In Situ Conservation of Wild Chiles and Their Biotic Associates

Abstract

Wild congeners of domesticated crops increasingly serve as sources of genes for improving crop cultivars. Although wild congeners have been included in seed collections for ex situ storage, there has been little work to protect populations of these wild species in their natural habitats for in situ conservation. We assessed the distribution of chile plants ( Capsicum annuum L. var. aviculare [Dierbach] D'Arcy and Eshbaugh) relative to the dominant woody vegetation of one subpopulation in a single drainage in southern Arizona, U.S.A. Wild chiles were not found in direct sun, and the distribution of chiles under different nurse plants could be a function of random chance, microenvironmental differences under different nurse-plant species, or nonrandom dispersal by chile consumers. To examine chile distribution, we measured the association of wild chiles with nurse-plant species and compared these associations with the available cover provided by each nurse plant. We also measured the buffering capacity of each nurse-plant species, conducted mammalian and avian food-preference experiments to determine the taxa dispersing chiles, and conducted time-budget studies of potential chile dispersal agents. Wild chiles were not randomly distributed: over 75% were under the canopies of fleshy-fruited shrubs that collectively made up less than 25% of the cover. We found limited evidence that differences in buffering capacity affected chile distribution. Food-preference experiments suggested that birds are the only effective dispersal agents, and the time budgets of three common bird species were strongly correlated with chile plant distribution. These results lend support for directed dispersal by avian consumers. The distribution of chiles appears to be a function of interactions between consumers, nurse plants, and the secondary chemicals in the chiles themselves. Only through studies of in situ populations can we understand the interactions that sustain both wild-crop relatives and the genetic variability essential to future crop management. Conservación In Situ de Chiles Silvestres y Sus Asociados BióticosResumen: Los parientes silvestres de cultivos domesticados sirven más y más como fuente de genes para el fitomejoramiento de cultivos. A pesar de que los parientes silvestres han sido incluidos en la recolección de semillas para almacenamiento ex situ, es poco el trabajo que se ha hecho en la protección de estas especies silvestres en su hábitat natural para su conservación in situ. Ilustramos lo importante que es el mantenimiento de las interacciones de la comunidad para la conservación efectiva de chiles silvestres o chiltepines ( Capsicum annuum L. var. aviculare [Dierbach] D'Arcy and Eshbaugh) in situ en el sur de Arizona, E.U.A. No se encuentran chiltepines bajo sol directo, pero la distribución de chiltepines bajo diferentes plantas nodrizas podría ser una función de suerte, diferencias microambientales debajo de distintas especies nodrizas, o dispersión no casual por consumidores de chiles. Para tratar con estas ...

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