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News tagged with seed bank

Short-lived seed of alpine plants

Scientists from the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership have found that the seeds of alpine plants are shorter lived than their lowland relatives. This will have implications for seed conservation strategies ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Sep 21, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Storing seeds for a rainy day -- or in this case, a fire

As mountain pine beetles march across the forests of western North America, these insects may kill millions of pine trees during a single outbreak. A rise in overall temperatures over the past several years has increased ...

Biology / Ecology

created May 31, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Chinese primrose rediscovered

A botanist at one of Kew's Millennium Seed Bank partners, the Kunming Institute of Botany, has rediscovered two populations of a primrose which was thought to be extinct in the wild.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created May 05, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

The undead may influence biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions

It's commonly known, at least among microbiologists, that microbes have an additional option to living or dying -- dormancy.

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Jan 26, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Sub-zero seed freezes aim to save orchids from extinction

Scientists from around the world gathered in Costa Rica this month to exchange ideas on ways to make sure orchids, among the world's most popular flowers, will still be around for the next generation to enjoy.

Biology / Ecology

created Sep 20, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Celebrated Russian seed bank fights for its land

(AP) -- The world's first seed bank survived World War II thanks to 12 Russian scientists who chose to starve to death rather than eat the grain they were saving for future generations.

Biology / Other

created Aug 20, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Probing Question: What is seed banking?

Nearly 1,000 kilometers north of Norway stands an impressive vault. Dug deep below the permafrost into solid rock, so far north that four months out of the year the sun doesn’t shine, the vault contains some ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Apr 30, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 1

Dormant microbes promote diversity, serve environment: study

(PhysOrg.com) -- The ability of microbes, tiny organisms that do big jobs in our environment, to go dormant not only can save them from death and possible extinction but may also play a key role in promoting ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Mar 19, 2010 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Humble garden pea helps scientists develop 'cool,' noninvasive diagnostic test of seed quality

Scientists from Kew's Millennium Seed Bank in the United Kingdom and the University of Graz, Austria, have developed a rapid, new method to diagnose seed quality non-invasively and in real time. The results are published ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Feb 01, 2010 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Save the seeds: Scientists are relocating plants that may be affected by climate change

As warmer temperatures threaten to devastate plant species across the globe, scientists are taking the lead by relocating plants to safer grounds, according to a recent New York Times article.

Biology / Ecology

created Nov 17, 2009 | popularity 1 / 5 (2) | comments 1

A biology whodunnit: are rodents helping protect trees from fire?

Tom Parker has made an unusual find. In California forests and shrubland that burned in 2008, he has spotted Manzanita seedlings sprouting in tight clusters, suggesting that the young shrubs emerged from underground ...

Biology / Ecology

created Nov 12, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

UK botanists bank 10% of world's plant species

Botanists at Britain's Kew Gardens have collected seeds from 10 percent of the world's wild plants, their first goal in a long-term project to protect all endangered species, they said Thursday.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Oct 15, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0