This document discusses distributions and collecting priorities for crop wild relatives in the United States. It provides an inventory of crop wild relatives in the US and analyzes gaps in their conservation. Priority species for further collecting are identified for each state based on their potential to provide useful genetic traits and threats to their wild populations. The document also outlines ex situ conservation efforts and recommends a comprehensive national strategy for conserving crop wild relatives that includes improved information access and on-the-ground conservation actions.

1. Distributions and collecting priorities
for crop wild relatives in the United States
Colin K. Khoury, Stephanie L. Greene, Karen A. Williams, & Chrystian C. Sosa
2017 National Native Seed Conference
14 February 2017
Washington, D.C.

2. Crop wild relatives are wild and weedy cousins

3. Crop wild relatives are in the news

4. Western corn rootworm resistance from
eastern gama grass (Tripsacum dactyloides)
Salinity tolerance from Pecos sunflower
(Helianthus paradoxus)
Khoury et al. (2013) Crop Science 53(4): 1496
Eastern filbert blight resistance from
American filbert (Corylus americana)
Rootstock from northern California
walnut (Juglans hindsii)
Crop wild relatives are valuable genetic resources

5. Pecos sunflower (Helianthus paradoxus)
Okeechobee gourd (Cucurbita okeechobeensis subsp.
okeechobeensis)
Scrub plum (Prunus geniculata)Texas wild rice (Zizania texana)
Crop wild relatives are threatened wild plants
Khoury et al. (2013) Crop Science 53(4): 1496

6. Inventory of crop wild relatives of the U.S.
Khoury et al. (2013) Crop Science 53(4): 1496

7. Determine gaps
in conservation
Gap analysis
Choose species
and area
Make
conservation
recommendations
Model
distributions
Gather
occurrence data
Process data

8. Distributions of priority CWR in the U.S.
62,000 records
38,000 with coordinates

9. Potential distributions of priority CWR in the U.S.

10. Potential distributions of priority CWR in the U.S.

11. Potential distributions of priority CWR in the U.S.

12. Potential distributions of priority CWR in the U.S.

13. 0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Further collecting priorities for priority CWR

14. State
# of CWR of
high priority
for further
collecting
New York 87
Virginia 85
Tennessee 82
Texas 82
North Carolina 80
West Virginia 80
Pennsylvania 78
Ohio 77
Illinois 75
Georgia 74
New Jersey 74
Indiana 73
Arkansas 72
Kentucky 72
Maryland 72
Massachusetts 72
Missouri 72
South Carolina 72
Florida 69
Alabama 68
Number of CWR of high priority for further collecting per state
Further collecting priorities for priority CWR

15. Distributions of wild relatives of important food crops of high priority for further collecting
Global hotspots for under-represented CWR
Castañeda-Álvarez et al. (2016) Nature Plants 2(4): 16022

16. 0
20
40
60
80
100
120
China
Turkey
USA
Spain
India
Iran
Italy
Greece
France
Indonesia
Mexico
Brazil
RussianFederation
Morocco
Algeria
Pakistan
Portugal
Peru
Ukraine
Azerbaijan
Thailand
Malaysia
Armenia
Bulgaria
Japan
Afghanistan
Myanmar
SyrianArabRepublic
Australia
Israel
Romania
Turkmenistan
Tunisia
VietNam
Albania
Nepal
Hungary
Georgia
Iraq
Lebanon
The U.S. is a global hotspot for under-represented CWR
Castañeda-Álvarez et al. (2016) Nature Plants 2(4): 16022
#highpriorityspeciesprioritizedforfurthercollecting

17. Ex situ conservation and ongoing collecting
Wild potato, Arizona
Wild sunflower, Louisiana
Photo: J. Bamberg
Photo: K.A. Williams

18. V. macrocarpon Ait. V. oxycoccos L.
Small cranberryLarge cranberry
Complementary conservation of wild cranberry
Information available at: http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/ethnobotany/cranberry/index.shtml
Photo: K.A. Williams
Framework available at: http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/ethnobotany/documents/cwr/FrameworkNativeCropWildRelativesOct2014.pdf
Monongahela NF, WV
George Washington NF, VA
Cherokee NF,
TN
Pisgah NF, NC
Chequamegon-Nicolet NF, WI
Superior NF, MN Ottawa NF, MI
Allegheny NF, PA
Hiawatha NF, MI

19. Pisgah National Forest, NC
1748 m
Chequamegon - Nicolet National Forest, WI
Photo: L. Rodriguez-Bonilla, UW 490 m
Monongahela National Forest, WV
1110 m
George Washington National Forest, VA
976 m
Cranberry populations in U.S. National Forests
Photo: K.A. Williams Photo: K.A. Williams
Photo: K.A. Williams

20. Private conservation lands are important for U.S. CWR

21. Private conservation lands are important for U.S. CWR

22. Comprehensive action on U.S. crop wild relatives
Information Access for UseConservation
Strategy

23. Castañeda-Álvarez et al. (2016) Global conservation priorities for crop wild relatives.
Nature Plants 2(4): 16022.
Khoury et al. (2013) An inventory of crop wild relatives of the United States.
Crop Science 53(4): 1496.
Khoury et al. (2016) Measuring the state of conservation of crop diversity: a baseline for marking progress
toward biodiversity conservation and sustainable development goals. Crop Wild Relatives project policy brief.
USFS/ARS Strategic Framework:
http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/ethnobotany/documents/cwr/FrameworkNativeCropWildRelativesOct2014.pdf
USFS/ARS Cranberry project:
http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/ethnobotany/cranberry/index.shtml
Thank you!
Contacts:
Colin Khoury c.khoury@cgiar.org | Colin.Khoury@ars.usda.gov
Stephanie Greene | Stephanie.Greene@ars.usda.giv
Karen Williams | Karen.Williams@ars.usda.gov