- Delayed luminescence of seeds: are shining seeds viable? Maybe, but more research needed.
- Explaining the spatial scale of campesino agriculture in Mexico: Implications for the supply and conservation of native maize. Maize is not just for subsistence; never has been.
- Impact of Xylella fastidiosa subspecies pauca in European olives. Fancy maths says olives are doomed. But we knew that, right?
- Potential and limits of exploitation of crop wild relatives for pea, lentil, and chickpea improvement. Amazingly, still more collecting is needed.
- The projected timing of abrupt ecological disruption from climate change. And this is why.
- The climatic association of population divergence and future extinction risk of Solanum pimpinellifolium. Its range may expand in some places, shrink in others. so it’s not like all bad news then? At least you know where to collect it from.
- Early Holocene crop cultivation and landscape modification in Amazonia. REALLY early agriculture in the Llanos de Moxos. Any collecting there, I wonder?
- Exploring the genetic base of the soybean germplasm from Africa, America and Asia as well as mining of beneficial allele for flowering and seed weight. The African material is not very diverse, but is very different
- Novel Source of Biotic Stress Resistance Identified from Brassica Species and its Wild Relatives. From 3000 to about 10 “useful” accessions.
- Horizontal gene transfer of Fhb7 from fungus underlies Fusarium head blight resistance in wheat. Thinopyrum elongatum got head blight resistance from the fungus Epichloë. GMOs unimpressed.
- A Wild Cajanus scarabaeoides (L.), Thouars, IBS 3471, for Improved Insect-Resistance in Cultivated Pigeonpea. It has multiple disease resistance mechanisms against pod borer. And here it is.
- A Planetary Health Perspective on Agroforestry in Sub-Saharan Africa. Trees on farms are good for you. Here come the data.
- Dietary diversity and fish consumption of mothers and their children in fisher households in Komodo District, eastern Indonesia. Infants and young children are not getting enough of all the fish.
- Agriculture and the Disruption of Plant–Microbial Symbiosis. Agronomy, ecology and breeding can screw up microbial symbioses in cultivated plants, and that’s not good. But it is expected.
- Animal domestication in the era of ancient genomics. “By documenting how livestock populations endured both past epidemics and environmental change, ancient genomics can provide invaluable information that can be used to address current and future societal challenges.” Can.
Nibbles: Native American seeds, Peasant’s Struggle, IWYP, Taxonomy booklet, Phylogenetics booklet, Lost apples, Yak threat, Online mapping, Sampling strategy
- Native Americans are coping with a coronavirus-caused food shortage by seed saving. Among other things.
- On the International Day of Peasant’s Struggle, even.
- IWYP science brief on using wheat wild relatives in breeding.
- Really nice Meise Botanic Garden publication on botanical nomenclature.
- And to complement the above: Phylogenetics in the Genomic Era.
- More old apples found. I’m beginning to think the whole lost apples thing is a scam.
- But losing yaks is a definite possibility.
- Nature Map Explorer is online. Rejoice.
- Sean Hoban on calculating how much to collect and conserve. Without using the above.
Brainfood: PFM, Endemic diversity, VAM, Food systems, Forages, Ganja taxonomy, Maize phenomics, Yield maps, Cassava breeding, Diversification, Distributions
- The illusion of participatory forest management success in nature conservation. Success is in the eye of the beholder.
- Back to the future of a rare plant species of the Chihuahuan desert: tracing distribution patterns across time and genetic diversity as a basis for conservation actions. A combination of genetic analysis and niche modelling shows that population structure is due to habitat, not geography.
- High‐throughput phenotyping reveals growth of Medicago truncatula is positively affected by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi even at high soil phosphorus availability. And affected differently during the course of plant growth.
- Global drivers of food system (un)sustainability: A multi-country correlation analysis. Most drivers are driving sustainability in the wrong direction.
- Progress and Challenges in Ex Situ Conservation of Forage Germplasm: Grasses, Herbaceous Legumes and Fodder Trees. Highly palatable leguminous woody species tick a lot of boxes. We know what to do. Let’s do it.
- A classification of endangered high-THC cannabis (Cannabis sativa subsp. indica) domesticates and their wild relatives. One subspecies, 4 botanical varieties? Well, that’s like your opinion, man.
- Phenomic selection and prediction of maize grain yield from near‐infrared reflectance spectroscopy of kernels. Yeah, but can you do it in the field?
- Global dataset of historical yields v1.2 and v1.3 aligned version. For maize, rice, wheat and soybean, for the period 1981-2016. No NIRS in sight.
