The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
Author: Cary Fowler
Publisher: Bioversity International
Published: 2003
Total Pages: 38
ISBN-13: 9290435836
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Ecology of Soil Seed Banks
Author: Mary Allessio Leck
Publisher: Elsevier
Published: 2012-12-02
Total Pages: 485
ISBN-13: 0323148654
DOWNLOAD EBOOKEcology of Soil Seed Banks examines the factors that influence seed bank dynamics and the variety of patterns found among different species. This book presents seed banks in a community context to explore the ecological implications of different patterns, and thus begin the development of a synthesis by comparing various communities. Organized into five parts, this book first examines the general processes that influence inputs or losses from the seed bank, including predation, dormancy/germination mechanisms, and their evolutionary importance. Then, this text examines seed banks in a community context. Only eight vegetation types are included, but the range in diversity of life form, length of growing season, and dominant environmental conditions allow comparisons of seed bank patterns. This book also explores the role of seed banks in vegetation management. This reference material will be a valuable reference material to population and community ecologists and managers. Evolutionary consequences of seed banks should be of interest to population and theoretical biologists.
Community Seed Banks
Author: Ronnie Vernooy
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2015-05-15
Total Pages: 323
ISBN-13: 1134608608
DOWNLOAD EBOOKCommunity seed banks first appeared towards the end of the 1980s, established with the support of international and national non-governmental organizations. This book is the first to provide a global review of their development and includes a wide range of case studies. Countries that pioneered various types of community seed banks include Bangladesh, Brazil, Ethiopia, India, Nepal, Nicaragua, the Philippines and Zimbabwe. In the North, a particular type of community seed bank emerged known as a seed-savers network. Such networks were first established in Australia, Canada, the UK and the USA before spreading to other countries. Over time, the number and diversity of seed banks has grown. In Nepal, for example, there are now more than 100 self-described community seed banks whose functions range from pure conservation to commercial seed production. In Brazil, community seed banks operate in various regions of the country. Surprisingly, despite 25 years of history and the rapid growth in number, organizational diversity and geographical coverage of community seed banks, recognition of their roles and contributions has remained scanty. The book reviews their history, evolution, experiences, successes and failures (and reasons why), challenges and prospects. It fills a significant gap in the literature on agricultural biodiversity and conservation, and their contribution to food sovereignty and security.
Combating Global Warming
Author: Kodoth Prabhakaran Nair
Publisher: Springer
Published: 2019-07-03
Total Pages: 122
ISBN-13: 3030230376
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis book critically examines the environmental hazards posed by global warming with regard to future food security, which will depend on a combination of stresses, both biotic and abiotic, imposed by climate change; variability of weather within a growing season; and the development of cultivars that are more sensitive to different ambient conditions. Furthermore, the ability to develop effective adaptive strategies which allow these cultivars to express their genetic potential under changing climate conditions will be essential. In turn, the book investigates those plant species which are very closely related to field crops and have the potential to contribute beneficial traits for crop improvement, e.g. resistance to a wide range of biotic and abiotic stresses, enriching the gene pool, and ultimately leading to enhanced plant yield, known as “Crop Wild Relatives” (CWRs). CWRs hold tremendous potential to sustain and enhance global food security, contributing to human well-being. Accordingly, their development, characterization and conservation in crop breeding programs have assumed great practical importance./div Professor Kodoth Prabhakaran Nair is an internationally acclaimed agricultural scientist, with over three decades of experience in Europe, Africa and Asia, holding some of the most prestigious academic positions, including the National Chair of the Science Foundation, The Royal Society, Belgium. A Senior Fellow of the world renowned Alexander von Humboldt Research Foundation of The Federal Republic of Germany, he is best known, globally, for having developed a revolutionary soil management technique, known as "The Nutrient Buffer Power Concept", which, while questioning the scientific fallacies of the highly soil extractive farming, euphemistically known as the "green revolution", has opened up an alternative path for sensible and scientific soil management
Shattering
Author: Cary Fowler
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Published: 1990
Total Pages: 300
ISBN-13: 9780816511815
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIt was through control of the shattering of wild seeds that humans first domesticated plants. Now control over those very plants threatens to shatter the world's food supply, as loss of genetic diversity sets the stage for widespread hunger. Large-scale agriculture has come to favor uniformity in food crops. More than 7,000 U.S. apple varieties once grew in American orchards; 6,000 of them are no longer available. Every broccoli variety offered through seed catalogs in 1900 has now disappeared. As the international genetics supply industry absorbs seed companies—with nearly one thousand takeovers since 1970—this trend toward uniformity seems likely to continue; and as third world agriculture is brought in line with international business interests, the gene pools of humanity's most basic foods are threatened. The consequences are more than culinary. Without the genetic diversity from which farmers traditionally breed for resistance to diseases, crops are more susceptible to the spread of pestilence. Tragedies like the Irish Potato Famine may be thought of today as ancient history; yet the U.S. corn blight of 1970 shows that technologically based agribusiness is a breeding ground for disaster. Shattering reviews the development of genetic diversity over 10,000 years of human agriculture, then exposes its loss in our lifetime at the hands of political and economic forces. The possibility of crisis is real; this book shows that it may not be too late to avert it.
