- Africa’s Land System Trajectories 1980–2005. Biomass harvest increase has mainly come from expansion, save in the north and south.
- Status, genetic diversity and gaps in sorghum germplasm from South Asia conserved at ICRISAT genebank. Still a lot of work to do.
- Indirect estimates reveal the potential of transgene flow in the crop–wild–weed Sorghum bicolor complex in its centre of origin, Ethiopia. Could be relevant if transgenic sorghum were ever to be developed, and deployed in Ethiopia.
- Are Neglected Plants the Food for the Future? The latest hope is the SDGs.
- Potential of Kersting’s groundnut [Macrotyloma geocarpum (Harms) Maréchal & Baudet] and prospects for its promotion. Not enough mutations, apparently. Hope that won’t be an issue for the SDGs.
- Back to the Future – Tapping into Ancient Grains for Food Diversity. They need to pay their way. Enough mutations, though, I guess.
- Genomic ancestry estimation quantifies use of wild species in grape breeding. 11-76% cultivated ancestry across 60-odd hybrids, one third 50%. More back-crosses to cultivated needed.
- Genome scans reveal candidate domestication and improvement genes in cultivated sunflower, as well as post-domestication introgression with wild relatives. Wild introgressions cover 10% of cultivated genome, and there is some in every modern cultivar tested.
- MycoDB, a global database of plant response to mycorrhizal fungi. Monumental.
- Contrasting effects of defaunation on aboveground carbon storage across the global tropics. Loss of dispersal animals bad for C sequestration, but only in African, American and South Asian forests.
Nibbles: Wild pig, Indicators, Ethiopian agrobiodiversity, Traditional crops, Purple haze, Fraises des Bois, Chef prize, Breadfruit, Sorghum nutrition, Moringa, NWFP, Barcoding, Arnold Arboretum
- Warty pig saved by genomics.
- So apparently there’s a Biodiversity Barometer. Via the Biodiversity Indicator Partnership.
- Traditional crops survive, but under threat, in Ethiopian highlands. And a whole issue of Farming Matters on why it’s important that they do survive.
- More on that purple wheat heirloom variety coming back from the brink.
- Going back to the original European strawberry. No, I’m not going to make any jokes about that.
- There’s going to be a Nobel for chefs. If they can make use of breadfruit, they’ll deserve it.
- Yes, sorghum rotis can taste good. And they’re good for you.
- Big Moringa shill makes case for next superfood :)
- Did I already say that FAO’s Nonwood Forest Products Newsletter seems to have been resurrected? Do subscribe.
- On my work blog, I say genebanks could be a bit more like supermarkets.
- Collecting trees.
Brainfood: Maize domestication, Eastern European grazing, Silk Road, Hybridization, European agroforestry, Japanese pears
- Recent demography drives changes in linked selection across the maize genome. Only a small part of teosinte contributed to maize.
- Changing year-round habitat use of extensively grazing cattle, sheep and pigs in East-Central Europe between 1940 and 2014: Consequences for conservation and policy. Animals don’t graze as much, or the same habitats, as they used to, which may not be altogether good for conservation of either plants or livestock because grazing was an important management intervention for thousands of years.
- Between China and South Asia: A Middle Asian corridor of crop dispersal and agricultural innovation in the Bronze Age. Wheat goes east, millets go west.
- Hybridization and extinction. Genetic swamping can happen, but hybridization can rescue a species too.
- Do European agroforestry systems enhance biodiversity and ecosystem services? A meta-analysis. Yes.
- Estimation of loss of genetic diversity in modern Japanese cultivars by comparison of diverse genetic resources in Asian pear (Pyrus spp.). The modern cultivars are variations on “Nijisseiki.”
Brainfood: Yam protection, Gleditsia distribution, Seed systems, Conservation narratives, Roselle diversity, Hassawi extinction, Apple GWAS, Dog domestication
- Disease risk perception and diversity of management strategies by farmers: The case of anthracnose caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides on water yams (Dioscorea alata) in Guadeloupe. Farmers gauge the disease pretty much the way scientists do, and use a diversity of mitigation measures, including diversity.
- Ghosts of Cultivation Past – Native American Dispersal Legacy Persists in Tree Distribution. “In the southern Appalachian region, honey locust distributions are more a reflection of Native American cultural practices.”
- Good year, bad year: changing strategies, changing networks? A two-year study on seed acquisition in northern Cameroon. In bad years, women call on extended networks.
- Conservation narratives in Peru: envisioning biodiversity in sustainable development. In terms of the relationship between conservation and development, there are biodiversity protectionists, traditionalists, localists, pragmatists, and capitalists.
- Diversity analysis based on agro-morphological traits and microsatellite based markers in global germplasm collections of roselle (Hibiscus sabdariffa L.). Nicely complementary datasets show that fibre type more diverse than calyx type.
- Extinction probabilities of Hassawi cattle from Saudi Arabia using Population Viability Analysis. Fancy maths gives it 20 years.
- Genome to Phenome Mapping in Apple Using Historical Data. Going back to old phenotype data in GRIN allowed identification of SNPs for color, fruit firmness, and harvest time.
- Genomic and archaeological evidence suggest a dual origin of domestic dogs. Independent domestications from different wolf populations in East Asia and in Western Europe, with the latter partially displacing the former.
Nibbles: Heirloom rice, Kava traditions, State turnip, Japanese paper, Potato Day, Madagascar invasion
- There’s Carolina Gold in them thar hills. Latest in a long list…
- Kava in the Pacific, island by island.
- A really ugly heirloom turnip is Vermont’s state vegetable. In other news, there are state vegetables.
- This video will make you want to make your own paper, I guarantee it.
- Oh come on, we missed Peru’s National Potato Day?
- Crop remains confirm Malagasy origins. But was Carolina Gold among them? Here’s the paper.