New Journal of Botany is Journal of the Month for July!

Next month, BSBI's scientific journal, New Journal of Botany, is to be made Journal of the Month by our publisher, Maney.

Wild carrot Daucus carota.
Image by Claudia Ferguson-Smyth.

Considering Maney publishes over 100 different journals, we are very pleased to have been selected for a month of special promotions, during which there will be free on-line access to loads of New Journal of Botany papers. Usually, only BSBI members can view NJB content in this way: on-line access and three print copies of NJB each year are among the benefits of membership. 

There will be a special Journal of the Month webpage for NJB during July, with links to lots of nice stuff. Here is the webpage Maney set up for our sister journal, Journal of Bryology. This is the journal of the British Bryological Society, the leading society for mosses in the same way that BSBI is the leading society for vascular plants and, like us, they have a lot of helpful, free resources on their website to help you improve your ID skills.  

The cover of New Journal of Botany features four images by Claudia Ferguson-Smyth, who also took the gorgeous image at the head of this Blog. Click on the picture (above) of Wild Carrot Daucus carota to see Claudia's image at greater magnification. An ID tip for beginner botanists: that red bit in the middle of the head of tiny flowers is a big help in telling this plant apart from other members of the Carrot Family. 

I'll keep you updated about what will be on offer during the Journal of the Month promotion, and will post a link here to the special webpage when it goes live on the first of July. 

Natural migration of British plants: new research just published.   

Quentin Groom, BSBI Head of Data Management, wanted to find out whether there is a poleward migration of plants within Great Britain, and whether any such movements of plants can be explained by climate change and dispersal syndrome. Rather than looking at plants that are deliberately dispersed by humans, through horticulture or forestry, he concentrated on the migration of British native plants, driven by the plants' own dispersal mechanisms.

         Marsh Stitchwort at Lockington, Leics.

Photo: S. Woodward

Quentin used data from the BSBI Distribution Database for this investigation, and his findings have just been published here on PeerJ. I don't want to spoil the surprise by telling you what he found out, so I'll wait a few days before I post Quentin's comments on his findings. Here's that link in full: http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.77 

And don't forget, you can see a map of the distribution of any British plant here. It's great to go out with local botanists and see something interesting, beautiful and/or uncommon, like this Marsh Stitchwort, on your home patch and then see its national distribution map and pick out "your" population! 

This is only possible because of 63 years (so far) of volunteer effort by BSBI members who have contributed 30 million plant records (so far) to our Distribution Database. Find out more here about BSBI's Maps Scheme, which pioneered these new approaches to species distribution mapping and has become one of the world's longest-running natural history distribution mapping projects. BSBI is now one of the world's largest contributors of biological records, so I hope you'll forgive me if I keep banging on about all this! 

The Beauty of Botany.

An exhibition of 17th and 19th century botanical drawings and watercolours from the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew is underway. Held at Forty Hall Estate, Enfield, the exhibition is called 'The Beauty of Botany' and runs until 7th July. Admission is free. Directions here and more info here. 

The organisers are confident that these drawings and watercolours can help "deepen your understanding of plant anatomy and the visual qualities of flowers". They are hung along the Grand Staircase at the heart of Forty Hall, a Jacobean mansion situated in extensive gardens and parkland, which offers education activities and exhibitions. More details here.  

One of our rarest plants. 

Some of our most colourful wild flowers are the annual weeds that used to be found in cornfields - cornflower, corncockle, corn marigold and the delightfully named Venus's looking-glass.

Corn cleavers.
Photo: I. Denholm

These arable weeds - which have been in the UK for hundreds of years, but are not actually native species - are seen less frequently now, since changes in farming practice. 

One such plant, corn cleavers, is now reduced to only one long-standing site in Britain, at the world-famous Broadbalk experiment site at Rothamsted Research in Herts., where BSBI's incoming President Ian Denholm worked for several decades as an agricultural scientist. 

