What Spitsbergen based seed bank serves to protects agricultural diversity in the far north, 1300 km from the North Pole?
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Agriculture in Svalbard Agriculture in Svalbard – the world's northernmost – has a short history, and remains a minor economic factor, but has nonetheless had a culturally and socially significant role, as well as an ecologic impact. Svalbard is also home to the Global Seed Vault, which serves to protect the world's biological and agricultural diversity.
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Svalbard Global Seed Vault The Svalbard Global Seed Vault (Norwegian: "Svalbard globale frøhvelv" ) is a secure seed bank on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen near Longyearbyen in the remote Arctic Svalbard archipelago, about 1300 km from the North Pole. Conservationist Cary Fowler, in association with the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), started the vault to preserve a wide variety of plant seeds that are duplicate samples, or "spare" copies, of seeds held in gene banks worldwide. The seed vault is an attempt to ensure against the loss of seeds in other genebanks during large-scale regional or global crises. The seed vault is managed under terms spelled out in a tripartite agreement between the Norwegian government, the Crop Trust and the Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NordGen).
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Snøkuvbreen Snøkuvbreen is a glacier in Nathorst Land at Spitsbergen, Svalbard. It is surrounded by the mountains of Kassen, Snøkuven and Juvtinden, and extends down to the valley of Danzigdalen. The glacier has a length of about six kilometers.
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Podzol In soil science, podzols (known as spodosols in China and the United States of America and podosols in Australia) are the typical soils of coniferous, or boreal forests. They are also the typical soils of eucalypt forests and heathlands in southern Australia, while in Western Europe podzols develop on heathland, which is often a construct of human interference through grazing and burning. Many podzols in this region may have developed over the past 3000 years in response to vegetation and climatic changes. In some British moorlands with podzolic soils there are brown earths preserved under Bronze Age barrows (Dimbleby, 1962).
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Skamlingsbanken Skamlingsbanken is a large hill located in Vejstrup Parish, Jutland, Denmark, between Kolding and Christiansfeld. With a peak rising to 113 m above sea level, it is the highest point in Southern Jutland.
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Pine nut Pine nuts (also called pignoli "/pinˈyōlē/") are the edible seeds of pines (family Pinaceae, genus "Pinus"). About 20 species of pine produce seeds large enough to be worth harvesting; in other pines the seeds are also edible, but are too small to be of notable value as a human food.
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Olsokflya Olsokflya is a coastal plain in Sørkapp Land at Spitsbergen, Svalbard. It is located at southwestern coast of Spitsbergen, between the moraine of Olsokbreen to the southeast and Bjørnbeinflya to the northwest.
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Holtedahlfonna Holtedahlfonna is a glacier at Haakon VII Land on Spitsbergen, Svalbard, between Wijdefjorden and Kongsfjorden. The glacier covers an area of about 1375 km2 , and is the second largest ice cap on Spitsbergen. It is named after Norwegian geologist and polar explorer Olaf Holtedahl.
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Loaita Bank The Loaita Bank is one of the significant maritime features in the Spratly Islands. It is about 20 nmi long on its NE-SW axis, and extends from Loaita Island to the NW of Dangerous Ground.
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Spit Nature Conservation Reserve The Spit Nature Conservation Reserve is a 300 ha nature reserve on the north-western shore of Port Phillip, a large bay in Victoria, Australia. It consists of public land set aside to conserve and protect species, communities, and habitats of indigenous plants and animals. It is adjacent to the Werribee Sewage Farm and is managed by Parks Victoria.
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Seed Savers Exchange Seed Savers Exchange, or SSE, is a non-profit organization based near Decorah, Iowa, that preserves heirloom plant varieties through regeneration, distribution and seed exchange. It is one of the largest nongovernmental seedbanks in the United States. The mission of SSE is to preserve the world’s diverse but endangered garden heritage for future generations by building a network of people committed to collecting, conserving, and sharing heirloom seeds and plants, and educating people about the value of genetic and cultural diversity. Since 1975, Seed Savers has produced an annual yearbook of members’ seed offerings, as well as multiple editions of "The Garden Seed Inventory", and "The Fruit, Nut and Berry Inventory". SSE also publishes "Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners". The nonprofit has sold seeds to about 600 retail stores in the United States and Canada.
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North Water Polynya The North Water Polynya or "Pikialasorsuaq" in Greenlandic (NOW) is a polynya (area of year-round open water surrounded by sea ice) that lies between Greenland and Canada in northern Baffin Bay. The world's largest Arctic polynya at about 85000 km2 , it creates a warm microclimate that provides a refuge for narwhal, beluga, walrus, and bowhead whales to feed and rest. While thin ice forms in some areas, the polynya is kept open by wind, tides and an ice bridge on its northern edge. Named the "North Water" by 19th century whalers who relied on it for spring passage, this polynya is one of the most biologically productive marine areas in the Arctic Ocean.
