Extinction: Where Will It Stop?

The 2009 edition of the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species was released yesterday, and the news wasn’t good: out of 47,677 assessed species, 17,291 (36 percent) are threatened with extinction.

These include 21% of all known mammals, 30% of amphibians, 70% of plants and 35% of invertebrates. The breakdown of the endangered species’ status on the new IUCN list is as follows:

• Extinct: 809
• Extinct in the Wild: 66
• Critically Endangered: 3,325 (of these, 257 species are listed as “possibly extinct”)
• Endangered: 4,891
• Vulnerable (to extinction): 9,075
• Near Threatened: 3,650

Last year’s list assessed 44,838 species; information on more than 2,800 additional species has been added in 2009. This includes more than 1,300 previously unassessed dragonflies and damselflies, of which the IUCN recently completed a major new study.

Amphibians seem to be facing the greatest threat, with 1,895 of 6,285 assessed species in danger of extinction. One amphibian species, the Kihansi Spray Toad (Nectophrynoides asperginis), has been moved from the IUCN’s critically endangered list and is considered extinct in the wild. This toad was only found in the Kihamsi Falls area of Tanzania and its population has crashed from a high of about 17,000 in recent years. Conservationists suggest that this is as a result of a dam being constructed upstream from the toad’s habitat, which resulted in a 90% reduction in the flow of water.

“These results are just the tip of the iceberg,” said Craig Hilton-Taylor, manager of the IUCN Red List Unit, in a prepared statement. “There are many more millions [of species] out there which could be under serious threat.”

For further information, visit www.iucn.org

posted by Kathy & Sophie

HEART OF ENGLAND IN BLOOM @ PERSHORE

An award ceremony was held at Pershore Abbey on Wednesday 3^rd September for winners of the Heart of England in Bloom competition.    Pershore town gained a Gold award in the small town category.  Activities identified within the portfolio were undertaken by staff and students at Pershore College.  Our own Alan Gregg is Chairman of Pershore In Bloom and  Alan would like to thank all those that have supported the development of this year’s entry.

If you are interested in Pershore in Bloom’s work, why not have a look at their website: www.pershoreinbloom.com

Posted by Alison

 

PERSHORE COLLEGE AT MALVERN AUTUMN SHOW

Pershore College will be exhibiting at Malvern Three Counties Autumn Show on 26th and 27th September.  The stand will offer produce sales and careers advice.  For general information on the show go to:

http://www.threecounties.co.uk/malvernautumn/index.html

Posted by Alison

Pershore College Wins Gold at Hampton Flower Show!

Pershore College have won a gold medal and Best Exhibit in the Plant Heritage Marquee at the RHS Hampton Court Flower Show.  To read more go to:

http://www.warkscol.ac.uk/news_releases/latest_news/_Gold_Win_at_Hampton_Show.htm

Posted by Alison

Display at Pershore to Celebrate Darwin Bicentenary

In recognition of the bicentenary of Darwin’s birth a display has been set-up at Pershore LRC to celebrate his life and achievements.  It focuses on two main areas: his voyage on HMS Beagle (1831 – 36) as a ‘gentleman naturalist’ and his life at Down House, Kent (1842- 82).  The significance of Darwin’s experience on the Beagle in developing his ideas of evolution by natural selection is well documented.  It was not until over two decades after the Beagle voyage, however, that the first edition of On the Origins of Species was published in 1859. What is less well known is the experimental work he conducted in the gardens and grounds at Down House.  This included trials on hybridising primroses and the pollination of orcids as well as observations on the variation in commonplace nature such as hedge parsley.  Whilst at Down House Darwin carried out an extensive corrospondence with many of the leading natural scientists of his time and such luminaries as Joseph Hooker (Director at Kew) and the geologist Charles Lyell, were frequent visitors.  Recent biographies, like Michael Boulter’s Darwin’s Garden (2008), have stressed the importance of Darwin’s work at Down to the development of mature scientific thinking.

     Darwin (paper in hand), Hooker and Lyell in the study at Down House

 

                                Conrad Martens’ painting of HMS Beagle

Posted by Peter

Books on Darwin at Pershore LRC

The following books are a selection of those on Darwin available at Pershore LRC: 

Darwin – A Life in Science (1995) by John Gribbin and Michael White –  This biography explores Darwins work as a scientist and traces the development of his ideas of evolution by natural selection.  His achievements are placed in the context of a man plauged by illness and personal tragedy.

