Impacts of invasive ants can include direct effects such as displaced local species and indirect effects on key ecological functions such as frugivory pollination and seed dispersal.
The scientists were able to establish that the pesticide induced an average risk of loss that rose from 3%to 26
A research team led by Michael Jenkins associate professor of forest ecology found that a 17-yearlong Indiana Department of Natural resources policy of organizing hunts in state parks has spurred successfully the regrowth of native tree seedlings herbs
and wildflowers rendered scarce by browsing deer. Jenkins said that while hunting may be unpopular with some it is an effective means of promoting the growth and richness of Indiana's natural areas.
But by the 1990s white-tailed deer populations in parks had swelled to such size that many species of native wildflowers such as trillium
and lilies largely disappeared replaced by wild ginger and exotic species such as garlic mustard and Japanese stiltgrass plants not favored by deer.
Oak and ash tree seedlings gave way to highly deer-resistant or unpalatable trees such as pawpaw.
The health of deer in state parks also dwindled as their food sources shrank. To check the overabundant deer populations the DNR introduced controlled hunts in state parks in 1993 with most parks adopting the strategy by 1996.
Herbs such as asters violets and goldenrods increased from about 20 percent to 32 percent cover
and percent cover of grasses rose from 1 to 3 percent. Tree seedlings jumped from about 2 percent to about 13 percent of total plant cover a finding that suggests
when older trees die out there will be younger trees to replace them Jenkins said. With heavy populations of deer tree seedlings often don't have a chance to survive he said.
In those situations the forest could lose its ability to reproduce itself and eventually cease to be healthy.
Research has demonstrated that firewood harbors many bark-and wood-boring insects. In 2008 co-author Robert Haack of the Forest Service's Northern Research Station found that nearly 25 percent of firewood intercepted at the Mackinac bridge between Michigan's Upper
and Lower peninsulas carried live bark -and wood-boring insects and an additional 41 percent displayed evidence of prior borer infestation.
which flowers worker bees chose to visit. Bees have to learn many things about their environment including how to collect pollen from flowers said Raine who holds the Rebanks Family Chair in Pollinator Conservation a Canadian first.
Exposure to this neonicotinoid pesticide seems to prevent bees from being able to learn these essential skills.
and returned to the colony how much pollen they collected and from which flowers. Bees from untreated colonies got better at collecting pollen as they learned to forage.
Besides collecting less pollen said Raine the flower preferences of neonicotinoid-exposed bees were different to those of foraging bees from untreated colonies.
Plants grown from neonicotinoid-treated seed have the pesticide in all their tissues including the nectar and pollen.
University of Illinois scientists cite the earth's changing climate as one reason that more research is needed on the fungus that causes charcoal rot.
Fungi may often be associated with cool damp growing conditions but Macrophomina phaseolina the fungus that causes charcoal rot prefers hot and dry drought conditions.
As the climate continues to change and we see more extremes in the weather including hotter drier summers this fungus will have more favorable conditions to gain a foothold in soybean
and other crops said Osman Radwan a U of I molecular biologist. If we look at diseases of soybean we find that soybean cyst nematode (SCN) is at the top
The fungus causes charcoal rot in about 500 other host plants including corn sorghum sunflower and other important crops.
This fungus also grows in high concentrations of salt which isn't much of a problem to growers in the United states
and resist this fungus at the same time. One intriguing direction Radwan described that shows promise is that there may be interactions between M. phaseolina and other soil pathogens such as soybean cyst nematode (SCN) and sudden death syndrome (SDS.
He explained that biotrophic pathogens such as SCN need plant tissue to survive but the fungus that causes charcoal rot is necrotrophic meaning that it kills the plant tissue then lives on the dead plant cells.
We need to understand at the molecular level how these two pathogens interact when they are present in soybean fields.
Although no plants have complete immunity from the fungus some soybean lines have been shown to have partial resistance to it.
In controlled greenhouse conditions Radwan grows a variety of soybean cultivars in sandy soil and then stops watering the plants to simulate drought.
