- “Francis Ratnieks, the UK’s only professor of apiculture, is undertaking pioneering research based on a breed of worker bee genetically programmed to keep hives clean.”
- Scaling up the Millennium Villages. Still no news on what it all means for agrobiodiversity.
- Good news for New England acorn lovers. Including the artisanal pork industry?
- The Ethiopian wolf is in trouble.
- The Crop Wild Relatives Discussion Group reaches 250 member, 200 messages. Well done.
What’s a bison worth these days?
$4906.25, according to a post by David Willcove, excellent conservation biologist. He points out that a Colorado rancher was fined $157,000 for illegally killing 32 bison that had wandered onto his land last winter. Willcove discusses the conflict between wildlife and livestock in terms of the fear of disease. Bison could transmit brucellosis to cattle, but, Willcove says,
There has never been a documented case of a wild bison transmitting brucellosis to a cow, but the mere possibility that it could happen is enough to cause the State of Montana to insist on the death penalty for all bison that wander outside the park boundary (unless they can be chased back into the park…but try making a bison go where you want it to go).
You would think it might be possible for livestock and wildlife to co-exist, especially in a place where it really is not a matter of life and death, and Willcove has some suggestions to achieve that. But don’t hold your breath.
I’ve never met an axolotl, But Harvard has one in a bottle
The axolotl is a salamander that was an important part of Aztec legend and diet but is now barely hanging on in the tourist canals of Lake Xochimilco in Mexico City. It’s on the IUCN Red List of threatened species, as a result of the draining of the lake on which the city was built, increasing pollution and the introduction of tilapia.
Local fisherman Roberto Altamira, 32, recalls when he was a boy, and the axolotl was still part of the local diet. “I used to love axolotl tamales,” he says, rubbing his stomach and laughing.
Scientists are proposing captive breeding and re-introduction, and “a pilot sanctuary is expected to open in the next three to six months in the waters around Island of the Dolls, so-called because the owner hangs dolls he finds in the canals to ward off evil spirits.”
I hope it works out. I’d like to taste one of those tamales some day. And since we’re on the subject of edible Mexican agrobiodiversity, another example came to my mind today when I read that the new First Family-elect needs an hypoallergenic pooch. They have lots of options beyond the somewhat boring goldendoodle. My personal choice would be the Xoloitzcuintli. And not because its meat is said to have healing properties. Or not primarily for that reason.
Diversity rules
Three articles on the benefits of diversity for your delectation this weekend. Evolutionary Applications has a paper suggesting that restoration of degraded landscapes is best done with “high quality and genetically diverse seed to maximize the adaptive potential of restoration efforts to current and future environmental change.” Meanwhile, in The Economist, how structurally complex and diverse betel nut plantations ((Ok, ok, “betel nut.”)) can be almost as good for bird diversity as the surrounding forest, and how it is better for a crop to be attacked by two pests rather than one.
UG99: no worries
There is no threat to India from the dreaded wheat steam rust Ug99. Moreover, if in future the disease happens to spread to India the country’s agricultural research system is fully geared up to tackle it.
This assurance came from Agriculture Minister, Shri Sharad Pawar as he inaugurated the International Conference on Wheat Stem Rust Ug99 — A Threat to Food Security, here today.