and because Arabidopsis is studied so well there is a reference collection of seeds derived from wild stocks across its native range.
since been maintained under controlled conditions in the seed bank. Johanna Schmitt formerly at Brown University and now a distinguished professor in the UC Davis Department of Evolution and Ecology and colleagues took banked seed samples originally from Spain England Germany and Finland and raised all the plants
in gardens in all four locations. The southern imports do better across the range than locals Schmitt said.
Big algae bloom in Lake erie, very dry 2015 forecastscientists delivered a mostly negative forecast for how climate change will affect Ohioans during the next year or so and well beyond.
and the associated runoff will likely lead to a larger-than-average bloom of harmful blue-green algae in Lake erie this summer.
Jeffrey Reutter director of Ohio Sea Grant revealed that he expects a larger-than-average bloom of harmful blue-green algae this year.
if the 2014 algae bloom could approach the size of the one in 2011--the largest in Erie's history As these blooms move into the Central Basin east of Sandusky they tend to die
An algae bloom not only hinders swimming and boating--it also affects the fishery So tourism and fisheries are both likely to be impacted.
and Maumee Bay where the bloom is likely to be most severe. Some other discouraging news came from Lonnie Thompson Distinguished University Professor in the School of Earth sciences and Senior Research Scientist at BPRC:
#Fairy circles apparently not created by termites after allfor several decades scientists have been trying to come up with an explanation for the formation of the enigmatic vegetation-free circles frequently found in certain African grassland regions.
and vegetation the team now reports in the scientific journal Ecography. It looks like a landscape covered with freckles.
thus causing the dieback of vegetation. Other researchers consider hydrocarbons emanating from the depths of the earth being responsible for this phenomenon.
Like in a chimney these gases are presumed to be rising to the surface resulting in the localised loss and disappearance of vegetation.
This is where intense localised resource-competition for water exists among existing vegetation. If competition becomes too strong and available soil moisture resources too scarce this could lead to the emergence of bare patches with a lush peripheral grass ring formation.
What remains as probable cause is local resource-competition among plants and vegetation --which incidentally seems quite capable of creating homogeneously scattered circles.
and develop at comparatively close range vegetation will thin out and regress over the years in a self-organising process.
and the resulting spatial vegetation distribution patterns--and very similar patterns indeed emerged on the screen akin to the images recorded in Namibia.
and forest fragmentation in July to measure vegetation at regular intervals from the forest edge according to Numata.
and affects vegetation health he said. Based upon the results the scientists will try to predict the vulnerability and response of the forest to future changes in climate and land cover.
#Genetic basis of pest resistance to biotech cotton discoveredan international team led by scientists at the University of Arizona
what happens on a molecular basis in insects that evolved resistance to genetically engineered cotton plants.
Their findings reported in the May 19 issue of the journal PLOS ONE shed light on how the global caterpillar pest called pink bollworm overcomes biotech cotton
Scientists from the UA and the U s. Department of agriculture worked closely with cotton growers in Arizona to develop
and implement resistance management strategies such as providing refuges of standard cotton plants that do not produce Bt proteins and releasing sterile pink bollworm moths.
As a result pink bollworm has been eradicated all but in the southwestern U s. Suppression of this pest with Bt cotton is the cornerstone of an integrated pest management program that has allowed Arizona cotton growers to reduce broad spectrum insecticide use by 80
which grows the most Bt cotton of any country in the world. Crops genetically engineered to produce proteins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis
#Climate change, forest fires drove widespread surface melting of Greenland ice sheeta Dartmouth-led study finds that rising temperatures
and ash from Northern hemisphere forest fires combined to cause large-scale surface melting of the Greenland ice sheet in 1889 and 2012.
With both the frequency of forest fires and warmer temperatures predicted to increase with climate change widespread melt events are likely to happen much more frequently in the future.
