#Locusts harness the sun to get their optimum dietif you are a locust the most nutritious plant to eat depends on the ambient temperature.
Scientists at the University of Sydney Australia have discovered that locusts choose their food and then where they digest it according to how hot it is.
which locusts absorb protein and carbohydrate from different plants does not increase in step with temperature.
The researchers used two species of grass that are eaten commonly by locusts in Australia. The first Kangaroo grass gives a high protein diet at high temperatures and a high carbohydrate diet at low temperatures.
but locusts are able to absorb the nutrients more effectively at higher temperatures. Consequently locusts raised on Kangaroo grass reach a larger size at low temperatures
but locusts that are fed wheat are larger at high temperatures. Intriguingly when both plants are available the locusts modify their behaviour to get the maximum benefit from the nutrients on offer.
After eating locusts sit for 30-40 minutes to digest their meal before feeding again.
Following a meal of Kangaroo grass the locusts seek shady places such as behind grass stalks
or in burrows in order to get a high carbohydrate meal. After eating wheat however the locusts sit in warmer areas to ensure a protein-rich meal.
Dr Clissold adds Being small insects can take advantage of the multitude of microclimates available. As mammals are warm-blooded animals that maintain a constant body temperature it is unlikely that temperature overtly affects the nutrient quality of their diets.
However there is some evidence that rodents may increase their body temperature to reduce the toxicity of compounds found in some plant leaves.
The observations were made by the Microwave Instrument for Rosetta Orbiter (MIRO) aboard the European space agency's Rosetta spacecraft on June 6 2014.
but we were surprised at how early we detected it said Sam Gulkis principal investigator of the MIRO instrument at NASA's Jet propulsion laboratory in Pasadena California.
MIRO first detected water vapor from the comet when the Rosetta spacecraft was about 217000 miles (350000 kilometers) away from it.
At the time comet 67p/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was 363 million miles (583 million kilometers) from the sun. After the initial June 6 discovery water vapor was detected also every time the MIRO instrument was pointed toward the comet.
and to determine the global gas production rate as a function of its distance from the sun. The gas production rate that MIRO determined provides scientists a measure of the evolution of the comet as it moves both toward
The mission's engineers will be using this MIRO data to help them plan for future mission events
MIRO is a small and lightweight spectrometer instrument the first of its kind launched into deep space.
The MIRO science team is composed of 22 scientists from the United states France Germany and Taiwan.
MIRO is one of three U s. instruments aboard the Rosetta spacecraft. The other two are an ultraviolet spectrometer called Alice and the Ion and Electron Sensor (IES.
The Microwave Instrument for Rosetta Orbiter (MIRO) was built at JPL. Hardware subsystems for MIRO were provided by the Max-Planck Institute for Solar system Research
and the Laboratoire d'Etudes du Rayonnement et de la Matiere en Astrophysique of the Observatoire de Paris. The consortium also includes the Laboratoire d'Etudes Spatiales ed
JPL also built the MIRO and hosts its principal investigator Samuel Gulkis. The Southwest Research Institute (San antonio and Boulder) developed the Rosetta orbiter's IES
and Aspen Padilla a CU-Boulder graduate who worked with Eberle as a master's candidate.
#Oil palm plantations threaten water quality, scientists sayif you've gone grocery shopping lately you've probably bought palm oil.
The clearing of tropical forests to plant oil palm trees releases massive amounts of carbon dioxide a greenhouse gas fueling climate change.
Oil palm plantations also have been associated with dangerous and abusive conditions for laborers. Significantly eroded water quality now joins the list of risks associated with oil palm cultivation according to new research co-authored by researchers from Stanford university
and the University of Minnesota who warn of threats to freshwater streams that millions ofpeople depend on for drinking water food and livelihoods.
and persistence of these impacts even in areas fully forested with mature oil palm trees. Land clearing plantation management (including fertilizer
and pesticide application) and processing of oil palm fruits to make crude palm oil can all send sediment nutrients
Although we previously documented carbon emissions from land use conversion to oil palm we were stunned by how these oil palm plantations profoundly alter freshwater ecosystems for decades said study co-author
From 2000 to 2013 Indonesia's land used for oil palm cultivation more than tripled. About 35 percent of Indonesian borneo's unprotected lowlands may be cleared for oil palm in coming years according to previous research by Curran
and the study's lead author Kimberly Carlson a former Stanford graduate student who is now a postdoctoral scholar at the University of Minnesota's Institute on the Environment.
