Expert crop scientists have warned that conflict in the Middle East could threaten the ability of crop breeders to produce new varieties that are resistant to the effects of climate change.

image expired

The scientists, from the University of Birmingham, this week identified the Middle East as a 'hot spot' for wild relatives of many crop species upon which humans rely, but warned that their conservation is increasingly being compromised by conflict.

The scientists made their warning on Wednesday (3^rd September), after research into crop wild relatives (CWR) – species closely related to key crops which are needed for future variety development – revealed that many are concentrated in the 'Fertile Crescent', situated in the Middle East and arcing around the Arabian desert through Jordan, Palestine, Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Turkey and ending in Iraq and Iran.

As crop wild relatives contain many traits that breeders may find beneficial, including resistance to pests and disease, higher drought tolerance or the ability to withstand high temperatures and salinity – all of which could prove invaluable as climate change takes effect – the researchers said every effort must be made to ensure they are conserved.

In July last year, a major programme aimed at conserving genetic diversity by protecting crop plants' 'wild cousins' issued its first report. Though the Global Crop Diversity Trust remains optimistic that biodiversity can be protected through concerted effort, figures from the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation show that, on average, agricultural biodiversity shrank by 75 percent over the 20th Century, with diversity of some key species narrowing much further as farming systems changed and markets became increasingly globalised.

These changes meant crops were prised for their uniformity and, in some cases, long shelf lives and suitability for transport over long distances, rather than nutrition or adaptations to different conditions.  

Syria and Lebanon home to most wild relatives

Scientists have produced a database of globally important wild relatives, which lists 173 crops and their 1667 priority 'cousins', along with their particular traits. These include wheat's relative Aegilops tauschii, which is resistant to Hessian Fly, a relative of peach trees, which can tolerate drought and a relative of sugarcane which can survive in low temperatures.

Globally, the highest concentration of CWR is found in Syria and Lebanon. According to the Birmingham researchers, 12 per cent of CWRs are threatened with extinction and all are thought to be suffering a loss of genetic diversity due to habitat loss and land-use change, conflict, intensive agriculture, urbanisation, and mismanagement of the environment.

The scientists, working with the FAO, are drawing up a strategy to conserve these invaluable plant species, by boosting support for their protection at special sites in the wild, while taking samples and placing them in gene banks as a safety back up, where the genetic material can be kept for up to 300 years.

Dr Nigel Maxted, lead investigator from the University of Birmingham's School of Biosciences, commented on Monday, "It is very important that we conserve these species in secure gene banks, but it is critical to conserve them in their natural habitat as they will continue to adapt to changes in the climate as well as threats from pests and diseases.

"The global population is now 7 billion and by 2050 it will be 9 billion so it is now even more crucial that we conserve crop wild relatives as part of the wider need to address global food security issues."

Combination of conflict and climate change could have 'Tsunami' effect

Commenting on the Birmingham researchers' stark warnings, Jasper Humphreys, from King's College London's Marjan Centre, said "There have been studies by Israeli and Japanese scientists that show a doomsday scenario from climate change in the Fertile Crescent. These studies show that we could lose the Fertile Crescent this century."

The Marjan Centre was set up to study the effects of human conflict on wildlife and the environment. Humphreys said, "Elsewhere, there are water problems which are a) driven by climate change and b) driven by conflict. We have the potential for a tsunami of a disaster where the two factors combine."

Discussing theories that conflict can lead to inadvertent conservation in some cases – including the so-called De-militarised Zone between North and South Korea, where threatened wildlife has been able to regain a foothold – Humphreys warned that it is unsuitable to extrapolate from the few available examples of this phenomenon, because every case is different and in areas such as the DMZ, any escalation in hostilities could "wipe away [wildlife] in a matter of seconds."  

Efforts underway in the UK and China

As well as the abundance of these important plants in the Fertile Crescent, many CWR can be found in the UK including the wild relatives of sugar beet, asparagus, radish and wild garlic. The Birmingham team is now working with Natural England to identify an area where wild relatives can be conserved in their natural habitat in the UK.

871 wild plant species native to China also have the potential to adapt and maintain 28 globally important crops, including rice, wheat, soybean, sorghum, banana, apple, citrus fruits, grape, stone fruits and millet. 42 percent of the wild plant species identified do not grow anywhere else in the world. Worryingly, almost a fifth are threatened with extinction in China and require urgent conservation action, the Birmingham scientists said last week, at a meeting ahead of the British Science Festival.