Scientists developed a system to create tomato plants with the full genetic material of both parents. By replacing meiosis with mitosis, they produced clonal sex cells, enabling offspring with complete parental genomes. This technique promises more robust, high-yield crops, potentially transforming agricultural practices.
Understanding how fire influences plant life is crucial for safeguarding biodiversity. By predicting plant responses to fire, scientists aid conservation efforts. Through traits like resprouting and seed germination, plants adapt to fire-prone ecosystems. With accurate predictions, land managers can plan controlled burns effectively, crucial as fire patterns evolve. Advancing fire-plant knowledge is key to future protection.
A new study highlights and quantifies the effectiveness of agroforestry practices in mountain agricultural systems to mitigate the effects of climate change while improving agricultural resilience and protecting biodiversity.
Climate change has advanced flowering in Doñana National Park by 22 days, as researchers discovered. Over 35 years, rising temperatures shifted peak flowering from May 9th to April 17th. This alters plant interactions, impacting pollinators and ecosystem dynamics, highlighting climate’s profound effects on biodiversity and the environment.
A global survey, encompassing 125 countries and over 130,000 individuals, reveals unprecedented support for climate action. Findings indicate 69% of respondents are willing to allocate 1% of personal income towards combating climate change. Overwhelmingly, 86% support pro-climate social norms, emphasizing a universal call for increased political action.
Climate change poses a threat to yields and food security worldwide, with plant diseases as one of the main risks. An international team of researchers has now shown that further spread of the fungal disease wheat blast could reduce global wheat production by 13% until 2050. The result is dramatic for global food security.
New research highlights the importance of education and clear information in garnering public support for climate policies. Surveying 5 East African countries, it reveals that specifying how revenue from climate taxes is used significantly boosts acceptance, with investments in social programs proving most effective.
Gene-editing techniques have helped to identify a temperature tolerance factor that may protect wheat from the increasingly unpredictable challenges of climate change.
Scientists are utilizing environmental DNA (eDNA) shed by living organisms to study biodiversity. EU-funded LeDNA project collects eDNA from lakes to assess and discover species, aiding global biodiversity preservation efforts. On World Biodiversity Day, May 22, 2024, a citizen science survey will test the method’s scalability, involving people worldwide in lake eDNA sampling using a specially designed device. Similarly, the BIOSPACE project explores eDNA in forests, predicting microbial biodiversity with satellite imagery, offering systematic and unbiased insights into lesser-known species for comprehensive biodiversity conservation.
Nature-based climate solutions, such as planting trees, won’t be anywhere near as big a part of the world’s solution to climate change as governments currently plan for, and relying on them is ‘risky’ according to a report.
