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| Flooding on the Somerset Levels. Photo credit: Nigel Mykura [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons |
Britain has had its fair share of flooding over the last couple of years. In 2014, the Somerset Levels was under water for weeks and 2015 saw some truly devastating flooding occurring in the northwest of England. Flooding can have detrimental effects on our own lives, but also on plant communities. (more…)
What is the first image that comes to mind when you read the words “plant-based medicine”? This is the question James Wong presented the audience with last Thursday night at the 5th annual Annals of Botany Lecture held at the University of Bristol. (more…)
It’s been a wet winter; it started raining in September and doesn’t seem to have stopped. I’m typing this with the sound of raindrops drumming against the glass of our Propagation House, a familiar tune this year. The ground is saturated, and the trees have lost a few branches here and there from the strong weekend winds that have been the theme of this February. Despite it all, Spring is gamefully peering through the rainy curtains to see if it’s safe to start, and there are a few punctual arrivals that are bringing smiles to our rain soaked faces. (more…)
We hear a great deal about the beneficial bacteria that live in our digestive system and commonly referred to as the microbiome, which help us turn indigestible materials into nutrients that we can absorb. There are countless probiotic products on the market that are meant to introduce more of these beneficial bacteria into our system, enriching our microbiome. However, humans and indeed mammals are not alone in having helpful microflora in the gut. (more…)