An ice core from the center of the ice sheet demonstrated that exceptionally warm temperatures combined with black carbon sediments from Northern hemisphere forest fires reduced albedo below a critical threshold in the dry snow region
but the presence of a high concentration of ammonium concurrent with the black carbon indicates the ash's source was large boreal forest fires during the summer in Siberia and North america in June and July 2012.
As for 1889 there are historical records of testimony to Congress of large-scale forest fires in the Pacific Northwest of the United states that summer
which forest fires deposited ash onto the ice sheet that summer. The researchers also used Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change data to project the frequency of widespread surface melting into the year 2100.
Since Arctic temperatures and the frequency of forest fires are expected both to rise with climate change the researchers'results suggest that large-scale melt events on the Greenland ice sheet may begin to occur almost annually by the end of century.
The team studied the long-term effects of five'Fuji'strains('Autumn Rose''Desert rose''Myra''September Wonder'and'Top Export'on RN 29 rootstock) on fruit yield and harvest time quality.
while'September Wonder'and'Desert rose'had more red color. The authors deemed'Desert rose'a good choice for a late-maturing'Fuji'strain based on the apple's excellent color great storability and shape.'
'Myra'was particularly desirable for its attractive pink color resembling bagged'Fuji'without the expensive cost of labor associated with bagging Fallahi said.
The authors recommend against planting'Autumn Rose 'because the strain produces muddy colored fruit under growing conditions like those in the study.
#Growing camelina, safflower in the Pacific Northwesta recent study published in Agronomy Journal provides information important to farmers growing oilseed crops.
In the study camelina and safflower were grown in three-year rotations with winter wheat and summer fallow.
Oilseed crops produce relatively little residueâ#rganic material such as roots that hold the soil together.
A cooperative study by the USDA-ARS and Washington state University researched the effects of growing oilseed cropsâ#amelina and safflowerâ#n blowing dust emissions.
Brenton Sharratt and William Schillinger found that adding camelina or safflower crops into a rotation with winter wheat and summer fallow increased the amount of dust at the end of tillage-based fallow
or when wheat is planted. â#oefarmers will need to protect the soil from wind erosion during the fallow phase after harvest of oilseed cropsâ#says Sharratt.
The Pacific Northwest is a low-precipitation region. The typical crop rotation there is winter wheat-summer fallow.
Their findings show that adding camelina or safflower into the crop rotation increased the chances of wind erosion late in the fallow cycle.
Thus their caution to farmers is to use techniques to preserve the soil. â#oeeven the undercutter method is too much tillage for fallow after oilseeds in the dry regionâ#say the researchers. â#oeno-till fallow
or planting another crop without a fallow year is the answer for controlling blowing dust. â#Story Source:
Indeed raw milk already contains nearly 300 species of bacteria and 70 species of yeasts which are subsequently found to differing degrees in the cheeses.
or in small units if they are inoculated with a variety of acidifying yeasts and if the microbiota that causes ripening is allowed to be expressed (30%of AOP cheeses in France).
Much of the uncertainty surrounding clouds'effect on climate stems from the complexity of cloud formation.
Rising spring temperatures prompt many bee species to begin their search for the flowering plants they depend on for food--and
while their preferred flowers respond less strongly and emerge later. Such a mismatch in timing could severely impact both bees and plants and the productivity of many agricultural crops.
and the trees leaf Out in addition Morristown is part of the Northeast Temperate Network (NETN) established by the U s. National park service to monitor ecological conditions in 12 parks located in seven northeastern states as well as six
Or bees may adapt by feeding on different plants that flower earlier. While this could be a positive sign that bees are adaptable it also may mean they are feeding on less nutritious plants
Among these the world's oldest-known grape species Indovitis chitaleyae discovered in 2005 and described in 2013 pushed the record of the Vitaceae (grape) family into the Late Cretaceous about 66 million years ago.
#How orchid bees find their personal scent, attract matesa fragrant perfume has brought many a man and many a woman together.
