Distribution of the Genus Passiflora L. Diversity in Colombia and Its Potential as an Indicator for Biodiversity Management in the Coffee Growing Zone

Abstract

Analysis was made of 3,923 records of 162 wild Passiflora specimens to assess the distribution of their diversity in Colombia, identify collection gaps, and explore their potential as indicator species. Despite variable collecting density among and within biogeographic regions, the Andean region clearly presents a higher species richness, particularly in the central coffee growing zone and the departments of Antioquia, Cundinamarca and Valle del Cauca. The elevational distribution of diversity shows a small peak below 500 m, and two higher ones between 1,000–2,000 and 2,500–3,000 m. This pattern corresponds to divergent adaptive trends among infrageneric divisions. The analysis on 19 climatic variables showed that the two principal variance components, explaining 77 percent of the total, are respectively associated with temperature and precipitation, without influence of seasonality. Distribution parameters allow recognizing more than 36 narrow endemics. Prediction of species distribution showed nine areas with very high richness (predicted sympatry of 41 to 54 species) in the Andean region, three of which correspond to collection gaps. Endemics were not particularly frequent there, so a prioritization of protected areas based on species richness would not favor their conservation. The sites with high Passiflora diversity are poorly represented in the current system of protected areas. Instead, their striking correspondence with ecotopes of the coffee growing zone imposes a conservation strategy integrating agricultural and environmental management at the landscape level. Reciprocally, several traits of Passiflora species make them particularly suited as indicators for any effort of conservation or restoration in this region of importance for the country

What Determine the Distribution and Richness of Wild Spices in the Sudano-Guinean zone of Benin, West Africa?

“…The study area was subdivided into 618 cells of 0.1 degree² resolution and in each cell the number of species was computed. To generate an accurate richness map, less biased by the subjective assignment of grid origin and less sensitive to small errors in the geographical coordinates, species were assigned to grid cells using a circular neighborhood (Ocampo et al, 2010) of radius 10 km. A Conditional inference tree (CIT) model was used to determine which ecological factors drive the most the distribution and the richness patterns of the wild spices, and how.…”

Genetic Breeding and Diversity of the Genus Passiflora: Progress and Perspectives in Molecular and Genetic Studies

“…Among these countries, we highlight Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Colombia, which account for approximately 84% of accessions. Although it is likely that the exact number of accessions kept in these collections has varied since the compilations made by Ferreira [59], the predominance of accessions in South American collections present in tropical countries is expected because this region is considered as a center of diversity of the genus Passiflora [7,8,9,10]. In addition, these same countries are recognized as leading producers of passion fruit.…”

“…Approximately 96% of the species are distributed in the Americas, although there are records of species in India, China, Southeastern Asia, Australia, the Pacific islands, and neighboring regions (examples of species include Passiflora aurantia , Passiflora cinnabarina , Passiflora herbertiana , Passiflora cupiformis , Passiflora henryi , Passiflora jugorum , Passiflora moluccana , and Passiflora siamica ). Brazil and Colombia, in particular, are centers of diversity; approximately 30% of Passiflora species are found in these countries (approximately 150 in Brazil and 170 in Colombia), including 89 that are endemic to Brazil [7,8,9,10]. …”

Molecular Genetic Variability of Commercial and Wild Accessions of Passion Fruit (Passiflora spp.) Targeting ex Situ Conservation and Breeding

“…Although the taxonomy is unclear, and thus the total number of species is unknown, the genus Passiflora is recognized as the richest genus in terms of the number of species within the family, with approximately 520 species [1]. The vast majority of Passiflora species (approximately 96%) are distributed throughout the Americas [2], and Brazil and Colombia are prominent centers of diversity for this genus, as approximately 30% of Passiflora species (~150 species in Brazil and ~170 species in Colombia) are found in these regions, with 89 species being endemic to Brazil [3,4,5,6]. …”