What with all the brouhaha over not merely the First Organic Garden but also the First Dog, our chums over at InfoFarm have turned their far-sighted historical eyes on other, more productive, animals that have graced the White House lawns. I have just one piece of advice for Michelle; sheep once destroyed a couple of years worth of pea-breeding for me, and even a small herd of beeves is hard to fence out of a garden.
GRAIN on IRRI
I suppose GRAIN’s video slideshow on IRRI and its genebank was meant as a bit of a takedown. 1 But actually it works very well as a plea for comprehensive, complementary genetic resources management strategies, encompassing both ex situ and in situ, genebanks and farmers, conservation and use. And as such I choose to approach it.
Another place where the buffalo roam
The post I did yesterday about a small chunk of prairie still to be found in Calvary Cemetery, within the confines of metropolitan St Louis, 2 prompted Jeremy to tell me about his own favorite prairie remnant.
That would be the one inside the accelerator ring at Fermilab near Batavia, Illinois. Where they do indeed have a herd of bison contributing to the management of the ecosystem, as I — facetiously, I thought — suggested they should in St Louis. Too bad the beasts can’t be seen on Google Earth.
It looks like the Fermilab prairie is used as a resource by local schools, which seems like a great idea. I don’t know whether the teachers make anything in particular of the fact that at least one crop wild relative is to be found at the site. Helianthus mollis is not what I would call a star among crop wild relatives. For a start, it’s pretty difficult to cross with domesticated sunflower. And I don’t think it’s endangered or anything (or not yet). But it could be useful in illustrating to school kids an ecosystem service that is often overlooked — provision of genetic diversity for crop improvement.
Another thing it may well help illustrate is climate change. It looks like there’s really detailed data on many species, and it will be interesting to see what will happen — is already happening? — to their abundance and distribution. Maybe H. mollis will disappear from the Fermilab prairie in due course. Will it be able to go elsewhere? Or will we need to manage its relocation? To Canada…?
Network to rescue livestock breeds in Europe
I continue to be amazed by what’s happening in livestock genetic resources conservation. There is a burgeoning network of in situ conservation sites in Europe, for example, which is more than can be said for crops, really. 3 I’m talking about the European Livestock Breeds Ark and Rescue Net (ELBARN). I particularly like the rescue element:
ELBARN aims to change the status quo by creating a network of existing Ark Farms, by encouraging the development of new ones and by enhancing the system with the missing element: capacity to rescue animals that are both Rare Breeds and face slaughter or other immediate dangers.
Guidelines are available on how to market these Ark & Rescue Centres. There’s a map of the locations of the centres under the Ark Network tab in the menu bar. There’s also a database of breeds on the website.
Of blackthorn and cherry plum
Bloody biodiversity. Don’t you hate it? Just when you think you’ve got half an idea of what’s going on, you find there are a whole load of other things you had no idea about.
Oh, I feel your pain, Simon, I really do.