Curran Carlson and their colleagues focused on small streams flowing through oil palm plantations smallholder agriculture
because this study is one of the first to examine the oil palm's effects on freshwater ecosystems.
Yet the long-term impact of oil palm plantations on freshwater streams has been overlooked completely until now Curran said.
and designing oil palm plantations so that dense road networks do not intersect directly with waterways. These kinds of improved practices are being pioneered by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm oil
and diverse smallholder agricultural lands to oil palm plantations may be almost as harmful to stream ecosystems as clearing intact forests.
According to Curran extensive land conversion to oil palm plantations could lead to a perfect storm combining the crop's environmental effects with those from a massive El Niã o-associated drought.
#Carbon footprint of flowering treeswhy is it important to understand a tree's carbon footprint?
The authors of a new study say this vital information can help consumers appreciate the true benefits of planting trees in landscapes
The carbon footprint of plants and trees a measure of all greenhouse gases emitted in a product's life cycle is expressed in units of tons (or kilograms) of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2E.
and distribution components of field-grown trees will help nursery managers understand the environmental costs associated with their respective systems
while conducting a life cycle assessment of the flowering tree'Forest Pansy'(Cercis canadensis L.)The study incorporated partial budgeting modeling procedures to measure the sensitivity of related costs
and field production phases combined) was $37. 74 per marketable tree; $9. 90 for labor $21. 11 for materials and $6. 73 for equipment use respectively.
Of the total variable cost $43. 68 was attributed to labor $21. 11 was spent on materials and $33. 81 on equipment use during the life cycle of each marketable tree.
and impacts of systems producing field-grown trees. Our findings validate those of previous studies that found that input costs of production processes (machinery water fertilizers pesticides
Oral allergy syndrome is caused by cross-reacting allergens found in both pollen and raw fruits vegetables or some tree nuts.
When organic chemicals from trees and vegetation mix with air pollutants the resulting corrosive gas can increase the erosion of building materials including stone concrete and steel.
Species like sycamore maple and Douglas fir (both commonly found in cities) produced organic compounds which combined with high levels of ground level ozone during the summer heightened the concentration of ground level ozone says Dr Tiwary.
When organic chemicals from trees and vegetation mix with air pollutants the resulting corrosive gas can increase the erosion of building materials including stone concrete and steel.
Species like sycamore maple and Douglas fir (both commonly found in cities) produced organic compounds which combined with high levels of ground level ozone during the summer heightened the concentration of ground level ozone says Dr Tiwary.
#More carbohydrates make trees more resistant to droughthow well tropical trees weather periods of drought depends on the carbohydrates stored as revealed by a novel experiment conducted by an international team of researchers headed by ecologists from the University of Zurich in contribution
Water is the limiting factor for many plants and trees. Consequently there are grave concerns that the rainfall patterns altered by climate change could trigger a forest decline on a global scale.
which factors govern the resistance of tropical trees to periods of drought. As the scientists reveal in their study published in Nature Climate Change stored carbohydrates play a key role in the resilience of the individual plant. 1400 saplings of ten species monitoredwhile stored starch
and soluble sugar in plant tissues were thought to influence the resistance and resilience of trees positively during periods of drought this supposition had not been proven.
O'brien and his team planted 1400 saplings of ten different tropical tree species in Malaysia
and devised a novel experiment to manipulate the carbohydrates stored and observe their reaction. The researchers increased
It became clear that young trees with more stored carbohydrates were able to maintain the vital water content in the stem for longer than those with fewer stored carbohydrates.
The better drought resistance and thus the greater chance of surviving a period of drought evidently depends on the quantity of carbohydrates stored concludes O'brien. Carbohydrate content different in every tree speciesaccording to the scientists the ability to store carbohydrates varies both
As different trees display a different mortality due to aridity the impact of a forest decline triggered by climate change is cushioned O'brien is convinced.
per cent increase in sugar cane production and a 130 per cent increase in oil palm production the researchers calculated.
#Decoding characteristic food odorshow are we able to recognize foodstuffs like strawberries coffee barbecued meat or freshly boiled potatoes by smell alone?
or tree nut--the 4 most common food allergies. The caregivers were asked about details of the children's most severe food reaction as well as information about the caregiver's quality of life.
and tree allergies are the most severe and therefore it may be presumed they would cause the most strain for caregivers said allergist Laura Howe MD lead study author and ACAAI member.