 

Darwin’s Sacred Cause (2009) by adrian Desmond and James Moore – In this radical reinterpretation of the significance of Darwin’s work his commitment to abolition of Slavery, the ‘Sacred Cause’, is viewed as not as a moral stance but supported by his evolutionary theory.  Leading apologists for slavery had argued that different races ariginated as seperate species but Darwin rejected such spurious assertions by stressing the essential unity of all life. 

Darwin’s Gardem (2008) by Michael Boulter – A book that examines the importance of the botanising and experimental work that Darwin did whilst living at Darwin House to his scientific theories.

 

 

Evolution – second edition - (1999) by Colin Patterson – An introductory text on modern evolutionary theory written for the non-specialist.  Clear, concise and well illustrated.

 

 

 

Posted by Peter 

Pershore College Open Day

 

 

 

6th June   10am – 5pm

Lots of activities and demonstrations for the whole family to enjoy including:
Produce and plant sales, public dog show, horticultural demonstrations, dog agility, classic car displays, fun children’s activities, Gardeners’ Question Time, Birds of Prey demonstrations, tractor and trailer rides, laser clay shooting, floristry demonstrations, employers and networking area and much more!

Refreshments are available.

Tickets are £5 per car or £2 per person

 

www.warkscol.ac.uk/pershore 

 Posted by Alison

Bronze medal for Warwickshire College at Chelsea

Warwickshire College staff, Tony Davy from Pershore and Mike Roberts from Morton Morrell, have designed an award winning garden at Chelsea this year.

Go to www.rhs.org.uk/whatson/shows/chelsea2009/courtyard/warwickshirecollege.asp  to read more

Pershore LRC Seed Exchange

 Have you got any packets of seed surplus to requirements? 

Or any partially used packets of seeds that you would like to exchange? 

A seed exchange is being run at Pershore LRC giving the opportunity for students and staff to swap seeds as part of the ‘Grow Your Own Vegetables’ campaign.  Third year horticulture student, Jason Daff, started the scheme by kindly donating the surplus seeds from his final year investigation.  Jason is pictured above with LRC staff member Peter Parkes.

Posted by Peter 

Sustainable landscape construction – new book at Pershore

Sustainable Landscape Construction – A Guide to Green Building Outdoors    

J. William Thompson and Kim Sorvig

This is a great book on sustainable design and construction. It covers 10 principles of sustainable landscape construction: keep healthy sites healthy (preserve topsoils and existing trees, minimize construction damages, etc.), heal injured sites, favor living, flexible materials, respect the waters of life (understand, protect and restore wetlands, restore rivers and streams to full health, collect and conserve water, reuse gray water, etc.), pave less (reduce paving, reduce runoff from paving, use porous paving, etc.), consider origin and fate of materials (Use local, salvaged or recycled materials, avoid toxic and non-renewable materials, etc.), know the cost of energy over time, celebrate light, respect darkness (lighting efficiency and light pollution control), quietly defend silence (various ways of noise control), and maintain to sustain (alternate to mowing, bio-based maintenance products, etc.). Each principle is demonstrated with case studies and followed by resources for further studies.

Posted by Alison

CHOOSE CLAMYDIA SCREENING

Chlamydia (kla-mid-ee-a) is the most common sexually transmitted infection in the UK. It’s most common in men and women under 25 years of age. You don’t need to have had lots of sexual partners to be at risk.The National Chlamydia Screening Programme has discovered that 1 in 10 people under the age of 25 who have had a test are infected.

Most people with chlamydia have no symptoms, so they may not know they have the infection. If left untreated, chlamydia can spread to other parts of the body and this can lead to long term health problems, such as infertility (not being able to have a baby) and pain, especially in the abdomen (area below your belly button).

FREE SCREENING WILL BE AVAILABLE IN THE STUDENT UNION AT PERSHORE COLLEGE ON 26TH JANUARY BETWEEN 12 & 2PM

Posted by Alison

Big Green Week

12 – 16 January 2009

‘Big Green Week’ – a sustainability and environment theme week – runs throughout this week. There will be information and display stands across all of Warwickshire Colleges’ sites.

