Rare wild plants of potential or current economic importance in Canada — a list of priorities

Catling, Paul M.; Porebski, Sue

doi:10.4141/p97-106

Cited by 15 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Catling and Cayouette (1994) emphasized that in particular in small fruits, berries, and nuts, unique endemic genetic resources occur in the Gaspé Peninsula of Québec. Catling and Porebski (1998) added to the understanding of these native Canadian plant genetic resources by identifying 56 taxa of rare wild plants that are the highest priority for protection on the basis of both rarity and economic value and pointed out that 60% of these taxa occur in the Carolinian zone, which includes the Lake Erie lowland region in Ontario, which is densely populated and in which a decline in crop wild relative populations has been reported by these authors. The map provided in Fig.…”

Section: Number Of Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic Resources of Crop Wild Relatives: A Canadian Perspective

Diederichsen

Schellenberg

2018

North American Crop Wild Relatives, Volume 1

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Canada is home to about 5087 species of higher plants of which 25% were introduced to Canada either deliberately or by accident. The richness of botanical species is highest in the southern, more densely settled parts of the country. About 364 native Canadian species have direct or potential use in crop development for various usages with particular emphasis on use for berries and as forages. The use of more than 600 plant species by indigenous people for food, medicine, or spiritual reasons is documented, and they practiced agriculture prior to colonization by Europeans with cultivations of corn, garden bean, squash, sunflower, and tobacco. Only a few native species are crop wild relatives of major agricultural crops such as 14 species of the genus Helianthus L., which are related to cultivated sunflower. Taxonomists have made major contributions to recognize the potential of the Canadian flora from a utilitarian aspect. Plant breeding in Canada has been done by the government of Canada, by universities, and, more recently, also by the private sector. The focus has been on major crops, while the activities in forages and minor crops have decreased. Canada maintains a national genebank for ex situ conservation (Plant Gene Resources of Canada). More activities to enhance the complementarity between in situ and ex situ conservation should be undertaken in Canada. The potential of native rangeland plants or weeds as genetic resources is emphasized. The "integrating genebank" is suggested as an ambitious concept. In order to maintain the future options Canadian biodiversity holds for enhancing life and livelihoods, a national strategy is required.

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Section: Number Of Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Genetic Resources of Crop Wild Relatives: A Canadian Perspective

Diederichsen

Schellenberg

2018

North American Crop Wild Relatives, Volume 1

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“…Although previous efforts have identified Canadian CWR (Davidson, 1995) and have reviewed the economic importance of rare Canadian plants (Catling & Porebski, 1998), Canada currently lacks a comprehensive national CWR inventory. An updated Canadian CWR inventory will advance CWR conservation by filling gaps in our knowledge of CWR taxonomy, geographic distribution, and conservation status (Diederichsen & Schellenberg, 2018; Mace, 2004; Maxted et al., 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An inventory of crop wild relatives and wild‐utilized plants in Canada

et al. 2022

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In the face of global pressures of change and biodiversity loss, crop wild relatives (CWR) and wild‐utilized species (WUS) urgently require conservation attention. To advance conservation, we assembled a national inventory of CWR and WUS in Canada. To assess current ex situ conservation of these plant species, we gathered a virtual metacollection of accession data from botanical gardens and national genebanks. The inventory includes 779 CWR and WUS taxa (658 distinct species), with 263 (222 distinct species) that are related to food crops of national and global importance such as blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum L.), apple (Malus domestica (Suckow) Borkh.), sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.), and saskatoon (Amelanchier spp.). Sixty‐one food crop relatives are prioritized for breeding potential, and sixteen due to conservation threats. Although most food crop CWR are represented in ex situ collections (91% of species), representation of within‐species diversity is low (median = 5% of Canadian ecogeographic types represented per species). Poor representation of within‐species diversity demands an integrative conservation strategy that emphasizes in situ protection, especially focusing on wild populations in Canada's southern ecoregions where diversity is concentrated. While genebank collections represent higher accession counts per species, botanical gardens include living collections of fruit crop relatives and other woody perennials that are well situated to raise broader awareness of CWR and WUS. To promote further conservation action, we present a web application that enables conservation planners and practitioners to identify local CWR and WUS and to identify within‐species ecogeographic types that are underrepresented in ex situ conservation systems.

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“…The economic importance (EI) of informants reported species was then assessed by desk analysis using the scoring system of Catling et al [15]. This scoring system computes EI as the average of "commercial value" of wild plant species and "relationship to economic plants", ranging between 1 (most important EI score) and 3 values.…”

Section: Economic Importancementioning

confidence: 99%

Ethnobotanical and Economic Importance of Wild Plant Species of Jabal Moussa Bioreserve, Lebanon

Sa¹,

Kanj²,

Raafat³

et al. 2017

J Ecosyst Ecogr

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Wild plants are among the important service forests provide to man. In this study, an ethnobotanical survey of the wild plants of Jabal Moussa Bioreserve of Lebanon has been conducted through personal interviews with key community members of the bioreserve villages. The economic importance of cited ethnobotanical species was then assessed based on the commercial value of species and their relationship to economic crops. The findings revealed that 130 plant species provide the local community with a breadth of wood and non-wood products. Medicinal species ranked highest contributing to 33% of reported use followed by food and beverage (15%), fuel (12%), environmental uses (10%) and materials (8%), while the remaining 22% was shared between other uses (bee plants, poisons, cosmetics, and social uses). Based on their use-values, Ceratonia siliqua, Laurus nobilis, Prunus sp.and Rhus coriaria were among the highest-ranking tree species. Whereas, Cichorium intybus, Eryngium creticum, Gundelia tournefortii, Matricaria chamomilla, Melissa officinalis, Origanum sp., Salvia fruticosa and Viola odorata were at the forefront of herbaceous species. Considering the commercial value and relationship to economic crops, the results demonstrated a list of 21 species of actual and potential high economic importance. Findings of this study clearly indicate that numerous wild plants of Jabal Moussa Bioreserve are still in use and hold high potentiality for economic development. Further studies to map and quantify the availability of these species and develop suitable methods for their propagation and production are necessary.

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Rare wild plants of potential or current economic importance in Canada — a list of priorities

Cited by 15 publications

References 8 publications

Genetic Resources of Crop Wild Relatives: A Canadian Perspective

Genetic Resources of Crop Wild Relatives: A Canadian Perspective

An inventory of crop wild relatives and wild‐utilized plants in Canada

Ethnobotanical and Economic Importance of Wild Plant Species of Jabal Moussa Bioreserve, Lebanon

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