The growing and vital role of botanical gardens in climate change research.

Botanical gardens make unique contributions to climate change research, conservation, and public engagement. They host unique resources, including diverse collections of plant species growing in natural conditions, historical records, and expert staff, and attract large numbers of visitors and volunteers. Networks of botanical gardens spanning biomes and continents can expand the value of these resources. Over the past decade, research at botanical gardens has advanced our understanding of climate change impacts on plant phenology, physiology, anatomy, and conservation. For example, researchers have utilized botanical garden networks to assess anatomical and functional traits associated with phenological responses to climate change. New methods have enhanced the pace and impact of this research, including phylogenetic and comparative methods, and online databases of herbarium specimens and photographs that allow studies to expand geographically, temporally, and taxonomically in scope. Botanical gardens have grown their community and citizen science programs, informing the public about climate change and monitoring plants more intensively than is possible with garden staff alone. Despite these advances, botanical gardens are still underutilized in climate change research. To address this, we review recent progress and describe promising future directions for research and public engagement at botanical gardens.Publisher versio

Integrating biodiversity data into botanic collections

Background Today\u27s species names are entry points into a web of publicly available knowledge and are integral parts of legislation concerning biological conservation and consumer safety. Species information usually is fragmented, can be misleading due to the existence of different names and might even be biased because of an identical name that is used for a different species. Safely navigating through the name space is one of the most challenging tasks when associating names with data and when decisions are made which name to include in legislation. Integrating publicly available dynamic data to characterise plant genetic resources of botanic gardens and other facilities will significantly increase the efficiency of recovering relevant information for research projects, identifying potentially invasive taxa, constructing priority lists and developing DNA-based specimen authentication. New information To demonstrate information availability and discuss integration into botanic collections, scientific names derived from botanic gardens were evaluated using the Encyclopedia of Life, The Catalogue of Life and The Plant List. 98.5% of the names could be verified by the combined use of these providers. Comparing taxonomic status information 13 % of the cases were in disagreement. About 7 % of the verified names were found to be included in the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, including one extinct taxon and three taxa with the status "extinct in the wild". As second most important factor for biodiversity loss, potential invasiveness was determined. Approximately 4 % of the verified names were detected using the Global Invasive Species Information Network, including 208 invasive taxa. According to Delivering Alien Invasive Species Inventories for Europe around 20 % of the verified names are European alien taxa including 15 of the worst European invasive taxa. Considering alternative names in the data recovery process, success increased up to 18 %

Bulletin No. 28: The Connecticut Arboretum: Its First Fifty Years 1931 - 1981

56 pp. 1982. Historical accounts of the formation and growth of the Arboretum

The process of agricultural technology generation in Brazil: a social audit.

The focus of agricultural technology studies in Brazil has been on technology diffusion or adoption. This approach stresses the neutrality of technology and its adoption depends on farmers' psychological and individual values. The agricultural technology generation process and the organisations in which technology is generated have not been considered as active factors. This thesis regards both as highly significant in farmers' adoption or rejection of technology. Approaches to development, modernisation and underdevelopment, along with agricultural globalisation, are the applied theoretical perspectives used to understand what happens in the underdeveloped countries in an integrated world system. This is an ex-post facto and cross-sectional study. The empirical data, based on a case study, was collected in Brazil, in and around the Brazilian Agricultural Research Organisation (EMBRAPA), a topdown state-owned organisation. Agricultural technology generation, its adoption, as well as the attitudes of users, clients, policy-makers, politicians and unions to the agricultural technology generation process were investigated. The fieldwork was conducted with eighty-seven agricultural researchers from four national agricultural research centres, one hundred and forty-four farmers, and eighty individuals and organisations' representatives. Qualitative and quantitative analyses indicated that the agricultural technology generation process is related more to scientific issues than to farmers' demands. The technology adopted by farmers was determined primarily by developments within the process of technology generation rather than through any persuasion. The thesis concludes that as a result of the process of technology generation in EMBRAP A, organised and capitalist farmers have been targeted rather than small or subsistence farmers. Therefore, the new farm as a whole research model is recommended, which explores the whole production system rather than specific agricultural products.Dissertation (Doctor in Philosophy)- School of Social Sciences, University of Sussex. Tese de doutorado

Evolution of Asteraceae in the European Alps.

PhD thesisWe conducted an extensive flow cytometric survey of reproductive modes and genome sizes (GSs), combined with cytotype screenings for 100 genera and 335 Asteraceae species across elevation ranges in the Alps. We found that apomictic reproduction was tied to odd ploidy levels (e.g. 3x, 5x) and showed strong phylogenetic signal, but did not correlate with elevation or phenology. Most species analysed were diploid, with GSs skewed towards small values. Short life cycles (annual or biennial) and endemic status were linked to smaller GSs, while elevation, nitrogen soil content preference and phenology were not. We analysed a sympatric mixed-ploidy population of Senecio doronicum, gathering ploidy and phenotype data. We found divergent phenology between cytotypes, with octoploid specimens flowering earlier than tetraploids. Also, cytotypes showed phenotype differences. Octoploids were taller and had larger capitula with more florets, and tetraploids had more numerous capitula with fewer florets and more pollen per floret. Likewise, cytotypes exhibited micro-niche differences: octoploids occupied a larger niche and grew in denser communities, while tetraploids occupied marginal habitats with sparse vegetation. Despite their abundance, reproductive success was lower in octoploids, that suffered attacks by a pre-dispersal seed predator. Available automated pollinator monitoring systems were reviewed, and one of such systems (Rana) was deployed to monitor insect visits on S. doronicum. The main visitors were shorttongued insects (flies and small bees), mostly hoverflies. Octoploids received less visits and lower proportion of feeding visits than tetraploids. Most of the feeding visits to octoploids were made by Syrphus and to tetraploids by Eristalis. Overall, each cytotype showed distinct pollinators communities with similar extents of variation. This thesis provides novel insights into how genomic processes, such as polyploidization, and ecological processes, such as pollination, can shape plant diversity both at the local (sympatric population micro-evolution) and geographical (Asteraceae family macro-evolution in the Alps) scales.

Expedition to New Guinea

p. 81-152, [12] p. of plates : ill., map ; 27 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 150-152)