<div dir="ltr"><div>Allan Strand and Sean Hoban published a new paper today in Biological Conservation on <b>designing effective <i>ex situ</i> seed sampling protocols</b>.
In the paper, the authors use simulations that account for a species
reproductive biology and other aspects of a sampling expedition. The
main message is that a collector can integrate species' biology into the
planning of collections in a quantitative manner, and can thereby can <b>help the collection to reach set targets for diversity</b>.
For example the authors show that sample sizes for a selfing, low dispersal
species may need to be about 5 times larger than high dispersal,
self-incompatible species. Collections from small spatial coverage of a
population (such as along a roadside) will also need many more seeds (2
to 10 times) than collections that randomly sample the whole
population. This work adds to a rich body of literature on seed
sampling and, along with other recent work, should help invigorate
discussions and development of new solutions to this long-standing
challenge.<br><br></div><b>The article is freely accessible</b> at: <a href="http://authors.elsevier.com/a/1R1mF1R%7Ed%7EE%7Ed" target="_blank">http://authors.elsevier.com/a/1R1mF1R~d~E~d</a>
(if that doesn't work, Sean Hoban can send a PDF, contact <a href="mailto:shoban@utk.edu">shoban@utk.edu</a>). Please share this with colleagues and friends in the plant conservation
community!<br><br>There is of course much work to be done to continue to
develop new protocols. Sean Hoban will continue this area of work, with many
exciting questions, some of which are summarized at the end of the
article. If you are interested to know more or to work on particular
species or challenges, please contact <a href="mailto:shoban@utk.edu">shoban@utk.edu</a>!<br clear="all"><br>-- <br><div class="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr">-- </div></div></div></div>
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