29 January 2010
Grass resource revolutionises biodiversity research
Grasses from across the world will be documented in a new resource to help researchers understand the biology and threats to these vital species, thanks to a project led by scientists from the University of Sheffield, in collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
The JISC-funded project will see experts from the University´s Department of Animal and Plant Sciences produce an online resource called GrassPortal, offering public access to evolutionary and ecological data on the world's grass species and greatly expanding the web services currently offered by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
GrassPortal, which is at the forefront of a digital revolution in biodiversity research, will allow any of the 11,000 species of grasses to be defined by its geographical range, climate preferences, and evolutionary relationships to other species.
It will offer scientists a one-stop-shop for easily accessing and analyzing data on an unprecedented scale, and will be particularly useful for researchers in the fields of climate change, conservation biology, and evolutionary biology. Educational case studies and sample datasets in these areas will also be packaged as research-led teaching resources for university and school students.
Grasses are present on every continent on the planet, and play major roles in the global economy and ecosystem. They account for most of our staple food crops and livestock feeds, including rice, barley, wheat, maize, millet and sugarcane. Grasses are the main winners from deforestation, and form grasslands which significantly influence our climate by altering the cycling of carbon and water between the land and air.
Understanding the evolutionary and ecological relationships between species is fundamental for biology, and it is believed the same scientific approach used by GrassPortal could be rolled out to cover all of the world´s half million plant species during the coming decade.
Dr Colin Osborne, Senior Royal Society University Research Fellow from the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences at the University of Sheffield and Director of the GrassPortal project, said: "Grasses feed human civilization and economies, and our lives would quickly fall apart without them. Understanding the biology and threats to these species is vital for humanity in the 21st century, and I´m delighted that Kew have joined with Sheffield to tackle this global problem."
Dr David Simpson, Assistant Keeper in the Herbarium, Library, Art and Archives at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and GrassPortal Project Partner, said: "The worldwide importance of grasses means that they are a key part of Kew's Breathing Planet Programme to help save threatened plants and habitats and improve people's quality of life. We are very pleased to join with Sheffield University in this timely and vital initiative."
Ben Showers, programme manager at JISC, which has funded the work to take place, said: "GrassPortal will provide a single point of access for scientists, researchers and students to an extraordinary range of grass data. Bringing these disparate resources together will allow new areas of research and study to open up, and help save researchers time when searching for crucial information." Notes for Editors: GrassPortal is a collaborative project involving plant and computer scientists from the University of Sheffield, in partnership with our spin-out software company Knowledge-Now, Ltd and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Its international partners are the University of Lausanne, University of Washington, Brown University and the University of California, Santa Barbara.
JISC inspires UK colleges and universities in the innovative use of digital technologies, helping to maintain the UK's position as a global leader in education.For more information on GrassPortal or JISC, visit the links below.
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a world famous scientific organisation, internationally respected for its outstanding living collection of plants and world-class Herbarium as well as its scientific expertise in plant diversity, conservation and sustainable development in the UK and around the world. Kew Gardens is a major international visitor attraction. Its landscaped 132 hectares and RBG Kew's country estate, Wakehurst Place, attract nearly 2 million visitors every year. Kew was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2003 and celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2009. Wakehurst Place is home to Kew's Millennium Seed Bank, the largest wild plant seed bank in the world. RBG Kew and its partners have collected and conserved seed from 10 per cent of the world's wild flowering plant species (c.30, 000 species). The aim is to conserve 25% by 2020 and funds are being actively sought in order to continue this vital work. Support the work of Kew´s Millennium Seed Bank partnership by getting involved with the `Adopt a Seed, Save a Species' campaign: www.kew.org/adoptaseed. For more information about the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew's Breathing Planet Programme visit the link below.
For further information please contact: Shemina Davis, Media Relations Officer, on 0114 2225339 or email shemina.davis@sheffield.ac.uk or Bronwyn Friedlander, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew press office, on +44 (0) 20 8332 5607 or email pr@kew.org.
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