How can the Green Status of Species Help Inform the Conservation of Wild Tulips

When you think of tulips, chances are you picture vibrant spring gardens or the iconic striped fields of the Netherlands. However, behind these cultivated tulips lies a wilder story — one of resilience, diversity, and survival. In remote mountains, steppe, grasslands, and semi-deserts the wild ancestors that enabled the creation of horticultural tulips reside. Understanding … Continue reading How can the Green Status of Species Help Inform the Conservation of Wild Tulips →

Around 50% of Central Asian tulips are Threatened with extinction

The IUCN (the International Union for Conservation) Red List is a crucial resource for conservation (https://www.iucnredlist.org/). It is the go to for understanding which species are threatened and hence is used heavily in policy making by governmental agencies. It also provides an important database for wildlife departments, NGOs, natural resource planners, educational organisations, students, and … Continue reading Around 50% of Central Asian tulips are Threatened with extinction →

A code red for Humanity… but the impacts of climate change also threaten the future of wild tulips

Wild tulips are threatened by many localised activities such as livestock overgrazing, mining, urbanisation, and opportunistic collection of flowers and bulbs. These are currently damaging specific populations and causing numbers of individuals to decline. Yet what if there was a threat that occurred across the whole distribution of tulips? What if there was something that … Continue reading A code red for Humanity… but the impacts of climate change also threaten the future of wild tulips →

Pandemic or no pandemic: The tulips will grow

As we enter the days of late autumnal sun, and lockdown drags on here in the U.K. and in many countries around the world, the tulip season creeps up on us once again. Although many things in the future remain uncertain, including whether our fieldwork will take place in the spring of next year, one … Continue reading Pandemic or no pandemic: The tulips will grow →

A year to remember

The lengthy time between blogs has not been because there hasn’t been anything to write, but because so much has been going on. I have now found the time to sit down and type up this year’s story, and so it is with great excitement that I can present the newest blog that will bring … Continue reading A year to remember →

Why do we need tulips?

Scientists agree we are now in a new period of time aptly named the Anthropocene, a period of time where our planet’s climate and ecosystems are all managed or changing due to humans. We are also thought to be entering the sixth mass extinction period with extinction rates much higher than the background rate determined … Continue reading Why do we need tulips? →