Researchers have estimated rates of reproduction and survival for the marbled murrelet by “comparing the ratios of birds in different age groups using 170 specimens collected between 1892 and 1922 housed in the collections of the California Academy of Sciences and the UC Berkeley Museum of Vertebrate Zoology … with values predicted from comparison with other bird species, and with contemporary rates obtained from murrelets they captured at sea and from their mark-recapture studies.” The results suggested that birth rates were almost 10 times higher for this endangered seabird 100 years ago than they are today. Read all about it here. That’s a very creative use of a biodiversity collection to explain the recent decline in numbers of this species, and its conservation status. Has something similar been done with herbarium and/or plant genebank collections? I can’t think of any examples, but they must be out there…
Core blimey!
I spent the last few days in Portesham, Dorset (thanks, Lorna and Geoff!), which made it all the more weird to come across this article reprinted in a newspaper in Dubai, where I had to transit for a few hours on the way out there. But it does show that you can still discover (or re-discover) new things even in such a well-researched crop as apples in the UK. Of course, for every upbeat story, there’s a depressing one.
Brazil and US work on exchange of genetic resources
Brazilian and US scientists are working together on basic research into germplasm storage, according to an article from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). The research is part of a scientific collaboration between Brazil’s EMBRAPA and the US Agricultural Research Service which has been in place since 1998. Genebank management is a relatively recent topic for the collaboration, which is extending to animal genetic resources. A Brazilian programmer is working with ARS to develop the animal genetic resources component of GRIN.
The two groups of scientists are also working on the physical exchange of material between their two countries. Let’s hope they’ve got their access and benefit sharing details all worked out.
Japan’s genebank
Looks like the genebank of the National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences in Japan has revamped its English web site. There’s a request form, too. So, use it! More people ought to avail themselves of the treasures in genebanks, and it isn’t hard to do. It makes use of the genebank, which adds to its perceived value, and it could bring you joy and delight in your fields or gardens.
Strange take on Svalbard
There’s an odd piece on the proposed genebank on the Norwegian island of Svalbard at a web site called Science and Spirit. The authors outline the background and purpose of the “Doomsday” genebank, which is being promoted by the Global Crop Diversity Trust and have a little fun with the notion that post-catastrophe survivors will know how to get to Svalbard and what to do with the seeds they find there, always presuming they can penetrate the concrete vault without a key. Then they segue into a lament for the loss of Biblical varieties, which might have contained cures for diseases. It’s all very odd, but like the lady said, all publicity is good publicity. Come to think of it, how will survivors of a calamity make use of the Noah’s Ark genebank on Svalbard?