National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation, US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Fort Collins, CO 80521;
International Center for Tropical Agriculture, 763537 Cali, Colombia.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2020 Dec 29;117(52):33351-33357. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2007029117. Epub 2020 Dec 14.
The contributions of crop wild relatives (CWR) to food security depend on their conservation and accessibility for use. The United States contains a diverse native flora of CWR, including those of important cereal, fruit, nut, oil, pulse, root and tuber, and vegetable crops, which may be threatened in their natural habitats and underrepresented in plant conservation repositories. To determine conservation priorities for these plants, we developed a national inventory, compiled occurrence information, modeled potential distributions, and conducted threat assessments and conservation gap analyses for 600 native taxa. We found that 7.1% of the taxa may be critically endangered in their natural habitats, 50% may be endangered, and 28% may be vulnerable. We categorized 58.8% of the taxa as of urgent priority for further action, 37% as high priority, and 4.2% as medium priority. Major ex situ conservation gaps were identified for 93.3% of the wild relatives (categorized as urgent or high priority), with 83 taxa absent from conservation repositories, while 93.1% of the plants were equivalently prioritized for further habitat protection. Various taxonomic richness hotspots across the US represent focal regions for further conservation action. Related needs include facilitating greater access to and characterization of these cultural-genetic-natural resources and raising public awareness of their existence, value, and plight.
作物野生近缘种（CWR）对粮食安全的贡献取决于它们的保护和可用性。美国拥有多样化的本土野生近缘种植物群，包括重要的谷类、水果、坚果、油、豆类、根和块茎以及蔬菜作物，这些植物可能在其自然栖息地受到威胁，并且在植物保护库中代表性不足。为了确定这些植物的保护重点，我们开发了一个国家清单，编制了出现信息，模拟了潜在分布，并对 600 种本地分类群进行了威胁评估和保护缺口分析。我们发现，7.1%的分类群在其自然栖息地可能处于极度濒危状态，50%可能濒危，28%可能脆弱。我们将 58.8%的分类群归类为需要进一步采取行动的紧急优先事项，37%为高优先级，4.2%为中优先级。93.3%的野生近缘种（被归类为紧急或高优先级）存在重大的就地保护缺口，83 个分类群在保护库中缺失，而 93.1%的植物同样需要进一步保护其栖息地。美国各地的各种分类群丰富热点代表了进一步保护行动的重点区域。相关需求包括促进更好地获取和描述这些文化遗传自然资源，并提高公众对其存在、价值和困境的认识。
