In situ conservation of wild plants for food and agriculture using umbrella species (IsWEL)
The aim of the project is to identify WEL umbrella species and candidates for GenEG from WEL species hotspots nationwide for the expansion of a German network of genetic conservation areas (GenEG) and to implement GenEG in certain regions as a model.
In order to select effective GenEGs as efficiently as possible, the umbrella species concept will be used, which makes it possible to map biological diversity in a simplified manner and prioritize species conservation measures. In this way, GenEGs are no longer focused on individual species, but rather on hotspots of WEL species of different habitat types.
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The wild carrot (Daucus carota) at seed maturity. The ideal time to collect this WEL species.Collected seeds of wild carrot (Daucus carota).
Project priorities
The overall result should be a GenEG selection process for priority WEL that is economically efficient and can be integrated into existing nature conservation and agricultural financing activities.
Project region
Germany
Further project details
There are approximately 3,500 wild plant species in Germany. Of these, the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL 2015) defines an estimated 2,800 species as wild plant species for food and agriculture (WEL species). Wild relatives of our cultivated plants (WVK) are of particular importance for securing food production and the production of other agricultural raw materials. They form a subset of WEL species and are necessary for breeding improved varieties.
The conservation of WEL species in ex situ collections is only possible to a limited extent, as storage capacities are insufficient to preserve the species and their intraspecific diversity in a representative manner. In addition, these are static samples that do not adapt to changing environmental conditions (Iriondo 2012, Maxted et al. 2008). The results of international (Castañeda-Álvarez et al. 2016, Vincent et al. 2019) and European studies (Dias et al. 2012) show that WVK species in particular are underrepresented in ex situ collections, both from a taxonomic perspective and in terms of the geographical origin of their accessions. Even in situ, these species are not adequately protected. According to Bilz et al. (2011), 16% of the 572 WVK species found in Europe are considered to be endangered to varying degrees. Therefore, greater attention must be paid to the in situ conservation of WEL species, especially WVK.
In Germany, there are few systematic studies on the conservation status of WEL species inside and outside legally protected areas, as these species have not yet been defined as protected species in these areas, or only rarely, and are therefore not the focus of conservation management. A global network of genetic conservation areas (GenEG) is considered the most effective measure for systematically protecting populations of WEL species and their intraspecific diversity in situ. A GenEG is defined as an area designated for active and permanent conservation measures, where the genetic diversity of naturally occurring wild plant populations is managed and monitored (Maxted et al. 2015, 1997).
Bilz, M., Kell, S., Maxted, N., Lansdown, R.V. (Hrsg.), 2011. European red list of vascular plants. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.
BMEL, 2015. Pflanzengenetische Ressourcen in Deutschland – Nationales Fachprogramm zur Erhaltung und nachhaltigen Nutzung pflanzengenetischer Ressourcen landwirtschaftlicher und gartenbaulicher Kulturpflanzen.
Dias, S., Dulloo, M.E., Arnaud, E., 2012. The role of EURISCO in promoting use of agricultural biodiversity. In: Maxted N., Dulloo M.E., Ford-Lloyd B.V., Frese L., Iriondo J.M., Pinheiro de Carvalho M.A.A. (Hrsg.), Agrobiodiversity Conservation Securing the Diversity of Crop Wild Relatives and Landraces. p. CABI, Wallingford, 270-277.
Iriondo, J.M., 2012. CWR umbrella conservation approach. Working document prepared by AEGRO, Annex 9_2, http:// aegro.jki.bund.de/aegro/index.php?id=174, Download am 23.05.2019.
Maxted, N., Avagyan, A., Frese, L., Iriondo, J., Brehm, J.M., Singer, A., Kell, S., 2015. ECPGR Concept for in situ conservation of crop wild relatives in Europe 28.
Maxted, N., Dulloo, E., V Ford-Lloyd, B., Iriondo, J.M., Jarvis, A., 2008. Gap analysis: A tool for complementary genetic conservation assessment. Diversity and Distributions 14, 1018–1030.
Maxted, N., Hawkes, J.G., Guarino, L., Sawkins, M., 1997. Towards the selection of taxa for plant genetic conservation. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 44, 337–348.
Vincent, H., Amri, A., Castañeda-Álvarez, N.P., Dempewolf, H., Dulloo, E., Guarino, L., Hole, D., Mba, C., Toledo, A., Maxted, N., 2019. Modeling of crop wild relative species identifies areas globally for in situ conservation. Communications Biology 2, 136.
To identify WEL species hotspots, species location data was compiled from the nature conservation authorities of the federal states as well as suitable species records from citizen science portals and projects related to WEL species. After data cleansing and preparation, approximately 30 million location data points were available for evaluation, which were used to calculate the respective number of all occurring WEL species and the number of priority WEL species for a nationwide grid (one-sixteenth of a topographic map sheet, approx. 3x3km).
Based on the identified hotspots, a backdrop of potential genetic conservation areas (GenEG) was developed, initially comprising 81 grid fields and covering 73% of all WEL species and 85% of all priority WEL species. In further steps, areas (GenEG candidates) within the hotspot grid cells were specified (approx. 5 ha each) and their umbrella species determined. They cover approx. 68% of the priority WEL taxa. The data collected during the mapping of the GenEG candidates was handed over to the Information and Coordination Center for Biological Diversity (IBV) of the BLE and will be published in the future via the PGRDEU portal (in situ occurences: PGRDEU (genres.de)).
For genetic analyses, leaf samples of Lactuca serriola and Trifolium campestre were also collected in the project and evaluated by the Julius Kühn Institute using genotyping-by-sequencing. Furthermore, seeds of priority WEL species were collected from the GenEG candidates and handed over to the Osnabrück Botanical Garden for storage.
The establishment of genetic conservation areas and the creation of a network of “genetic conservation areas for WEL hotspots” as well as networking with biosphere reserves are planned and are being prepared by the project partners.
