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Seed Exchange Network Properties and Agroecosystem Resilience

FRANCISCO LASO* , Dr. Franois Massol , Dr. Doyle McKey


1,2 1,2 1,2

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Universit Montpellier II, Montpellier, France. Results Figure 2. Simulated Simpson diversity at
farmer comunity level
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CNRS, UMR 5175, CEFE, F-34293 Montpellier, France. After 60,750 simulations, sampled diversity values were skewed (Figure 2), and
*Corresponding author: francisco.laso@evobio.eu ANOVA and evidence ratios suggested all single-effect variables had a significant
effect on Simpson diversity (P values < 0.042, Table 2). Only four out of 41,400 models
were within 10 points of the lowest AIC value and only 2.5 AIC points separated

Frequency
n=ocurrences single variety
them. The predictions made by the combination of these four best models weighted N=ocurrences ALL varieties
by their Akaike weights had the same trends as the simulated data, but was not
a perfect fit (R2 = 0.736). Figure 3 shows how observed (above the diagonal) and
modeled (below the diagonal) Simpson diversity varied as a function of each pair of Range = (0, 0.95)
variables. Only the combined Pmetapop variable showed a trend when plotted against Mean =0.83
Simpson diversity (Figure 4). Pmetapop was greater than 0 in 65% of all simulations. Median = 0.91

Simpsons Diversity

Table 2. Effect of variables Figure 3. Observed and modeled diversity as a Figure 4. Metapopulation persistence vs. diversity
from best model function of variable pairs at low background diffusion

Variable Coefficients
c 3.68E-03
s -1.97E-02
Introduction
df
3.45E-02
2.09E+00
Analyzing social and ecological phenomena from a network perspective has been shown to be an db 2.20E+02
effective aid in managing crop genetic resources (Abay et al. 2011). One such social phenomenon is seed e -8.05E+00

Simpson Diversity
sharing, a widespread practice in traditional agriculture in which farmers form more or less extensive s:c 3.09E-03
:c -8.19E-04
seed diffusion networks. Around the world, farmers save and diffuse local germplasm through social df:c 2.96E-02
networks (Duputi et al. 2009, Dyer et al. 2011, Pautasso et al. 2013). Farmers create, maintain, and df:s 8.07E-01
disperse a diversity of cultivars that are adapted to local environments and preferences. Seed diffusion db:c -1.11E+00
through these networks may play a fundamental role in maintaining agrobiodiversity. If such a role db:s -3.71E+01
db: -3.87E+00
exists, it is threatened, because agroecosystems are currently undergoing simplification at all scales,
db:df -3.83E+02
from deliberate reductions of intraspecific genetic diversity to reduced landscape heterogeneity. Seed e:c 1.62E-02
diffusion is bound to be affected by this simplification. Therefore, if we are to both understand the e:s 4.36E-01
current forces maintaining crop biodiversity and predict how to maintain biodiversity into the future, e: 1.75E-01
e:df 1.93E+00
it is important that we understand how seed diffusion networks operate, how they are changing and
e:db 3.34E+02
how their specific characteristics affect crop biodiversity. Pnest, Pmetapop, and were excluded Metapopulation Persistence
from GLM due to computational
time constraints

Methods
We used Mathematica 8 (Wolfram) to run simulations and R (version 2.15.2) to statistically analyze
simulation outputs. To generate farmer networks with specific properties, we introduced a number of Discussion Figure 5. Lambda vs. structural variables
structural and procedural variables (Table 1, Figure 1). Networks were generated with a variation of Cultivar diversity within the simulated net- One of the most novel results
the algorithm proposed by Thbault & Fontaine (2010). There are two ways a farmer can obtain new works is the result of the complex interactions is that connectance
cultivars: through exchange with other farmers (with probability df) or from an external source (with between all the variables. Connectance (C) had a is most important
probability db). The diversity of seeds from the external source was determined by parameter . In positive effect on diversity, but unexpectedly, reci- in determining