Orchid bees too appear to rely on scent when it comes to choosing a partner. In the course of their lives the males compile a species-specific bouquet that they store in the pockets on their hind legs.
Each orchid bee species prefers a different type of treewhen releasing their bouquet orchid bees select a tree trunk as the centre of their territory.
Together with a student team she analysed the favourite trees of several orchid bee species in Costa rica.
The smaller species preferred branches or trunks with a smaller diameter larger species those with a larger diameter.
Generally a smooth surface was more attractive than rough bark. Wind direction appears to be one of the factors that determine where exactly the male perches to distribute his scent.
Getting energy for exhausting flightsthe Bochum biologist also studies the orchid bees'flight performance. The small insects do actually fly over distances of 50 kilometres.
and feed from flowers. By moving their proboscises in a certain manner the bees appear to concentrate the sugar solution that they are drinking.
Orchids eucalyptus and fecesorchid bees live in Central and South america and live up to three months on average. Members of different species are interested in different scents.
Orchid flowers are among the most popular sources but eucalyptus-scented eucalyptol also frequently contributes to the blend.
This could be by planting seedlings in rows with fertilizer and thinning to grow trees valuable for lumber or veneer.
It can be producing the smaller pole trees that provide wood for the pulp and paper industry.
It could be assuring that enough seedlings are taking root or it could be preserving the forest as a natural recreation location.
(i e. to create conditions where new seedlings establish). ) In 1957 a research forester named Carl Arbogast wrote a guide for the selection system for managing northern hardwoods.
For seedlings to survive and grow in northern hardwoods there must be gaps big enough to allow light to reach the forest floor.
Without enough light seedlings might not establish and thrive. Another surprise: The variation within forests owned by each type of landowner was much more substantial than the variation between kinds of landowners.
#Weeds grow bigger among corn; Weeds influence gene expression, growth in cornthe axiom growing like a weed takes on new meaning in light of changes in gene expression that occur
when weeds interact with the crops they infest according to plant scientist Sharon Clay. Using sophisticated genetic-mapping techniques the South dakota State university professor
and her research team are documenting how corn and weeds influence one another. Weeds grow like weeds
when they grow with corn says Clay. They grow bigger and taller in corn than by themselves.
And inversely corn grows less among weeds. Over the last 20 years Clay has been studying weed management in range
and cropping systems weed physiology and interactions among herbicides soil and crops. The weed scientist was the first woman to serve as president of the American Society of Agronomy.
She has received two awards from the Weed Science Society of America for outstanding papers published in Weed Science--one in 2007 and another in 2012.
Both articles were written in collaboration with David Horvath a research plant physiologist for the Agricultural research service at the U s. Department of agriculture in Fargo N d. Growing better among cornto figure out how corn
and weeds affect each other's gene response Clay and a team of two research associates and a soils expert planted plots of velvetleaf alone corn with velvetleaf and corn kept weed-free.
The researchers saw an entirely different response when velvetleaf was grown by itself versus among corn plants.
The velvetleaf alone was shorter and stouter Clay explains. In addition specific genes that influenced photosynthesis
and other important plant responses differed in expression. Another study compared the corn's growth and yield in response to weeds lack of nitrogen or shade.
In all cases Clay and Horvath found that genes were expressed differentially compared with nonstressed plants.
However each stress resulted in very different expression patterns. Traditionally weeds have been thought to reduce crop growth and yield due to competition for water nutrients and light.
This study however indicates that weed-crop interactions are much more complex than researchers have thought.
When grown with weeds genes that control the major facets of the corn plant's metabolism were decreased
or down-regulated according to Clay. These included its response to light stimulus the amount of chlorophyll it produces
and its ability to convert raw materials into energy. In short these changes in gene expression adversely affect the plant's ability to grow
Having long-term impactwhen the researchers started taking weeds out of the corn at early points such as
when compared to corn without weeds. However Clay points out the amount of biomass--the stem
and leaves--was not significantly different. The genes never recovered says Clay even after the weeds were removed.
