Incorporating evolutionary and threat processes into crop wild relatives conservation

Crop wild relatives (CWR) intra- and interspecific diversity is essential for crop breeding and food security. This paper introduces an approach to develop proxies of genetic differentiation to identify conservation areas using systematic conservation planning tools. The approach accounts for evolutionary processes (historical and environmental drivers of genetic diversity) and threat processes (taxa-specific tolerance to human-modified habitats and extinction risk). The methodology, applied to Mesoamerican CWR in Mexico, offers opportunities to guide conservation and monitoring strategies for any taxa.

Wolke Tobón-Niedfeldt, Alicia Mastretta-Yanes, Tania Urquiza-Haas, Bárbara Goettsch, Angela P. Cuervo-Robayo, Esmeralda Urquiza-Haas, M. Andrea Orjuela-R, Francisca Acevedo Gasman, Oswaldo Oliveros-Galindo, Caroline Burgeff, Diana M. Rivera-Rodríguez, José de Jesús Sánchez González, Jesús Alarcón-Guerrero, Araceli Aguilar-Meléndez, Flavio Aragón Cuevas, Valeria Alavez, Gabriel Alejandre-Iturbide, Carlos-H. Avendaño-Arrazate, César Azurdia Pérez, Alfonso Delgado-Salinas, Pablo Galán, Manuel González-Ledesma, Jesús Hernández-Ruíz, Francisco G. Lorea-Hernández, Rafael Lira Saade, Aarón Rodríguez, Dagoberto Rodríguez Delcid, José Ariel Ruiz-Corral, Juan José Santos Pérez, Ofelia Vargas-Ponce, Melania Vega, Ana Wegier, Martín Quintana-Camargo, José Sarukhán, Patricia Koleff