Science and conservation news
Keep up to date with the latest science and conservation news and blogs from Kew. Here you will find all the latest articles about our work in the UK and around the world. Research news of interest to specialists is reported in our specialist science news page and our newsletter Kew Scientist.
Specialist science news | Go behind the scenes with Kew blogs
Kew is helping to restore plant life and native habitats on remote islands in the Indian Ocean
25 Jan 2010
A Kew scientist is spending two weeks on a ship to explore the status of plant life on islands of the Chagos Archipelago and help restore native habitats. Some areas have not been visited by botanists for more than 30 years.
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Archives 'Take Flight'
by: Hannah Jenkinson, Library, Art and Archives blog22 Jan 2010
Read about archives that might take off! Find out more about some of the fantastic documents and illustrations we have in the collection at Kew.
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As easy as APG III - Scientists revise the system of classifying flowering plants
20 Jan 2010
Scientists from Kew have led a global revision of the system botanists use to classify flowering plants. This work will have a fundamental impact on how botanic gardens organise their collections and the future use of plant information to improve quality of life.
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Preserving the past for the future
by: Mark Nesbitt, Economic Botany blog12 Jan 2010
How student conservators help care for Kew's collections
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First known instance of a cricket as an orchid pollinator captured on film by Kew scientist
12 Jan 2010
An orchid researcher based on the island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean, and collaborating with researchers at Kew, has used motion-sensitive night cameras to capture the first known occurrence of a cricket functioning as a pollinator of flowering plants. The ‘raspy cricket' is entirely new to science.
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Plant story - collecting the seed of intrepid little giant
01 Jan 2010
Conservationists from Kew's Millennium Seed Bank have collected the seed of intrepid little giant, a truly remarkable plant.
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Plant story - conserving grassland paper daisy in Tasmania
01 Jan 2010
The Millennium Seed Bank Partnership has conserved the endangered Australian grassland paper daisy (Leucochrysum albicans).
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Plant story - the endemic and rare Australian plant Acacia chapmanii has been collected and saved
01 Jan 2010
The Threatened Flora Seed Centre collected seed from Acacia chapmanii in December 2000 from the Drummond Nature Reserve, when the population was considered to be at risk.
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Plant story - Polhillia obsoleta, an endangered shrub from South Africa
01 Jan 2010
With the common name Teesuikerkaroo bos, Polhillia obsoleta is an endangered shrub from the Western Cape Province of South Africa.
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Plant story - "Devils claw" found and collected from Botswana
01 Jan 2010
Millennium Seed Bank Partnership fieldwork in the Okavango Delta in December 2005 located five IUCN Red List Index plant species, one of these being the very useful "Devils claw" (Harpagophytum zeyheri).
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Specialist science news
What are hard seeds for?
14 May 2013
A new hypothesis has been proposed on why some seeds are hard.
Caffeine enhances bee memory
10 May 2013
Caffeine in the nectar of coffee and citrus flowers manipulates the memory of pollinating bees.
Is our daily cup of coffee under threat?
08 Nov 2012
A new study from Kew suggests that Arabica coffee could be extinct in the wild within 70 years.
Director (CEO and Chief Scientist) of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew to return to Australia
14 Sep 2011
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew announced today that Director (CEO and Chief Scientist), Professor Stephen Hopper FLS will step down in autumn 2012 after six years in the job.
