- And we’re back: Desertification threatening Mongolia. Will Biden talk about that on his 6-hour visit today? No, I don’t think so either. Fortunately some people are trying to do something.
- Life not great for pastoralists in Kenya either. But some people are looking to camel milk to see them through. Alas, the latest effort to boost food security research in E. Africa doesn’t have much for livestock-keepers.
- Kew tries to reform UK native grassland seed business. Hope they are taking latest figures on species migration speeds into account.
- Specialty Crops for Pacific Islands book out. Alas, it includes coffee.
- But don’t worry, adapting to climate change is easy.
Nibbles: Patents, Scientific American Blogs, Leek turnovers
- India to patent tribal medicinal knowledge. Community biodiversity register of medicinal plants, apparently with scientific backup.
- Scientific American Blogs devote the day to food — which includes agriculture.
- Language Log investigates leek turnovers. And you thought we were OCD?
Nibbles: Nutrition, Famine, Incentives, Pests & Diseases, Employment, Genebank support, Commercialisation, Hay & Straw, Nitrogen fixing
- Jess dissects nutrition mystification. So hey, Jess, what field do you work in?
- Can agricultural research help eradicate famine? CGIAR boss asks the tough ones.
- Giant FAO document on Payments for Ecosystem Services and Food Security.
- Crop diversity and disease pressure, The case of maize in China.
- Wanna job? Crops for the Future Research Centre is hiring.
- Our chums at the Global Crop Diversity Trust get a Dutch treat.
- Nagoya Protocol threatens to conserve Mexican biodiversity.
- The Scientist Gardener distinguishes hay from straw.
- Ford Denison scrutinizes nitrogen-fixing cereals paper.
Berry go Round part deux
Kate over at Beyond the Brambles put out an exuberant floristic Berry-go-round a few days ago. Her blog, her choices, although it did seem a little light on actual botany, to me. So once again I’m abusing a position of privilege to share some of the other submissions to July’s carnival. And if you would like to leave a submission for next month’s effort, hosted by Dave Coulter at Osage and Orange, well, just pop on over and fill in the submission form.
Speaking of Dave, he draws attention to a little known aspect of Detroit’s green renaissance. Sure, we’ve all heard about the urban ag and stuff, but he points to the birth of an amazing maze.
Mazes are stripes, and some plant leaves have stripes. On, then, to Part 2 of Joseph Tychonievich’s account of variegation at Greensparrow Gardens. I remember a great exhibit at Chelsea on variegation …
Greensparrows lead inexorably to rose gentians, of the square-stemmed sort. JSK has the lowdown on Sabatia angularis. And, for what they’re worth, Green Comet Milkweed (Asclepias viridiflora), thought to have been a victim of a nasty road accident, and Clasping Milkweed (Asclepias amplexicaulis). Herpetologists will recognize the specific epithet, but will they know what’s clasping what.
You want taxonomy? We’ve got taxonomy. And evolution. And links between the two. Joseph Craine at Wild Plants Post goes into the evolutionary history of the grasses and the forces that might have driven their adaptive radiation.
It’s all a question of niche exploitation. Or is it? Sarcozona goes all biblical on us as she attempts to untangle the knots surrounding invasive species. I’ve almost given up trying to control the ones that invade my terrace.
We’ve been a bit busy ourselves here at The Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog, hosting a guest post on the food that fed a thousand canoes and wondering whether Katherine of Aragon could possibly have been handing her pet a highly appropriate monkeynut (Arachis hypogaea)? The jury is still out.
And finally, a salute to the man without whom … Daniel does Gregor, and so did Google.
Have fun.
Nibbles: Deep roots, Price volatility, Togo, Why should I care?
- Deeper roots could store CO2 and resist drought? Well, yeah, I suppose. Need to find the original paper.
- Commodity price volatility 101; off topic, but important.
- Good return on investment for agricultural aid in Togo. Some vegetables included.
- Stuart Pimm answers “why should I care” questions about biodiversity. No time to listen, so no idea whether he does any agrobiodiversity.