Assessing the geographic representativeness of genebank collections: the case of Bolivian wild potatoes

Genebank collection databases can be used for ecogeographical studies tende r the assumption that the accessions are a geographically unbiased sample. We evaluated the representativeness of a collection of wild potatoes from B olivia and defined and assessed four types of bias: species, species-area, hotspot, and infrastructure. Species bias is the sampling of some species m ore often than others. Species-area bias is a sampling that is disproportio nate to the total area in which a species is found Hotspot bias is the disp roportionate sampling of areas with high levels of diversity. Infrastructur e bias is the disproportionate sampling of areas near roads and towns. Each of these biases is present in the Bolivian wild potato collection. The inf rastructure bias was strong: 60% of all wild potato accessions were collect ed within 2 km of a road, as opposed to 22%, if collections had been made r andomly. This analysis can serve as a guide for future collecting trips. It can also provide baseline information for the application of genebank data in studies based on geographic information systems.