The Soil Seed Banks of North West Europe
Author: Ken Thompson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 1997
Total Pages: 316
ISBN-13: 9780521495196
DOWNLOAD EBOOKBuried viable seed banks are a fundamental aspect of seed plant biology. They play a key role in the conservation and restoration of plant communities and the response of plants to changing land use and climate. There is almost no area of plant ecology in which seed banks are not implicated. Despite several recent reviews of the ecology of seed banks, there has previously been no single source of data on seed persistence in individual species. This volume, which compiles the available data from the nineteenth century up to the end of 1993, provides this source for the 1189 members of the northwest European flora. The text describes the criteria for inclusion of data and discusses seed classification systems, the relative representation of different habitats, methods and taxa, and challenges for future research. Includes PC disc with database in searchable format.
Explorations of the Seed Vault
Author: Einar Sneve Martinussen
Publisher: Lulu.com
Published: 2017-06-30
Total Pages: 50
ISBN-13: 1387042939
DOWNLOAD EBOOKIn this colouring book you get to take a closer look at some of the seeds found in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. The Seed Vault is located underground in the arctic permafrost on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen. This is the world's largest secure seed storage facility and currently holds seeds from 5.499 species of crop plants. This collection is an important global collaboration for preserving the biodiversity and resilience of crops for the future. In this colouring book we look at a small, but significant, selection of these - looking at seeds from both the most common species in the Seed Vault, and some of the least common ones. This book is a part of an experimental project about interpreting and communicating data from the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. The project is developed by Einar Sneve Martinussen and Jørn Knutsen from the Oslo School of Architecture and Design, and the design studio Voy. More about the project at medium.com/explorations-of-the-seed-vault.
Seed Vault, The
Author: Bonnie Juettner
Publisher: Norwood House Press
Published: 2009-07-15
Total Pages: 50
ISBN-13: 159953343X
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe seed vault in Norway houses plant seeds from around the world to be stored in the event that the plant needs to be reintroduced into the food supply. Every great invention begins with a great idea! Read all the books in this series and learn about the history and impact of some of the most fascinating innovations and inventions of our time. Explore the idea’s early stages of development, problems encountered along the way, and how each great idea has influenced our lives. From popular culture and the environment to life-saving machines, learn about the ideas, people, and technologies that made it all happen. This series correlates with The Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (S.T.E.M.) curriculum initiative.
The Last Great Plant Hunt
Author: Carolyn Fry
Publisher: Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
Published: 2011
Total Pages: 0
ISBN-13: 9781842464328
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAs humans adapt to a changing climate and planet, there is a pressing need for wild plant seed banks, and an urgent effort to conserve all plant diversity. Kew's Millennium Seed Bank is a unique, global asset. The largest seed bank of its kind in the world dedicated to wild plant species, it contains the world's most diverse seed collections. Over the past 10 years more than 3.5 billion seeds from nearly 25,000 species have been collected and stored in seed banks both in their country of origin and in Kew's Millennium Seed Bank. In October 2009 Kew's Millennium Seed Bank celebrated collecting, banking and conserving 10% of the world's wild plant species and the partnership now spans more than 120 institutions in 54 countries. The Last Great Plant Hunt describes the importance of seed collecting and the work of Kew's Millennium Seed Bank, the process of collecting and taking care of seeds, the uses of banked seed, and the future of seed conservation worldwide. Beautifully illustrated and engagingly written.
Seed Conservation
Author: Roger D. Smith
Publisher: Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
Published: 2003
Total Pages: 1052
ISBN-13:
DOWNLOAD EBOOK"This book is a review of the current scientific knowledge that underpins seed banking, a technology which plays a key role in the conservation of both domesticated and non-domesticated plant speices..."--Publisher description.
