Seed supplies of UK-native wild flowers - how like their wild counterparts are they?
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Join Dr Richard Carter (RSK Biocensus) and Professor John Parker (University of Cambridge) for a First Thursday Club webinar on issues surrounding the provenance of the wild flower seed supplies commonly used in habitat restoration and creation for biodiversity.
They will discuss the extent to which plants grown from wild flower seed supplies may or may not differ from their wild counterparts in appearance, ecological function and taxonomic identity. Possible sources of differences will be discussed, including:
- historical introductions of plants
- deliberate sourcing of wild flower seed from outside the UK
- unconscious selection in field cultivation of wild flowers for seed.
They will consider how the population genetics of wild flower seed crops might develop following bona fide seed collection from the wild, whether all types of species are equally susceptible to significant change and how such changes, if any, might relate to current infraspecific taxonomy or drive future recognition of new infraspecific taxa (which might affect user perceptions of habitat creation requiring plants of UK-native provenance).
Webinar speakers
Dr Richard Carter
Director, RSK Biocensus
Dr Richard Carter studied plant biology at Queen Mary University of London, continuing as a research technician; his early work focused on metapopulation ecology. He began work as a freelance plant ecologist in 1988, working mainly for ERM. Richard founded Carter Ecological Limited in 1998, which became part of RSK in 2007, and he served as scientific director in the ecology division of RSK Environment from 2007 onwards. He also held an honorary lectureship at the University of Reading from 1993 to 2020, setting up and co-leading the MSc in vegetation survey and assessment (and its successor courses).
Professor John Parker
Professor John Parker studied undergraduate and postgraduate botany at the University of Oxford, then held academic posts at Queen Mary University of London, the University of Reading and the University of Cambridge. His research focused on genetics and populations of plants, particularly chromosome diversity. John also lectured for 41 years on genetics and evolution. He was the director of the Cambridge University Botanic Garden until his retirement.
Featured business
RSK Biocensus
RSK Biocensus is a leading ecological consultancy with a network of more than 700 highly skilled and experienced UK-based ecologists. The company joined RSK in April 2019.
Webinar series: First Thursday Club
The First Thursday Club webinar series is a monthly scientific, specialist-led webinar that focuses on best practices relating to the natural environment and how these could affect RSK and external businesses. Created by RSK Biocensus, RSK’s ecological business, the lunchtime webinar series has proved enormously popular and successful since its inception in August 2020.
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