This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Overlooked in national reports and in conservation programs, wild food plants (WFPs) have been a vital component of food and nutrition security for centuries. Recently, several countries have reported on the widespread and regular consumption of WFPs, particularly by rural and indigenous communities but also in urban contexts. They are reported as critical for livelihood resilience and for providing essential micronutrients to people enduring food shortages or other emergency situations. However, threats derived from changes in land use and climate, overexploitation and urbanization are reducing the availability of these biological resources in the wild and contributing to the loss of traditional knowledge associated with their use. Meanwhile, few policy measures are in place explicitly targeting their conservation and sustainable use. This can be partially attributed to a lack of scientific evidence and awareness among policymakers and relevant stakeholders of the untapped potential of WFPs, accompanied by market and non-market barriers limiting their use. This paper reviews recent efforts being undertaken in several countries to build evidence of the importance of WFPs, while providing examples of cross-sectoral cooperation and multi-stakeholder approaches that are contributing to advance their conservation and sustainable use. An integrated conservation approach is proposed contributing to secure their availability for future generations.
Recruitment from seeds is among the most vulnerable stage for plants as global temperatures change. While germination is the means by which the vast majority of the world's flora regenerate naturally, a framework for accurately predicting which species are at greatest risk of germination failure during environmental perturbation is lacking. Taking a physiological approach, we assess how one family, the Cactaceae, may respond to global temperature change based on the thermal buffering capacity of the germination phenotype. We selected 55 cactus species from the Americas, all geo-referenced seed collections, reflecting the broad environmental envelope of the family across 70° of latitude and 3700 m of altitude. We then generated empirical data of the thermal germination response from which we estimated the minimum (T ), optimum (T ) and ceiling (T ) temperature for germination and the thermal time (θ ) for each species based on the linearity of germination rate with temperature. Species with the highest T and lowest T germinated fastest, and the interspecific sensitivity of the germination rate to temperature, as assessed through θ , varied tenfold. A left-skewed asymmetry in the germination rate with temperature was relatively common but the unimodal pattern typical of crop species failed for nearly half of the species due to insensitivity to temperature change at T . For 32 fully characterized species, seed thermal parameters correlated strongly with the mean temperature of the wettest quarter of the seed collection sites. By projecting the mean temperature of the wettest quarter under two climate change scenarios, we predict under the least conservative scenario (+3.7°C) that 25% of cactus species will have reduced germination performance, whilst the remainder will have an efficiency gain, by the end of the 21st century.
This is a PDF file of an article that has undergone enhancements after acceptance, such as the addition of a cover page and metadata, and formatting for readability, but it is not yet the definitive version of record. This version will undergo additional copyediting, typesetting and review before it is published in its final form, but we are providing this version to give early visibility of the article. Please note that, during the production process, errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.
With more than two billion people suffering from malnutrition and diets homogenising globally, it is vital to identify and conserve nutrient-rich species that may contribute to improving food security and diversifying diets. Of the approximately 390,000 vascular plant species known to science, thousands have been reported to be edible, yet their Global plant diversity as a reservoir of micronutrients for humanity 2 nutritional content remains poorly characterised. Here we use phylogenetic information to identify plants with the greatest potential to support strategies alleviating B-vitamin deficiencies. We predict the B-vitamin profiles of >6,400 edible plants lacking nutritional data and identify 1,044 species as promising key sources of B vitamins. Several of these source species should become conservation priorities, as 63 (6%are threatened in the wild and 272 (26%) are absent from seedbanks. Moreover, many of these conservation-priority source species overlap with hotspots of malnutrition, highlighting the need for safeguarding strategies to ensure that edible plant diversity remains a reservoir of nutrition for future generations, particularly in countries needing it most. Although by no means a silver bullet to tackling malnutrition, conserving a diverse portfolio of edible plants, unravelling their nutritional potentials, and promoting their sustainable use are essential strategies to enhance global nutritional resilience. MAINAround two billion people are currently afflicted by micronutrient (vitamin and mineral) deficiencies 1,2 . This "hidden hunger" causes increased susceptibility to infectious disease, reduced cognitive function, blindness and leads to an estimated one million premature deaths yearly [1][2][3] . Hidden hunger cannot be eradicated by simply increasing calorie intake; diversified, plant-rich diets are needed to provide sufficient nutrients and calories 4-6 . Indeed, driven by a dependence on a few staple crops (often due to the inaccessible, high cost of nonstaple foods), micronutrient deficiencies remain highly prevalent in some countries where the daily energy availability exceeds 2,500 kcal 1 .
Malcolmia littorea (Brassicaceae) is a threatened species growing in the coastal sandy dunes of the westMediterranean basin. In this study, the seed germination and seedling emergence requirements of this species were investigated in the only remaining native population in Italy. The highest germination percentage was achieved in darkness with scoring under safe green light at 5-10°C. Seedling emergence was highest when seeds were buried between 1 and 10 mm in depth. The results suggest that germination and seedling emergence are adapted to Mediterranean coastal habitats by employing a common mechanism of light-inhibited germination and by germinating at cooler temperatures before the onset of the summer drought. Seeds were also collected from plants cultivated at a botanical garden and from plants reintroduced by sowing or by transplanting. For those populations, germination was maximal between 10-25°C, suggesting that the thermal germination behaviour may be affected by the maternal environment of seed production within one generation. It is suggested to use seeds produced in the same environment to which they will be used for the reintroduction of this species.
Background Mexico is one of the most floristically rich countries in the world. Despite significant contributions made on the understanding of its unique flora, the knowledge on its diversity, geographic distribution and human uses, is still largely fragmented. Unfortunately, deforestation is heavily impacting this country and native tree species are under threat. The loss of trees has a direct impact on vital ecosystem services, affecting the natural capital of Mexico and people’s livelihoods. Given the importance of trees in Mexico for many aspects of human well-being, it is critical to have a more complete understanding of their diversity, distribution, traditional uses and conservation status. We aimed to produce the most comprehensive database and catalogue on native trees of Mexico by filling those gaps, to support their in situ and ex situ conservation, promote their sustainable use, and inform reforestation and livelihoods programmes. Methods A database with all the tree species reported for Mexico was prepared by compiling information from herbaria and reviewing the available floras. Species names were reconciled and various specialised sources were used to extract additional species information, i.e. endemic status, threat status, availability in seed collections, reports on plant uses and conservation actions currently in place. With this information, a comprehensive catalogue of native trees from Mexico was redacted. Available georeferenced records were used to map each species distribution and perform spatial analyses to identify gaps of information and priority areas for their conservation and exploration. Results Mexico has at least 2,885 native tree species, belonging to 612 genera and 128 families. Fabaceae is the most represented family and Quercus the most represented genus. Approximately 44% of tree species are endemic to the country. The southern part of the country showed the highest values of species richness. Six hundred and seventy-four species have at least one documented human use. In terms of conservation assessment, ca. 33% of species have been assessed by either the IUCN Red List (919) or the National protection catalogue “NORMA Oficial Mexicana NOM-059” (29) or both (45). Additionally, 98 species have been included in the CITES listing for protection. In terms of existing conservation efforts, 19% of species have ex situ protection in seed banks, while protected areas overlap with all the identified peaks of species richness, except for those in the states of Veracruz and Chiapas. This work constitutes a key milestone for the knowledge, management, and conservation of the Mexican native trees. The two areas with high density of tree species identified in Veracruz and Chiapas represent two priority areas for tree conservation in Mexico, where integrated in situ and ex situ conservation efforts should be focused.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.