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Plants @ Cambridge

 
Read more at: New funding to help University Herbarium identify and digitise globally-important specimens
Amaryllys banksiana type specimen

New funding to help University Herbarium identify and digitise globally-important specimens

22 December 2022

New funding to help University Herbarium identify and digitise globally-important specimens Cambridge University Herbarium’s new grant from the Isaac Newton Trust will fund a Special Collections Researcher to focus on identifying a significant proportion of the estimated 50,000 type specimens held in this extraordinary...


Read more at: The tulip hunter of Toktogul
Tulip in Toktogul

The tulip hunter of Toktogul

10 December 2022

Brett Wilson's love of wild tulips has taken him to some of the most spectacular places in Central Asia, where he discovered a new species in Toktogul, Kyrgyzstan. His work has helped to uncover the plight of 53 tulips which have been added to the 'Red List' of threatened species...


Read more at: New UAV-based system enables efficient forest restoration monitoring
Above view of a forest from a UAV

New UAV-based system enables efficient forest restoration monitoring

2 December 2022

New UAV-based system enables efficient forest restoration monitoring New UAV-based system enables efficient forest restoration monitoring Ecologists at the Conservation Research Institute have developed a new method of mapping early successional species in tropical forests using Unoccupied Ariel Vehicles (UAVs) to generate...


Read more at: Plants employ chemical engineering to manufacture bee-luring optical devices
Hibiscus flower with insect

Plants employ chemical engineering to manufacture bee-luring optical devices

28 November 2022

Plants employ chemical engineering to manufacture bee-luring optical devices Cambridge researchers led by CUBG Director, Professor Beverley Glover, have shown that plants can regulate the chemistry of their petal surface to create iridescent signals visible to bees . While most flowers produce pigments that appear...


Read more at: Modelling the future of soils in the world’s savanna-grasslands
Burning of savannah vegetation

Modelling the future of soils in the world’s savanna-grasslands

23 November 2022

Modelling the future of soils in the world’s savanna-grasslands Modelling the future of soils in the world’s savanna-grasslands – new tools to help manage 24 million square km of drylands A new grant from the ERC's ‘Starting Grants’ scheme will fund studies to improve carbon credit schemes in dryland areas by boosting our...


Read more at: Mysterious parasite: How plants develop parasitic organs
Dodder on tomato

Mysterious parasite: How plants develop parasitic organs

17 November 2022

Mysterious parasite: How plants develop parasitic organs A research review by a Crop Science Centre scientist and a UC Davis scientist has summarised our current understanding of how the stem parasitic plants Cuscuta species, known as dodders, develop the specialised organs, called haustoria, which confer the ability to...


Read more at: Protecting tropical forests through carbon finance can work
view in a tropical forest

Protecting tropical forests through carbon finance can work

11 November 2022

Protecting tropical forests through carbon finance can work New evidence suggests that REDD+ projects in the tropics have helped reduce deforestation, particularly in regions of rapid land use change Tropical deforestation and degradation are significant contributors to global greenhouse gas emissions. Projects aimed at...


Read more at: The hologenome theory of susceptibility-gene discovery – an innovative way to boost disease resistance in crop plants
nodules on roots

The hologenome theory of susceptibility-gene discovery – an innovative way to boost disease resistance in crop plants

28 October 2022

The hologenome theory of susceptibility-gene discovery – an innovative way to boost disease resistance in crop plants Scientists at the Crop Science Centre, in collaboration with partners around the world (principally the University of California Davis and the University of Bonn), have discovered that tweaking plant...


Read more at: Discovery of a new mechanism for enhancing symbiotic interactions
Wheat ears

Discovery of a new mechanism for enhancing symbiotic interactions

15 October 2022

Discovery of a new mechanism for enhancing symbiotic interactions Research published in Nature Communications demonstrates a mechanism to enhance the colonization of cereals by arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. These enhanced arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal associations have the potential to improve the efficiency with which...


Read more at: Hurricanes help speed-up forests’ adaptation to warmer temperatures
John Crow peak in Jamaica

Hurricanes help speed-up forests’ adaptation to warmer temperatures

11 October 2022

Hurricanes help speed-up forests’ adaptation to warmer temperatures A recent study by Dr Edmund Tanner and colleagues shows that damage caused to forests by hurricanes in Jamaica enables lower-altitude, warmer-temperature-loving species to fill the gaps, and helps the forest adapt to the rising temperatures that result...