A Worldwide Wild Seed-Saving Scheme

Gardeners know that the changing climate has altered hardiness zones, allowing them to plant southern species farther north, and straining their ability to plant northern species to the south. In the wild, the same scenario is playing out, as plants shift to optimal temperature zones as the climate changes. The only problem is that some may not migrate as fast as the climate changes. That's why teams of botanists are out gathering the world's wild seeds, tucking them into envelopes, and putting them into cold storage. If species should go extinct because the shifting climate, the seeds will remain intact, according to a story in the June 13 Christian Science Monitor. Besides an altruistic feeling toward growing things on the Earth, the program could save seeds that have important medicinal qualities that have yet to be discovered.