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October 29, 2012October 29, 2012

Wheat and rice fields are “forests of friendship”

No tree can afford to not compete in the height competition. However, if somehow the trees could arrange a pact of friendship to limit their heights, each tree, and the forest as a whole, could save energy. This is obviously not possible for trees, but if it were, Dawkins concludes, the “Forest of Friendship [would be] more efficient as a forest.”

A Scientific American blog post gushes enthusiastically over Richard Dawkins’ characterisation of the futility of some forms of competition. And yet, with breeders and farmers judging the competition, a field of semi-dwarf wheat or rice is indeed a Forest of Friendship. Indeed, many of the benefits of plant breeding that boost agricultural outputs would not survive long if forced to compete against their fellows that do not enjoy such “beneficial” traits. Beneficial, that is, to us, not to the individual plants.

October 29, 2012May 3, 2018

Nibbles: Complementary conservation, Ash dieback, EUCARPIA meeting, AnGR, Green Revolution history, Fellowship, Canadienne cows, Sustainable intensification

So apparently field genebanks are “monotonous orchards packed with tropical trees spanning as far as the eye can see.”
Any ash genebanks, I wonder, field or otherwise?
EUCARPIA pre-breeding pre-meeting.
FAO moans about progress in conserving livestock.
The Green Revolution deconstructed.
Good news for procrastinators: the deadline for Vavilov-Frankel Fellowship applications has been extended to 18 November. Ignore the date of 11 November.
Saving the endangered Canadienne cow. In other news, there’s a Canadienne cow.
Friends of the Earth doesn’t think much of “sustainable intensification“.

October 29, 2012November 29, 2017

Brainfood: Pedodiversity, Rice and CC, Bean domestication, Cassava mealybug, Grape relationships, Habitat conservation, Extinction and CC, Local provenance, Speciation, Breeding for climate change, Melon diversity, Eucalypt mating, Diverse croppping systems

Archive and refugia of soil organisms: applying a pedodiversity framework for the conservation of biological and non-biological heritages. They want to set up a network of soil reserves. To conserve the likes of dung beetles, among other things (see last week’s Brainfood). Someone will no doubt mash this up with nature reserves and other protected areas in due course.
Climate warming over the past three decades has shortened rice growth duration in China and cultivar shifts have further accelerated the process for late rice. One degree increase in temperature translates to about a 4 day shortening of growth period. But the problem would not be so bad if short-duration cultivars were not being increasingly used. No, I don’t fully get it either, but it seems interesting.
Multiple origins of the determinate growth habit in domesticated common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris). The gene in question, part of the domestication syndrome, has been messed about in a variety of distinct and independent ways.
The Cassava Mealybug (Phenacoccus manihoti) in Asia: First Records, Potential Distribution, and an Identification Key. Bad news for “the southern end of Karnataka in India, the eastern end of the Ninh Thuan province in Vietnam, and in most of West Timor in Indonesia.” No resistance. Yet.
Genetic relationship between Chinese wild Vitis species and American and European Cultivars based on ISSR markers. It is limited. That goes for the wilds too.
Synergies and trade-offs between ecosystem service supply, biodiversity, and habitat conservation status in Europe. What’s good for the environment is good for the environment. Or if you prefer the non-smartass version, get it from the horse’s mouth…
Development of best practices for ex situ conservation of radish germplasm in the context of the crop genebank knowledge base. See the results for yourself.
How does climate change cause extinction? Not so much because of intolerance to high temperatures as due to disruption of relationships with other species, as it turns out. But it’s a small sample.
Testing the “Local Provenance” Paradigm: A Common Garden Experiment in Cumberland Plain Woodland, Sydney, Australia. No difference between locally sourced and more “exotic” provenances. Bang goes that paradigm.
Mapping the genomic architecture of ecological speciation in the wild: does linkage disequilibrium hold the key? Clever shortcut allows identification of key genes separating phenotypically distinct but admixing species. I think. It’s complicated.
Breeding Strategies for Adaptation of Pearl Millet and Sorghum to Climate Variability and Change in West Africa. Anything that keeps diversity in the system, basically.
Estimation of phenotypic divergence in a collection of Cucumis melo, including shelf-life of fruit. Old-fashioned morphological characterization of small Indian collection confirms distinction between botanical varieties. Not many people hurt.
Pollen diversity matters: revealing the neglected effect of pollen diversity on fitness in fragmented landscapes. Fragmentation means lower pollen diversity in Eucalyptus sp., means lower progeny fitness, and not just because of inbreeding.
Increasing Cropping System Diversity Balances Productivity, Profitability and Environmental Health. So let me get this straight. You mean to tell me that a little bit of industrial agriculture (synthetic inputs) can combine with a little bit of ecoagriculture (cropping diversity) to give you something that’s kinda better than both?

October 25, 2012October 25, 2012

Nibbles: Potato blight, Ag statistics, Biofortification, Biofortified potatoes, Insect food, Genuine mozzarella, Agricultural history

Breeder of blight-resistant potatoes stands up for gardeners who grow blight-susceptible potatoes.
Hungry for better ag statistics? FAO hears you.
“Biofortification is an obstacle to food justice”. Just an opinion, obviously.
And not necessarily one shared by the USDA: Breeding better fruits and veggies, including vitamin-A enriched potatoes.
Women, gardens, community health … we’ve heard this all before. So why is it still news?
Diana Buja shares tips on how to catch flying ants, and other goodies, the better to savour their deliciousness.
A beginner’s guide to everything called pepper.
A new test for cow’s milk in mozzarella di bufala, can also separate the sheep from the goats. Can I get a pocket version?
The transition to agriculture in North America.

October 24, 2012October 24, 2012

Give your botany blogposts legs

Time to submit botany blogposts — your own or someone else’s — to Berry Go Round, the internet’s best (and perhaps only) botanical carnival. You have until Friday October 26th to get your plant-loving posts submitted. And if you would like to host this marvelous opportunity to share the botanical love, there’s a link for that too.