Toward integrated conservation of North America's crop wild relatives

North America harbors a rich native flora of crop wild relatives—the progenitors and closely related species of domesticated plants—as well as a range of culturally significant wild utilized plants. Despite their current and potential future value, they are rarely prioritized for conservation efforts; thus many species are threatened in their natural habitats, and most are underrepresented in plant genebanks and botanical gardens. Further coordination of efforts among land management, botanical, and agricultural science organizations will improve conservation and general public awareness with regard to these species. We present examples of productive collaborations focused on wild cranberries (Vaccinium macrocarpon and Vaccinium oxycoccos) and chile peppers (Capsicum annuum var. glabriusculum). We then discuss five shared priorities for further action: (1) understand and document North America's crop wild relatives and wild utilized plants, (2) protect threatened species in their natural habitats, (3) collect and conserve ex situ the diversity of prioritized species, (4) make this diversity accessible and attractive for plant breeding, research, and education, and (5) raise public awareness of their value and the threats to their persistence

Diminishing benefits of urban living for children and adolescents’ growth and development

Optimal growth and development in childhood and adolescence is crucial for lifelong health and well-being1–6. Here we used data from 2,325 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight from 71 million participants, to report the height and body-mass index (BMI) of children and adolescents aged 5–19 years on the basis of rural and urban place of residence in 200 countries and territories from 1990 to 2020. In 1990, children and adolescents residing in cities were taller than their rural counterparts in all but a few high-income countries. By 2020, the urban height advantage became smaller in most countries, and in many high-income western countries it reversed into a small urban-based disadvantage. The exception was for boys in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa and in some countries in Oceania, south Asia and the region of central Asia, Middle East and north Africa. In these countries, successive cohorts of boys from rural places either did not gain height or possibly became shorter, and hence fell further behind their urban peers. The difference between the age-standardized mean BMI of children in urban and rural areas was <1.1 kg m–2 in the vast majority of countries. Within this small range, BMI increased slightly more in cities than in rural areas, except in south Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and some countries in central and eastern Europe. Our results show that in much of the world, the growth and developmental advantages of living in cities have diminished in the twenty-first century, whereas in much of sub-Saharan Africa they have amplified