On the necessity of combining ethnobotany and genetics to assess agrobiodiversity and its evolution in crops: A case study on date palms (Phoenix dactylifera L.) in Siwa Oasis, Egypt
Abstract Crop diversity is shaped by biological and social processes interacting at different spatiotemporal scales. Here, we combined population genetics and ethnobotany to investigate date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) diversity in Siwa Oasis, Egypt. Based on interviews with farmers and observatio...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2020-09-01
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| Series: | Evolutionary Applications |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1111/eva.12930 |
| _version_ | 1818974250359324672 |
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| author | Muriel Gros‐Balthazard Vincent Battesti Sarah Ivorra Laure Paradis Frédérique Aberlenc Oumarou Zango Salwa Zehdi‐Azouzi Souhila Moussouni Summar Abbas Naqvi Claire Newton Jean‐Frédéric Terral |
| author_facet | Muriel Gros‐Balthazard Vincent Battesti Sarah Ivorra Laure Paradis Frédérique Aberlenc Oumarou Zango Salwa Zehdi‐Azouzi Souhila Moussouni Summar Abbas Naqvi Claire Newton Jean‐Frédéric Terral |
| author_sort | Muriel Gros‐Balthazard |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Crop diversity is shaped by biological and social processes interacting at different spatiotemporal scales. Here, we combined population genetics and ethnobotany to investigate date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) diversity in Siwa Oasis, Egypt. Based on interviews with farmers and observation of practices in the field, we collected 149 date palms from Siwa Oasis and 27 uncultivated date palms from abandoned oases in the surrounding desert. Using genotyping data from 18 nuclear and plastid microsatellite loci, we confirmed that some named types each constitute a clonal line, that is, a true‐to‐type cultivar. We also found that others are collections of clonal lines, that is, ethnovarieties, or even unrelated samples, that is, local categories. This alters current assessments of agrobiodiversity, which are visibly underestimated, and uncovers the impact of low‐intensity, but highly effective, farming practices on biodiversity. These hardly observable practices, hypothesized by ethnographic survey and confirmed by genetic analysis, are enabled by the way Isiwans conceive and classify living beings in their oasis, which do not quite match the way biologists do: a classic disparity of etic versus. emic categorizations. In addition, we established that Siwa date palms represent a unique and highly diverse genetic cluster, rather than a subset of North African and Middle Eastern palm diversity. As previously shown, North African date palms display evidence of introgression by the wild relative Phoenix theophrasti, and we found that the uncultivated date palms from the abandoned oases share even more alleles with this species than cultivated palms in this region. The study of Siwa date palms could hence be a key to the understanding of date palm diversification in North Africa. Integration of ethnography and population genetics promoted the understanding of the interplay between diversity management in the oasis (short‐time scale), and the origins and dynamic of diversity through domestication and diversification (long‐time scale). |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T15:37:04Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4bf30516c09748ae8a3c14b4dec132f7 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1752-4571 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T15:37:04Z |
| publishDate | 2020-09-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Evolutionary Applications |
| spelling | doaj.art-4bf30516c09748ae8a3c14b4dec132f72022-12-21T19:35:21ZengWileyEvolutionary Applications1752-45712020-09-011381818184010.1111/eva.12930On the necessity of combining ethnobotany and genetics to assess agrobiodiversity and its evolution in crops: A case study on date palms (Phoenix dactylifera L.) in Siwa Oasis, EgyptMuriel Gros‐Balthazard0Vincent Battesti1Sarah Ivorra2Laure Paradis3Frédérique Aberlenc4Oumarou Zango5Salwa Zehdi‐Azouzi6Souhila Moussouni7Summar Abbas Naqvi8Claire Newton9Jean‐Frédéric Terral10Center for Genomics and Systems Biology New York University Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi United Arab EmiratesUMR 7206 Éco‐anthropologie CNRS Muséum national d’histoire naturelle Universite de Paris: Musée de l’Homme Paris FranceInstitut des Sciences de l’Évolution UMR 5554 CNRS/Université de Montpellier/IRD/EPHE CC065 Équipe Dynamique de la Biodiversité, Anthropo‐écologie Université – Montpellier Montpellier Cedex 5 FranceInstitut des Sciences de l’Évolution UMR 5554 CNRS/Université de Montpellier/IRD/EPHE CC065 Équipe Dynamique de la Biodiversité, Anthropo‐écologie Université – Montpellier Montpellier Cedex 5 