title: Global conservation priorities for crop wild relatives.
abstract: The wild relatives of domesticated crops possess genetic diversity useful for developing more productive, nutritious and resilient crop varieties. However, their conservation status and availability for utilization are a concern, and have not been quantified globally. Here, we model the global distribution of 1,076 taxa related to 81 crops, using occurrence information collected from biodiversity, herbarium and gene bank databases. We compare the potential geographic and ecological diversity encompassed in these distributions with that currently accessible in gene banks, as a means to estimate the comprehensiveness of the conservation of genetic diversity. Our results indicate that the diversity of crop wild relatives is poorly represented in gene banks. For 313 (29.1% of total) taxa associated with 63 crops, no germplasm accessions exist, and a further 257 (23.9%) are represented by fewer than ten accessions. Over 70% of taxa are identified as high priority for further collecting in order to improve their representation in gene banks, and over 95% are insufficiently represented in regard to the full range of geographic and ecological variation in their native distributions. The most critical collecting gaps occur in the Mediterranean and the Near East, western and southern Europe, Southeast and East Asia, and South America. We conclude that a systematic effort is needed to improve the conservation and availability of crop wild relatives for use in plant breeding.
authors.affiliation: International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Km 17, Recta Cali-Palmira, Cali 763537, Colombia.|School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK.
authors.forename: Nora P
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-1827-4782
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Castañeda-Álvarez
authors.affiliation: International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Km 17, Recta Cali-Palmira, Cali 763537, Colombia.|Centre for Crop Systems Analysis, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Colin K
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-7893-5744
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Khoury
authors.affiliation: International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Km 17, Recta Cali-Palmira, Cali 763537, Colombia.
authors.forename: Harold A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Achicanoy
authors.affiliation: International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Km 17, Recta Cali-Palmira, Cali 763537, Colombia.
authors.forename: Vivian
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bernau
authors.affiliation: Global Crop Diversity Trust, Platz der Vereinten Nationen 7, 53115 Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Hannes
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dempewolf
authors.affiliation: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Conservation Science, Millennium Seed Bank, Wakehurst Place, Ardingly RH17 6TN, UK.
authors.forename: Ruth J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Eastwood
authors.affiliation: Global Crop Diversity Trust, Platz der Vereinten Nationen 7, 53115 Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Guarino
authors.affiliation: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Conservation Science, Millennium Seed Bank, Wakehurst Place, Ardingly RH17 6TN, UK.
authors.forename: Ruth H
authors.initials: RH
authors.lastname: Harker
authors.affiliation: International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Km 17, Recta Cali-Palmira, Cali 763537, Colombia.|CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), Km 17, Recta Cali-Palmira, Cali 763537, Colombia.
authors.forename: Andy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Jarvis
authors.affiliation: School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK.
authors.forename: Nigel
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Maxted
authors.affiliation: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Conservation Science, Millennium Seed Bank, Wakehurst Place, Ardingly RH17 6TN, UK.
authors.forename: Jonas V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.affiliation: International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Km 17, Recta Cali-Palmira, Cali 763537, Colombia.|CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS), Km 17, Recta Cali-Palmira, Cali 763537, Colombia.|Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science, School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK.
authors.forename: Julian
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-8044-583X
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ramirez-Villegas
authors.affiliation: International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), Km 17, Recta Cali-Palmira, Cali 763537, Colombia.
authors.forename: Chrystian C
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-3734-3248
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Sosa
authors.affiliation: Centre for Crop Systems Analysis, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 1, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Paul C
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2196-547X
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Struik
authors.affiliation: School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK.
authors.forename: Holly
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Vincent
authors.affiliation: Global Crop Diversity Trust, Platz der Vereinten Nationen 7, 53115 Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Toll
mesh_terms: D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000502:physiology*; D005843:Geography; D038622:Internationality