Science on the Land
-
Join 516 other subscribers
-
Recent Posts
- How genetic modification is done: 1. Agrobacterium
- Biotechnology in Action
- New contact details
- Neonic makers might pay for research about neonics on the land
- A neonic that’s bad news for birds
- Hello Ms Truss
- Goodbye Mr Paterson
- Séralini’s rat-feeding trial (part 5)
- New Séralini study shows Roundup damages sperm
- America’s dwindling diversity
Tags
- academia
- alien species
- America
- arthropod
- Asia
- bacterium
- biotechnology
- breeding
- cattle
- child
- climate
- conservation
- corn
- crop
- crop variety
- data
- development
- disease
- ecosystem
- Europe
- farm
- farmer
- feed
- finance
- finfish
- food
- food safety
- food security
- forest
- garden
- genetic modification
- grain
- grocery
- herbicide
- history
- honeybee
- human
- hunting
- hymenopteran
- insect
- insecticide
- knowledge
- land use
- law
- livestock
- maize
- mammal
- meat
- Monsanto
- native species
- nutrition
- pest
- pesticide
- plant_dicot
- plant_monocot
- politics
- pollination
- population
- poverty
- research
- rice
- ruminant
- sea
- seed
- selective breeding
- staple food
- sustainable
- trade
- tree
- vertebrate
- water
- wild bee
- wild food
- wildlife
- woodland
Tag Archives: grassland
Fertilisers destabilise grasslands
Here’s new evidence that fertilising grasslands can make them less stable. Therefore, fertilised grasslands might become more vulnerable to climate change. This is a serious matter in our hungry world. Here’s the science. This research was led by Andy Hector … Continue reading
Posted in ecology, food
Tagged academia, biodiversity, climate, ecosystem, eutrophic, fertiliser, food security, grassland, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, research, soil
Leave a comment
Making grass greener: CIAT breeds tropical pasture that suppresses greenhouse gas emissions
Originally posted on ILRI Clippings:
Guillermo Sotelo of CIAT’s entomology team, working with brachiaria grass in a greenhouse at the institution’s headquarters in Colombia (picture credit: CIAT/Neil Palmer). ‘. . . On 13 September, researchers announced that they have bred…
Coronation campaign to revive wildflower meadows
Originally posted on Green Living London:
Sixty “Coronation meadows” have been identified across the UK as part of a new campaign to restore threatened wildflower meadows. The campaign, launched to mark the 60th anniversary of the Queen’s Coronation, follows reports…
Posted in ecology
Tagged conservation, ecosystem, grassland, habitat restoration, history, landscape, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, seed, wildlife
Leave a comment
Cash crops vs cattle pastures: Converting pastoral lands into irrigated croplands in Africa benefits few
Originally posted on ILRI Clippings:
Ethiopian rangeland (photo credit: ILRI/Dave Elsworth). ‘Cotton, sugar, palm oil… you name it. Most governments in the developing world believe such plantation cash crops must be a better use of land, and must deliver greater…
Posted in agriculture, ecology, money and trade
Tagged access to land, Africa, cash crop, cattle, crop, development, dryland, grassland, irrigation, land grab, land use, livestock, mammal, pastoral, pasture, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, politics, ruminant, trade, vertebrate
5 Comments
Pesticides Leading Cause Grassland Bird Declines
Originally posted on Natural History Wanderings:
Media Release from American Bird Conservancy New Study Finds Pesticides Leading Cause of Grassland Bird Declines (Washington, D.C., February 25, 2013) A new study led by a preeminent Canadian toxicologist identifies acutely toxic pesticides…
Posted in agriculture, ecology, horticulture, miniculture
Tagged arthropod, bird, clothianidin, conservation, dinotefuran, ecosystem, grassland, honeybee, hymenopteran, imidacloprid, insect, insecticide, land use, neonicotinoid, pest, pesticide, research, thiamethoxam, vertebrate, wild bee, wildlife
Leave a comment
Grasslands Losing Out to Soybeans and Corn
Originally posted on Natural History Wanderings:
The NPR blog The Salt recently reported on the loss of grasslands to farms fields for soybeans and corn. Between 2006 and 2011 the U.S. midwest saw the conversion of 1.3 million acres of…
Posted in agriculture
Tagged America, arable, conservation, corn, crop, farm, grain, grassland, land use, maize, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, soya
2 Comments
Food for Britain when in drought
Here’s my entry for last year’s Wellcome Trust Science Writing Prize. The deadline was 25 April 2012. As you can see, I wrote about the way things were in the spring and I assumed that when my article would win, … Continue reading
Posted in food, knowledge transfer, weather and climate
Tagged climate, drought, egg, farm, flood, food, fruit, garden, grain, grassland, human, irrigation, meat, milk, politics, polytunnel, prosperity, reservoir, vegetable, water, waterway, weather
4 Comments
Poppies
In Britain and other countries of the Commonwealth, at this time of year many of us wear the remembrance poppy. I’ve lived in England and Wales all my life so for me, mid-autumn has always included remembrance poppies. Many of … Continue reading
Posted in horticulture
Tagged conservation, farm, garden, grassland, hay, history, law, pharmaceutical, poppy, war, weed
7 Comments
Should we stop eating meat?
Would it solve the world’s food crisis if we all went vegetarian or vegan? Priyamvada Gopal at the Guardian says no, inequality is a bigger factor in food shortages. I think that food wastage, especially in the rich world, is … Continue reading
Posted in agriculture, food, human health
Tagged farm, feed, food, food security, food waste, game, grain, grass, grassland, hazel, land use, legume, livestock, mammal, meat, pasture, plant_dicot, plant_monocot, poverty, ruminant, sheep, shrub, soya, tree, vertebrate, waste, wild food
24 Comments
Getting rid of ragwort
The common ragwort (Senecio jacobaea) is a familiar sight in Britain. It’s pretty, isn’t it? But it’s classed as an injurious weed under the Weeds Act 1959. That was amended by the Ragwort Control Act 2003 for England and Wales. … Continue reading
Science on the Land 