<i>In situ</i> Conservation Assessment of Forage and Fodder CWR in Spain Using Phytosociological Associations

• Main Authors: María Luisa Rubio Teso, José M. Iriondo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-10-01
• Series: Sustainability
• Subjects: cwr; optimized conservation; phytosociological associations; ecogeographical land characterization (elc) maps; genetic diversity; sites of community importance (sci) sites; natura 2000
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/11/21/5882

Crop wild relatives (CWR) can be used to mitigate the negative effects of climate change on crops, but their genetic diversity conservation has not been properly addressed. We propose a new target unit for conservation (Asso-EcoU) based on the occurrence of phytosociological associations in different environments. This approach involves using ecogeographical information and distribution data of associations to identify an optimized set of locations for <i>in situ </i>genetic diversity conservation. Thirty-nine CWR species, grouped in 15 associations, generated 165 Asso-EcoUs. Using the Sites of Community Importance (SCI) of Natura 2000 in Spain, we performed three analyses: (1) gap analysis, (2) coverage of the network, and (3) complementarity analysis. Analyses were performed with both target conservation units, associations, or Asso-EcoUs. The SCI network includes 100% of the associations and 69% of the Asso-EcoUs. The coverage assessment showed that 8.8% of the network is enough to encompass all the networks&#8217; target conservation units. Complementarity analysis showed that seven and 52 SCI areas are needed to contain at least one site of the 15 associations and the 114 Asso-EcoUs, respectively. These results highlight the value of Asso-EcoUs to potentially incorporate the genetic diversity component into conservation plans, while increasing the number of species covered.