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Towards an action plan for characterizing food plant diversity

Nature Plants volume 9, pages 34–35 (2023)Cite this article

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The Original Article was published on 21 December 2022

replying to: R. Molina-Venegas et al. Nature Plants https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-022-01299-4 (2022).

Molina-Venegas et al.1 reassessed part of the analyses presented in Cantwell-Jones et al.2 and drew attention to the uncertainty in the predictions of B-vitamin content of many angiosperm food species. We appreciate the feedback from the authors and agree that there are challenges in identifying B-vitamin sources using phylogenetic information and available nutritional data for species. We call for more integrative and proactive research that would streamline uncertainty assessments in trait predictions and improve predictive capacity. We also reiterate the value of our original paper to call for action to better understand and preserve the nutritional potential of food plant diversity, which would ultimately contribute to tackling both hunger and biodiversity loss.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, UK

    S. Pironon, F. Forest, J. Ball, M. Diazgranados, M.-J. R. Howes & T. Ulian

  2. UN Environment Programme World Conservation Monitoring Centre, Cambridge, UK

    S. Pironon

  3. Science and Solutions for a Changing Planet DTP, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK

    A. Cantwell-Jones

  4. Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Ascot, UK

    A. Cantwell-Jones

  5. Natural England, London, UK

    R. Douglas

  6. School of Biological Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK

    J. Hawkins

  7. Department of Nutrition, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA

    B. Vaitla

  8. Department of Organismal and Environmental Biology, Christopher Newport University, Newport News, VA, USA

    D. Collar

Authors
  1. S. Pironon
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  2. A. Cantwell-Jones
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  3. F. Forest
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  4. J. Ball
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  5. M. Diazgranados
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  6. R. Douglas
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  7. J. Hawkins
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  8. M.-J. R. Howes
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  9. T. Ulian
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  10. B. Vaitla
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  11. D. Collar
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Contributions

S.P. wrote the manuscript with guidance from A.C.-J., F.F. and D.C., and final revisions from all authors.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to S. Pironon.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Nature Plants thanks Christine Foyer and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Pironon, S., Cantwell-Jones, A., Forest, F. et al. Towards an action plan for characterizing food plant diversity. Nat. Plants 9, 34–35 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41477-022-01300-0

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