Towards a conservation strategy for Aegilops species

2008 ◽  
Vol 6 (02) ◽  
pp. 126-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Maxted ◽  
K. White ◽  
J. Valkoun ◽  
J. Konopka ◽  
S. Hargreaves
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Gap Analysis ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Conservation Strategy ◽  
Ex Situ ◽  
Aegilops Speltoides ◽  
Current Conservation ◽  
North West ◽  
Specific Distribution ◽  
Passport Data

Aegilopsspecies provide an invaluable source of genes for the improvement of cultivated wheats. This paper illustrates how the existing geo-referenced passport data associated withAegilopsspecies can be used to identify gaps in current conservation and also to develop a more systematic conservation strategy for the genus. Taxonomic, ecological, geographic and conservation information for the 22Aegilopsspecies were collated from ICARDA, EURISCO, GRIN and SINGER datasets, synthesized and analysed. The combined database contained 9866 unique geo-referenced observations collected between 1932 and 2004. Patterns of specific distribution based on the germplasm accession data and the predicted distribution using climatic models were compared in conservation gap analysis using GIS tools. Theex situconservation status of each taxon was assessed and used to provide a priority ranking. Futureex situcollection is recommended in Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Iran, Israel, Libya, Spain, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The species identified with the highestex situconservation priority are as follows:Aegilops bicornis,Aegilops comosa,Aegilops juvenalis,Aegilops kotschyi,Aegilops peregrina,Aegilops sharonensis,Aegilops speltoides,Aegilops uniaristataandAegilops vavilovii. Patterns of species richness based on the germplasm accession passport data are presented and five complementary regions ofAegilopsdiversity were identified in west Syria and north Lebanon, central Israel, north-west Turkey, Turkmenistan and south France. Within these areas, 16 IUCN-recognized protected areas are found and these are identified as potential sites to establish genetic reserves. However, the premierAegilopshotspots on the Syrian/Lebanese border are not coincident with any existing internationally recognized protected areas, and here there is a need to establish a novel protected area.

Diversity and conservation priorities of crop wild relatives in Mexico

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aremi R. Contreras-Toledo ◽  
Moisés Cortés-Cruz ◽  
Denise E. Costich ◽  
Ma. de Lourdes Rico-Arce ◽  
Joana Magos Brehm ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Gap Analysis ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Crop Wild Relatives ◽  
Wild Relatives ◽  
Conservation Strategy ◽  
Ex Situ ◽  
Cultivated Plants ◽  
Conservation Priorities

AbstractCrop wild relatives (CWR) are valuable resources for crop breeding due to their close genetic relationship to the cultivated plants and their wide genetic variation, allowing the introgression of desirable traits into the crops, such as resistance to plant pests and diseases or adaptability to climate change. Mexico is a centre of agrobiodiversity, including CWR, but climate change, and other factors, are contributing to the loss of important Mexican CWR genetic diversity. The in situ and ex situ conservation status of Mexican priority CWR were assessed through a gap analysis as part of a national CWR conservation strategy for Mexico, to ensure the long-term preservation and improve the availability of these genetic resources. A set of 310 priority CWR taxa, previously identified as part of the national CWR inventory for Mexico, were analysed. Species distribution modelling and ecogeographic diversity analyses were used to detect gaps in in situ and ex situ conservation at taxon and ecogeographic levels. Priority target sites were identified throughout the country for complementary in situ and ex situ conservation of these taxa. The results obtained allow us to make recommendations for immediate conservation actions, thus helping to mitigate the threats to Mexican agrobiodiversity and enhance both national and global food security.

scholarly journals Distribution and Integration of Military Settlements’ Cultural Heritage in the Large Pass City of the Great Wall in the Ming Dynasty: A Case Study of Juyong Pass Defense Area

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 7166
Author(s):  
Yukun Zhang ◽  
Songyang Li ◽  
Lifeng Tan ◽  
Jiayin Zhou
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Ming Dynasty ◽  
Conservation Strategy ◽  
Defense System ◽  
Current Conservation ◽  
North West ◽  
Cultural Routes ◽  
Great Wall ◽  
The Ming Dynasty

