JISC

Grasses from across the world will be documented in a new resource to help researchers understand the biology and threats to these vital species, thanks to a project led by scientists from the University of Sheffield, in collaboration with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

The JISC-funded project will see experts from the University’s Department of Animal and Plant Sciences produce an online resource called GrassPortal, offering public access to evolutionary and ecological data on the world's grass species and greatly expanding the web services currently offered by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Grassportal will provide a single point of access for scientists, researchers and students to an extraordinary range of grass data Ben Showers, programme manager at JISC, which has funded the work to take place, said: “Grassportal will provide a single point of access for scientists, researchers and students to an extraordinary range of grass data. Bringing these disparate resources together will allow new areas of research and study to open up, and help save researchers time when searching for crucial information.”

The portal, which is at the forefront of a digital revolution in biodiversity research, will allow any of the 11,000 species to be defined by its geographical range, climate preferences, and evolutionary relationships to other species.

It will offer scientists a one-stop-shop for easily accessing and analyzing data on an unprecedented scale, and will be particularly useful for researchers in the fields of climate change, conservation biology, and evolutionary biology. Educational case studies and sample datasets in these areas will also be packaged as research-led teaching resources for university and school students.

Grasses are present on every continent on the planet, and play major roles in the global economy and ecosystem. They account for most of our staple food crops and livestock feeds, including rice, barley, wheat, maize, millet and sugarcane. They are the main winners from deforestation, and form grasslands which significantly influence our climate by altering the cycling of carbon and water between the land and air.

Understanding the evolutionary and ecological relationships between species is fundamental for biology, and it is believed the same scientific approach used by GrassPortal could be rolled out to cover all of the world’s half million plant species during the coming decade.

Dr Colin Osborne, Senior Royal Society University Research Fellow from the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences at the University of Sheffield and Director of the project, said: “Grasses feed human civilization and economies, and our lives would quickly fall apart without them. Understanding the biology and threats to these species is vital for humanity in the 21st century, and I’m delighted that Kew have joined with Sheffield to tackle this global problem.”

Dr David Simpson, Assistant Keeper in the Herbarium, Library, Art and Archives at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and GrassPortal Project Partner, said: “The worldwide importance of grasses means that they are a key part of Kew's Breathing Planet Programme to help save threatened plants and habitats and improve people's quality of life. We are very pleased to join with Sheffield University in this timely and vital initiative.”

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