- Cassava breeding and agronomy in Asia: 50 years of history and future directions. 50% yield increase in 20 years. Is that good?
- Decision-Making to Diversify Farm Systems for Climate Change Adaptation. Define goals, assess enabling & disabling factors, quantify risks, look for gaps in functional diversity, pick some interventions, evaluate & learn.
- Connecting species’ geographical distributions to environmental variables: range maps versus observed points of occurrence. Points are better than polygons.
Brainfood: Cropland map, Wild spinach collecting, CC double, Cacao diversity, Oilpalm footprint, Algal genebanks, Potatoes & gas, S African livestock, Silk Road cereals, Pests & CC
- Global synergy cropland map. Yes, another one.
- Acquisition and regeneration of Spinacia turkestanica Iljin and S. tetrandra Steven ex M. Bieb. to improve a spinach gene bank collection. CGN plugs some gaps.
- Recent responses to climate change reveal the drivers of species extinction and survival. Niche shifts more important than dispersal in avoiding extinction.
- Climate change responses benefit from a global food system approach. Well I never.
- Morphological characterisation and evaluation of cacao (Theobroma cacao L.) in Trinidad to facilitate utilisation of Trinitario cacao globally. Some combine large seeds with high seed numbers.
- The environmental impacts of palm oil and its alternatives. Not as bad as you may think.
- Macroalgal germplasm banking for conservation, food security, and industry. Liquid cultures in dormancy is the way to do it, apparently.
- Simple Sequence Repeat-Based Genetic Diversity and Analysis of Molecular Variance among on-Farm Native Potato Landraces from the Influence Zone of Camisea Gas Project, Northern Ayacucho, Peru. So what will be done about it?
- Livelihood, Food and Nutrition Security in Southern Africa: What Role Do Indigenous Cattle Genetic Resources Play? A big role which in in danger and could in fact be bigger.
- 5,200-year-old cereal grains from the eastern Altai Mountains redate the trans-Eurasian crop exchange. Wheat and barley in the Altai one thousand years before we thought.
- Complex responses of global insect pests to climate warming. 41% of 31 globally important phytophagous insect pests will increase in severity, jury out on what will happen with the others.
Brainfood: Grassland diversity, Perennial crops, Ancient dates, Armenian grapes, Endangered trees, HLB sniffers, Household data, NUS, Phenotyping, Sorghum parasites, Wild Vigna, Ancient foods, Climate frontier
- Economic benefits from plant species diversity in intensively managed grasslands. More species means more milk, more money and less risk.
- Community structure of soil fungi in a novel perennial crop monoculture, annual agriculture, and native prairie reconstruction. Perennial monoculture not unlike native prairie.
- Origins and insights into the historic Judean date palm based on genetic analysis of germinated ancient seeds and morphometric studies. Ancient Judean dates may have come from further east.
- Genetic diversity and traditional uses of aboriginal grape (Vitis vinifera L.) varieties from the main viticultural regions of Armenia. 71 genotypes, no less.
- Mapping tree species vulnerability to multiple threats as a guide to restoration and conservation of tropical dry forests. About 50% of the distribution of 50 trees in northwestern Peru and southern Ecuador is vulnerable.
- Canine olfactory detection of a vectored phytobacterial pathogen, Liberibacter asiaticus, and integration with disease control. Dogs can sniff out a nasty citrus disease.
- The Rural Household Multiple Indicator Survey, data from 13,310 farm households in 21 countries. 758 variables, no less.
- Local Solutions for Sustainable Food Systems: The Contribution of Orphan Crops and Wild Edible Species. Increasing dietary diversity, more market opportunities for smallholders, and more attention to biodiversity conservation. Do orphan crops feature among the 758 variables above?
- Breeder friendly phenotyping. Focused, rapid and precise. Much like me, then?
- Genomics of sorghum local adaptation to a parasitic plant. Why we need on-farm conservation.
- Mapping patterns of abiotic and biotic stress resilience uncovers conservation gaps and breeding potential of Vigna wild relatives. Sources of resistance to biotic stresses are more common than to abiotic stresses, in terms of the number of species that have them.
- Archaeobotanical evidence of food plants in Northern Italy during the Roman period. Nice take-homes from Dr Lisa Lodwick on Twitter.
- The environmental consequences of climate-driven agricultural frontiers. Areas newly suitable for one or more crops store a lot of C, cover a lot of important watersheds and are home to a lot of biodiversity.