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Title: Priorities for enhancing the ex situ conservation and use of Australian crop wild relatives

Author
item NORTON, SALLY - NON ARS EMPLOYEE
item KHOURY, COLIN
item SOSA, CHRYSTIAN - INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR TROPICAL AGRICULTURE (CIAT)
item CASTANEDA-ALVAREZ, NORA - INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR TROPICAL AGRICULTURE (CIAT)
item ACHICANOY, HAROLD - INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR TROPICAL AGRICULTURE (CIAT)
item SOTELO, STEVEN - INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR TROPICAL AGRICULTURE (CIAT)

Submitted to: Australian Journal of Botany
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 10/19/2017
Publication Date: 11/16/2017
Citation: Norton, S.L., Khoury, C.K., Sosa, C.C., Castaneda-Alvarez, N.P., Achicanoy, H.A., Sotelo, S. 2017. Priorities for enhancing the ex situ conservation and use of Australian crop wild relatives. Australian Journal of Botany. 65(8):638-645. https://doi.org/10.1071/BT16236.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1071/BT16236

Interpretive Summary: Contributions by Australia’s crop wild relatives to plant breeding are dependent upon their availability for research via genebanks. However, the comprehensiveness of genebank collections for these species has not been assessed. We determined the state of representation of Australia’s major food crop wild relatives in ex situ conservation, identifying the gaps needing to be filled and outlining the key activities required to more fully safeguard their diversity and to increase their use.

Technical Abstract: Crop wild relatives - the wild cousins of cultivated plants - are increasingly recognized for their potential to contribute to the productivity, nutritional quality and sustainability of agricultural crops. However, the use of these genetic resources is dependent upon their conservation in genebanks and consequent availability to plant breeders, the status of which has not been comprehensively analyzed in Australia. Such conservation assessments are given urgency by reports of increasing threats to natural populations due to habitat destruction, climate change, and invasive species, among other causes. Here we document Australian wild plants related to important food crops, and outline their priorities for ex situ conservation. Given that no major domesticated food plants originated in the country, Australia’s native flora of crop wild relatives is surprisingly rich, including potentially valuable cousins of banana, eggplant, melon, mung bean, pigeonpea, rice, sorghum, sweetpotato, soybean, and yam. Species richness of the wild relatives of major food crops is concentrated in the northern and northeastern tropical regions, in the Northern Territory, Western Australia, and Queensland. Geographic priorities for collecting of these taxa for ex situ conservation, due to the limited representation of their populations in genebanks, largely align with areas of high species richness. Proposed dam building and agricultural expansion in northern Australia make conservation action for these species more urgent. We outline key steps needed for enhancing the ex situ conservation of Australia’s heritage of major food crop wild relatives, and discuss the critical activities required to increase their use.