Invasive Mikania weed threatens people’s livelihoods and endangered iconic species
22 May 2015 is Biodiversity Day. Non-native invasive species like Mikania can detrimentally affect biodiversity – natural habitats and the people and animals that live in them. CABI’s Sean Murphy explains why. Mikania (Mikania micrantha) is a tropical vine which is native to the Americas. Often referred to as the ‘Mile-a-Minute Weed,’…
New report highlights link between forests, farms and food security
With the global population estimated to reach 9 billion by 2050, there has been much debate around the issues of nutrition and food security. Amid these concerns, a report published on May 6 by the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO), calls for greater consideration of the use of forests as a food source as…
How to attract a blackfly – researching blackflies’ aroma preferences.
(Photo: electron micrograph of a blackfly with Onchocerca parasite, credit:USDA) The idea of sitting in a field and letting blackflies potentially carrying an unpleasant disease bite you sounds like a job best avoided, yet this is the way in which populations of blackflies carrying the river blindness parasite Onchocerca are monitored in Sub-Saharan Africa. Research…
New study produces biofuel and animal feed from the same crop
‘First generation’ bioethanol is produced directly from food crops such as corn and sugarcane. Global production of bioethanol has been increasing in recent years due to policies in many countries that consider biofuel as a renewable alternative to fossil fuels. While it is widely recognised as means to improve future energy security, the rapid expansion…
Using lasers to map forest carbon
Forests cover approximately 4 billion hectares of the Earth's surface, equivalent to a third of it's total land area. According to the WWF, between 12-15 million hectares of forests are lost every year due to human impacts, such as deforestation. It is estimated that forest loss is responsible for around 15% of global carbon emissions.…
Insecticide threat to aquatic biodiversity highlighted in new study
Insecticides can be beneficial to humans in many ways, such as providing crop protection from disease and defoliation and as a tool used in the reduction of mosquitoes and other insects that can transmit diseases such as malaria, to humans. However, once they enter an aquatic system, the environmental costs can be very high. Just…
Changing attitudes to wood
Wood has many different uses, including shelter, fuel and paper to write on, as well as having a key role in maintaining a healthy planet. More recently however, the development of engineered wood for use in the construction of tall buildings has led to a new generation of ‘ply-scrapers’. So is our attitude to wood…
Milk Quotas in European Union to Be Abolished after 31 Years
By Miroslav Djuric, DVM, Editor of Dairy Science Abstracts Milk quotas in the European Union (EU) will be abolished from the 1 April 2015, exactly 31 years after its introduction. The Dairy Produce Quota Regulations were introduced by the European Economic Community (EEC) on the 2 April 1984 and were originally due to run until…
E-Learning Course on Bioinformatics of Animal Viruses
Nucleotide sequencing has become a very popular technique for diagnosis and characterization of pathogens and is accessible to most veterinary practices. A nucleotide sequence provides information on the nature of the pathogen, its source and its main characteristics such as strain, virulence and drug resistance. Bioinformatics provides tools to gather, store, and analyse these biological…
Animal Genetic Research Increasingly Focuses on Medical and Pharmaceutical Markets rather than on Food Production
According to a recent report by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), patenting activity in the field of animal genetics is focusing on medical and pharmaceutical markets, rather than animal products for human nutrition. A vast amount of scientific literature on animal genetic resources, transgenic animals and patents in this field is available in the CAB Direct database. The literature, which originates from more than 150 countries and is published in over 50 languages, is translated and indexed by CABI’s specialists for easy searching. The CAB Direct database currently contains more than 23,000 references with abstracts on animal genetic resources.