Category: Forests & trees

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Questioning maps

As regular readers know all too well, I can’t resist a map mashup. So when I saw the latest data on deforestation in the Amazon, I fired up MapWarper and GoogleEarth and got to work.

And here’s a look at how recent deforestation in Brazil relates to the localities of past cassava collecting, at least as far as Genesys knows about it.

Now, I don’t know in what way deforestation (and associated disruptions) relates to loss of cassava diversity, but there’s a chance that it might. Could make an interesting PhD project for someone.

Anyway, encouraged by my pretty result, and remembering that I wanted to do something with some shiny new maps I had heard about, I next mashed up sorghum accessions and poverty in Burkina Faso. Here’s what I got.

What’s going on? Why are there relatively fewer sorghum accessions where poverty is higher (more red)? Are those places just harder to reach? Or do people there really grow less sorghum.

Again, I don’t know. But I think it would be interesting to find out.

All speculation welcome in the comments.

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Brainfood: RICA, AEGIS, CWR, Agrosavia, DSI, CRISPR, Tradition, SNS, Stability, Birds, Sparing, Genetic erosion

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Brainfood: Cola trade, Amalfi terraces, Satoyama value, Burkinabe cattle, Tree planting, Chickpea adoption, Varietal diversification, Wheat diversity, Maize adaptation, Stress breeding, Root & tubers, Cropping data

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Nibbles: Genebanks in Brazil, Tunisia, Ghana, Ethiopia, Goan rice, Wheat adoption, Peruvian hot peppers & cacao, Amazonian fruits and nuts, Dates, Great Hedge of India, Conservation genetics presentation

  1. Safety duplicating a chickpea collection.
  2. Tunisia’s genebank in the news.
  3. Ghana’s genebank trying to save taro.
  4. Using a genebank to improve Elephant grass.
  5. On-farm conservation of rice in Goa.
  6. Molecular tools show that a couple of varieties account for about half the wheat acreage in Bangladesh and Nepal. Hope all the landraces are in genebanks, and safety duplicated.
  7. Celebrating Peruvian pepper diversity.
  8. Peru’s cacao diversity doesn’t need help, apparently.
  9. However, the Amazon’s wild-extracted fruits (including cacao and a wild relative) could be in trouble. Hope they’re in genebanks, just in case.
  10. How the date came to the US. Including its genebanks.
  11. India had a precursor of the Green Wall of Africa but nobody remembers it. Glad it wasn’t used as a genebank of sorts.
  12. Conservation genetics (i.e., most of the above) explained in 48 slides.