The impact is long term she adds which further builds the case for controlling weeds early.
These changes in gene expression can help explain instances in which the yield is unaffected but a slight reduction has taken place in the plant
Animals such as white-tailed deer the Florida panther and migratory birds that depend on native vegetation such as mangrove for food
#Fossil palm beetles hind-cast 50-million-year-old wintersfifty-million-year-old fossil beetles that fed only on palm seeds are giving Simon Fraser University
and seedlings can't survive Archibald explains. A cooler upland with palms indicates a specific climate type where a temperate average yearly temperature--rather like Vancouver today--had warmer winters where palms can complete their lifecycles.
In one indication of the swiftness by which the devices have been embraced in the U s. youth ever use of the devices rose from 3. 3 percent in 2011 to 6. 8 percent the following year;
in Korea youth ever use of e-cigarettes rose from. 5 percent in 2008 to 9. 4 percent in 2011.
caveslowering temperatures for two hours each day reduces the height of corn without affecting its seed yield a Purdue study shows a technique that could be used to grow crops in controlled-environment facilities in caves and former mines.
and seed from escaping into the ecosystem and crossing with wild plants. Cary Mitchell professor of horticulture said the technique could be particularly useful for growing transgenic crops to produce high-value medicinal products such as antibodies for the budding plant-derived industrial and pharmaceutical compounds industry.
Mitchell described corn as a good candidate crop for the industry because of the plant's bounty of seeds and well-characterized genome
To reduce the corn's height the researchers borrowed a trick used by the greenhouse industry to dwarf Christmas poinsettias.
The temperature dip dwarfed stalk height by 9 to 10 percent and reduced stalk diameter by 8 to 9 percent without significantly affecting the number and weight of the seeds.
This is a technique you could easily do in a mine or cave Mitchell said. It is an affordable non-chemical means of taking genetically modified crops to harvest maturity without getting any kind of pollen or seed into the ecosystem.
He said that former mines could be prime locations to grow high-value transgenic plants
#Inactive yeast to preserve aroma of young winesresearchers at UPM in collaboration with CSIC have proved that the usage of inactive yeast preparations rich in glutathione can preserve the aroma of young wines during their storage.
based on inactive wine yeasts and rich in glutathione can reduce the oxidation process that is produced by the aroma loss of young wines The fresh fruity and floral aroma of young wines (white
The usage of oenological additives is based on inactive yeast which means nonviable yeasts and without fermentative capacity.
This represents an interesting natural alternative that is currently having a great reception from all winemakers.
There researchers studied the effect of inactive yeast preparations rich in glutathione in the aroma of rosã wine of the Garnacha variety.
and scored the intensity of some of the most characteristic flavors of these wines (strawberry peach banana floral yeast) and flavor (acidity).
As a result they statistically proved that the wines with additives based on antioxidant inactive yeasts were more intense in fruit aromas (strawberry and banana) and less intense in aromatic notes more specific for oxidation (yeast.
These results indicate that the derivates based on inactive wine yeasts and rich in glutathione could be interesting additives to preserve the aroma of young wines during their storage.
and hogs in the United states. But too much nitrogen robs water of oxygen resulting in algal blooms and dead zones.
We think the benefit stems from differences in behavior between bee groups in part depending on the weather explains Dr. David Tarpy an associate professor of entomology at NC State
since blueberries bloom in March and April in North carolina Burrack says. That means the weather can swing from great to awful as we saw this year.
There is some research showing that having native flowering plants near blueberry fields can increase native bee populations over time
#Citrus greening affects roots before leavesalthough citrus greening enters trees through their leaves University of Florida researchers have discovered that the deadly disease attacks roots long before the leaves show signs of damage--a finding that may help
which sucks on leaf sap and leaves behind bacteria that spread through the tree. Johnson said the bacteria travel quickly to the roots where they replicate damage the root system and spread to the rest of the host tree's canopy.
