic tools also have the potential for developing a robust framework for monitoring and reporting genome‐based indicators of genetic diversity changes associated with factors such as land use or climate change. These tools have been demonstrated to have an important role in managing the conservation of populations, supporting sustainable access and utilization of CWR diversity, enhancing accelerated domestication of new crops and forensic genomics thus preventing misappropriation of genetic resources. Despite this great potential, many policy makers and conservation managers have failed to recognize and appreciate the need to accelerate the application of genomics to support the conservation and management of biodiversity in CWRs to underpin global food security. Funding and inadequate genomic expertise among conservation practitioners also remain major hindrances to the widespread application of genomics in conservation.

Uključivanje najprikladnijih populacija divljih srodnika i lokaliteta iz Srbije u Evropsku in situ mrežu

Crop wild relative (CWR) conservation planning has started in many European countries with some of them having developed national CWR conservation strategies. The development of the European PGRFA In Situ Conservation Network has been implemented through the H2020 "Farmer's Pride" project but it did not have sufficient funds to include all European countries. Funding is required to ensure those countries currently uninvolved are able to identify populations and sites, and prepare applications to join the European in situ PGRFA conservation network. The project "Inclusion of CWR sites in European in situ network" was approved for financing under ECPGR Activity Grant Scheme (Phase X) First Call for proposals. The aim is to improve national capacities for in situ PGRFA management in Lithuania, Cyprus, Albania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Slovakia, Latvia, Romania, Croatia and Serbia. The joint effort from the ECPGR Working Group "Wild Species Conservation in Genetic Reserves" and the "Farmer's Pride" Project contributed to the development of European strategy for CWR conservation, National and European MAWP selection and thus biodiversity conservation. Mountain Fruška gora has been proposed for inclusion as the MAWP site, while wild garlic - Allium ursinum and a sunflower CWR - Helianthus tuberosus have been proposed as the MAWP populations from Serbia for the European CWR in situ Network.

Congruence between global crop wild relative hotspots and biodiversity hotspots

Biodiversity is currently experiencing exceptional loss due to the activities of humans, negatively impacting the ecosystem services on which humanity relies. Additionally, human induced climate change is already negatively impacting agriculture worldwide – a trend that will only worsen - leading to reduced yields for some crops and regions. Crop wild relatives (CWR) the wild cousins of domesticated crops, contain a wide breadth of genetic diversity not found in cultivated crops, which can be used for breeding new climate tolerant varieties. However, CWR are under-conserved in the wild, thus jeopardising this resource. Funds for CWR conservation activities are often limited; to conserve efficiently therefore, conservation strategies could prioritise in situ actions in areas of existing biodiversity conservation or protection, so long as CWR diversity overlaps with other components of biodiversity (i.e., other taxa). This analysis examines whether CWR could benefit from being conserved in biodiversity hotspots. Global CWR hotspots were defined from statistically significant spatial clustering of areas of high CWR richness. Biodiversity hotspots had significant overlap with CWR hotspots with the highest coincidence in the Mediterranean basin (91%) and the California Floristic Province (91%). Overall, the Mediterranean basin, Irano-Anatolian, Caucasus and Tropical Andes hotspots showed greatest promise for in situ conservation of CWR, and hence greater efficiency of conservation investments.

West African Crop Wild Relative Checklist, Prioritization and Inventory

Crop wild relatives (CWR) are wild plant taxa genetically related to domesticated crops with trait diversity that can be used in plant breeding to sustain food security. Prioritization is a prerequisite for the cost–effective conservation of CWR as it allows CWR in a checklist to be reduced to a manageable number for active conservation action. In this study, a partial CWR checklist comprising 1651 taxa was compiled for West Africa. Prioritization of the annotated CWR checklist was based on three criteria: (i) economic value of the related crop in West Africa, (ii) CWR genetic closeness to its related crop and (iii) threat status. After applying the three criteria using the parallel method of prioritization, 102 priority CWR were selected for active conservation action. The priority CWR are related to food crops that are nationally, regionally and globally important, such as white guinea yam (Dioscorea cayenensis subsp. rotundata (Poir) J. Miège), cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz), rice (Oryza sativa L.), wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), cowpea (Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.), sweet potato (Ipomea batatas (L.) Lam.), common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench). This CWR checklist and prioritization will help in the development of a regional conservation action plan for West Africa.

Phylogenetic diversity and conservation of crop wild relatives in Colombia.