If we screen for drought stress we hope to find some cultivars that are charcoal rot resistant
and it is uncommon for a new one--especially a flowering plant--to be found in the United states says University of Utah biology professor Lynn Bohs senior author of a new study describing
and naming Solanum cordicitum (pronounced So-lay-num core-duh-SEE-tum). It's a new unique plant from the United states she says.
The new species belongs to the Genus solanum which includes some 1500 species of mostly poisonous plants including nightshades but also three economically important global food crops:
tomatoes potatoes and eggplants--the last of which is most closely related to S. cordicitum Bohs says.
because it must end with the same syllable as Solanum to comply with naming rules.
The derivation of Solanum is unknown but may be from sol for sun or from solamen for consolation comforting
The Solanaceae family including the Genus solanum is known as the nightshade family and many of the plants are toxic hallucinogenic
and create a comprehensive online inventory of all 1500 species in Solanum one of Earth's largest genera of flowering plants.
In the same study the botanists elevate to full species status three other closely related plants that were named previously varieties of other Solanum species
but that DNA analysis showed to be separate species. Like the new species they all belong to a group of Solanum named section Androceras
The stems and leaf stalks have very short hairs as well as prickles or spines about one-fifth-inch long but that's still long enough to stick you Bohs says.
Prickles also cover the flower clusters which have five to eight flowers. Prickles are all over this sucker Bohs says.
The first specimen of S. cordicitum was collected in October 1974 on U s. 166 about 30 miles west of Fort Davis Texas. Then in September 1990 a Valentine resident named Howard
because its flower petals are white instead of yellow and its flower stalks are longer and flowers are larger than closely related species. There also are differences from other species in leaf shape and in stem hairs.
Also a study published in 2010 by Stern Bohs and Utah postdoctoral researcher Terri Weese showed the plant's DNA differed from known species
. And the plant is an annual while related species are perennials. So Bohs and colleagues decided to try to find more specimens.
In 2010 Stern--then a Utah grad student--spent days looking for the plant in Texas without success. In November 2013 Keeling searched the Valentine area for days before finding the third specimen on the Elder property--near where the 1990
and brown and had some seeds we thought we'd be able to germinate but they weren't any good.
because we wanted a beautiful picture of the flowers to put in a publication. It's probably not extinct
Weedy but Not a Weeds. cordicitum and the varieties that are elevated newly to species belong to section Androceras
which is a group of weedy Solanum plants native to the central and southwestern U s. and Mexico.
That is unusual because most Solanum groups are tropical Bohs says. The most widespread Androceras species is S. rostratum known as buffalo bur prickly nightshade and Kansas thistle.
In all Androceras species the calyx or outer envelope of the flower and fruit is really spiny Bohs says.
A larger group of 350 to 400 Solanum species are known as spiny solanums because they have prickles.
The group includes wild eggplant. Spines have been bred out of domestic eggplant. While S. cordicitum belongs to a weedy group within the spiny solanums technically it isn't a weed
because weeds are more common and spread easily Bohs says. Like other plants in Androceras the new species and its five-petaled flowers are bilaterally symmetrical (like a mirror image down a vertical line)
but not symmetrical in all directions because the five petals vary in size. Four of its yellow anthers--pollen organs within the flower--are the same size
but the fifth is bigger. It's got a beautiful interesting flower form unique in Solanum Bohs says.
The researchers'report can be found online at: http://brit. org/webfm send/566story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Utah.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length h
#Cinnamon may be used to halt progression of Parkinsons disease, study suggestsneurological scientists at Rush University Medical center have found that using cinnamon a common food spice
and flavoring material can reverse the biomechanical cellular and anatomical changes that occur in the brains of mice with Parkinsonâ##s disease (PD).
Chinese cinnamon (Cinnamonum cassia) and original Ceylon cinnamon (Cinnamonum verum) are two major types of cinnamon that are available in the US. â#oealthough both types of cinnamon are metabolized into sodium benzoate by mass
spectrometric analysis we have seen that Ceylon cinnamon is much more pure than Chinese cinnamon as the latter contains coumarin a hepatotoxic moleculeâ#said Pahan. â#oeunderstanding how the disease works is important to developing effective drugs that protect the brain
which resemble small rhinos with no horns and a short mobile trunk or proboscis. Heptodon was about half the size of today's tapirs
and it lacked the short trunk that occurs on later species and their living cousins.