The Great Wall of China is more than a wall: it is an extensive cultural route. Pass cities, which are usually large defensive fortresses overseeing an entire fortified area, are an essential part of this heritage and are at the core of the Great Wall’s defense system. Juyong Pass was the closest Pass city to Beijing during the Ming Dynasty when the Great Wall reached its peak. It consisted of five regions—south, east, north, west, and central—that form three fortification levels: core castle, Bao city, and End facility. Based on the Juyong defense area military settlements database, this paper applied spatial analysis methods and found that more than half of the military’s resources for the whole defense area were focused on the western part of the wall, which formed another military core alongside Juyong Pass city. However, the current conservation strategy only focuses on Juyong Pass itself, neglecting the settlements in the western part, thereby destroying the integrity of the Great Wall’s heritage. By clarifying the distribution of cultural heritage in this area, we hope to encourage the preservation of many fortifications according to their authentic historical sphere of control and provide a reference for the sustainable integration of resources along the significant cultural routes of the Great Wall.

scholarly journals Unveiling the conservation status of the sessile oak forest for their protection and management in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
pp. e70549
Author(s):  
Jordi Bou ◽  
Lluís Vilar
Keyword(s):  
Iberian Peninsula ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Conservation Strategy ◽  
Oak Forests ◽  
Oak Forest ◽  
Current Conservation ◽  
Protection Measures ◽  
Sessile Oak ◽  
Characteristic Species

The sessile oak forests found on the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula are ascribed to the Lathyro-Quercetumpetraeae association and play a key role in understanding the ecology of this habitat, as this region represents its xeric limit. For this reason, we analysed the biodiversity patterns and current conservation status of the sessile oak forests in the region. To do so, we collected Braun-Blanquet inventories of 34 plots randomly distributed throughout the sessile oak forests. The results showed a relationship between the climatic conditions and the biodiversity variables. While the richness of the community increased with decreasing temperatures, the characteristic species found within the community decreased at these same temperatures. This result was due to the presence of most companion species in the cool zones at high elevations.Sessile oaks are found close to other communities, such as silver birches and Scot pine forests.On the other hand, in the warm areas at low elevations, the sessile oak community was more established, with plants typical of this type of forest. These slightly warmer zones with sessile oaks are very important in terms of conservation and more vulnerable to climate change and the thermophilization of the community, as has been studied. As such, protecting and managing these forests is key to conserving this community. Nevertheless, as current protection measures do not safeguard most of these forests, it is essential to define a conservation strategy to preserve them. Using the conservation status, we have established criteria to improve the conservation strategy for sessile oak forest on the NE Iberian Peninsula.

scholarly journals Estimating the global conservation status of more than 15,000 Amazonian tree species

2015 ◽  
Vol 1 (10) ◽  
pp. e1500936 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans ter Steege ◽  
Nigel C. A. Pitman ◽  
Timothy J. Killeen ◽  
William F. Laurance ◽  
Carlos A. Peres ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Tree Species ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Gap Analysis ◽  
Extinction Risk ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Iucn Red List ◽  
Distribution Models ◽  
Threatened Plant Species ◽  
The Tropics

Estimates of extinction risk for Amazonian plant and animal species are rare and not often incorporated into land-use policy and conservation planning. We overlay spatial distribution models with historical and projected deforestation to show that at least 36% and up to 57% of all Amazonian tree species are likely to qualify as globally threatened under International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List criteria. If confirmed, these results would increase the number of threatened plant species on Earth by 22%. We show that the trends observed in Amazonia apply to trees throughout the tropics, and we predict that most of the world’s >40,000 tropical tree species now qualify as globally threatened. A gap analysis suggests that existing Amazonian protected areas and indigenous territories will protect viable populations of most threatened species if these areas suffer no further degradation, highlighting the key roles that protected areas, indigenous peoples, and improved governance can play in preventing large-scale extinctions in the tropics in this century.

scholarly journals Assessing the efficiency of protected areas to represent biodiversity: a small island case study

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 337-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARTA VERGÍLIO ◽  
CATARINA FONSECA ◽  
HELENA CALADO ◽  
PAULO A.V. BORGES ◽  
RUI BENTO ELIAS ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Conservation Planning ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Small Island ◽  
Distribution Data ◽  
Current Conservation ◽  
Distribution Modelling ◽  
Spatial Conservation Planning ◽  
Species Groups