Crop wild relatives (CWR) are an important agricultural resource as they contain genetic traits not found in cultivated species due to localized adaptation to unique environmental and climatic conditions. Phylogenetic diversity (PD) measures the evolutionary relationship of species using the tree of life. Our knowledge of CWR PD in neotropical regions is in its infancy. We analysed the distribution of CWR PD across Colombia and assessed its conservation status. The areas with the largest concentration of PD were identified as being in the northern part of the central and western Andean mountain ranges and the Pacific region. These centres of high PD were comprised of predominantly short and closely related branches, mostly of species of wild tomatoes and black peppers. In contrast, the CWR PD in the lowland ecosystems of the Amazon and Orinoquia regions had deeply diverging clades predominantly represented by long and distantly related branches (i.e. tuberous roots, grains and cacao). We categorized 50 (52.6%) of the CWR species as ‘high priority’, 36 as ‘medium priority’ and nine as ‘low priority’ for further ex‐situ and in situ conservation actions. New areas of high PD and richness with large ex‐situ gap collections were identified mainly in the northern part of the Andes of Colombia. We found that 56% of the grid cells with the highest PD values were unprotected. These baseline data could be used to create a comprehensive national strategy of CWR conservation in Colombia.

Extinction risk of Mesoamerican crop wild relatives

Societal Impact StatementCrop wild relatives (CWR) are plant taxa closely related to crops and are a source of high genetic diversity that can help adapt crops to the impacts of global change, particularly to meet increasing consumer demand in the face of the climate crisis. CWR provide vital ecosystem services and are increasingly important for food and nutrition security and sustainable and resilient agriculture. They therefore are of major biological, social, cultural and economic importance. Assessing the extinction risk of CWR is essential to prioritise in situ and ex situ conservation strategies in Mesoamerica to guarantee the long‐term survival and availability of these resources for present and future generations worldwide.SummaryEnsuring food security is one of the world's most critical issues as agricultural systems are already being impacted by global change. Crop wild relatives (CWR)—wild plants related to crops—possess genetic variability that can help adapt agriculture to a changing environment and sustainably increase crop yields to meet the food security challenge.Here we report the results of an extinction risk assessment of 224 wild relatives of some of the world's most important crops (i.e. chilli pepper, maize, common bean, avocado, cotton, potato, squash, vanilla and husk tomato) in Mesoamerica—an area of global significance as a centre of crop origin, domestication and of high CWR diversity.We show that 35% of the selected CWR taxa are threatened with extinction according to The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List demonstrates that these valuable genetic resources are under high anthropogenic threat. The dominant threat processes are land use change for agriculture and farming, invasive and other problematic species (e.g. pests, genetically modified organisms) and use of biological resources, including overcollection and logging. The most significant drivers of extinction relate to smallholder agriculture—given its high incidence and ongoing shifts from traditional agriculture to modern practices (e.g. use of herbicides)—smallholder ranching and housing and urban development and introduced genetic material.There is an urgent need to increase knowledge and research around different aspects of CWR. Policies that support in situ and ex situ conservation of CWR and promote sustainable agriculture are pivotal to secure these resources for the benefit of current and future generations.

Gap analyses of priority wild relatives of food crop in current ex situ and in situ conservation in Indonesia

Conservation programmes are always limited by available resources. Careful planning is therefore required to increase the efficiency of conservation and gap analysis can be used for this purpose. This method was used to assess the representativeness of current ex situ and in situ conservation actions of 234 priority crop wild relatives (CWR) in Indonesia. This analysis also included species distribution modelling, the creation of an ecogeographical land characterization map, and a complementarity analysis to identify priorities area for in situ conservation and for further collecting of ex situ conservation programmes. The results show that both current ex situ and in situ conservation actions are insufficient. Sixty-six percent of priority CWRs have no recorded ex situ collections. Eighty CWRs with ex situ collections are still under-represented in the national genebanks and 65 CWRs have no presence records within the existing protected area network although 60 are predicted to exist in several protected areas according to their potential distribution models. The complementarity analysis shows that a minimum of 61 complementary grid areas (complementary based on grid cells) are required to conserve all priority taxa and 40 complementary protected areas (complementary based on existing protected areas) are required to conserve those with known populations within the existing in situ protected area network. The top ten of complementary protected areas are proposed as the initial areas for the development of CWR genetic reserves network in Indonesia. It is recommended to enhanced coordination between ex situ and in situ conservation stakeholders for sustaining the long term conservation of CWR in Indonesia. Implementation of the research recommendations will provide for the first time an effective conservation planning of Indonesia’s CWR diversity and will significantly enhance the country’s food and nutritional security.