Based upon its teeth it was probably a leaf-eater which fits nicely with the rainforest environment indicated by the fossil plants at Driftwood Canyon said Dr. Jaelyn Eberle of the University of Colorado lead author of the study.
aboveground biomass (live plants) dead organic matter leaf litter (layer that contains a combination of fragments of leaves branches
The only thing we didn't measure was the carbon stock in the roots she said.
#Fungus in yogurt outbreak poses threat to consumersthe fungus responsible for an outbreak of contaminated Greek yogurt last year is not harmless after all
However as complaints of severe GI discomfort continued from otherwise healthy customers researchers began to question the fungus
When he heard about the Chobani recall after reports of people becoming sick from yogurt contaminated with Mucor circinelloides we thought the M. circinelloides strain could cause more serious problems than one might think. says Soo Chan Lee of Duke university an author on the study.
In the study the researchers isolated a strain of the fungus from a yogurt container that was subject to recall.
Using a technique known as multi-locus sequence typing (MLST) they identified the strain as Mucor circinelloides f. circinelloides (Mcc.
Unlike other strains of the fungus that particular subspecies is associated commonly with human infections. Whole-genome sequence analysis of the yogurt isolate confirmed it as being closely related to Mcc
and also revealed the possibility that this fungus could produce harmful metabolites that were previously unknown in this species. The researchers then tested the strain on mice where the fungus showed an ability to cause lethal infections
when the fungal spores were injected into the bloodstream as well as to survive passage through the GI TRACT
when the spores were ingested orally. When people think about food-borne pathogens normally they list bacteria viruses and maybe parasites.
However this incidence indicates that we need to pay more attention to fungi. Fungal pathogens can threaten our health systems as food-borne pathogens says Lee.
Instead of an area set aside just for vegetation the approach calls for plants to be distributed in any available space in a deep-space habitat.
and retain students in science technology engineering and math or STEM. The competition is intended to link student design projects with senior
It is a concept for producing edible plants during long-term missions to destinations such as Mars. Heather Hava who is working on a doctorate in aerospace engineering sciences explains that the goal is to have robots do much of the monotonous tasks saving time
The SPOTS facilitate plants growing in a small custom-designed hydroponic growth chamber with computerized systems to monitor the vegetation's progress.
#From antibiotics to yeast: Latest student science heads for spaceastronauts on future missions may nibble on lettuce
whether radish roots and shoots will grow differently in microgravity. Students from Cottage Lane Elementary in Rockland County New york and Hillsborough County Florida envisioned astronauts growing their own lettuce.
The Cottage Lane students hope to determine how long the plant takes to germinate in microgravity while the Florida group looks at the frequency of lettuce seed germination in space.
The team at Academy at Shawnee in Kentucky wonders whether microgravity would increase the rate of yeast fermentation in honey.
Yeast fermentation On earth is used to produce alcohol which could be used as antiseptics or in food production in space.
Other student groups focused on fungus and bacteria. A team from Brookhaven Academy in Mississippi will determine
Eighth graders at Pennsauken Phifer Middle school in New jersey will examine the growth rate in microgravity of penicillium which future astronauts could grow as an antibiotic to treat infections.
Two teams are interested in rust in space St peter's School students in Kansas city Missouri want to determine how microgravity affects oxidation
Milton L. Olive Middle school in New york evaluates the effectiveness of a commercial spray corrosion inhibitor Rust-Oleum's'Stops Rust'in microgravity.
and fungi pests yet some species have developed resistance against these toxins and may even exploit them to identify the most nutritious plant tissues.
These results show how knowledge of natural plant defenses can be applied practically in agricultural systems.
These lost defenses might then be reintroduced into modern cultivars. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Society for Experimental Biology.
#Payback time for soil carbon from pasture conversion to sugarcane productionthe reduction of soil carbon stock caused by the conversion of pasture areas into sugarcane plantations--a very common change in Brazil in recent
and Harvard university Colorado State university and the Shell Technology Center Houston in the United states. Findings from the project Soil carbon stocks on land-use change process to sugarcane production in South-central Brazil carried out with funding from FAPESP
The study indicates that the soil carbon balance of pasture areas converted for the cultivation of sugarcane designed for ethanol production is not as negative as originally estimated said Carlos Clemente Cerri project coordinator and researcher at CENA.