Cornflower.
Photo: G. Calow

Corn cleavers is maybe not as obviously attractive as cornflower - it is unlikely to appear at the Chelsea Flower Show - but its rarity makes it of interest to botanists and it has its own modest charm. Ian brought some young plants of corn cleavers to the 2012 BSBI Annual Exhibition Meeting in Cambridge. 
He explained that seed collected from the Broadbalk population had been deposited in national collections and used (with varying degrees of success) for re-introduction programmes elsewhere in southeast England. 

State of Nature: BSBI member on TV. 

Sir David Attenborough at the State of Nature launch.
Photo: Louise Marsh

Among the coverage of the State of Nature report was this from BBC Wales. They interviewed Dr Trevor Dines of Plantlife Cymru. Trevor is a regular on our screens, having hosted 'Wild Things' on Channel 4 and it will not surprise you to hear that a keen botanist like Trevor is, of course, a BSBI member. Find out more about BSBI membership here and how you too can make a difference to the state of nature in Britain and Ireland. 

BSBI at launch of State of Nature report

Sir David Attenborough at the State of Nature launch
Photo: L. Marsh

Sir David Attenborough delivered a rousing speech last night, at the launch of the State of Nature report at the Natural History Museum. He and Richard Benyon (DEFRA) praised the efforts of volunteer recorders, but the report itself makes grim reading. 

See for yourself by downloading a copy of the State of Nature report.  

Ian Denholm talking about 'Alien Invaders and Native Thugs'
at the State of Nature launch.
Photo: L. Marsh

BSBI is part of a coalition of 25 conservation and research organisations who contributed to the report and each organisation gave a short presentation at the launch last night. 

Ian Denholm, BSBI's incoming President, talked to conservationists and journalists about 'Alien Invaders and Native Thugs' and you can see his Powerpoint by following the link on the Publicity page.  More about Alien Invaders here.

Tim Pankhurst at the State of Nature launch.
Photo: L. Marsh

Interesting to note how many of those giving presentations at the launch are also active BSBI members! 
I spotted Fred Rumsey, one of BSBI's panel of expert Plant Referees and also a New Journal of Botany author. Fred was talking about bryophyte distribution on behalf of BBS. 

Fred Rumsey at the State of Nature launch.
 Photo: L. Marsh

And Plantlife's Tim Pankhurst had come down from Breckland to talk about the Fen Orchid - Tim also sits on BSBI Council. Just shows how great a contribution BSBI members make to the conservation and research community.

The State of Nature

BSBI is one of 25 conservation and research organisations contributing to the ground-breaking State of Nature report, to be published today. Dr Kevin Walker, BSBI Head of Research & Development, worked alongside scientists from the other partner organisations towards this report, a stock take of our native species across the UK and Overseas Territories.

Gunnera: an alien invader on Achil Island
Photo: M. Sheehy-Skeffington

The State of Nature report will be launched this evening, 22nd May, by Sir David Attenborough and other UK conservationists at the Natural History Museum in London, and streamed live to simultaneous events in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast. 

Sir David said, "This report shows that our species are in trouble, with many declining at a worrying rate. However we have in this country a network of passionate conservation groups supported by millions of people who love wildlife. The experts have come together today to highlight the amazing nature we have around us and to ensure that it remains here for generations to come." 

Ian Denholm
BSBI's incoming President

Incoming BSBI President Ian Denholm is among those experts offering a short presentation at the launch, on the subject of 'Alien Invaders and Native Thugs'. Follow the link here to see Ian's Powerpoint. 

One of the State of Nature report's lead authors, Mark Eaton (RSPB), paid tribute to the "army of volunteer wildlife enthusiasts who spend their spare time surveying species and recording their findings." [ I guess many BSBI members would fall into this category!] Mark continued, "Our knowledge of nature in the UK would be significantly poorer without these unsung heroes. And that knowledge is the most essential tool conservationists have." 

Find out more about the State of Nature report here.