The survival of the African baobab tree is dependent upon monkeys and baboons who eat many of the seeds - so many in fact that some seeds are not chewed. The unchewed seeds pass through their bodies and are pooped out into the desert. These seeds are then able to sprout and draw nutrients from the pile of excrement.
Test tube trees
Test tube trees Assisting certain types of conifer trees to
inter-breed has forestry scientists enthusiastic. Some species can
actually inter-breed in the wild but others cannot, even though
they have a similar genetic makeup and could theoretically produce
healthy offspring. Scientists are the University of Victoria in
British Columbia have been experimenting with artificial conception
techniques in the lab. These scientists have managed to inter-breed
western white pine and bristlecone pine under experimental
conditions, species which do not naturally inter-breed in the wild.
Getting around the species barrier will help plant breeders to
produce new hybrid conifer varieties which will combine disease
resistance with good wood yield. Traditional breeding is extremely
inefficient, yielding perhaps just one hybrid per year from a stand
of 10,000 trees. 18 JULY 1998, P. 17
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