Gulf oil spill not much of a threat to one crop wild relative

The Gulf oil spill is threatening some Globally Important Bird Areas, according to the LA Times:

And other protected areas too. Unfortunately, we don’t have a similar map for crop wild relatives, at least not just yet, at least not so easily available. So it’s hard to estimate the overall threat posed by the oil spill on these genetic resources — which are arguably of greater importance than most birds, but there you go. What we can do — just about — is look at the distribution of individual species. And that is what our friend Julian at CIAT has done for a wild bean, Phaseolus polystachyus.

Not in any particular danger, though one or two coastal populations may be affected, I suppose. But I just wonder if one day the LA Times will publish a map showing the Globally Important Crop Wild Relative Areas threatened by some calamity or other.

CABI suggests global database of plant health

CABI will create a comprehensive global database of plant health, underpinned by CABI’s ever-growing collection of the world’s most extensive and trusted agricultural content. This currently comprises eight million records in CAB Abstracts, 30,000 pest datasheets from the Crop Protection Compendium, thousands of images, and almost 2,000 distribution maps. These will be augmented with research project findings, book content, sanitary and phytosanitary legislative standards, and open access data from authoritative partners. These include the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, the International Plant Protection Convention, and various national plant protection organizations.

A great starting point for the assessment of future breeding needs as well genetic erosion threats? Attentive readers will remember we’ve blogged about CABI’s pest/disease distribution maps before.

Nibbles: Asses, Mapping pathogens, Oysters, Tea, Turkish biodiversity hotspot, Dolmades and sage, Yams festival, Pollen video, Agriculture and mitigation, Rarity, School feeding, Sheep

Mining the internet for threats to agrobiodiversity

Late last year I blogged about what an early warning system for erosion of agricultural diversity might look like. I was thinking of an active reporting system, but today Conservation Maven reminds me of a paper published a few months ago that suggests that a more passive approach might also be possible. The authors ask the question: Can researchers who are interested in ecological monitoring tap into … increased flows of information by “mining” the internet to detect “early-warning” signs that may signal abrupt ecological changes? The paper is behind a paywall, but I’ve ordered it. Once I read it, I’ll report back whether web crawlers have a future in genetic erosion monitoring.