GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION AND CONSERVATION OF ANDEAN AGROBIODIVERSITY IN THE PROVINCE OF IMBABURA – ECUADOR

The ever-increasing relevancy of agrobiodiversity studies is motivated by its important role in food security, conservation, and economic value for rural communities. In order to determine geographic distribution and state of conservation of agrobiodiversity in the Andes’ highlands of the province of Imbabura – Ecuador, 606 farmers were surveyed from 85 communities located over 2,500 masl. Standard Deviational Ellipse was used to determine the trend of spatial distribution; Shannon - Weinner, Simpson, and Margalef indexes, as well as cluster analysis were used to study abundance and conservation. Inverse Distance Weighted interpolation was used to determine the trend of uses. The spatial autocorrelation Moran's I index and the ‘Near’ tool were used to define the influence of proximity to urban areas, and the correlation coefficient to establish the relationship between ethnicity and conservation. The study identified 47 species from seven different groups of crops. Most agro-biodiverse zones were located in Otavalo. Most abundant specie was corn (Zea mays), (19.11% abundance). Pimampiro has a greater Shannon diversity (H'= 1.118). Otavalo has the highest maximum diversity (Hmax = 1.602), and Urcuquí has the greatest Shannon evenness among species (J'=0.931). Highest Simpson dominance index (D= 0.15) was found in Antonio Ante. Corn has the highest number of uses. Highest levels of agrobiodiversity conservation were found in Gonzalez Suarez and Otavalo. Ethnicity and conservation showed an inverse correlation (correlation coefficient = -0.77). Agrobiodiversity conservation shows spatial autocorrelation and values show tendency to clustering (Moran’s I=0.25; z-score=2.80 and p-value=0.005). This research supports the conclusion that the most agro-biodiverse areas, with higher levels of conservation of agrobiodiversity are in Otavalo.