The report also includes a pilot study on habitat suitability of forest tree species. Connie Hedegaard European Commissioner for Climate Action said:
#Moth invasions cause widespread damage in the subarctic birch forestin just seven years as much as one-third of the mountain-birch forest in the North Calotte region was defoliated severely by two moth species
From 2002 to 2009 roughly 10000 km2 of the mountain-birch belt across North Norway North Sweden
During the major outbreak of the 2000s researchers know that all three moth species attacked the mountain-birch forest.
This explains why so many trees died. Changing vegetationthe researchers have studied also the impact of these moth invasions on the northern birch forest ecosystem.
On the Varanger Peninsula (the northeastern tip of Norway) we have mapped the vegetation before and after the outbreak and across a range of outbreak severities and found that dense birch forests survive far better than sparse ones says Dr Jepsen.
Moth attacks in sparse woods cause extensive changes in ground vegetation--the dwarf shrub heath disappears
Sparse birch forests grow in nutrient-poor locations. Moth outbreaks cause large amounts of larvae excrement and dead larvae to fall to the ground which fertilises the soil and promotes the growth of grass.
when the leaves disappear from the trees allowing more sunlight to reach the ground. Fauna changes as wellwhen the ground vegetation changes from heath to grass there are impacts on the animal life.
In plant biology Arabidopsis is the reference plant for species like poplar and rice the reference plant for grasses.
LMU biologist Professor Susanne Renner and her research group have looked now at the effects of this warming trend on the timing of leaf emergence (leaf-out in a broad range of shrubs and trees.
However whether air temperature or day-length is the dominant factor determining the date of leaf-out is known actually for very few of the thousands of species of trees
so that these trees don't risk having their leaves damaged by late frosts --and increased temperature does not override this barrier.
Beech requires long daysthis strategy is the better bet for thermophilic species because they are unable to cope with frost damage
This evolutionary adaptation is particularly striking in the case of beech trees in which leaf-out occurs relatively late in the year Renner adds.
The beech in Central europe is a relic of the warmer temperatures that prevailed during the Tertiary period;
This innovation means that we may also be looking at making charcoal from broadleaved trees
and trees of a quality that would normally be used to make paper. Quality fuel The other important area of application would be as a fuel in the form of briquettes pellets or finely crushed powder.
Many crops such as almonds and other tree nuts berries fruits and vegetables depend on pollination by honeybees.
#Iconic Minnesota conifers may give way to more broad-leafed forest in the next centuryover the next 100 years Minnesota's iconic boreal forest
Tree species that are already at the southern end of their range such as balsam fir quaking aspen white spruce
and tamarack are expected to decline over the next century while American basswood black cherry eastern white pine red maple sugar maple and white oak may gain suitable habitat across the landscape.
By planning ahead foresters and other decision-makers can begin now to manage for resilient landscapes
and early April and evergreen rhododendrons and pine trees don't start leafing out until two to three months later in late May or even June.
The study showed that shrubs leafed out on average 10 days before trees and deciduous plants leafed out on average 17 days before evergreens.
And certain groups of plants--such as honeysuckles willows lilacs and apples--tended to leaf out early while other groups--such as oak beeches honey locusts and grapes--tended to
Primack explained that as the climate warms trees will tend to leaf out earlier in the spring perhaps extending the growing season and affecting animal behavior.
But this pattern will become complicated if the overall tree composition changes. For example in eastern North america maple and birch trees which leaf out early may be replaced gradually by more heat-tolerant oak trees
which tend to leaf out later in the spring. The data was obtained by walking around each of the botanical gardens once a week
when trees change color and drop their leaves at the end of the growing season. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Boston University.
and regular coffee drinkers and more likely to have a history of diabetes. They also had a higher dietary intake of fruit and vegetables.
Neither higher consumption of total soy foods nor isoflavones were associated with the risk of endometrial cancer after adjustment for factors such as age alcohol consumption smoking BMI menopausal status coffee intake
On the basis of this we created a phylogenetic tree and related it to the geographic distribution.
When a vacant lot is mowed not for several years the young trees that can encroach include the Norway maple silver maple box elder cottonwood and tree of heaven.
and burn techniques to clear the land to plant cocoa trees and raise staples such as the banana-like plantain
Shaddix of Maple Valley Nursery is a gardener not a psychologist; but she knows firsthand that gardening's benefits extend beyond the harvest.
