- Systematic, large-scale national biodiversity surveys: NeoMaps as a model for tropical regions. The Neotropical Biodiversity Mapping Initiative (NeoMaps) provides good estimates of species richness, composition and relative abundance, in about 1 month of fieldwork per major taxonomic group and about US$ 1–8 per sq km. Now to do something similar for crop diversity.
- Insights into potato innovation systems in Bolivia, Ethiopia, Peru and Uganda. Rapid appraisal of potato innovation system by CIP et al. reveals differences among countries, but significant role of CIP across countries. Roles of farmer organizations and input supply companies limited everywhere.
- Population genetic structure of in situ wild Sorghum bicolor in its Ethiopian center of origin based on SSR markers. Significant differentiation among populations, despite long-distance seed movement and introgression.
- Assessing declines of North American bumble bees (Bombus spp.) using museum specimens. Half of the species are declining.
- Is naked barley an eastern or a western crop? The combined evidence of archaeobotany and genetics. Well, it used to be western too, up to the Bronze Age. Now mainly eastern.
- Crop protection and conflict mitigation: reducing the costs of living alongside non-human primates. A diversity of strategies for coping with malevolent biodiversity.
- Conserving biodiversity in a changing world: land use change and species richness in northern Tanzania. But, would you know it, pastoral grazing threatens other mammals.
- Mapping from heterogeneous biodiversity monitoring data sources. Could be interesting when folks get around to mapping agricultural biodiversity by smart phone.
- Sustainable management of planted landscapes: lessons from Japan. They planted trees, then neglected them because imports were cheaper, and now they’re paying some kind of price.
- Aquaculture: a newly emergent food production sector—and perspectives of its impacts on biodiversity and conservation. Mixed …
- Protection strategies for farmland birds in legume–grass leys as trade-offs between nature conservation and farmers’ needs. Cut high for succesful skylark nests with minimal impact on milk.
- Optimizing lentil-based mixed cropping with different companion crops and plant densities in terms of crop yield and weed control. Mixtures might be better, especially with wheat and barley.
- Role of eucalypt and other planted forests in biodiversity conservation and the provision of biodiversity-related ecosystem services. They can provide an opportunity for forest restoration, but it will take some rethinking. The mother-in-law will be pleased.
- Influence of Sources of Seed on Varietal Adoption Behavior of Wheat Farmers in Indo-Gangetic Plains of India. You need to get the message out if you want your improved varieties adopted. Can’t imagine you’d need a multinomial logit model to figure that out.
- Pastoral nomadism in the forest-steppe of the Mongolian Altai under a changing economy and a warming climate. As transport costs go up, and goat numbers increase because of cash from cashmere, mobility decreases and overgrazing results. A traditional way of life becoming unsustainable before your eyes.
- Species-rich dung beetle communities buffer ecosystem services in perturbed agro-ecosystems. Functional redundancy is not redundant after all.
Nibbles: Climate predictions, Melon sequenced, Banana adoption, CRP networking, Supply chains, NUS value chains, Climate change good
- Rave from the grave… If the endless summer don’t get you, the nuclear winter still will.
- To him that hath… Spaniards bag Euro cup and their first DNA sequence: melon.
- Build a better banana… And you still need to persuade farmers to beat a path to your door.
- Well, maybe a Facebook page will help: roots, tubers and bananas go social.
- Oxfam advice on protecting your supply chains from endless summers and nuclear winters.
- Which might be useful for this training course. But are value chains the same as supply chains?
- Or it might not.
Agrobiodiversity education in context
A piece on “Generating the next generation” by Nigel Chaffey in his latest, always indispensable, Plant Cuttings had me trawling around for an hour or so last night amid botanical teaching resources, looking for stuff that might be relevant to agricultural biodiversity. It’s not a great haul, alas.
Teaching Tools in Plant Biology, published by the American Society of Plant Biologists, does have Genetic Improvements in Agriculture, but it’s behind a subscription wall. The American Society of Plant Biologists has pages of resources for K-12 and higher education, but the focus seems to be on biotechnology. Fortunately, the Plant Science TREE (Tool for Research Engaged Education), from the Gatsby Plant Science Summer Schools, does have a useful, freely available section on Plants and People.
I was also momentarily encouraged by seeing an old friend posing in his rice genebank on the homepage of Science & Plants for Schools website:
But the caption he is lumbered with is, weirdly, about the role of plant sciences in “developing cures for diseases.” And anyway nothing happens when you click on him. However, feeding the world is also mentioned (phew), and I was in the end able to find something on genebanks and plant breeding. I wouldn’t call the coverage comprehensive, though. Nor systematically presented.
There is, of course, a place for teaching resources specifically for agrobiodiversity, but one would like to see the subject a little better integrated into the wider plant sciences education universe. Wouldn’t one? Well, not if there are many students like Katie DeGroot.
Nibbles: Banana networking, Belgian flora, On farm breeding course, International collaboration, Wheat pre-breeding, Dog evolution
- ProMusa goes all social.
- Belgian flora goes online.
- Plant breeding goes to the people.
- FAO and ICARDA go together.
- Brits go all in on wheat pre-breeding.
- Modern dog breeds don’t go all the way back to the grey wolf.
Nibbles: Welsh sheep, Indian cows, International centres, NUS in Asia, Purdue workshop, Onions, New Alliance, Community seedbanks, Seed Savers Exchange, Restoration, Shakespeare
- “I think you’re going to need different sheep.” In Wales, that is. (And different grasslands?)
- And new cattle in India, apparently.
- Another bunch of international agricultural research centres get together. Yeah, because the other lot are doing so well.
- I wonder if any of either lot will be going to this FAO symposium on NUS in Asia in a couple of weeks’ time. And no, I don’t know why we didn’t know about this earlier.
- On the whole, though, I think I’d rather be at the Purdue llama workshop.
- Or, at a pinch, this thing on the edible Alliaceae.
- Wait, there’s also a New Alliance to Increase Food Security and Nutrition. Not sure who’s invited to this party, but the “Rome-based agencies” seem to be the ones throwing it. (I guess this comes on the heels of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs’ annual symposium? Where’s a good summary of what happened there? Anyone? Ah, yes, Ian Scoones explains all.)
- One of those agencies wants to hear from you if you have experience of community “gene/seed banks.”
- Unclear if Seed Savers Exchange would qualify, but they have a bunch of peas out for the “community” to have a look at.
- These Indian award-winners would definitely qualify. Which is just as well as it seems the national genebank is up for sale.
- Meanwhile, botanic gardens get together to restore degraded ecosystems.
- The Bard’s plants. Well, some of them.