Dottorato in BIOLOGIA AMBIENTALE ED EVOLUZIONISTICA

Titolo della tesi: The utility of crop and livestock intraspecific diversity within agroecosystem in providing ecosystem services and supporting production and the development of the DATAR

How to ensure that agricultural productivity increases while enhancing ecosystem services and resilience of production systems for the vast majority of farmers that are small-scale farmers? To answer this question this PhD work focused on the intraspecific level of agrobiodiversity because varieties and breeds are the units of diversity used by farmers and livestock keepers. The thesis project first demonstrated with a literature review that the lack of intra-specific crop and livestock genetic diversity has negative impacts on the provision of ecosystem services and on the resilience and productivity of agricultural production systems. The project then followed the development of a tool to link agrobiodiversity assessments and decision-making, the Diversity Assessment Tool for Agrobiodiversity and Resilience (DATAR), and to support agricultural development. Five articles were published or prepared during the thesis project of which three are case studies. The first case study presented the notable richness of Central Asia in species and varieties of fruit and nut trees and showed the positive correlation between higher abiotic stress and higher varietal diversity. The second one showed the importance of varietal names of crops by farmers in the Moroccan High Atlas and the wide use they make of landraces. Finally, the last case study presents the results of an assessment of livestock breeds in nine districts of Uganda. This PhD research aimed not only at contributing to the academic understanding of agrobiodiversity conserved and managed in situ by farmers but also to support the preservation of crop and livestock genetic resources and their better and sustainable use in a world always more subject to crises such as extremes event caused by climate change, and an ever-growing global population.