Battesti V., Gros-Balthazard Muriel. (2025). Ethnographic, genetic, and morphometric analyses of the date palm agrobiodiversity in al-Ula oasis : al-Ula DPA Project Final Report (2019-2025).
Abou Dhabi (ARE) ; Paris (FRA) ; Marseille : NYU ; CNRS ; IRD, 39 p. multigr.
Titre du document
Ethnographic, genetic, and morphometric analyses of the date palm agrobiodiversity in al-Ula oasis : al-Ula DPA Project Final Report (2019-2025)
This Final Report presents the outcomes of the project 'Ethnographic, Genetic, and Morphometric Analyses of the Date Palm Agrobiodiversity in al-Ula Oasis' (2019-2025),
hereafter referred to as the al-Ula DPA Project. Conducted through an agreement between AFALULA and the CNRS & New York University Abu Dhabi, the project adopted an
interdisciplinary framework integrating social anthropology, population genetics, morphometrics, and archaeobotany to document and analyze the exceptional
agrobiodiversity of the date palms of al-Ula (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia). Over six years, the project combined extensive fieldwork and laboratory analyses and
generated substantial qualitative and quantitative datasets on local diversity, classification systems, cultivation practices, and genetic and morphological variation. A purposive sampling
strategy, informed by local knowledge and grove management contexts, ensured that biological material was collected in a representative and well-documented manner. The
resulting genomic dataset 'based on the sequencing of 539 date palms, the largest sets ever produced for a single oasis' together with an extensive morphometric reference of seeds,
provided robust baselines for interpreting both present-day diversity and its long-term historical foundations. For the first time, the project also produced a comprehensive inventory
of varieties in al-Ula and clarified their current status and distribution. Taken together, these results demonstrate that date-palm agrobiodiversity in al-Ula
constitutes both a cultural and a biological resource of strategic importance. The project provides AFALULA, RCU and the wider scientific community with tools and reference datasets
that can inform conservation priorities, guide nursery production and planting strategies, support varietal identification and traceability, and contribute to sustainable development
and heritage initiatives in the oasis. By integrating ethnographic, genomic, morphometric and archaeobotanical perspectives, the al-Ula DPA Project positions al-Ula as a reference site for
future research on date-palm diversity and the long-term evolution of oasis agroecosystems.
Plan de classement
Environnement, écologie générale [021ENVECO]
;
Agronomie générale [076AGRO]
;
Amélioration des plantes, ressources génétiques [076AMEPLA]
;
Ethnobotanique [076BOTA07]
