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Plant genetic resources in a touristic island: the case of Lefkada (Ionian Islands, Greece)

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Abstract

Lefkada is one of the islands of the Ionian Sea and disposes interesting biodiversity both in crop landraces and in wild relatives. It is also one of the most famous touristic attractions in the Eastern Mediterranean basin, thus traditional agriculture is under great pressure from tourism. Nevertheless, Lefkada’s mountainous relief has apparently preserved some diversity of landraces in upland villages. A collecting expedition was organized in September 2010 and a second (minor) in 2012 in order to assess the current status of landraces in a touristic island such as Lefkada. The results are discussed and compared with previous expeditions in the island. Landraces still cultivated, others that are considered lost, and information about their traditional uses are presented. Finally, the potential for the exploitation of landraces in Lefkada’s touristic environment is discussed.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Local Union of Municipalities and Communities of Lefkada Island for funding the 2010 expedition. Particular thanks to Giorgos Kourtis, its former president, as well as to Georgia Livitsanou and Athanasios Petousis for their substantial support, to the head of the Directorate of Agricultural Development of Lefkada, Katerina Georgopoulou, and the agronomists Maria Papalexandrou and Charalambos Lazaris. Special thanks also to Professor Arne Strid for providing species information from the Flora Hellenica Database, Prof. Karl Hammer, Gatersleben for providing valuable suggestions, Parthenope Ralli (Greek Gene Bank, Thessaloniki), Adamantia Kokkinaki (Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania, Crete), Dr. P. Trigas, Lecturer at the Botany Department, Agricultural University of Athens for the classification of unknown species, Dr. K. Biniari, Assistant Professor (Viticulture Laboratory, AUA), the late father Xenofontas Karfakis, father Kostas Voukelatos, Charalambos Vandoros, Georgia and Spyros Santas, Ioannis and Dimitra Lazaris and all Lefkadians who were very helpful and hospitable during the investigation.

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  1. Department of Plant Breeding and Biometry, Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos 75, 11855, Athens, Greece

    Konstantinos Thomas & Penelope J. Bebeli

  2. Farm Unit, Agricultural University of Athens, Iera Odos 75, 11855, Athens, Greece

    Ricos Thanopoulos

  3. Genebank Department, Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), Corrensstraße 3, 06466, Gatersleben, Germany

    Helmut Knüpffer

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  1. Konstantinos Thomas
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Correspondence to Penelope J. Bebeli.

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Thomas, K., Thanopoulos, R., Knüpffer, H. et al. Plant genetic resources in a touristic island: the case of Lefkada (Ionian Islands, Greece). Genet Resour Crop Evol 60, 2431–2455 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-013-0011-3

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