Blushing plants reveal when fungi are growing in their roots
23 Jul 2021Scientists have created plants whose cells and tissues ‘blush’ with beetroot pigments when they are colonised by fungi that help them take up nutrients from the soil.
News from the Department of Plant Sciences.
Putting plants under the microscope
18 Jun 2021Advanced microscopes at the University’s Sainsbury Laboratory are revealing the potential of plants as green factories for new chemicals and materials - as well as their intricate beauty.
Nature has enormous potential to fight climate change and biodiversity loss in the UK - report
12 May 2021A report launched today by the British Ecological Society, with contributions from the University of Cambridge, offers the first complete assessment of the potential of nature-based solutions to mitigate climate change and benefit biodiversity in the UK.
Cambridge researchers lead policy briefing on Nature-based Solutions for the climate and biodiversity crises
30 Apr 2021As societies face the triple challenge of avoiding the worst effects of climate change, protecting remaining biodiversity and improving human wellbeing, there are calls to end siloed thinking and design solutions that address these problems simultaneously.
Exploit plants’ ability to tell the time to make food production more sustainable, say scientists
30 Apr 2021Cambridge plant scientists say circadian clock genes, which enable plants to measure daily and seasonal rhythms, should be targeted in agriculture and crop breeding for higher yields and more sustainable farming.
Widespread use of control measures such as facemasks is vital to suppress the pandemic as lockdown lifts, say scientists
31 Mar 2021A new mathematical model suggests that the easing of lockdown must be accompanied by wider and more effective use of control measures such as facemasks, even with vaccination, in order to suppress COVID-19 more quickly and reduce the likelihood of another lockdown.
Forests' long-term capacity to store carbon is dropping in regions with extreme annual fires
25 Feb 2021Researchers have analysed decades’ worth of data on the impact of repeated fires on ecosystems across the world. Their results, published today in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, show that repeated fires are driving long-term changes to tree communities and reducing their population sizes.
Fire: The Great Manipulator
14 Dec 2020Climate change is driving more frequent and intense wildfires, damaging ecosystems and causing major carbon emissions. A Cambridge researcher is figuring out how to give nature a helping hand.
“We couldn’t just turn off and go home”
02 Dec 2020For many people, COVID-19 has meant remote working, but some jobs just have to be done in person. We meet the the technicians, gardeners, porters and others who have been keeping the University and Colleges going during the uniquely challenging circumstances of a global pandemic.
Planting ideas: Botanic Garden opens access with living collections portal
02 Oct 2020A new web portal to Cambridge University Botanic Garden's entire living collection, 14,000 plants, aims to open access and fast-track urgent global research.
