Pollinators

March 6, 2010March 6, 2010

Healthy Bees plan launched in UK

Defra and the Welsh Assembly Government have come up with a ten-year plan to sort out honey bees in England and Wales, to be called ‘Healthy Bees.’ The first step?

…to improve our contacts with all beekeepers so that we can ensure they take advantage of the free inspection and diagnostic services that the bee unit and its dedicated team of inspectors and scientists provide.

Hence BeeBase.

February 26, 2010February 27, 2010

Nibbles: Community genebank, Traditional medicine, Agarwood, Radish introgression, Kentucky bluegrass, Frison, Vavilov, Pollinators, Collecting strategy

Bamboo microscope used to document rice varieties at Indian village genebank. Want one.
And more documentation and conservation of traditional knowledge in India: this time it’s medicines.
Nigel Chaffey’s latest botanical buffet table at the Annals of Botany has stuff on nomenclature and genomes. Always worth following.
Latest on saving agarwood. And more. Thanks to twittering by @AsiaForestry.
Biofortified blogs research on geneflow between crops and their wild relatives.
Kentucky bluegrass pix. Botany Photo of the Day is also worth following. You guys all use Google Reader, right?
“Any serious discussion of biodiversity conservation must include the diversity of crops and livestock…” Right on.
Vavilov hits Abyssinia. Another one for Reader.
Pollinator trends in Europe and the world. It ain’t good.
Your botanic gardens needs at least 15 individuals of that palm.

February 18, 2010February 18, 2010

Nibbles: Potato, Research, Tobacco, Bees squared, Seed diversity, Declaration

“The Jersey Royal is the only potato that enjoys protected designation of origin…”
Agricultural research not enough?
Wild crop relative switches pollinator to escape nasty caterpillars.
Bushmeat hunters become beekeepers.
And here’s why beekeeping is such a good thing.
Diversity deemed a good thing, even for crazed monoculturists.
‘Keep biodiversity or face hunger’. Yet another Chennai Declaration.

February 8, 2010February 8, 2010

Nibbles: Sequencing, Agricultural origins, Mating systems, Tomato shelf-life, Beer vs Tea, Soy, Carrot, Seed processing, Screw-pine, Yams, Salicornia, Pollinators

Second generation sequencing on the one hand. First generation methylation mapping on the other. What’s a poor bitechnologist to do?
Site of the birth of MesoAmerican agriculture pinpointed.
Meta-analysis says mating system does not affect magnitude of local adaptation. Ok, I really need to understand this one, because it’s kinda counter-intuitive..
Boffins produce longer-lasting tomato. Which, however, still tastes like water. Those pesky biotechnologists are all over this.
A tale of two brews. And here’s why I prefer beer. Well, one reason. Meanwhile, a hero probes how the amber nectar comes to be.
Another slightly dubious use for soy. Aren’t you glad its genome has been sequenced? Thanks, Jacob.
Evidence for cultivated carrot from medieval Poland. I’m sure this is REALLY important.
CIMMYT video of seed processing.
Pandanus photo for all my Pacific friends.
Yams to have their day? I hope so, but we have been here before. Repeatedly.
Salicornia the new hope for saline regions? I hope so, but we have been here before. Repeatedly.
FAO manages wild biodiversity to manage pollinators.

January 29, 2010January 29, 2010

Nibbles: Spud, Mali’s farmers, Pollan, Geneflow, Taiwan botanic garden, Pollinators squared, Vegetarianism

A makeover for the potato.
Mali’s farmers want improved landraces, not fancy-shmancy hybrids.
Biofortified does Pollan. And Pollan does Oprah…
The long-term consequences of introducing new genes to populations are not all that bad. Relevance for crop wild relatives? More research needed…
The Dr. Cecilia Koo Botanic Conservation Center (KBCC) in Taiwan described.
Almond tree produces poison in nectar to attract insects? Go figure. In other pollinator news, they’re declining in Central Europe.
What would a world without domesticated livestock look like? ILRI DG questions vegetarians.