'Doomsday vault' receives first shipment of forest tree seeds
Wednesday, March 4, 2015, 8:31 AM - Thanks to a new delivery to a vault in Norway, forest tree seeds could survive a doomsday scenario.
On the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen a seed vault has been preserving a wide range of seeds in hopes of preventing the eradication of important plants in case of a global emergency.
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Now the vault—which is funded by the Norwegian government—has received it's first delivery of forest tree samples. Among the seeds delivered were the Norway spruce and the Scots pine which are the most important trees in the Nordic region when it comes to commercial purposes.
Scientist also expect to learn more about genetic variations by comparing the seeds to those in natural forests.
The vault was designed with the idea that in the cast of a natural or man-made disaster it would still remain standing.
But for many scientists, plant-life surviving a disaster is not the main reason to include plants in the vault.
"it is more important that these samples will in the future, provide an opportunity to monitor long-term changes in the genetic composition of our natural forests," said Mari Rusanen to BBC News.
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