Lambda
between diffusion seasons, seeds could be lost from a farmers field with probability e. We measured procity (s) had a negative effect and the effect of (Figure 5).
seed diversity at the level of the farmer community using Simpsons index of diversity. To describe nestedness (Pnest) was the least significant. Reci-
the structure of a simulated network on a single variable we extracted the dominant eigenvalue () procity (s) homogenized seed stocks held by farm-
of the farmer-to-farmer adjacency matrix. To investigate if cultivar varieties would persist in the er community, but the positive coefficients from
absence of background diffusion, we calculated the probability of cultivar persistence in the farmer Table 2 for the interactions between df and both
Connectance
metapopulation (Hanski and Ovaskainen 2000, Gilarranz and Bascompte 2012). e and s (1.93 and 8.07E-01, respectively) suggest
that the negative effects of extinction and reciproc-
ity on diversity are overshadowed by the positive
Table 1. Parameter combinations used in experimental design effect of seed sharing. Excluding Pnest, Pmetapop, and
Rate of seed Rate of seed the concentration parameter () weakens our re-
Background

Lambda
Number of Number of Probability of Probability of Number of Extinction diffusion diffusion
concentration sults. However, the R2 between the predicted and
Farms connections nestedness reciprocity varieties rate within the from external Reciprocity
parameter simulated data is still relatively high and our AIC
network source*
(N) (C) (Pnest) (s) (V) (e) (df) (db) () values suggest that we were able to identify good is one of the least
15 0.00 0.00 0 0 10% models accounting for the variation in diversity. explored variables
25 0.25 0.25 2 in the literature.
50 0.50 0.50 0.25 0.25 50%
25 75 0.75 0.75 20 10^100 We hope to enrich the debate on whether struc- Reciprocity We found that for
100 1.00 1.00 0.50 0.50 90% tural features of social networks have positive or agrobiodiversity it is the
negative effects on diversity. The application of number of directed edges,
*Values are percentages of the maximum db given by dbmax=e/(V-1+Ve)
network theory to analyze biological and social not the ratio of reciprocal
interactions is relatively new, and it could provide exchanges that matters.
Lambda

useful tools for agrobiodiversity conservation.


Figure 1. Structural variables for generating farmer-farmer network This model is meant to serve as the baseline to be
scaled up and expanded to include more realistic
parameters to try to understand and predict the
Connectance evolution of real-life seed sharing networks.
vs. Directed Links = 4 Directed Links = 4
Nestedness Reciprocity = 1/3 Reciprocity = 0
Farmers (receivers)

Works Cited agroecosystems: the case of cassava in Cauca, Colombia. PloS One,
Acknowledgements
Farmers (givers)

6(12), 18.
Abay, F., De Boef, W., & Bjrnstad, . (2011). Network analysis of Gilarranz, L. J., & Bascompte, J. (2012). Spatial network structure and
barley seed flows in Tigray, Ethiopia: supporting the design of metapopulation persistence. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 297, 116.
strategies that contribute to on-farm management of plant genetic
I would like to thank Dr. Anne
vs. Reciprocity Hanski, I, & Ovaskainen, O. (2000). The metapopulation capacity of a
resources. Plant Genetic Resources, 9(4), 495505. fragmented landscape. Nature, 404(6779), 755758. Duputi and Dr. Marco Pautasso
Lambda Duputi, A., Massol, F., David, P., Haxaire, C., & McKey, D. (2009). Pautasso, M., Aistara, G., Barnaud, A., Caillon, S., Clouvel, P., Coomes, O. T., for all their support. This project
(dominant Traditional Amerindian cultivators combine directional and ideotypic Deltre, M., et al. (2013). Seed exchange networks for agrobiodiversity
eigenvalue)
selection for sustainable management of cassava genetic diversity. conservation. A review. Agronomy for Sustainable Development, 125. would have been impossible
Journal of Evolutionary Biology, 22(6), 13171325.
Dyer, G. a, Gonzlez, C., & Lopera, D. C. (2011). Informal seed
Thbault, E., & Fontaine, C. (2010). Stability of ecological communities without them.
and the architecture of mutualistic and trophic networks. Science,
systems and the management of gene flow in traditional 329(5993), 853856.

vs. Nestedness

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