Here at the LRC, we encourage students to do their bit by recycling any unwanted paper in the paper recycling bins provided. As paper does grow on trees, please do remember to recycle and please try to avoid wasting paper when printing out information – THINK BEFORE YOU PRINT!

You can find out more about what the college is doing towards recycling and take a look at the college sustainability policy at: http://www.warkscol.ac.uk/cms/content/public/intranet/college_information_and_support/estates/recycling_and_sustainability/web_info_dec_08/page_03.htm

Further information, associated links and a resource for use in tutorials, can also be found on the intranet: http://www.warkscol.ac.uk/intranet/default.asp?cNode=20657 

REDUCE  REUSE  RECYCLE!

posted by Sophie

Pershore College Open Day

This years open event was held on Saturday 7th June and was well attended, with the many visitors enjoying some warm sunshine and not a drop of rain in sight.

The LRC saw a steady stream of people who came to admire the various displays, the main one being on ‘Inspiartional Gardens’.  This was based on the recent Monty Don TV programme ‘Around the World in 80 Gardens’ in which we asked staff and students to nominate a garden that had inspired them. The result was a stunning, and diverse, display which was enjoyed by all.

We were also lucky to have exhibitions by the Worcestershire Society of Botanical Artists and the Women’s Land Army. 

Two of our BSC students, Carl Berthold and James Kettle, presented their collection of rare and unusual plants, in the foyer.  Their enthusiasm and knowledge of their subject was much appreciated by everyone and they won much praise.  Well done lads!

It was also nice to see colleagues from our sister campuses here,  we hope that you had a good day and we look forward to seeing you again next year.

 

Pershore College Open Day

Silver Gilt at Malvern Show

SILVER GILT

AT MALVERN SPRING SHOW

 

 

The Black and White garden which took the Silver Gilt was designed and built by BSc/HND 2 Horticulture students.

 

Students at Pershore College were delighted to be awarded a Silver Gilt award for their stand and garden which were on display this week at the Malvern Spring Show.

The Black & White Garden and the college’s trade stand were on display from May 8-11 at the Three Counties Showground. The stand included a marquee with plant sales, college-produced apple juice and cider on sale, organic herbs and a careers information area, as well as floristry displays.

Tony Davy, lecturer in Horticulture and Garden Design at Pershore College, said the students who created the Black & White Garden on the stand are HND and BSc second year Horticulture students, whereas you would normally expect the students creating these gardens to be studying landscaping.

Tony said: “We are pleased to get it because this is not the students’ main line and they have worked tremendously hard to do this. Only one had done professional level hard landscaping before but they have had to put a hell of a lot of effort into this.”

The garden was designed by Jo Taylor, from Evesham a student on the BSc course, who said her love of “anything unusual and quirky” sparked her ideas for it.

She said: “I have always loved black plants and have seen black and white gardens before, which inspired me to create my own.”

After deciding on the colour theme, she chose a checkerboard patio to reflect the colours of the planting, and added 10 chess piece statues in the garden. There is a focal point water feature to create calm, and a seating area, but it is also a ‘plants person’s’ garden with a few rare and unusual specimens.

Plants include the grass-like foliage of Ophiopogon and shrubs like Sambucus and Physocarpus.

Julia Page, Warwickshire College Vice Principal and Dean of the Landbased faculty across the campuses in Warwickshire and at Pershore, said: “The opportunity for students to be involved in building a show garden really enriches their experience and we are delighted with their success and the stand being awarded a Silver Gilt medal.”

The other second year students involved in working on the garden were, from the HND course, David Stafford (from Pershore), Phil Ostley (from Oxford), Beth Harrison (of Stratford-upon-Avon), Rachel Pearson (of Worcester) and Dan Ryan (Rubery, Birmingham).

The BSc students involved were Simon Eades of Suckley, Worcestershore and Carl Berthold of Stratford-upon-Avon.

The sponsors of the stand were Avonbank Nurseries at Pershore College, Allensmore Nurseries in Hereford, Evesham Garden Centre in Evesham and Teal Turf of Wadborough, Worcestershire.