Crops could be developed to withstand the impact of global warming,
Edinburgh University scientists have said. A five-year study aims to gain a
greater understanding of how warmer winters and summers and changing season
lengths affect crop yields.
The ?6m project will also look at how climate change impacts on
forests, woodlands, heaths and moors.

It will combine theory, computer modelling and experiments to study
temperature and plant growth.Dr Karen Halliday, of the university's School
of Biological Sciences, said: "We hope to be able to influence the survival
of crops, as well as their quality and biodiversity."

The project, which is expected to get fully under way in the spring,
will also draw on the expertise of scientists at the Universities of York
and Liverpool and mathematicians from the University of Warwick.

Their findings may lead to the development of more robust crops.

Dr Halliday said even very small changes in temperature can have
dramatic effects on plant development.

"We're interested in how temperature affects the behaviour of the
proteins that control plant growth and development," she said.

"I would anticipate that some of the results we get would be directly
useful.

"Many crops are susceptible to temperature change. There will
certainly be a strong incentive to produce crops that are more robust to
temperature change and can withstand warmer temperatures."

The project is part of a ?30m UK-wide investment in biology research,
funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and the
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
[news.bbc.co.uk]