Scientists atop the Taiwania cryptomerioides.
A scientist ascends the Taiwania cryptomerioides.
The seed collecting mission was led by the Germplasm Bank of Wild Species (GBOWS) at the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The team ascended to the treetop using what's known as the single-rope technique to collect the cone, which contains the reproductive structure of the plant.
The seeds have now been preserved for long-term storage after drying, cleaning and counting. It's the first sample of wild coffin tree seeds for the GBOWS, and scientists say the move will help preserve the wild genes of the species.
Seed of Taiwania cryptomerioides.
Cone of Taiwania cryptomerioides.
Both scientists and conservationists believe there are most certainly larger trees in China. But this Taiwania cryptomerioides is the tallest that has been measured. (CGTN)
(All photos are from Germplasm Bank of Wild Species.)
Last year, researchers at KIZ published the first high-quality tree shrew reference genome in Nature Communications. This year, YAO Yonggang's team at KIZ has gone one step further by launching the world's first Tree Shrew Database to provide access to the most current tree shrew data.
CHINA is holding back the desert, for now. The Great Green Wall – a massive belt of trees being planted across China's arid north in what might be the largest ecological engineering project on the planet – seems to work, according to a new study. "Vegetation has improved and dust storms have decreased significantly in the Great Green Wall region, compared with other areas," says Minghong Tan of the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resource Research in Beijing. But whether planting trees is a long-term solution remains disputed.
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