Journal Article

Climatic adaptation and ecological descriptors of wild beans from Mexico

Cerda‐Hurtado, Ivon M., Muruaga‐Martínez, José S., Reyes‐Valdés, Manuel Humberto, Reyes‐Lara, Martín A., Mayek‐Pérez, Netzahualcoyotl, Hernández‐Delgado, Sanjuana, González‐Prieto, Juan M.

2018

Overview

Despite its economic, social, biological, and cultural importance, wild forms of the genus Phaseolus are not well represented in germplasm banks, and they are at great risk due to changes in land use as well as climate change. To improve our understanding of the potential geographical distribution of wild beans (Phaseolus spp.) from Mexico and support in situ and ex situ conservation programs, we determined the climatic adaptation ranges of 29 species and two subspecies of Phaseolus collected throughout Mexico. Based on five biotic and 117 abiotic variables obtained from different databases—WorldClim, Global‐Aridity, and Global‐PET—we performed principal component and cluster analyses. Germplasm was distributed among 12 climatic types from a possible 28. The general climatic ranges were as follows: 8–3,083 m above sea level; 12.07–26.96°C annual mean temperature; 10.33–202.68 mm annual precipitation; 9.33–16.56 W/m2 of net radiation; 11.68–14.23 hr photoperiod; 0.06–1.57 aridity index; and 10–1,728 mm/month of annual potential evapotranspiration. Most descriptive variables (25) clustered species into two groups: One included germplasm from semihot climates, and the other included germplasm from temperate climates. Species clustering showed 45% to 54% coincidence with species previously grouped using molecular data. The species P. filiformis, P. purpusii, and P. maculatus were found at low‐humidity locations; these species could be used to improve our understanding of the extreme aridity adaptation mechanisms used by wild beans to avoid or tolerate climate change as well as to introgress favorable alleles into new cultivars adapted to hot, dry environments. The eco‐geographical analysis of collection sites of germplasm revealed a broad range of dispersion and pattern of distribution in Mexico of wild Phaseolus based on elevation, mean annual temperature, precipitation and photoperiod patterns, confirming its broad climatic variability adaptation. Knowledge of the climatic distribution will allow us to generate maps and establish potential areas of distribution, adaptation, and location of Phaseolus wild germplasm in Mexico, to assist and planning future collection expeditions and perform efficient strategies to acquire, manage, and supporting in situ conservation wild beans genetic resources.

• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Inc,John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subject: Adaptation / Annual precipitation / Aridity / Beans / Climate adaptation / Climate change / climatic niches / Clustering / conservation programs / Cultivars / Evapotranspiration / Geographical distribution / geographical information systems / Germplasm / Land use / Molecular chains / Net radiation / Original Research / Phaseolus / Phaseolus spp / plant genetic resources / Sea level / Species