International Plant Genetic Resources Institute
The challenge of conserving biodiversity is high on the list of global priorities, but the task of cataloguing and understand the biological resources of the earth is immense and the resources for doing so are limited. The available resources must therefore be targeted with care. The task of how to target conservation interventions requires spatial information, as well as the analytical tools and skills needed to use it. The different stages in the process of managing genetic resources - from collecting to conservation to use - all yield data that can be used to enhance the effectiveness of the process as a whole. These include data on the identity and characteristics of the material, and data on the place where the material originated.
Spatial analysis of this geo-referenced data found in genebank documentation systems and herbaria can be used to improve such activities as planning collecting programmes, designing in situ reserves, modelling and predicting genetic erosion, targeting germplasm for plant breeding and crop introduction, and assessing the impact of the products of germplasm use. IPGRI is aware of the value of GIS in managing and understanding the large and complex datasets associated with plant genetic resources. A strategy has been developed which combines development of appropriate methodologies and easy-to-use, specialized software tools with building awareness within the PGR community.
To implement this strategy, a series of case studies have been carried out in collaboration with CGIAR Centres, regional networks and national partners. These have been designed to contribute to the three strategic goals (i) by applying promising methods from ecology, geography and natural resources management to PGR data, (ii) by developing and working with specialized software tools; (iii) and by publicizing methods, tools and results in posters, and publications, and training our partners on the use of these spatial tools.
The development of software tools has focused on a collaboration with CIP on DIVA-GIS. This software can be used to identify areas of high diversity given georeferenced points of plant collections. IPGRI and CIP have designed, developed and tested the software, and are providing training in its use. In Paraguay and Bolivia, national programme partners are using DIVA and CIAT's FloraMap software, after IPGRI provided training, to develop atlases of crop wild relatives with support from USDA.
The case studies have concentrated on methodologies for targeting priority areas for conservation. One, carried out by IPGRI in collaboration with IRRI and national programmes in southern and eastern Africa, looked at wild rices in the region. The distribution of individual species was studied in relation to their climatic adaptation. The FloraMap software was used to characterise the climatic envelope of each species using both current climate surfaces and predicted surfaces for 2055 according to the Hadley climate change model, and therefore to predict changes in distribution.
In another case study, this time in collaboration with ICRISAT and CIAT and other institutions, data on the climatic adaptation of wild peanuts, on the distribution of hotspots of diversity in the genepool, on gaps in collections and on protected areas were combined with a model of genetic erosion to provide a biogeographic assessment of the conservation status of this important genepool. Similar case studies have been performed on other genepools in other regions, including the genus Vigna in Africa and Passiflora and Caricaceae in Colombia.
More information at: http://www.ipgri.cgiar.org/regions/americas/programmes/gisforpgr.htm