Oxford researchers have constructed a ‘hit list’ of the plant species most needed to boost the overall diversity of the Millennium Seed Bank, which is storing seeds in its vaults for future generations.
The Millennium Seed Bank dries, freezes, stores and maintains seeds for future generations to enjoy and use. It aims to save seeds from all the wild plant species of the world and so far, since its founding in 2000, it has banked 14% of them. Scientists from the University of Oxford and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, which manages the Millennium Seed Bank, have shown how by using advanced mathematics they can boost the overall diversity of the seed bank by targeting a ‘hit list’ of particular species. Their paper also includes maps showing where the species are located so they can be efficiently gathered. The findings are published in the journal, Conservation Biology
The research team constructed a new evolutionary tree of a major family of wild plant species, taking the distance between species as a proxy for plant trait diversity. This enabled the researchers to see how to capture overall plant diversity in the most efficient way. They calculate that by adding just 10 more carefully chosen species, the overall diversity of plant species in the seed bank would be boosted by 10%. Furthermore, the researchers say that by adding a particular 177 species to the bank, the seed vaults would contain almost the entire diversity of the family worldwide (95%).
More than 150 organisations in 80 countries are currently involved in collecting seeds from wild species. In their study, the team from Oxford and Kew suggest that if seed priority is determined only by whether they are endangered, of economic value, or endemic (otherwise known as the 3E approach), this would make the collection significantly less diverse than it could be. Happily, making sure a few carefully chosen species from the ‘hit list’ are collected will keep the diversity of the seed bank high into the future.
The researchers assessed the existing collection of the Millennium Seed Bank by focusing on the legume family. It is a big family – containing more than 19,000 plants including all the peas and beans, peanuts, clover and lupins – to see how it was represented in the seed bank. They found that the bank houses a ‘robust’ legume collection in terms of diversity. However, using the evolutionary tree, they found that as the seed bank collection grew in the future, if its collection strategy was determined by 3E priority species, something odd happened over time: the collection contained more and more close relatives and overall diversity diminished.
‘Being a conservation priority plant isn’t random: it depends upon your biology, ecology, and location,’ said Professor Rich Grenyer of Oxford’s School of Geography and the Environment, the coordinating author of the study. ‘It depends on what you’re like and where you are. And just like people, plant species tend to be most like their closest relatives, and to live quite near them too. So as the Millennium Seed Bank gets more and more of these conservation priority species, the overall diversity of the collection doesn’t go up very much.
‘The species that will come in are all really important, but they’re also going to be more and more like each other. It’s a trade-off: you can get more diversity at the cost of getting fewer conservation priority species.’
Tim Pearce, international coordinator at the Millennium Seed Bank and an author on the study, concluded: ‘With the race against time to secure seed before it’s gone forever, this insight into how best to capture maximum diversity gives us the opportunity to really focus on where in the world we need to target our seed-collecting programmes.’
The Latest on: Plant diversity
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Plant diversity” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Plant diversity
- Sweet Revolution: Embracing diversity with plant-based confectioneryon May 8, 2024 at 12:27 pm
From creamy chocolates to chewy candies, plant-based options are paving the way for a more inclusive and compassionate approach to snacking that caters to the diverse tastes and preferences of ...
- Environmental Changes Are Fueling Human, Animal and Plant Diseases, Study Findson May 8, 2024 at 8:31 am
Biodiversity loss, global warming, pollution and the spread of invasive species are making infectious diseases more dangerous to organisms around the world.
- Loss of large herbivores affects interactions between plants and their natural enemies, study showson May 7, 2024 at 7:33 am
Insects and microorganisms that feed on plants, cut up leaves, modify leaf tissue or produce leaf spots and other kinds of damage, are usually known as pests and considered harmful, yet interactions ...
- 7 Invasive Plant Species To Avoid Hosting In Your Garden or Yardon May 6, 2024 at 8:00 am
Explore the impact of seven invasive species on ecosystems. Understand the challenges and changes these invaders are causing globally.
- Here are 10 Invasive Plants You Should Never Put In Your Garden and Whyon May 5, 2024 at 5:00 pm
This not only impacts plant diversity but can also hinder pollinators and other wildlife that depend on indigenous plants for food and habitat. Let's deep dive into ten of these invasive species and ...
- Why diversity in nature could be the key to mental well-beingon May 4, 2024 at 8:10 am
We have shown that biodiversity can also play a critical role for people's mental well-being. Previous studies have demonstrated that contact with nature benefits mental well-being, especially for ...
- UF/IFAS finds backyards have more plant species than imaginedon May 4, 2024 at 7:46 am
Plant diversity is critical because biological diversity is declining in landscapes around the world, said Basil Iannone, who supervised the research. Kacey Russo, who has graduated from the UF/IFAS ...
- 2 plants randomly mated up to 1 million years ago to give rise to one of the world's most popular drinkson April 30, 2024 at 6:54 am
Arabica coffee plant appears to have evolved between 600,000 and 1 million years ago after two other coffee species crossbred in the forests of what is now Ethiopia.
- How urban spaces support bird diversityon April 24, 2024 at 5:02 pm
The analysis revealed significant seasonal shifts in bird diversity between the two cities. During summer, Urbana’s richer vegetation and cooler green spaces attracted a broader variety of birds, ...
- Simulating plant diversity changeon January 28, 2024 at 1:51 pm
How will plant species respond to changing situations in the future? How do different land management decisions impact on the future distribution and status of plant species? To find the answers to ...
via Bing News