THE USE OF GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION-SYSTEMS IN BIODIVERSITY EXPLORATION AND CONSERVATION

We describe a method for applying geographical information systems (GI S) to exploring biodiversity in the wild relatives of crop species and illustrate its application to the wild common bean (Phaseolus vulgari s L.). We use the latitude, longitude and altitude of the location of origin of each accession in a germplasm collection of wild P. vulgaris , along with long-term monthly mean values of rainfall, temperature an d diurnal temperature range for about 10 000 stations throughout Latin America to produce maps indicating areas with 'bean-favouring' climat es. In a test case, these identify a new suitable area in Colombia whe re wild P. vulgaris has been reported in the literature, and two mon a reas which are strong candidates on other grounds. Dividing the 'bean- favouring' climates into clusters identifies areas that have similar c limates but are geographically remote, where we can expect to find wil d beans with similar ecological adaptation. We discuss the implication s of these results for conserving and improving the common bean, and t he application of these methods to other species.