FranceInstitut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD) Université de Montpellier, UMR DIADE Montpellier FranceUniversité de Zinder Zinder NigerFaculty of Sciences University of Tunis El Manar Tunis TunisiaFaculté des Sciences Biologiques Laboratoire de Recherche sur les Zones Arides (LRZA) Université des Science et de la Technologie Houari Boumediene (USTHB) Alger AlgeriaInstitute of Horticultural Sciences University of Agriculture Faisalabad PakistanRimouski QC CanadaInstitut des Sciences de l’Évolution UMR 5554 CNRS/Université de Montpellier/IRD/EPHE CC065 Équipe Dynamique de la Biodiversité, Anthropo‐écologie Université – Montpellier Montpellier Cedex 5 FranceAbstract Crop diversity is shaped by biological and social processes interacting at different spatiotemporal scales. Here, we combined population genetics and ethnobotany to investigate date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) diversity in Siwa Oasis, Egypt. Based on interviews with farmers and observation of practices in the field, we collected 149 date palms from Siwa Oasis and 27 uncultivated date palms from abandoned oases in the surrounding desert. Using genotyping data from 18 nuclear and plastid microsatellite loci, we confirmed that some named types each constitute a clonal line, that is, a true‐to‐type cultivar. We also found that others are collections of clonal lines, that is, ethnovarieties, or even unrelated samples, that is, local categories. This alters current assessments of agrobiodiversity, which are visibly underestimated, and uncovers the impact of low‐intensity, but highly effective, farming practices on biodiversity. These hardly observable practices, hypothesized by ethnographic survey and confirmed by genetic analysis, are enabled by the way Isiwans conceive and classify living beings in their oasis, which do not quite match the way biologists do: a classic disparity of etic versus. emic categorizations. In addition, we established that Siwa date palms represent a unique and highly diverse genetic cluster, rather than a subset of North African and Middle Eastern palm diversity. As previously shown, North African date palms display evidence of introgression by the wild relative Phoenix theophrasti, and we found that the uncultivated date palms from the abandoned oases share even more alleles with this species than cultivated palms in this region. The study of Siwa date palms could hence be a key to the understanding of date palm diversification in North Africa. Integration of ethnography and population genetics promoted the understanding of the interplay between diversity management in the oasis (short‐time scale), and the origins and dynamic of diversity through domestication and diversification (long‐time scale).https://doi.org/10.1111/eva.12930agrobiodiversityanthropologydate palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.)domesticationethnobotanyevolutionary history |
| spellingShingle | Muriel Gros‐Balthazard Vincent Battesti Sarah Ivorra Laure Paradis Frédérique Aberlenc Oumarou Zango Salwa Zehdi‐Azouzi Souhila Moussouni Summar Abbas Naqvi Claire Newton Jean‐Frédéric Terral On the necessity of combining ethnobotany and genetics to assess agrobiodiversity and its evolution in crops: A case study on date palms (Phoenix dactylifera L.) in Siwa Oasis, Egypt Evolutionary Applications agrobiodiversity anthropology date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) domestication ethnobotany evolutionary history |
| title | On the necessity of combining ethnobotany and genetics to assess agrobiodiversity and its evolution in crops: A case study on date palms (Phoenix dactylifera L.) in Siwa Oasis, Egypt |
| title_full | On the necessity of combining ethnobotany and genetics to assess agrobiodiversity and its evolution in crops: A case study on date palms (Phoenix dactylifera L.) in Siwa Oasis, Egypt |
| title_fullStr | On the necessity of combining ethnobotany and genetics to assess agrobiodiversity and its evolution in crops: A case study on date palms (Phoenix dactylifera L.) in Siwa Oasis, Egypt |
| title_full_unstemmed | On the necessity of combining ethnobotany and genetics to assess agrobiodiversity and its evolution in crops: A case study on date palms (Phoenix dactylifera L.) in Siwa Oasis, Egypt |
| title_short | On the necessity of combining ethnobotany and genetics to assess agrobiodiversity and its evolution in crops: A case study on date palms (Phoenix dactylifera L.) in Siwa Oasis, Egypt |
| title_sort | on the necessity of combining ethnobotany and genetics to assess agrobiodiversity and its evolution in crops a case study on date palms phoenix dactylifera l in siwa oasis egypt |
| topic | agrobiodiversity anthropology date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) domestication ethnobotany evolutionary history |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1111/eva.12930 |
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