21 research outputs found
New approaches for establishing conservation priorities for socio-economically important plant species
ACESSO via B-on: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10531-010-9871-4The establishment of priorities among species is a crucial step in any conservation
strategy since financial resources are generally limited. Traditionally, priorities for
conservation of plant species have been focused on endemicity, rarity and particularly on
their threatened status. Crop wild relatives (CWR) and wild harvested plants (WHP) are
important elements of biodiversity with actual or potential socio-economic value. In this
study, eight prioritisation criteria were used along with different prioritisation systems and
applied to the Portuguese CWR and WHP. The top 50 species obtained by each of these
methods were identified. The final top CWR were those that occurred as a priority in most
methods. Twenty CWR were identified as the highest priorities for conservation in Portugal
and they include wild relatives of the crop genera Allium, Daucus, Dianthus, Epilobium,
Festuca, Herniaria, Narcissus, Quercus, Plantago, Trifolium, and Vicia. Eighteen
WHP were recognised as priorities for conservation and include several Narcissus and
Thymus species, among others. The advantages, limitations and level of subjectivity of
each of the methods used in this exercise are discussed