#Discovery of bud-break gene could lead to trees adapted for a changing climatescientists have confirmed the function of a gene that controls the awakening of trees from winter dormancy a critical factor in their ability to adjust to environmental changes
While other researchers have identified genes involved in producing the first green leaves of spring the discovery of a master regulator in poplar trees (Populus species) could eventually lead to breeding plants that are adapted better for warmer climates.
This is the first time a gene that controls the timing of bud break in trees has been identified. The timings of annual cycles--when trees open their leaves
when they produce flowers when they go dormant--help trees adapt to changes in environmental signals like those associated with climate
but the genetics have to keep up Strauss said. While trees possess the genetic diversity to adjust to current conditions climate models suggest that temperature
and precipitation patterns in many parts of the world may expose trees to more stressful conditions in the future.
Experts have suggested that some tree species may not be able to cope with these changes fast enough whether by adaptation or migration.
As a result forest health may decline trees may disappear from places they are currently found
and some species may even go extinct. For example are there going to be healthy and widespread populations of Douglas fir in Oregon in a hundred years?
said Strauss. That depends on the natural diversity that we have and how much the environment changes.
--which scientists named EBB1 for short--a first step in developing the ability to engineer adaptability into trees in the future.
They developed modified trees that overproduced EBB1 genes and emerged from dormancy earlier in the year.
They also showed that trees with less EBB1 activity emerged from dormancy later. The absence of EBB1 during dormancy allows the tree to progress through the physiological developmental and adaptive changes leading to dormancy said Busov
while the expression of EBB1 in specific cell layers prior to bud-break enables reactivation of growth in the cells that develop into shoots
and leaves and re-entry into the active growth phase of the tree. The study began
when Strauss noticed poplar trees emerging earlier than others in an experimental field trial at Oregon State.
One April morning he found that four seedling trees in a 2. 5-acre test plot were putting forth leaves at least a week before all the other trees.
They found that EBB1 codes for a protein that helps to restart cell division in a part of the tree known as meristem
EBB1 also plays a role in suppressing genes that prepare trees for dormancy in the fall
Altogether they found nearly 1000 other poplar genes whose activity is affected by EBB1. It's unlikely that plant breeders will use the finding any time soon Strauss said.
Breeders tend to rely on large clusters of genes that are associated with specific traits such as hardiness tree shape or flowering.
or engineer trees adapted to extreme conditions will grow. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Oregon State university.
He has studied the influence of carnivores on their prey--such as deer and elk--and on vegetation from aspen trees to willows.
and kills hemlock trees. In all of the natural world only humans are allergic to poison ivy and its itch-inducing oil urushiol.
Scientists sequence genome of eucalyptus--a global tree for fuel and fiberfrom antiseptic oils to the construction of didgeridoos the traditional Australian Aboriginal wind instrument the eucalyptus tree serves myriad purposes accounting for its status as one of the world's most widely planted hardwood trees.
Its prodigious growth habit has caught the eyes of researchers seeking to harness and improve upon Eucalyptus'potential for enhancing sustainable biofuels
and biomaterials production and provide a stable year-round source of biomass that doesn't compete with food crops.
and analyze the 640 million base pair genome of Eucalyptus grandis engaged more than 80 researchers from 30 institutions representing 18 countries The project was led by Zander Myburg of the University of Pretoria (South africa);
Trees play a significant role in the global carbon cycle. Collectively they represent a major terrestrial repository of carbon
With these advantages in mind Eucalyptus can be harvested from tropical and temperate zones and has over 700 species that are rich in genetic variation.
Combing through the 36000-plus genes found in Eucalyptus (nearly twice as many as in the human genome) the researchers homed in on those that may influence the production of secondary cell wall material that can be processed for pulp paper biomaterials and bioenergy applications.
Approximately 80 percent of the woody biomass in a Eucalyptus is made of cellulose and hemicellulose both long chains of sugars with the remaining biomass primarily composed of lignin the tough glue that holds it all together.
Our comparative analysis of the complex traits associated with the Eucalyptus genome and other large perennials offers new opportunities for accelerating breeding cycles for sustainable biomass productivity and optimal wood quality noted Grattapaglia.
In addition insights into the trees'evolutionary history and adaptation are improving our understanding of their response to environmental change providing strategies to diminish the negative environmental impacts that threaten many species. We have a keen interest in how wood is formed said ORNL's Jerry Tuskan.
While native to Australia eucalyptus trees are planted worldwide mostly for the value of its wood; for the Department of energy their energy-rich cellulosic biomass makes them one of the principal candidate biomass energy crops.
and excellent wood and fiber properties Eucalyptus trees are grown in 100 countries across six continents and account for over 40 million acres.
