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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Landrace | 3/3 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landrace | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T07:15:39.109121+00:00 | kb-cron |
The label landrace includes regional cultigens that are genetically heterogeneous, but with enough characteristics in common to permit their recognition as a group. These characteristics are used by farmers to manage diversity and purity within landraces. In some cultures, the development of new landraces is typically limited to members of specific social groups, such as women or shaman. Maintaining existing landraces, like developing new landraces, requires that farmers be able to identify crop-specific characteristics and that those characteristics are passed on to following generations. Over time, the process of identifying the distinguishing characteristic or features of a new landrace is reinforced by cultivation processes; for example, descendants of a plant that is notably drought tolerant may become iteratively more so through selective breeding as farmers regard it as better for dry areas and prioritize planting it in those locations. This is one way in which farming systems can develop a portfolio of landraces over time that have specific ecological niches and uses. Conversely, modern cultivars can also be developed into a landrace over time when farmers save seed and practice selective breeding. Although landraces are often discussed once they have become endemic to a particular geographical region, landraces have always been moved over long and short distances. Some landraces can adapt to various environments, while others only thrive within specific conditions. Self-fertilizing and vegetatively populated species adapt by changing the frequencies of phenotypes. Outbreeding crops absorb new genotypes through intentional and unintentional hybridization, or through mutation. A clear example of vegetal landrace would consist in the diverse adaptations of wheat to differential artificial selection constraints.
=== Cultivars developed from landraces === Members of a landrace variety, selected for uniformity with regards to a unique feature over a period of time, can be developed into a farmers' variety or cultivar. Traits from landraces are valuable for incorporation into elite lines. Crop disease resistance genes from landraces can provide eternally-needed resistances to more widely used, modern varieties.
=== Examples of plant landraces ===
==== Beans ====
==== Carrots ====
==== Maize ====
==== Okra ====
==== Peas ====
==== Peppers ====
==== Rice ====
==== Squash ====
==== Tomatillo ====
==== Tomatoes ====
==== Wheat ====
== Animals ==
=== Animal landrace development === Some standardized animal breeds originate from attempts to make landraces more consistent through selective breeding, and a landrace may become a more formal breed with the creation of a breed registry or publication of a breed standard. In such a case, one may think of the landrace as a "stage" in breed development. However, in other cases, formalizing a landrace may result in the genetic resource of a landrace being lost through crossbreeding. While many landrace animals are associated with farming, other domestic animals have been put to use as modes of transportation, as companion animals, for sporting purposes, and for other non-farming uses, so their geographic distribution may differ. For example, horse landraces are less common because human use of them for transport has meant that they have moved with people more commonly and constantly than most other domestic animals, reducing the incidence of populations locally genetically isolated for extensive periods of time.
=== Examples of animal landraces ===
==== Cats ==== Many standardized breeds have rather recently (within a century or less) been derived from landraces. Examples, often called natural breeds, include Arabian Mau, Egyptian Mau, Korat, Kurilian Bobtail, Maine Coon, Manx, Norwegian Forest Cat, Siberian, and Siamese. In some cases, such as the Turkish Angora and Turkish Van breeds and their possible derivation from the Van cat landrace, the relationships are not entirely clear.
==== Cattle ====
==== Dogs ====
Dog landraces and the selectively bred dog breeds that follow breed standards vary widely depending on their origins and purpose. Landraces are distinguished from dog breeds which have breed standards, breed clubs and registries. Landrace dogs have more variety in their appearance than do standardized dog breeds. An example of a dog landrace with a related standardized breed with a similar name is the collie. The Scotch Collie is a landrace, while the Rough Collie and the Border Collie are standardized breeds. They can be very different in appearance, though the Rough Collie in particular was developed from the Scotch Collie by inbreeding to fix certain highly desired traits. In contrast to the landrace, in the various standardized Collie breeds, purebred individuals closely match a breed-standard appearance but might have lost other useful characteristics and have developed undesirable traits linked to inbreeding. The ancient landrace dogs of the Fertile Crescent that led to the Saluki breed excels in running down game across open tracts of hot desert, but conformation-bred individuals of the breed are not necessarily able to chase and catch desert hares.
==== Goats ==== Some standardized breeds that are derived from landraces include the Dutch Landrace, Swedish Landrace and Finnish Landrace goats. The Danish Landrace is a modern mix of three different breeds, one of which was a "Landrace"-named breed.
==== Sheep ====
==== Horses ==== The wild progenitor of the domestic horse is extinct. It is rare for landraces among domestic horses to remain isolated, due to human use of horses for transportation, thus causing horses to move from one local population to another. The heavy 'draft' type of domestic horse, developed in Europe, has differentiated into many separate landraces or breeds. Examples of horse landraces also include insular populations in Greece and Indonesia, and, on a broader scale, New World populations derived from the founder stock of Colonial Spanish horse. The Yakutian and Mongolian Horses of Asia have "unimproved" characteristics.
==== Pigs ==== The standardized swine breeds named "Landrace" are often not actually landraces or derived from landraces. The Danish Landrace pig breed, pedigreed in 1896 from an actual local landrace, is the principal ancestor of the American Landrace (1930s). In this way, the Swedish Landrace is derived from the Danish and from other Scandinavian breeds, as is the British Landrace breed.
==== Chicken ====
==== Ducks ====
==== Geese ==== Many standardized goose breeds named "Landrace", e.g. the Twente Landrace goose, are not actually true landraces, but may be derived from them.
==== Rabbits ====
== See also ==
== References ==
== External links ==
Short DIVERSEEDS video on crop wild relatives and landraces in the fertile crescent in Israel