However the process of preparing this type of soil for conversion to sugarcane plantations causes part of the carbon stock to be emitted into the atmosphere as carbon dioxide (CO2.
In contrast depending on the type of management the introduction of sugarcane to pasture areas could compensate for
Moreover the ethanol produced from sugarcane grown in these areas over time ultimately offsets the CO2 emissions that occur during the conversion process
The researchers conducted measurements and collected 6000 soil samples from 135 regions in south-central Brazil which is responsible for more than 90%of Brazil's sugarcane production.
At each of the sites soil samples were collected from areas of sugarcane cultivation and from other areas to be used as reference.
These reference areas included pastures annual cropland (soybean sorghum and corn) and Cerrado native vegetation.
According to the researchers the study findings could contribute toward guiding expansion policies for sugarcane production aimed at producing ethanol to ensure the biofuel's sustainability--Ethanol demand in Brazil is expected to jump from an annual total of 25 million liters to 61.6
The professor indicated that to reach this number the area of sugarcane production in Brazil would need to expand from the current 9. 7 million hectares to 17 million hectares.
Cerri notes that among the options for reaching the target area the priority for expansion of production is expected to be the conversion of degraded lands principally those used as pastures into sugarcane plantations.
Between 2000 and 2010 three million Brazilian hectares were converted to sugarcane cultivation areas. More than 70%of this land consisted of pastures
whereas intolerant lines will have stunted roots. Our identification of the genes and their variants responsible for this adaptation to boron toxicity means that we now have molecular markers that can be used in breeding programs to select lines for boron tolerance with 100%accuracy.
You see similar variation in the size and distribution of structures in a cross-section of bone or a bamboo stalk.
since 1970 including studies of corals seaweeds grazing sea urchins and fish. The results show that the Caribbean corals have declined by more than 50%since the 1970s.
These include the U s. Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary in the northern Gulf of mexico Bermuda and Bonaire all of
#Kudzu can release soil carbon, accelerate global warmingclemson University scientists are shedding new light on how invasion by exotic plant species affects the ability of soil to store greenhouse gases.
and terrestrial vegetation combined the repercussions for how we manage agricultural land and ecosystems to facilitate the storage of carbon could be dramatic.
In their study Tamura and Tharayil examined the impact of encroachment of Japanese knotweed and kudzu two of North america's most widespread invasive plants on the soil carbon storage in native ecosystems.
They found that kudzu invasion released carbon that was stored in native soils while the carbon amassed in soils invaded by knotweed is more prone to oxidation
Tharayil estimates that kudzu invasion results in the release of 4. 8 metric tons of carbon annually equal to the amount of carbon stored in 11.8 million acres of U s. forest.
Climate change is causing massive range expansion of many exotic and invasive plant species. As the climate warms kudzu will continue to invade northern ecosystems
#Earth-Kind roses analyzed for salt toleranceearth-Kindâ roses are favorites with gardeners and landscapers.
and pests as well as their outstanding performance in landscapes Earth-Kindâ roses can thrive in most environments even with limited care.
and cultivars is becoming increasingly important. Looking to inform rose enthusiasts and growers researchers at Texas A&m University evaluated 18 popular varieties of Earth-Kindâ roses for salt tolerance.
Their findings were published in Hortscience (May 2014. The rose cultivars were tested in greenhouses in College Station and El paso Texas in response to two salinity levels at electrical conductivity:
1. 2 and 10.0 dsâ m-1. The salt tolerance of Earth-Kindâ rose cultivars was consistent in the two locations with strong positive correlations of relative shoot dry weight flower number
and visual quality score in the 10 same cultivars between two locations said corresponding author Genhua Niu.'
'Belinda's Dream''Climbing Pinkie''Mrs. Dudley Cross''Reve d'Or'and'Sea Foam'were the most salt-tolerant cultivars.'
'Cecile Brunner''Else Poulsen''Madame Antoine Mari''Perle d'Or''Spice'and'Souvenir de St anne's'were the least salt-tolerant among the 18 cultivars analyzed in the study.
