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Origins and genetic conservation of tropical trees in agroforestry systems: a case study from the Peruvian Amazon

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Abstract

Hundreds of native tree species are currently found in extensive agroforestry ecosystems in the Peruvian Amazon, forming an important reservoir of biodiversity. To further promote conservation, farmers are encouraged to supplement intra-specific genetic diversity in these populations with seed collected from local forests. For some tree species, however, this approach may be inappropriate, as stands of these taxa already found on-farm may not be of local origin. Despite this issue being of importance for conservation, little information is available on the history of cultivated trees in the region, a situation that we here rectify for the important fruit tree Inga edulis. Based on nuclear SSR and chloroplast DHPLC analyses of closely geographically matched natural and planted stands at five sites, it appears that cultivated material of I. edulis is primarily of non-local origin, indicating that conservation based on new wide-scale infusions from local wild stands into farms may be inappropriate in the region. Although nuclear and chloroplast diversity were both lower in planted stands, values were still relatively high (∼80 and 70% of natural stands, respectively), indicating that when farmers plant trees, good collection practice of seed from already cultivated I. edulis should be an effective means for ensuring long-term conservation on farms.

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Acknowledgements

The assistance of Aniceto Daza in field collection is gratefully acknowledged. Amber Carmon, Jane Doyle, Sharon Mitchell and James Richardson assisted in the conduct of laboratory work. This paper benefited considerably from discussions with colleagues (ICRAF and RBGE) and Charles Clement, and also from helpful comments from two referees and the subject editor. Ian Dawson was supported through a Frosty Hill Agricultural Fellowship to undertake DHPLC analysis at the Institute for Genomic Diversity at Cornell University. This fellowship scheme is operated by Cornell in memory of Dr Forrest Hill, and provides for collaboration between Cornell University and the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, of which ICRAF is a member.

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Author notes

  1. John C. Weber

    Present address: Sahel Regional office, ICRAF, BP 320, Bamako, Mali

  2. Carmen Sotelo Montes

    Present address: Département des Sciences du Bois et de la Forêt, Pavillon Abitibi-Price, Université Laval, Quebec, QC, Canada, G1K-7P4

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF), PO Box 30677, Nairobi, Kenya

    Ian K. Dawson, John C. Weber & Carmen Sotelo Montes

  2. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 20a Inverleith Row, Edinburgh, EH3 5LR, UK

    Peter M. Hollingsworth & R. Toby Pennington

  3. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, 14853, USA

    Jeff J. Doyle & Steve Kresovich

  4. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AB, UK

    Terrence D. Pennington

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  1. Ian K. Dawson
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Peter M. Hollingsworth.

Appendix

Appendix

  Frequencies of alleles at five nuclear SSR loci, and “combined” haplotype states at the chloroplast trnL-F region, for natural and planted stands of Inga edulis sampled from five sites in the Peruvian Amazon
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Dawson, I.K., Hollingsworth, P.M., Doyle, J.J. et al. Origins and genetic conservation of tropical trees in agroforestry systems: a case study from the Peruvian Amazon. Conserv Genet 9, 361–372 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10592-007-9348-5

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