The eucalyptus team identified genes encoding 18 final enzymatic steps for the production of cellulose
--which serves to strengthen the tree said Myburg. The team's detailed analysis of the Eucalyptus genome revealed an ancient whole-genome duplication event estimated to have occurred about 110 million years ago as well as an unusually high proportion of genes in tandem duplicate arrays.
Their results Tuskan said highlight the major role of the phenomenon of tandem replication in shaping functional diversity in Eucalyptus
and suggest that Eucalyptus may have followed an evolutionary path that highlighted specific genes for woody biomass production.
By comparison Eucalyptus has three times the number of tandem repeat genes present in poplar the first tree sequenced (by the DOE JGI and published on the cover of the journal Science in 2006.
An additional finding by the team was sequenced that among plants to date Eucalyptus showed the highest diversity of genes for specialized metabolites such as terpenes.
These hydrocarbons serve as chemical self-defenses against pests as well as providing the familiar aromatic essential oils used in both medicinal cough drops and for industrial processes.
so that we can develop the potential of Eucalyptus as an alternative source feedstock for jet fuel noted Tuskan.
The genetic architecture of inbreeding depression often referred to as the converse of hybrid vigor is largely unknown for trees
Our results in Eucalyptus suggest that cumulative effects of many small genetic variants throughout the genome are responsible for these fundamental genetic phenomena.
Favorably combined they determine the height of a tree which is one of our gauges for overall fitness.
The extensive catalog of genes contributed by the team will allow breeders to adapt Eucalyptus trees for sustainable energy production in regions such as the U s. Southeast where it cannot currently be grown.
Eucalyptus has a truly unique evolutionary history Tuskan said. This along with its keystone ecological status and ability to adapt to marginal terrain make Eucalyptus an excellent focus for expanding our knowledge of the evolution and adaptive biology of perennial plants.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by DOE/Joint Genome Institute. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
#Somatic embryogenesis system to propagate pine hybrids able to tolerate water stressneiker-Tecnalia in collaboration with the UPV/EHU-University of the Basque Country has in recent years been studying the high water stress tolerance of hybrids of the Radiata
Pine (Pinus radiata X Pinus attenuata. These trees appear to be a very interesting alternative for the forestry sector in view of the modifications ecosystems are undergoing
and will be undergoing as a result of climate change. To obtain new specimens of these trees in a rapid productive way the Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and development Neiker-Tecnalia
and SCION--the New zealand Forest Research Institute--have developed a system of somatic embryogenesis in the hybrid species of Pinus radiata X Pinus attenuata a pine species with a proven tolerance to a lack of water.
Their research has resulted in the obtaining of a large quantity of plants within a short period of time
in order to find propagation methods for tree species that are productive have a high resistance to water stress and
which hybrid trees could be a valuable commercial resource for the future owing to their capacity to withstand water stress and adverse climate conditions.
Furthermore the Canadian government has adopted cryogenic preservation as one of its policies for preserving threatened species like the whitebark pine.
We found fish that had almost 70%of their biomass made from carbon that came from trees
While plankton raised on algal carbon is more nutritious organic carbon from trees washed into lakes is a hugely important food source for freshwater fish bolstering their diet to ensure good size
These are the findings of an experiment on almond trees conducted in California by the Freiburg ecologist Prof.
Together with students and colleagues at the University of California Berkeley Alexandra Klein manipulated almond trees by preventing bees from pollinating blossoms with the help of cages allowing the bees to pollinate the blossoms
In addition the researchers watered and fertilized trees in accordance with local practices or gave them only little water or no fertilizer.
In the case of several almond trees they combined the various manipulations in order to study in isolation and in combination the effects on harvest yield and the composition of nutrients in the nuts.
The almond trees that were pollinated by hand produced the most nuts but they were also very small.
By contrast a tree that was left unpollinated hardly produced any nuts at all --but the few that it did produce were very large.
The yield of the trees pollinated by bees was roughly 200 percent higher than that of self-pollinatedtrees.
However the inadequately watered trees lost more leaves and the leaves of the unfertilized trees increasingly turned yellow.
This led the scientists to the conclusion that an almond tree can compensate for a lack of nutrients
and water in the short term by directing stored nutrients and water to the fruits but cannot compensate for insufficient pollination.
Nuts from the self-pollinated trees contained a lower proportion of linoleic acid but a higher proportion of Vitamin e.
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