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Social and environmental influences on tartary buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum Gaertn.) varietal diversity in Yunnan, China

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Abstract

Effective conservation strategies aimed to protect crop genetic resources require multiple sources of information. We used a combination of AFLP genotyping and farmer surveys to understand the extent, distribution and management of tartary buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum Gaertn.) diversity in its center of origin in Yunnan Province, China. We found genetic evidence of gene flow in tartary buckwheat throughout the study area, with small but statistically significant regional and village-level components. We also found genetic differentiation by seed color. Although most farmers reported exchanging seed in localized kinship networks, our results imply homogenizing gene flow is occurring. Yi ethnic farmers tend to plant more buckwheat than non-Yi farmers, and we found that in some communities, Yi farmers serve as seed sources for farmers of other ethnicities. Different tartary buckwheat varieties did not have different end uses; rather farmers maintained varietal diversity in order to protect crop yield and quality. Individual farmers’ seed exchange practices reflect their ideas about components of seed quality, as well as priorities in protecting buckwheat yield. From the standpoint of genetic resources conservation, the presence of a culturally rich farmer exchange network and hierarchical structuring of tartary buckwheat genetic diversity demonstrates the importance of maintaining an interlinked community of tartary buckwheat farmers in Yunnan.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank the buckwheat farmers of Yunnan for generously sharing their thoughts, time, seeds and hospitality. We thank Yang Yahan, Yang Yongping, and Yang Jing for invaluable logistical support in the field, and Wei Jing, Brian Walsh, Jane Bradbury, Andy Gardner, Lauren Moscoe, Dan Marschalek and Matt Hayes for help in the laboratory. We also thank Lauren Moscoe and David Duncan for thoughtful comments on this manuscript. This research was completed as part of the Ph.D. dissertation of the first author and funded by a National Science Foundation Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) grant “Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Livelihoods in Southwest China” to UW-Madison, and by the UW-Madison Department of Agronomy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Sustainability and Global Change, Unity College, 90 Quaker Hill Road, Unity, ME, 04988, USA

    Mary Saunders Bulan

  2. Department of Agronomy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1575 Linden Dr., Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    Mary Saunders Bulan, Joshua L. Posner & David E. Stoltenberg

  3. Department of Animal Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1675 Observatory Dr., Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    Mark E. Berres

  4. Department of Botany, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 430 Lincoln Dr., Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    Eve Emshwiller

  5. Development Research Institute, Yunnan University, Cuihu North Road, Kunming, 650091, Yunnan, China

    Duoyi Peng, Xinhui Wang & Junfang Li

  6. Resource and Environment Department, Research Institute of Resource Insects, Chinese Academy of Forestry, Bailongsi, Panlong District, Kunming, 650224, Yunnan, China

    Jiangchong Wu & Yanping Zhang

Authors
  1. Mary Saunders Bulan
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  2. Jiangchong Wu
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  7. Xinhui Wang
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  8. Junfang Li
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  9. David E. Stoltenberg
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  10. Yanping Zhang
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Correspondence to Mary Saunders Bulan.

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Joshua L. Posner—Deceased

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Saunders Bulan, M., Wu, J., Emshwiller, E. et al. Social and environmental influences on tartary buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum Gaertn.) varietal diversity in Yunnan, China. Genet Resour Crop Evol 64, 113–125 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-015-0337-0

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