CATALOGUING AND PRIORITIZING CROP WILD RELATIVES AS A BASELINE FOR THEIR CONSERVATION AND UTILIZATION by SHELAGH PATRICIA KELL A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY School of Biosciences College of Life and Environmental Sciences University of Birmingham January 2018 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT The value of wild plant species related to crops (crop wild relatives, or CWR) as sources of traits for pest and disease resistance, tolerance of environmental conditions, yield enhancement, improved nutrition, and a range of other agronomic characteristics, has been recognized since the early 20th century. However, these species are inadequately conserved, which in turn is limiting their utilization potential. In this thesis, based on the published definition of a CWR, a systematic, practical and replicable method for creating a comprehensive CWR checklist and an approach to identifying priority taxa for conservation action are proposed. The process of evaluating the threat status of CWR to inform conservation planning is also elaborated. These methodologies are presented and discussed in the broader context of CWR conservation planning at national and regional scales, and illustrated with China and Europe as case studies. While the CWR checklist methodology results in a large number of included taxa, it provides a comprehensive foundation for conservation planning. The identification of priority taxa as those related to crops of high socio-economic importance, and of those, taxa of greatest utilization potential and/or known to be under threat of genetic erosion, provides a pragmatic means of directing limited conservation resources. DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated with love and gratitude to my father, Richard Alexander Kell, and in loving memory of my mother, Muriel Adelaide Kell, née Nairn, and brother, Colin Richard Kell. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am enormously fortunate to have undertaken much of my research in the context of a number of collaborative projects—AEGRO, the European Red List of Vascular Plants, CWR China and PGR Secure which were funded by the European Union and governments of the United Kingdom and China (see Chapter 1 for project details and individual chapters for full acknowledgements)— and have been involved in several other initiatives that have been important in influencing my ideas. During this time I have participated in many meetings and workshops with colleagues from different parts of the world and have met numerous interesting and inspiring people, as well as made many good friends. The discussions and work carried out with them over the years have been an important stimulus in the development of my ideas and I am grateful for having had that opportunity. In particular, I would like to thank (in alphabetical order) Ms. Eve Allen, Dr. Ehsan Dulloo, Emeritus Prof. Brian Ford-Lloyd, Dr. Lothar Frese, Prof. José Iriondo, Dr. Joana Magos Brehm, Dr. Nigel Maxted, Dr. Mauricio Parra Quijano, Dr. Imke Thormann and Dr. John Wiersema for all the thought-provoking discussions we have had around the topic of CWR conservation planning over the years that have been highly motivating, as well as for their friendship. I would also like to thank my friends and family who have encouraged me and provided much needed moral support. In particular, I would like to thank my good friend Petra Engel for being there for me in the last weeks of finalizing my thesis. Her enormously kind and generous support, and her positive energy and good sense of humour have been invaluable to me. I am indebted to my closest colleague and life partner, Nigel Maxted. His boundless enthusiasm and energy, ability to inspire others, openness in sharing his knowledge, and real belief in the importance of the work that we do, has been and continues to be an essential part of my life. Last but not least, I could not have set out on this path to write my thesis without the support of my supervisor, Emeritus Prof. Brian Ford-Lloyd. His belief in my ability, and strong encouragement spurred me on to achieve this goal, and his understanding and kindness at times when I was struggling was immeasurably valuable. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................... 1 1.1 The importance of crop wild relatives for crop improvement .................................. 1 1.2 Advancement in knowledge of CWR diversity, its conservation, and use ............... 5 1.3 The CWR conservation planning process ................................................................ 10 1.4 The definition of crop–CWR relationships ............................................................... 13 1.5 Research rationale, aim and objectives ................................................................... 15 1.6 Thesis structure and content ................................................................................... 16 References ......................................................................................................................... 19 CHAPTER 2 CREATING A CROP WILD RELATIVE CHECKLIST: A METHODOLOGY AND CASE STUDY ON THE EURO-MEDITERRANEAN REGION ............................................................... 37 Declaration of co-author contributions ............................................................................. 37 Statements of co-authors .................................................................................................. 39 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 41 2.2 Methodology ............................................................................................................ 45 2.2.1 The concept and basic procedure ..................................................................... 45 2.2.2 Data sources ...................................................................................................... 47 2.2.3 Data analysis: application and platform ........................................................... 51 2.2.4 Euro+Med PlantBase data filtering .................................................................... 51 2.2.5 Selection of crop genera .................................................................................... 59 2.2.6 Genus name matching and extraction of taxa from Euro+Med PlantBase ....... 61 2.3 Results ...................................................................................................................... 64 2.3.1 Numbers of taxa in the CWR Catalogue data sources ....................................... 64 2.3.2 Numbers of records in the CWR Catalogue ....................................................... 66 2.4 Discussion ................................................................................................................. 69 2.4.1 The Catalogue as a comprehensive resource for CWR conservation planning and utilization .................................................................................................... 69 2.4.2 Caveats of the methodology ............................................................................. 72 2.4.3 Enhancements to the Catalogue ....................................................................... 78 2.5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 83 References.......................................................................................................................... 85 CHAPTER 3 EUROPEAN CROP WILD RELATIVE THREAT ASSESSMENT: KNOWLEDGE GAINED AND LESSONS LEARNT (PUBLISHED VERSION) ......................................................... 93 Declaration of co-author contributions ............................................................................. 93 Statements of co-authors .................................................................................................. 95 CHAPTER 4 CHINA’S CROP WILD RELATIVES: DIVERSITY FOR AGRICULTURE AND FOOD SECURITY (PUBLISHED VERSION) ............................................................................. 97 Declaration of co-author contributions ............................................................................. 98 Statements of co-authors .................................................................................................. 99 CHAPTER 5 EUROPE’S CROP WILD RELATIVE DIVERSITY: FROM CONSERVATION PLANNING TO CONSERVATION ACTION (PUBLISHED VERSION) ................................................... 103 Declaration of co-author contributions ........................................................................... 104 Statements of co-authors ................................................................................................ 106 CHAPTER 5 SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL – METHODOLOGY AND RESULTS OF THE SELECTION OF PRIORITY CROP WILD RELATIVE