Identifying and using salt-tolerant garden roses is important in landscapes where soil salinity is high
or irrigation water quality is said poor the authors. They recommended'Belinda's Dream''Climbing Pinkie''Mrs. Dudley Cross''Reve d'Or'and'Sea Foam'as good selections for planting in landscapes with high soil salinity.'
'Cecile Brunner'and'Else Poulsen'were recommended not as they had the lowest relative shoot dry weight
and flower number of the cultivars tested. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by American Society for Horticultural Science.
Vegetation removal along stream banks destroys plant life that stream organisms depend on for sustenance and shade.
Because cover crops can provide weed and erosion control determining the best method for establishing a uniform and dense cover crop stand as soon as possible after planting is a critical first step.
and reduce light penetration to weeds should be a primary focus. Eric Brennan and Jim Leap from the U s. Department of agriculture Agricultural research service (ARS) coauthored the study published in the April 2014 issue of Hortscience.
Brennan and Leap evaluated the effectiveness of three secondary tillage implements for soil incorporation of broadcast cover crop seed compared with drilled seed using legume-rye cover crop mixtures.
and weed-suppressive cover crops on beds the authors said. Both drilling and broadcasting methods are used commonly to plant cover crops.
and broadcast plus disc) and point implements (seeder seeder plus rototiller seeder plus cultivator and seeder plus disc) for planting rye mixed with either purple or common vetch
The experiments were conducted in Salinas California with winter-and spring-sown cover crops for establishing rye mixed with either purple
because the broadcasting methods all used a second pass to incorporate the seed. According to the authors drilled cover crops had greater uniformity
and faster emergence characteristics that would likely increase their ability to suppress weeds that emerge with the cover crop.
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
Analyses showed that total farm-to-gate-gate variable costs (the seedling liner and field production phases combined) was $37. 74 per marketable tree;
and disposal costs added another $33. 78 in labor costs and $27. 08 in equipment costs yielding a total cost from seedling to end-of-life of $98. 60.
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.
Using mathematical simulations the research team investigated the effect of green vegetation on limestone and steel structures during different seasons.
In the future city planners should look into the species of vegetation they plant in green spaces 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.
Using mathematical simulations the research team investigated the effect of green vegetation on limestone and steel structures during different seasons.
In the future city planners should look into the species of vegetation they plant in green spaces says Dr Tiwary.
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.
and exposed the seedlings to an artificial drought period. 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
and vegetable juice powder concentrate capsules twice daily (Juice Plus+Â NSA Collierville TN). One group (FV) was given capsules containing a blend of fruit
and vegetable concentrate powders. Another group's capsules (FVB) contained the same ingredients with additional berry juice concentrate powder
and the control group was given a placebo. All subjects underwent blood sampling and respiratory tests before and after 3 months of supplementation.
per cent increase in sugar cane production and a 130 per cent increase in oil palm production the researchers calculated.
or herbaceous strips in arable farms they have a huge impact on the biodiversity of a farm.
and palm oil the rapid growth rate of sugar cane has put it at the forefront of biofuel crops.
along with rising gasoline prices has led to the world's largest fleet of flex-fuel vehicles fueled by the over 36 million tonnes of sugar cane currently grown in the country.
The challenge for Brazil lies in identifying optimal lands for expanding sugarcane while still meeting demands for food crops and conserving native forests and savannas.
Unlike the Amazon which remains over 80%forested over half of the Cerrado has been cleared for agriculture including sugar cane biofuel crops.
Macedo and Davidson note the new research shows that it would take 17 years of sugar cane production to make up for the carbon losses caused by clearing the Cerrado.
In contrast converting already cleared pastures to sugar cane production provides a nearly immediate carbon payback
For Dr. Macedo Because Brazil has a large supply of under-used low productivity pastures that are suitable for sugar cane there is no reason to clear additional native Cerrado for sugar cane production.
agriculture river floods coasts tourism energy droughts forest fires transport infrastructure and human health. The report also includes a pilot study on habitat suitability of forest tree species. Connie Hedegaard European Commissioner for Climate Action said:
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