Conservation status assessment of banana crop wild relatives using species distribution modelling

Crop wild relatives (CWR) are an essential source of genetic material for the improvement of certain traits in related crop species. Despite their importance, increasing public, scientific and political support, large gaps exist in the amount of genetic material collected and conserved of many CWR. This study constructs a dataset on the distribution of wild banana species (Musa spp.) and assesses their risk and conservation status. The paper deals with the following questions: (a) What areas are potentially suitable for wild banana species? (b) How much of the wild banana diversity is currently at risk or insufficiently conserved ex and in situ? The results of the study show that to date, little of the banana CWR are sufficiently conserved both in and ex situ.