This document discusses the application of ecogeography in plant genetic resources. It defines ecogeography as the study of the adaptive scenario of an individual, population or species through analysis of biotic and abiotic factors that affect survival. It describes how geographical information systems (GIS) can be used to characterize plant collecting sites based on ecogeographical variables and identify potential applications of GIS in plant genetic resources, such as optimized germplasm collecting and identification of suitable areas for conservation. Finally, it lists activities that can be performed using GIS, such as determining the representativeness of ex-situ collections and identifying areas with high phenotypic or genotypic diversity.

1. Basis of the application of
in plant genetic resources
Mauricio Parra Quijano
FAO consultant
International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources
for Nutrition and Agriculture
CAPFITOGEN Program Coordinator

2. What is Ecogeography?
Definition: Is the study of the adaptive scenario of a given
individual, population or species through the analysis of biotic
and abiotic factors that affect survival.

3. Ecogeography
Product of genes modelled
by the environment,
Main aim of the process
Inherited and inheritable information
(genes, considered collectively) which
is translated into proteins
Modelling effect of genes and their products. This
can be so important that it could determine the
presence or absence of genotypes in some sites
AmbientePhenotype = Genotype + Environment + (genotype x environment) interaction
ADAPTATION

4. Plants
Abiotic
Biotic
Anthropic
Adaptive Scenario

5. Anthropic factors
Administrative divisions and borders, land use, roads, production systems, etc..

6. Biotic factors
Vegetation, distribution of diseases, pests, herbivores, associated organisms ...

7. Geophysical
component
-Slope
-Aspect
-Elevation
-Latitude/Longitude
- Solar radiation
Abiotic factors
-Precipitation
-Temperatures
-Bio-climatic indices
Bioclimatic
component
Edaphic
component
-Soil type
-pH
-CIC
-% of organic carbon
-Effective depth
-% of clay, silt and sand

8. Applicability
According to the degree of domestication
Human influence
Specific adaptation

9. Collecting day?
Sunny, 15ºC, absence of precipitation, etc.
but… is it always like this?
Time needed to collect soil samples?
Terrain aspect measurements?
Equipment for measuring solar radiation?
How to characterize a collecting site?
What if there are hundreds of collecting sites?

10. GIS
Ecogeographical variables (in GIS format)
What are the necessary means?
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11. What is GIS?
Definition (Geographical Information System):
Computational system used to analyse spatially referenced data
Origin…
during the 60s in Canada with the increasing need to manage forest areas
Applied today in ...
environmental protection and management, urban and regional
planning, resource management, land use, surveying of optimal sites
(schools, companies, hospitals, etc..), military aspects, among others
+ +

12. What do GIS offer?
In the case of concern, GIS allow us to
• Show objects as points, lines or polygons and place them on a geographical
representation of the earth surface (map)
• Create buffer areas (areas of influence) around these points, lines or polygons
• Overlay these objects (points, buffer areas, etc.) with maps that may contain
different useful information about the land (thematic maps)
• Modify these maps at our convenience
• Extract information for each point from one or more overlapping maps
• Doing all these processes quite quickly and reliably

13. Graphically…
Y
X
Point Roads Land use Elevation
1 C-405 Forest 1110
2 A-2 Urban 294
3 NIV Swamp 562

14. How to characterize ecogeographycally
the collecting sites
Conditions maintained
for hundreds or even
thousands of years

15. About environmental variables …
In a GIS, they will be introduced as layers/maps, and there are two types of layers:
Vectorial Raster
©ESRI image
As every map they have:
1. scale
2. coordinate system
And they are grouped by theme:
1. bioclimatic
2. geophysical
3. edaphic
4. biotic
5. anthropic

16. Sources of information
At National level, maps in GIS layer format is usually available, but in general these
datasets are difficult and/or expensive to get access to. Its resolution is usually high
as they cover a reduced extension (country). Please ask for this material in your
National Geographic Institute.
At international level, there is a growing offer of information, usually supplied free of
charge and public access (for non-commercial use). Its resolution is increasingly
higher (due to its global reach). Some recommended sources:
• Global Administrative Areas (GADM), http://www.gadm.org
•WorldClim, http://www.worldclim.org
•Harmonized world soil database (HWSD)
http://webarchive.iiasa.ac.at/Research/LUC/External-World-soil-database/HTML/
•Globcover http://due.esrin.esa.int/globcover/
•FAO geonetwork http://www.fao.org/geonetwork/srv/en/main.home
•CGIAR-SRTM http://srtm.csi.cgiar.org/
•ESRI http://www.esri.com/data/free-data
•WWF ecoregions http://worldwildlife.org/biomes

17. GIS Software and related tools
Software
•DIVA-GIS (GIS software) http://www.diva-gis.org
•ArcGIS ESRI http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/arcgis-for-desktop
•R http://cran.r-project.org/
•Grass http://grass.osgeo.org/
Georeferencing
•Google, google maps, google earth, google apps…
•Gazetteers
•GeoLocate http://www.museum.tulane.edu/geolocate/
•Website with several useful links
http://www.herpnet.org/herpnet/Gazetteer/GeorefEspanol.html

18. List of possible applications in PGR
1. Optimized germplasm collecting
2. Detection of potential bias in previous collecting activities
3. Identification and evaluation of protected areas for in-situ conservation
4. Identification of suitable areas to establish genetic reserves
5. Identification of appropriate sites for “on farm” conservation
6. Identification of appropriate sites for PGR regeneration/multiplication
7. Ecogeographical characterization of collecting sites
8. Maps of genotypic, phenotypic and/or eco-geographical diversity
9. Studies of the ecogeographical representativeness of the germplasm collections
10. Establishment of ecogeographical core collections
11. Environmental description of the germplasm characterization/evaluation sites
12. Enhancement of phenotypic and genotypic germplasm analysis
13. Improvement of documentation particularly regarding the georeferencing of collecting sites
14. Facilitate the use of germplasm through eco-geographical information systems, which provide
useful information for the parental selection
15. Optimized utilization of germplasm. Focused Identification Germplasm Strategy (FIGS)
COLLECTION
EX-SITU CONSERVATION, CHARACTERIZATION AND EVALUATION
DOCUMENTATION AND IMPLEMENTATION
IN-SITU CONSERVATION

19. What activities you need to perform?
Collecting germplasm
• Try to avoid collecting where others have already collected
• Collecting germplasm in environments that you have not yet sampled
• Collecting germplasm that is very likely to contain genes of interest

20. What activities you need to perform?
Determine where to perform in-situ conservation
• Which protected areas are more "protective" of agro-biodiversity and which
ecosystems /species do they protect?
• Which areas within the work frame are more appropriate or would be a priority in
terms of investment for “on farm” conservation projects?

21. What activities you need to perform?
Determine representativeness of your ex-situ collections
• Is optimal the representativeness of adaptive environmental of your collection?
• Should you collecting germplasm as a priority activity?

22. What activities you need to perform?
Identify the areas with higher diversity (F, G or E)
• Where do we find the highest concentration of phenotypic, genotypic or
environmental adaptive diversity within an study area?

23. What activities you need to perform?
Identifying potentially useful germplasm
• Want to enhance the usefulness of your collection?
• Keen to identify germplasm with environmental adaptations of interest for plant
breeding?