Evaluation and improvement of the ecogeographical representativeness of a collection of the genus Trichloris in Argentina

In Argentina, species of the genus Trichloris represent an important native forage resource adapted to drought and salinity. The capture and identification of adaptive traits associated with such conditions require long-term collection and characterization efforts. Ecogeographical land characterization (ELC) maps constitute an easy and useful tool to evaluate ecogeographical representativeness in established collections, allowing for the design of new collecting strategies. In the present study, an ELC map was generated from ecogeographical variables closely associated with the adaptation of the target species. For each ELC map category, the accessions preserved at the Trichloris genebank of the Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias-Universidad Nacional del Litoral were compared with external presence data. After the identification of the ecogeographical gap, a collecting expedition was designed. Collecting indices showed a significant improvement in the ecogeographical representativeness of the collection to the extent that accessions had a high probability of containing abiotic adaptation genes. The results emphasize the usefulness of ELC maps and the importance of planning collections through ecogeographical approaches.