Conservation of crop wild relatives’ diversity in the Fertile Crescent

This thesis aims to enhance the conservation of CWR diversity in the Fertile Crescent. CWR are species of plants that are genetically close to cultivated crops. They are important sources of plant genetic materials that can be used for crop improvements. The Fertile Crescent is an important centre as it is a centre of crop domestication. Finding CWR in the Fertile Crescent region was carried out through creating a checklist of CWR, prioritisation, collecting passport data, ex-situ and in-situ gap analysis, climate change analysis, and threat analysis. A priority list of 220 CWR taxa was established following 12 prioritisation criteria. The priority list was revised and a new priority list consisted of 441 CWR were established. 23,878 occurrence records were collated. Ten genetic reserves are recommended. 70% of the CWR examined taxa are represented in gene banks. The most important areas for further collecting for ex-situ conservation are located in the west and south of Turkey. CAPFITOGEN result indicates that the top three sites with the highest CWR taxa concentration are found in eastern Turkey. The fourth highest site is found in Latakia in Syria. The result of the climate change analysis revealed that Aegilops bicornis, a wild relative of bread wheat, and Triticum monococcum, a wild relative of wheat, are expected to be highly impacted by climate change. The IUCN red assessment result indicates that out of the 88 taxa assessed, one taxon was assessed as Critically Endangered, 18 taxa as Data Deficient, three taxa as Endangered, 41 as Least Concern and 25 as Near Threatened. All these components will help the Fertile Crescent meet its targets in conserving CWR diversity as well as ensuring CWRs are preserved to prevent and tackle global food insecurity. Future work is to fill the gaps in conservation outlined in this research