SUMMARYProtected areas (PAs) have been selected using either subjective or objective criteria applied to an extremely limited subset of biodiversity. Improved availability of species distribution data, better statistical tools to predict species distributions and algorithms to optimize spatial conservation planning allow many impediments to be overcome, particularly on small islands. This study analyses whether 219 species are adequately protected by PAs on Pico Island (the Azores, Portugal), and if they are as efficient as possible, maximizing species protection while minimizing costs. We performed distribution modelling of species’ potential distributions, proposed individual conservation targets (considering the context of each species in the archipelago and their current conservation status) to determine the efficiency of current PAs in meeting such targets and identify alternative or complementary areas relevant for conservation. Results showed that current PAs do not cover all taxa, leaving out important areas for conservation. We demonstrate that by using optimization algorithms it is possible to include most species groups in spatial conservation planning in the Azores with the current resources. With increasing availability of data and methods, this approach could be readily extended to other islands and regions with high endemism levels.

scholarly journals Coupling GIS spatial analysis and Ensemble Niche Modelling to investigate climate change-related threats to the Sicilian pond turtle Emys trinacris, an endangered species from the Mediterranean

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e4969 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mattia Iannella ◽  
Francesco Cerasoli ◽  
Paola D’Alessandro ◽  
Giulia Console ◽  
Maurizio Biondi
Keyword(s):  
Protected Areas ◽  
Potential Distribution ◽  
Gap Analysis ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines ◽  
Boosted Regression Trees ◽  
Learning Approaches ◽  
Niche Modelling ◽  
Pond Turtle ◽  
Emys Trinacris

The pond turtle Emys trinacris is an endangered endemic species of Sicily showing a fragmented distribution throughout the main island. In this study, we applied “Ensemble Niche Modelling”, combining more classical statistical techniques as Generalized Linear Models and Multivariate Adaptive Regression Splines with machine-learning approaches as Boosted Regression Trees and Maxent, to model the potential distribution of the species under current and future climatic conditions. Moreover, a “gap analysis” performed on both the species’ presence sites and the predictions from the Ensemble Models is proposed to integrate outputs from these models, in order to assess the conservation status of this threatened species in the context of biodiversity management. For this aim, four “Representative Concentration Pathways”, corresponding to different greenhouse gases emissions trajectories were considered to project the obtained models to both 2050 and 2070. Areas lost, gained or remaining stable for the target species in the projected models were calculated. E. trinacris’ potential distribution resulted to be significantly dependent upon precipitation-linked variables, mainly precipitation of wettest and coldest quarter. Future negative effects for the conservation of this species, because of more unstable precipitation patterns and extreme meteorological events, emerged from our analyses. Further, the sites currently inhabited by E. trinacris are, for more than a half, out of the Protected Areas network, highlighting an inadequate management of the species by the authorities responsible for its protection. Our results, therefore, suggest that in the next future the Sicilian pond turtle will need the utmost attention by the scientific community to avoid the imminent risk of extinction. Finally, the gap analysis performed in GIS environment resulted to be a very informative post-modeling technique, potentially applicable to the management of species at risk and to Protected Areas’ planning in many contexts.

scholarly journals Is legal protection sufficient to ensure plant conservation? The Italian Red List of policy species as a case study

Oryx ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 50 (3) ◽  
pp. 431-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graziano Rossi ◽  
Simone Orsenigo ◽  
Chiara Montagnani ◽  
Giuseppe Fenu ◽  
Domenico Gargano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Conservation Status ◽  
National Level ◽  
Plant Conservation ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
Conservation Strategy ◽  
Ex Situ ◽  
Conservation Priorities ◽  
Protection Measures ◽  
Bern Convention

AbstractThe conservation of species listed in the Bern Convention and European Directive 1992/43/EEC (so-called policy species) is mandatory for European Union (EU) countries. We assessed the conservation status of Italian policy species, based on the IUCN categories and criteria, to evaluate the effectiveness of existing protection measures at the national level. Among the 203 vascular plants, bryophytes and lichens evaluated, 41.9% are categorized as threatened, and one is already extinct, indicating that the protection measures for policy species are inadequate. Our results for the Italian policy species are consistent with those of an assessment at the EU level. Conservation priorities should be established at both the national and regional scales. An effective conservation strategy is needed, and in situ and ex situ actions focused on threatened species should be promoted.

