Diversity and Genetic Erosion of Ancient Crops and Wild Relatives of Agricultural Cultivars for Food: Implications for Nature Conservation in Georgia (Caucasus)

Akhalkatsi, Maia; Ekhvaia, Jana; Asanidze, Zezva

doi:10.5772/30286

Cited by 30 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…These served as a repository of ancient crops until the 1990s. Recently, the most prevalent cause for genetic erosion of traditional crop varieties is the outmigration in mountain regions as reaction to the harsh economic conditions and lack of modern infrastructure [3,[53][54][55]. The shift from traditional cultivars to modern high-yielding crops, which took place in the lowlands much earlier, began in mountain villages towards the end of Soviet occupation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant and fungal use in Tusheti, Khevsureti, and Pshavi, Sakartvelo (Republic of Georgia), Caucasus

Zambrana²,

et al. 2016

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In this study, we documented traditional plant use in Tusheti, Khevsureti, and Pshavi and hypothesized that (i) plant use knowledge in general would be higher in isolated high elevation communities, and that (ii) use of home gardens would be much more restricted to lower elevation settings. Fieldwork was conducted in Khevsureti, Pshavi, and Tusheti. Interviews using semi-structured questionnaires were conducted with 74 participants. In the present study, we encountered 317 plant species belonging to 203 genera of 80 families being used in the research region. Of these, 197 species were exclusively wild-harvested, 73 were grown in homegardens, and 47 were both grown in gardens and sourced in the wild. The ordinations in plant-space and in use-space were significantly fit by elevation of informant community, and community itself. Age and gender did not significantly fit the distribution of informants across either plant-space or use-space, respectively. Number of use-reports was highest across all communities in the food and medicinal use-categories, and informant consensus. Species with especially high use-diversity (UD) tended to be woody species although. Species with high usevalue (UV) were mostly managed/domesticated species from home orchards, gardens, or farms. Plant species, and uses, found in our study, showed clear relations to the wider Eurasian cultural complex. The species number found was, however, far higher than in any published study from either the region or the wiser Mediterranean and Eurasia. The maintenance of home gardens in Georgia serves as socioecological memory. While the great variety of plant species used in the Georgian Caucasus might provide a reservoir for food security climate change is starting to affect both natural floristic diversity and gardens both in the Caucasus as well as continent wide.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plant and fungal use in Tusheti, Khevsureti, and Pshavi, Sakartvelo (Republic of Georgia), Caucasus

Zambrana²,

et al. 2016

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“…These show a high level of adaptation to local climatic conditions and often-high disease resistance. Early research documented this great variety (Dekaprelevich & Menabde 1929, Ketskhoveli 1928, 1957, Ketskhoveli et al 1960, Menabde 1938, 1948, but a rapid loss of local cultivars of cereals, legumes, and flax began in the 1950s with Stalinist agricultural reform (Akhalkatsi 2009, Akhalkatsi et al 2010, 2012. Despite the long cultural history, recent studies on cultivated plants are rather scarce (e.g., Pistrick et al 2009, Zhizhizlashvili et al 1980.…”

Section: The Archaeological Findings From Neolithic and Earlymentioning

confidence: 99%

Wine, Beer, Snuff, Medicine, and Loss of Diversity - Ethnobotanical travels in the Georgian Caucasus

Bussmann¹,

Zambrana²,

Sikharulidze³

et al. 2014

Ethnobot. Res. App.

643

125

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“…On the one hand, realized niche overlap might be high, because the species rely on the same resources. On the other hand, because domestic sheep have been reared in the Caucasus for millennia (Akhalkatsi, Ekhvaia, & Asanidze, ), mouflon might have adapted through resource partitioning (Schoener, ; Voeten & Prins, ). Competition with livestock might have pushed mouflon into marginal habitat, possibly rendering them a refugee species (Fritz, De Garine‐Wichatitsky, & Letessier, ; Kerley et al., ).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing niche overlap between domestic and threatened wild sheep to identify conservation priority areas

Bleyhl

Arakelyan

Askerov

et al. 2018

Diversity and Distributions

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Aim:Populations of large ungulates are dwindling worldwide. This is especially so for wild sheep, which compete with livestock for forage, are disturbed by shepherds and their dogs, and are exposed to disease transmissions from livestock. Our aim was to assess spatial patterns in realized niche overlap between wild and domestic sheep to better understand where potential competition might arise, and thus to identify priority areas for wild sheep recovery. Location: Southern Caucasus (220,000 km 2 ). Methods: We studied Gmelin's mouflon (Ovis orientalis gmelinii), an ancestor of domestic sheep, to investigate seasonal habitat use and niche overlap with domestic sheep. To map habitat, we analysed mouflon occurrences collected during 2006-2016, and domestic sheep occurrences from shepherd camp locations digitized on high-resolution satellite imagery. We mapped areas of potential competition between mouflon and domestic sheep and assessed potential habitat displacement. Results: Mouflon and domestic sheep niches overlapped substantially (overlap index I = 0.89, where 1 means perfect overlap) but were not identical. Mouflon habitat was less widespread than domestic sheep habitat (14,000 vs. 40,270 km 2 ) and tended to be located in more rugged areas with less vegetation cover. We identified 51 priority patches as reintroduction candidates if grazing pressure and poaching were reduced. Main conclusions: Our results suggest that competition with domestic sheep might have pushed mouflon into marginal habitat. Thus, conservation efforts focusing on current mouflon habitat might miss suitable reintroduction sites. We demonstrate that a combined habitat model for wild and domestic sheep can identify generalsheep habitat, which might be more useful for conservation planning than understanding current mouflon habitat selection. Our results highlight that considering competition with livestock is important for large ungulate conservation, both in terms of reactive (e.g., lessening livestock pressure in prime habitat) and proactive strategies (e.g., reintroduction in areas with low contemporary overlap).

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Diversity and Genetic Erosion of Ancient Crops and Wild Relatives of Agricultural Cultivars for Food: Implications for Nature Conservation in Georgia (Caucasus)

Cited by 30 publications

References 33 publications

Plant and fungal use in Tusheti, Khevsureti, and Pshavi, Sakartvelo (Republic of Georgia), Caucasus

Plant and fungal use in Tusheti, Khevsureti, and Pshavi, Sakartvelo (Republic of Georgia), Caucasus

Wine, Beer, Snuff, Medicine, and Loss of Diversity - Ethnobotanical travels in the Georgian Caucasus

Assessing niche overlap between domestic and threatened wild sheep to identify conservation priority areas

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