Dataset Information

Crop wild relatives of the United States require urgent conservation action.

ABSTRACT: The contributions of crop wild relatives (CWR) to food security depend on their conservation and accessibility for use. The United States contains a diverse native flora of CWR, including those of important cereal, fruit, nut, oil, pulse, root and tuber, and vegetable crops, which may be threatened in their natural habitats and underrepresented in plant conservation repositories. To determine conservation priorities for these plants, we developed a national inventory, compiled occurrence information, modeled potential distributions, and conducted threat assessments and conservation gap analyses for 600 native taxa. We found that 7.1% of the taxa may be critically endangered in their natural habitats, 50% may be endangered, and 28% may be vulnerable. We categorized 58.8% of the taxa as of urgent priority for further action, 37% as high priority, and 4.2% as medium priority. Major ex situ conservation gaps were identified for 93.3% of the wild relatives (categorized as urgent or high priority), with 83 taxa absent from conservation repositories, while 93.1% of the plants were equivalently prioritized for further habitat protection. Various taxonomic richness hotspots across the US represent focal regions for further conservation action. Related needs include facilitating greater access to and characterization of these cultural-genetic-natural resources and raising public awareness of their existence, value, and plight.

SUBMITTER: Khoury CK

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7776777 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Crop wild relatives of the United States require urgent conservation action.

Khoury Colin K CK Carver Daniel D Greene Stephanie L SL Williams Karen A KA Achicanoy Harold A HA Schori Melanie M León Blanca B Wiersema John H JH Frances Anne A

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20201214 52

The contributions of crop wild relatives (CWR) to food security depend on their conservation and accessibility for use. The United States contains a diverse native flora of CWR, including those of important cereal, fruit, nut, oil, pulse, root and tuber, and vegetable crops, which may be threatened in their natural habitats and underrepresented in plant conservation repositories. To determine conservation priorities for these plants, we developed a national inventory, compiled occurrence informa ...[more]

PMID: 33318205

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Project description:Crop wild relatives (CWR) are an indispensable source of alleles to improve desired traits in related crops. While knowledge on the genetic diversity of CWR can facilitate breeding and conservation strategies, it has poorly been assessed. Cultivated bananas are a major part of the diet and income of hundreds of millions of people and can be considered as one of the most important fruits worldwide. Here, we assessed the genetic diversity and structure of Musa balbisiana, an important CWR of plantains, dessert and cooking bananas. Musa balbisiana has its origin in subtropical and tropical broadleaf forests of northern Indo-Burma. This includes a large part of northern Vietnam where until now, no populations have been sampled. We screened the genetic variation and structure present within and between 17 Vietnamese populations and six from China using 18 polymorphic SSR markers. Relatively high variation was found in populations from China and central Vietnam. Populations from northern Vietnam showed varying levels of genetic variation, with low variation in populations near the Red River. Low genetic variation was found in populations of southern Vietnam. Analyses of population structure revealed that populations of northern Vietnam formed a distinct genetic cluster from populations sampled in China. Together with populations of central Vietnam, populations from northern Vietnam could be subdivided into five clusters, likely caused by mountain ranges and connected river systems. We propose that populations sampled in central Vietnam and on the western side of the Hoang Lien Son mountain range in northern Vietnam belong to the native distribution area and should be prioritised for conservation. Southern range edge populations in central Vietnam had especially high genetic diversity, with a high number of unique alleles and might be connected with core populations in northern Laos and southwest China. Southern Vietnamese populations are considered imported and not native.

Dataset Information

Crop wild relatives of the United States require urgent conservation action.

Publications

Crop wild relatives of the United States require urgent conservation action.

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