scholarly journals Setting the priority medicinal plants for conservation in Indonesia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ria Cahyaningsih ◽  
Joana Magos Brehm ◽  
Nigel Maxted
Keyword(s):  
Medicinal Plant ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Conservation Planning ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Ex Situ ◽  
Medicinal Plant Species ◽  
Current Conservation ◽  
Priority List ◽  
Threatened Plant Species ◽  
Priority Species

AbstractSetting priority species for conservation planning in a large and biodiverse country such as Indonesia is crucial. At least 80% of the medicinal plant species in South East Asia can be found in Indonesia, whether they are native or introduced. However, their conservation is currently ineffective due to limited human and financial resources. By examining factors such as species' occurrence status, rarity and part of the plant harvested, the various Indonesian medicinal plant species can be prioritised for conservation planning. In this study, various threatened plant species have been included in the priority list as well as those listed in related legislation. Some 233 species within 161 genera and 71 families are recommended for prioritisation. An inventory of these priority species was produced presenting compiled data including vernacular names, plant habit, harvested plant part, uses, distribution, whether it is conserved ex situ, and their DNA barcoding. Significantly 41.20% of priority species have no information on their current conservation status in either in situ or ex situ national or international genebanks.

scholarly journals Cycad biodiversity in the Bahamas Archipelago and conservation genetics of the threatened Zamia lucayana (Zamiaceae)

Oryx ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 190-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Calonje ◽  
Alan W. Meerow ◽  
Lindy Knowles ◽  
David Knowles ◽  
M. Patrick Griffith ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Conservation Status ◽  
In Situ Conservation ◽  
Ex Situ ◽  
Conservation Strategies ◽  
Conservation Assessment ◽  
The Bahamas ◽  
Current Conservation ◽  
Narrow Strip ◽  
Restricted Distribution ◽  
New Providence

AbstractA conservation assessment for the three cycad species native to the Bahamas Islands is presented. Results are based on field surveys on all islands where these species occur. Zamia angustifolia is native to Eleuthera, Zamia integrifolia is native to Abaco, Andros, Eleuthera, Grand Bahama and New Providence, and Zamia lucayana is endemic to Long Island. Z. angustifolia is of the highest conservation concern because of the small number of adult plants, its restricted distribution and the extensive development occurring within its habitat. Z. integrifolia also has a restricted distribution on Eleuthera and Grand Bahama and, although threatened by urban development in New Providence, it is relatively common on Abaco and Andros. Z. lucayana comprises three populations within a narrow strip of land of c. 1 km2; we propose a reassignment of its current conservation status from Endangered to Critically Endangered. We assessed the genetic structure of Z. lucayana based on 15 polymorphic microsatellite DNA loci; this indicated that the three known populations should be considered a single management unit. However, the high number of private alleles suggests that genetic drift, indicative of recent fragmentation, is progressing. We propose in situ conservation strategies, and we also collected germplasm from a total of 24 populations of these three cycad species, for ex situ conservation.

scholarly journals The Management of 'Ad Hoc' Ex Situ Conservation Status Species at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh :

2003 ◽  
pp. 43-80
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Radford ◽  
Michael Dossman ◽  
David Rae
Keyword(s):  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Conservation Status ◽  
Royal Botanic Garden ◽  
Ex Situ ◽  
Botanic Gardens ◽  
Botanic Garden ◽  
Current Conservation ◽  
Educational Role ◽  
Conservation Projects

Ad hoc' conservation status species refer to IUCN-listed plants that have been collected by botanic gardens for no immediate conservation objective. They differ from so-called conservation collections, which have usually been collected with very specific conservation objectives in mind. Information was collected for 53 ad hoc conservation status species in the Living Collection at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE). Each species was assessed for its potential value for conservation and suggested action points to improve their management for possible conservation projects in the future were given. Discussions were held with various members of staff about the current and future management of threatened plants in the collections. In common with other botanic gardens the majority of the ad hoc collections of conservation status plants at RBGE have been acquired in very small numbers, usually as one accession, frequently of cultivated origin and therefore possess little genetic diversity. Current conservation programmes for such plants are few in number and scope, and the management potential of a large number are limited. More emphasis should be placed on the educational role of these plants and on a focused programme to safeguard the survival of the most threatened species at RBGE.

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