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Diversity of wild yams (Dioscorea spp., Dioscoreaceae) collected in continental Africa

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Abstract

Plant genetic resources, especially crop wild relatives like wild yams, are under high risks of extinction due to habitat loss, climate change, unacceptable collection practices, shifting cultivation practice and over-exploitation. To contribute to their conservation, the diversity of wild yams (Dioscorea spp.) collected in continental Africa was analyzed. Specimens from Herbaria (B, BR, K, P, WAG and YA), databases, literature and actual collection from Cameroon were considered. The collection localities were georeferenced and projected to Lambert azimuthal equal-area projection. Spatial analyses of sampling and diversity were conducted at three different resolutions: 50 × 50-, 100 × 100- and 150 × 150-km sized grid cells. Four thousand and eighty-seven specimens, collected in 2895 localities, were inventoried and grouped into 55 taxa including 43 species, five subspecies, four varieties and seven morpho-species. The genus Dioscorea occurred in fifteen out of the eighteen phytochoria recognized on African mainland. The Guineo–Congolian regional centre of endemism was the most sampled and the richest phytochorion with 28 taxa. In terms of floristic composition, the Sudanian regional centre of endemism and the Guinea–Congolia/Sudania regional transition zone were the most similar (similarity coefficient SCi = 0.84). Globally, the most diversified grid cells were located in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, CAR, Congo, DRC, Tanzania and Malawi. In terms of phytogeography, they were found in two regional centres of endemism (Guineo–Congolian and Zambezian), two regional transition zones (Guinea–Congolia/Zambezia and Guinea–Congolia/Sudania) and one regional mosaic (Zanzibar–Inhambane). These areas could therefore be considered as potential sites for in situ conservation of wild yams in continental Africa.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks are due to IDEA WILD, an American non-governmental organization, for necessary equipments. Many thanks also to Pr. Maurice TINDO for comments on earlier versions of this manuscript and Dr. Bruno SENTERRE for providing us with the electronic version of White’s phytogeographic map. Three anonymous reviewers provided insightful criticism that enhanced the quality of our work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Plant Systematics and Ecology, Department of Plant Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Yaoundé I, P.O. Box 812, Yaoundé, Cameroon

    Jacqueline Magwé-Tindo & Louis Zapfack

  2. Laboratory of Plant Systematics and Ecology, Department of Biology, Higher Teacher’s Training College, University of Yaoundé I, P.O. Box 047, Yaoundé, Cameroon

    Bonaventure Sonké

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  1. Jacqueline Magwé-Tindo
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  2. Louis Zapfack
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  3. Bonaventure Sonké
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Correspondence to Jacqueline Magwé-Tindo.

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Communicated by Anurag Chaurasia.

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Magwé-Tindo, J., Zapfack, L. & Sonké, B. Diversity of wild yams (Dioscorea spp., Dioscoreaceae) collected in continental Africa. Biodivers Conserv 25, 77–91 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10531-015-1031-4

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