All conservation activities involve the collection and analysis
of ecogeographic data.
Example: Planning Collecting Missions
Ecogeographic surveys or studies are particularly useful when
planning collecting missions:
To identify target species/populations, collecting areas and
habitats
Resources available for germplasm collecting are always limited
and as a result the most efficient use must be made of them. Therefore,
each collecting mission should have a clearly defined set of target
taxa, target areas and target habitats. One way to define these
targets is to undertake an ecogeographic study or survey prior
to the mission. This is particularly true for wild species as
much time can be wasted if the habitat preferences or geographical
distribution of the target species are not known prior to the
start of the collecting mission.
To predict where a species may be located
The locations inhabited by each plant species or population are
defined by particular sets of environmental and geographical conditions.
By knowing what these conditions are, one can predict where a
species may be located. The ecogeographic passport data associated
with herbarium specimens and germplasm accessions can be used
to decide what the set of environmental conditions are likely
to be. Moreover, a combination of ecological and geographical
passport data from historical collections provides evidence that
can be used to predict where species may be currently located.
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Copyright © 1997, International Plant Genetic Resources Institute.
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