In arid and semi-arid locations, self-sufficient landrace heritage cultivars – especially trees and vines – are inherently rugged, possessing high resistance levels to heat, drought and disease. As living relics, these ancient trees contain precious biological data on historical horticulture, offering a window into the complexities of archaic agrarian biodiversity. Yet, surviving in micro-environments across several types of natural habitats, the remaining dwindling specimens of these ancient cultivars are severely endangered by rapid urban expansion and the spread of desertification.
Responding to these factors, the presentation presents a modular cross-disciplinary methodology that was developed by a group of researchers from the University of Haifa during an ongoing study of heritage cultivars in the Negev desert and their associated orchard based “Bustan” horticultural ecosystems. Refined in the context of a Negev viticulture test-case, our model aims to provide researchers a set of tools by which to identify and ultimately foster the sustainable in-situ revival of the remarkable biological traits that make living endemic cultivars so hardy. A systematic taxonomy of interrelated morphological data on heritage cultivars can prove useful to modern day farmers who seek plants and trees that can contend with the hotter temperatures resulting from climate change. Assuming a “think global, act local” outlook, we discuss how a systematic revival of historic landrace fruit trees can serve as a prototype for addressing certain acute climate challenges facing the viti and other fruit industries throughout the world, supporting profound regional renewal and advancing resilient socio-economic development.
