A Prioritized Inventory of Crop Wild Relatives and Wild Harvested Plants of Italy

Abstract

The aim of this study was to construct a solid basis for developing a crop wild relatives (CWR) and wild harvested plants (WHP) conservation strategy at the European and national levels. To this end we (i) worked out an annotated and synonymized Working Database of the Italian Vascular Plants, (ii) worked out a full CWR–WHP checklist for Italy, (iii) worked out a prioritized CWR and WHP inventory, (iv) identified native taxa with an ascertained utility for breeding, and (v) on the basis of a gap analysis case study on two Brassica taxa, outlined the first steps to be taken immediately to develop their in situ and ex situ conservation strategy. The Working Database of the Italian Vascular Plants includes a total of 11,710 taxa. Of those, 92.0% form the CWR–WHP checklist. On the basis of the importance of the related crops, their status, and their need of protection and/or monitoring, 1118 taxa were prioritized. Of these, 129 taxa deserve the highest priority in planning a conservation strategy, including 16 that currently have a practical use in breeding. The case study showed that little is still known about relic CWR populations and that not all of them are adequately protected in situ and ex situ. Since information on their abundance, location, distribution, ecological conditions, census, and current conservation is lacking, initiatives should be put into action immediately for developing a national and European conservation strategy.

A methodological approach to identify agro-biodiversity hotspots for priority in situ conservation of plant genetic resources

“…A specific agro-biodiversity conservation plan is needed for Europe because the region includes the Mediterranean basin biodiversity hotspot and is rich in both crop wild relatives and landraces that are still cultivated [ 22 , 27 – 36 ], while high population density, widespread industrial and agricultural activities and the effects of climate change make biodiversity vulnerable. In fact, as can be seen from data of the European Union which covers a large part of Europe, and in spite of the European Union network of protected areas, the existence of quite detailed information systems on nature conservation, and of common agro-environmental policies, biodiversity decline has not been halted in recent years (European Parliament Resolution 2016) [ 37 ].…”

Back into the wild—Apply untapped genetic diversity of wild relatives for crop improvement

“…Inventories must be made as the first step to conserve CWRs for candidate species. CWR inventories can be (and have been) made at international, national, and regional levels (Berlingeri & Crespo, ; Khoury et al., ; Landucci et al., ; Maxted & Kell, ) or can be focused on a particular crop taxon (Castaneda‐Alvarez et al., ; Khoury et al., ; Zhao et al., ). Currently, several of these inventories have deposited information such as taxonomic origins, regional priority categories, and proposed conservation strategies into electronic databases (Table ).…”

“…Prioritizing CWRs is important for efficient conservation efforts. For various reasons, some national or local inventories are focused only on major crops (Berlingeri & Crespo, ; Khoury et al., ; Landucci et al., ; Maxted & Kell, ; Vincent et al., ). In these inventories, higher priorities are given to the wild relatives falling into primary or secondary GPs over other more distant ones, as it is relatively easy to transfer traits between species within the primary GP.…”

The occurrence of Brassica montana Pourr. (Brassicaceae) in the Italian regions of Emilia-Romagna and Marche, and in the Republic of San Marino

“…7. Ancona: The presence of a population in Ancona was mentioned byLanducci et al (2014), who reported it as a new finding made in 2012. However, several…”