A Seed Bank to Document Plant Evolution

A group of scientists from the U.S. has published an article proposing the creation of a new type of seedbank, one that will help understand evolution and climate change. In contrast to existing seed banks, which exist primarily for conservation, the scientists argue that the collection of many species should be done in a way that evolutionary responses to future changes in climate can be detected. Wild species will be gathered, at intervals in the future, effectively capturing evolution in action.

This approach will make it possible for scientists to evaluate the results of climate change, land use change, and other kinds of environmental changes such as the spread of disease on the gene pool.

"This seed collection would form an important resource that can be used for many types of research, just as GenBank –– the collection of genetic sequences and information –– forms a key resource for research in genetics and genomics," said Steven Franks of Fordham University.

For more information, read http://www.ia.ucsb.edu/pa/display.aspx?pkey=1862 The abstract of the article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1641/B580913