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Agriculture has a long history in Georgia; it has led to a great variety of ancient crops. However, this diversity is under threat for many reasons. First, introduced crops have caused a loss of traditional cultivars, because the introduced crops are preferred due to their higher yield. Moreover, agricultural machines such as forage and grain combine harvesters imported to Georgia are constructed for widely distributed, imported crops and cannot be used to harvest local cultivars. Until recently, genetic erosion of ancient crop varieties was not a problem in the mountain areas of Georgia, which until the 1990s constituted a depository of local crop varieties of wheat, barley, rye, oat, common millet, traditional legumes, vegetables, herbs, and spice plants with specific varieties adapted to mountain conditions. These mountain areas worked as a depository because local mountain communities preserved their traditional ways of life and socioeconomic structures. Their traditional agricultural equipment, used on a large scale until the 1990s, still allows them to maintain areas under cultivation (with grain or other crops) on steep slopes and at high elevations where modern tractors cannot be used. Moreover, some old landraces of wheat and barley are still being used to prepare bread and beer for religious rituals. Currently, many endemic and native representatives of crop plants are in danger of extinction. International nature conservation institutions and Georgian scientific and nongovernmental organizations have developed plans to preserve the genetic resources of local cultivars.

Background: Ajara, Samegrelo and Kvemo Svaneti are historical provinces of Georgia located on the south-facing macro-slope of the western part of the Greater Caucasus (Samegrelo and Kvemo Svaneti) and west of the Lesser Caucasus towards the Black Sea (Ajara). In this study we documented traditional plant use in Ajara, Samegrelo and Kvemo Svaneti.Methods: Fieldwork was conducted from July-August 2014 and June -November 2019. Interviews using semi-structured questionnaires were conducted with 84 participants (40 women and 44 men), with oral prior informed consent. Results:We encountered 276 plant species belonging to 181 genera of 88 vascular plant families, and 3 fungal species and 8x undetermined fungi of at least 9 genera, belonging to at least 7 fungal families, and 1 lichen being used in the research region. Of these 163 species were exclusively wild collected, 114 were grown in homegardens, and 18 were both grown in gardens and collected in the wild. Plants and their uses mostly overlapped among the areas within the region, with a slightly wider divergence in uses than in plants.

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Plant traits have been used to predict species and community responses to environmental gradients. We studied variation of leaf area (LA), specific leaf area (SLA), flowering shoot number and seed mass along an elevation gradient in the case of Trigonocaryum involucratum, a scree-growing plant endemic to the Caucasus ecoregion. The study had two major aims: (1) to compare the role of intra-population and inter-population variation of functional trait values; and (2) to ascertain dependence between elevation and trait values and their variation. We collected trait data in several populations in Dagestan (Russian Federation), where the species has about a 1000-m amplitude of elevational distribution. The intraspecific variability of trait values was assessed via standard statistical tools (one-way ANOVA and linear regression analysis). The trait values mostly have high inter-population variation (more than 90% for each of the trait values compared to intra-population variation of each trait), indicating adaptation of populations to site conditions. Much higher intra- vs. inter-population variation in SLA at subnival elevations indicates local micro-site diversity and may serve as a buffer against future stress related to climate change. All the trait values negatively but significantly correlate (weakly or moderately) with elevation. Negative correlation presumably shows a certain increase in the limiting effect of the elevation gradient associated with changes in temperature, soil nutrient availability and soil water content, as well as with high solar radiation. More evidence from a broader study of the species throughout its distribution range is needed for firmer conclusions about the intraspecific variability of T. involucratum.