Threats

July 23, 2009

Ex situ redux

After a period in which ex situ conservation has been downplayed by the conservation community (except for agrobiodiversity where it is still the main conservation strategy) ex situ conservation is now widely accepted as an increasingly necessary complement to in situ forms of conservation (IUCN 2002; BGCI 2000), especially protected areas (e.g. Abanades García & al. 2007).

That’s from a new report for the Council of Europe entitled “The impacts of climate change on plant species in Europe,” prepared by Prof. Vernon Heywood of the School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, with contributions by Dr Alastair Culham. You’ll find it on p. 39 after a very thorough review of the issues. Nice to see such a bold statement. The report is one of several prepared for the Group of Experts on Biodiversity and Climate Change of the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats. Thanks to Danny for the tip.

July 23, 2009July 23, 2009

Nibbles: Camel sweets, UG99, British woods, Rice, India and climate change, Soay sheep, Fish, Seed fair, Barn owls, Food maps, Earthworms

Chocolate made from camel milk for the first time. And last?
“Slow rusting” genes from Ethiopian wheat landraces.
Brits (and Yanks, for that matter) look for ancient trees in woodlands becoming ever less distinctive.
The world needs GM rice, but alas “the environment for accepting genetically modified crops is not as good as it should be.” Meanwhile, IRRI keeps hammering away at drought tolerance and resistance to other assorted stresses. It’s hard being rice.
ICAR looks at the likely effects of climate change on crops and what can be done about it.
Climate change making Soay sheep (and, incidentally, European fish too) not just smaller, also darker. Speaking of fish, there’s trouble in the Zambezi too, but not necessarily due to climate change. Although…
A Greek seed bazaar.
FAO turns to barn owls to stop Laotian rodent plague.
US food policy destinations on Google Maps.
Vermicomposting is good news for the Indian textile industry. Vermicomposting: I like saying that word.

July 17, 2009July 17, 2009

Nibbles: Cheese, Dog genetics, Olives on Crete, Polyploidy, Pollination

Making French cheese in the Himalayas.
The latest on how to build your perfect dog.
“The scientists are putting the all the trees which must be saved into a data bank.” Clever scientists.
Polyploidization so, so much more than merely the sum of genomes.
“The expected direct reduction in total agricultural production in the absence of animal pollination ranged from 3 to 8%…” Thank goodness for Operation Pollinator, eh?

July 16, 2009July 16, 2009

CGIAR gets itself a climate change blog

The Communications Team in the CGIAR Secretariat launched a new blog a few weeks ago called “Rural Climate Exchange: Connecting Agricultural and Environmental Science to the Climate Agenda.” It looks nice. It seems to have all the requisite bells and whistles. You can subscribe to an RSS feed or email notifications. We’ll be keeping an eye on it, and contributing as appropriate. Welcome to the blogosphere, Nathan, Danielle, Amelia et al.!

July 15, 2009July 28, 2009

Nibbles: India, City chicks, Rooftop gardens, Black cherry, Prairie grasses, Oryza SNP

ICRISAT recommends diversity to cope with climate change in India.
US urban farmers “mad as wet hens“. City chicks?
US urban farmers with a view to die for.
CWR becomes nuisance when free of soil pathogen.
Convicts help with germplasm regeneration and multiplication.
The “gold-standard set of curated polymorphisms” for rice.