Producing an Inventory of

Wild Relatives of Crop Species in Sichuan

 

Background and Justification

 

 

The Sichuan Province is rich in flora and fauna with abundant relic species due to the unique physical conditions and variety ecosystems. Vascular plants have been estimated at about 10,000 species native to the province, and most of the species are distributed in the western region. Sichuan has a well-established system of protected areas overseen and managed by the Department of Nature Conservation, the Forest Bureau of Sichuan Province.

 Figure caption here

Wild relative of buckwheat, Sichuan province

 

Following the creation of the first protected area—"Wolong nature reserve" in 1963—the number and extent of protected areas has increased markedly in the past twenty years. Up to 1998, 62 natural reserves, covering nearly 8.1 percent (3.98 million hectares) of the land in the province, were established under some category of protection, of which 9 are national nature reserves and 21 are provincial nature reserves. "Wolong" and "Jiuzhaigou" Nature Reserves are in the MAB programme. About 80% of nature reserves are designed to protect the forest ecosystem and wild animals and plants, and 11% to protect the everglade ecosystem, whereas none has been designed to protect agrobiodiversity. The Province currently has very limited infrastructure for conserving crop genetic resources in situ and ex situ (i.e. genebanks).

 

Objectives

A regional inventory of wild relatives of major crops will be the first step towards the planning and implementation to conserve genetic resources of crops and their wild relatives (agrobiodiversity) in situ. It is proposed that thorough herbarium and genebank studies be conducted in collaboration with Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CIBCAS) and local and international herbaria and genebanks  containing the most relevant representation of Sichuan materials (Table 1), to determine the occurrence and distribution of wild species that form part of cultivated crop genepools. The information will be entered into the CDBI database, and then mapped and analyzed using GIS tools. Based on the analyses, recommendations will be provided for the designation of agrobiodiversity reserves within existing protected areas and forest parks, or the indication of high-priority localities for the creation of new protected areas. Recommendations will also be made regarding the management, monitoring, and use of the genetic resources protected in situ. Moreover, the data set produced will serve as baseline information for assessment of genetic erosion in the future.

 

Table 1: Partners for collaboration in survey

Herbarium Surveys

  • CDBI—Herbarium of Chengdu Institute of Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

  • SZ—Herbarium, Department of Biology, Sichuan University, China

  • SCFI—Sichuan Academy of Forestry, China

  • KUN—Herbarium of Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

  • PE—Herbarium, Botanical Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

  • SR—Sichuan Institute of Natural Resources, China

  • CQNM—Chongqing Natural History Museum, China

  • HWA—Southwest Agricultural University, China

  • SM—Chongqing Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, China

  • SWCTU—Department of Biology, Southwest Teachers University, China

  • CIT—Citrus Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China

  • SIFS—Dendrological Herbarium, Sichuan Forestry School, China

  • EMA—Sichuan School of Chinese Materia Medica, China

  • HON—Sichuan Grassland Research Institute, China

  • SITC—Department of Biology, Sichuan Teachers College, China

  • SAUT—Triticeae Research Institute, Sichuan Agricultural University

  • SAU, SAUF—Sichuan Agricultural University, China

  • WL—Wolong Nature Reserve, China

  • LSDC—Liangshan Institute for Drug Control, China

  • MO—The Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, USA

  • A,AMES,ECON,GH—Herbaria of Harvard University, USA

 

 Genebank database searches

  • Crop Genebank, Sichuan Institute of Agriculture, Chengdu, China

  • Malus Germplasm Genebank, Southwest Agricultural University, China

  • Citrus Germplasm Genebank, Citrus Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, China

  • Tritceae Genebank, Sichuan Agricultural University, China

  • Rosa Germplasm Genebank, Chengdu Institute of Biology, CAS

  • Vitis Germplasm Genebank, Chengdu Institute of Biology, CAS

  • US National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS), USDA

  • Genebank, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK

 

Genera of Major Crop Genepools in Sichuan

 

1. Gramineae

Avena L.

Sorghum Moench

Saccharum L.

Hordeum L.

Panicum L.

Setaria Beauv.

Coix L.

 

2. Fabaceae (Leguminosae)

Vigna Savi.

Glycine L.

Mucuna Adans

 

3. Rosaceae

Fragaria L.

Prunus L.

Cerasus Mill.

Malus Mill.

Crataegus

Pyrus L.

Chaenomeles Lindl.

Eriobotrya Lindl.

Amygdalus L.

Ameniaca Mill.

Rosa L.

 

4. Other Families

Dioscorea L.

Fagopyrum Gaertn.

Ziziphus Mill.

Vitis L.

Actinidia Lindl.

Hippophae L.

Amaranthus L.

Eleocharis R. Br.

Hemerocallis L.

Allium L.

Zingiber Bichm.

Zanthoxylum L.

Diospyros L

Fortunella

Citrus

 

Next: Thormann, I., D.I. Jarvis, J.A. Dearing, J.A., and T. Hodgkin. 1999. Internationally available information sources for the development of in situ conservation strategies for wild species useful for food and agriculture. Plant Genetic Resources Newsletter, 11: 38-50.

 
In Situ Conservation