USDA: New Web Page Makes Info on Agricultural Pests and Diseases More Accessible. “Each year, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) must respond to new threats to America’s agricultural and natural resources often in the form of invasive species or emerging diseases. To raise awareness about these growing threats and our efforts to manage, monitor and regulate their impacts, we’ve launched the new Pests & Diseases web page.”
plants
Chile Bio: New database published on crops genetically edited with CRISPR
Chile Bio, translated from Spanish using Google Translator: New database published on crops genetically edited with CRISPR. “…researchers at the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI; Ithaca, NY) have developed the Plant Genetic Editing Database (PGED) to be a central repository for efficiently managing data. of mutant plants, as well as to provide a platform to share data and mutants with the research community. The last hope is that PGED will lead to a more efficient use of resources by reducing unnecessary duplicate experiments and catalyzing collaborations between research institutions.”
University of Hawaii News: Century of plant data available through Lyon Arboretum interactive map
University of Hawaii News: Century of plant data available through Lyon Arboretum interactive map. “A new geographic information system (GIS) device being employed at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Harold L. Lyon Arboretum allows users to locate plants on its property and view metadata gathered over 100 years. ‘This new interface opens up 100 years of Lyon’s collections history right onto your laptop,’ said Rakan Zahawi, Lyon Arboretum director. ‘It is a great tool for both researchers and avid plant enthusiasts, and we hope that it will get a lot of use.'”
Mashable: Watching plants grow is the best part of the slow web
Mashable: Watching plants grow is the best part of the slow web. “Back in 2012, writer Jack Chang coined something known as ‘the slow web.’ Similar to the slow foods movement, the idea of the slow web movement was to decelerate the pace in which readers consume content: ‘slow web’ consumers would read full length articles, keep open tabs to a minimum, and otherwise spend meaningful time on the internet, instead of just time.”
Indian Institute of Science: Launch of the ‘Digital Flora of Peninsular India’
Indian Institute of Science: Launch of the ‘Digital Flora of Peninsular India’. “As you may be aware, the Centre for Ecological Sciences at IISc has a herbarium with a large collection of over 16000 species of plants from Karnataka, Western and Eastern Ghats and other parts of peninsular India. Over the past twelve years, Prof. Sankara Rao, a retired professor from the Biochemistry department of IISc and an expert botanist, and his small team of volunteers, have been digitizing the entire collection and produced a Digital Flora of Karnataka that is freely available online.” It looks like the collection officially launches March 2. The page I’m linking to has a really good PDF brochure with an overview of the new project.
Cornell: Botanical illustration pioneer goes from obscurity to online
Cornell: Botanical illustration pioneer goes from obscurity to online. “Dating back to 1826 and brimming with meticulous descriptions and vivid watercolor illustrations, Nancy Anne Kingsbury Wollstonecraft’s manuscript, ‘Specimens of the Plants and Fruits of the Island of Cuba,’ never saw print in her lifetime despite her attempts at publication. Nearly two centuries later, the lush life she captured can now be admired and downloaded from HathiTrust, where it was shared by Cornell University Library.”
The Telegraph: UK’s biggest library of plants under threat from biscuit beetles as RHS freeze pest off leaves before cataloging them
The Telegraph: UK’s biggest library of plants under threat from biscuit beetles as RHS freeze pest off leaves before cataloging them. “The UK’s biggest plant library is under threat from biscuit beetle as the Royal Horticultural Society has had to freeze all its plants to kill off the pest. The RHS is due to launch its new, digitised, herbarium which will help gardeners plan their blooms with helpful depictions of species and plant guides.”
