Plant Research & Conservation News and Media Archive – 2017

Plant Research and Conservation at The New York Botanical Garden: News and Media 2017 Archive

Ensia: Seeking Answers on Climate Change, Scientists Venture into the Vaults of the Past

This article on the environmental news web site, Ensia, details uses of natural history collections in climate change research. According to Dr. Barbara M. Thiers, Director of the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium, historical information on changes in plant distributions is obtainable only from herbarium specimens.

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National Geographic Food: On Tiny Island Farms, Biodiversity Is a Way of Life

This story appeared in the December, 2017, issue of the new British magazine, National Geographic Food. The article highlights the research of NYBG Ethnobotanist Dr. Ina Vandebroek in Jamaica, where she studies agricultural practices and crop diversity.

Dr. Vandebroek observed that farmers grow large numbers of crops on the same plots, and they also observed that crop plants are grown amid wild trees and shrubs that help stabilize nutrient rich soil. Jamaican farmers know that maintaining high levels of agrobiodiversity (larger numbers of crops intermingled with wild species) increases food security and helps to protect the island’s forests. The researchers highlight important lessons on food security as the world’s cultivated land is increasingly dedicated to a smaller and smaller number of staple crops.

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Island Life Magazine: Message Plants

The December 15, 2017, issue of Island Life Magazine features the work of NYBG researchers Drs. Michael Balick and Gregory Plunkett. The article examines the importance of message plants that are used to convey information among people or tribes.

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The American Gardner: The Role of Herbaria in New Discoveries

Much more than collections of dead plants and fungi, herbaria are irreplacable repositories of historical plant information vital to a wide variety of scientific applications. Featuring the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium and the recent exhibition What in the World is a Herbarium?

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NY1 Visits The New York Botanical Garden's Plant Science Research Laboratory

NY1 goes inside the Pfizer Plant Research Laboratory—a part of the garden that most people do not get to see.

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Photo of a researcher working in a lab as part of a NY1 story

NYBG Scientists Help Produce the First Comprehensive Catalog of Amazonian Plants

Representing a major advance in understanding and conserving the plant life of one of the world’s greatest biodiversity hotspots, an international team of scientists—including four NYBG researchers—has created the first scientifically vetted list of known plant species in the Amazon Basin.

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An aerial shot of the Cununuma River in Venezuela

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