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Northern Isles The Northern Isles (Scots: "Northern Isles" ; Scottish Gaelic: "Na h-Eileanan a Tuath" ; ) is an archipelago comprising a chain of islands off the north coast of mainland Scotland. The climate is cool and temperate and much influenced by the surrounding seas. There are two main island groups: Shetland and Orkney. There are a total of 26 inhabited islands with landscapes of the fertile agricultural islands of Orkney contrasting with the more rugged Shetland islands to the north, where the economy is more dependent on fishing and the oil wealth of the surrounding seas. Both have a developing renewable energy industry. They also share a common Pictish and Norse history. Both island groups were absorbed into the Kingdom of Scotland in the 15th century and remained part of the country following the formation of the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707, and later the United Kingdom after 1801. The islands played a significant naval role during the world wars of the 20th century.
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Burdwood Bank The Burdwood Bank, called Namuncurá in Argentina and other countries, is an undersea bank with a prominence of approximately 200 m , part of the Scotia Arc projecting some 600 km from Cape Horn in the South Atlantic Ocean and located some 200 km south of the Falkland Islands. Argentina claims economic rights over the whole of the bank, while the United Kingdom has designated about half of the bank as part of the Falklands Outer Economic Zone.
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Pennisetum purpureum Pennisetum purpureum, also known as Napier grass, elephant grass or Uganda grass, is a species of perennial tropical grass native to the African grasslands. It has low water and nutrient requirements, and therefore can make use of otherwise uncultivated lands. Historically, this wild species has been used primarily for grazing; recently, however, it has been incorporated into a pest management strategy. This technique involves the desired crop being planted alongside a 'push' plant, which repels pests, in combination with a 'pull' crop around the perimeter of the plot, which draw insects out of the plot. Napier grass has shown potential at attracting stemborer moths (a main cause of yield loss in Africa) away from maize and hence is the "pull" crop. This strategy is much more sustainable, serves more purposes and is more affordable for farmers than insecticide use. In addition to this, Napier grasses improve soil fertility, and protect arid land from soil erosion. It is also utilized for firebreaks, windbreaks, in paper pulp production and most recently to produce bio-oil, biogas and charcoal.
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Flora and fauna of the Kerguelen Islands The Kerguelen Islands are part of the Southern Indian Ocean Islands tundra ecoregion that includes several subantarctic islands. In this cold climate plant life is mainly limited to grasses, mosses and lichens, although the islands are also known for the indigenous, edible Kerguelen cabbage. The islands are located at the Antarctic convergence, where cold water moving up from the Antarctic mixes with the warmer water of the Indian Ocean. As a consequence, marine mammals, especially seals, and seabirds and penguins are numerous.
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Pinus sibirica Pinus sibirica, or Siberian pine, in the family Pinaceae is a species of pine tree that occurs in Siberia from 58°E in the Ural Mountains east to 126°E in the Stanovoy Range in southern Sakha Republic, and from Igarka at 68°N in the lower Yenisei valley, south to 45°N in central Mongolia.
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Polish Polar Station, Hornsund Polish Polar Station, Hornsund (Polish: "Polska Stacja Polarna, Hornsund" ) is at "Isbjørnhamna" in Hornsund, on Spitsbergen in the Norwegian Svalbard archipelago, operated since 1957.
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Troll Satellite Station Troll Satellite Station (Norwegian: "Troll satelittstasjon" ), commonly abbreviated TrollSat, is a satellite ground station located at Troll in Queen Maud Land, Antarctica. The earth station is owned by Kongsberg Satellite Services (KSAT), a joint venture between the Kongsberg Group and the Norwegian Space Center. The radomes are located on top of Jutulsessen, a nunatak area next to the research station at Troll. The research station is operated by the Norwegian Polar Institute, which also maintains the earth station. TrollSat started operations on 1 March 2007 and was officially opened on 20 January 2008.
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Söderslätt Söderslätt is a Swedish agricultural district with very high quality soil. It is located in the south-west of Scania, at the southernmost peak of the Scandinavian peninsula. It isn't an administrative area but is usually considered to comprise four municipalities: Skurup, Svedala, Trelleborg and Vellinge (of which the latter includes the Falsterbo peninsula).
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Freeden Bank Freeden Bank ( ) is a submarine bank named for Wilhelm von Freeden, the founder of the Norddeutsche Seewarte, the forerunner of the German Hydrographic Office. The name was proposed by Dr. Heinrich Hinze of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany, and was approved by the Advisory Committee for Undersea Features in June 1997.
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Norrbotten Norrbotten (] ), known in English as North Bothnia, is a Swedish province ("landskap") in northernmost Sweden. It borders south to Västerbotten, west to Swedish Lapland, and east to Finland.