The disease starves the tree of nutrients leaving fruits that are green and misshapen unsuitable for sale as fresh fruit or juice.
but the team's research found that greening causes a loss of 30 to 50 percent of trees'fibrous roots before symptoms are visible above ground.
Based on the work of Dr. Johnson and his colleagues we now know how important roots are in the development of greening disease said Jackie Burns director of the CREC.
We hope further investigations on the role of roots in this disease will lead to future management solutions that help growers remain productive until a permanent solution can be found.
We are still trying to determine how the bacteria are killing the roots Johnson said.
and soil to match the optimum ph for the rootstock (preliminary results show that this improves root density compared to untreated groves) and water more frequently for shorter periods.
The research team also discovered that trees in North borneo belonging to the Family dipterocarpaceae (or dipterocarps translating literally to winged seeds)
which grow to giant sizes produced wood faster than neighbouring trees of other families or any trees in the Amazonian sites.
Lead author Dr Lindsay Banin from the UK's Centre for Ecology & Hydrology said In Borneo dipterocarps--a family of large trees with winged seeds--produce wood more quickly than their neighbours.
Dipterocarps are known to make special relationships with fungi in the soil so they may be able to tap into scarce nutrient resources.
Or they may be trading-off growth of other plant parts. Co-author Professor Oliver Phillips from the University of Leeds said One big question in ecology is
#Fungus may help stop invasive spread of tree-of-heavena naturally occurring fungus might help curb the spread of an invasive tree species that is threatening forests in most of the United states according to researchers.
Researchers tested the fungus--Verticillium nonalfalfae--by injecting it into tree-of-heaven or Ailanthus plots according to Matthew Kasson who recently received his doctorate in plant pathology and environmental microbiology from Penn State.
Using a hatchet that is designed to pump fungal spores into the trees the researchers tested the fungus on 14 tree-of-heaven stands in south-central Pennsylvania.
Usually it takes three blows of the hatchet to deposit the entire inoculation of about 30 million spores for each tree.
because tree-of-heaven is very hard to kill said Davis. The researchers noticed a number of Ambrosia beetles near the infected stands leading them to theorize that the fungus often carried through the forests by beetles was involved in the tree deaths.
and then take those spores to another healthy tree which could be miles away. The effect that the fungus has on other plants will be the subject of further research Kasson said.
However preliminary studies on the vegetation that surrounds Ailanthus groves indicate the fungus may not harm nearby plants and trees.
Only a small percentage of plants near the infected tree-of-heaven plots showed signs of being harmed by the fungus.
There are still tests and studies that need to be done in the future to make sure it's completely safe said Kasson.
Stink bugs feed as nymphs and adults on the fruit and pods of plants which maximizes their chances to render a crop unmarketable.
These bugs have been documented to feed on many of our important agricultural crops including apples peaches grapes soybean peppers tomatoes corn and cotton.
Slender cores were collected from the trunk of more than 1000 ash trees across six counties in southeast Michigan.
This study describes the development of a novel thermogelling hydrogel for stem cell delivery that can be injected into skeletal defects to induce bone regeneration
#Plant a slice of paradise in your backyardapril showers bring May flowers indeed. Although torrential rainfall has inundated the Southeast region this spring there is something you can do in your own backyard to help prevent damage from flooding and runoff.
A rain garden is landscaped a area planted preferably with wildflowers and other native vegetation that soak up rainwater from the roofs driveways or other impervious surfaces.
Wake Forest's Associate Director of Landscaping Services David Davis says a rain garden fills with a few inches of water after a storm
Inlets and outlets generally need a cover of either vegetation or stone to prevent erosion. 3. Keep it on the level--Your excavated area should be relatively flat
Sedges and rushes do quite well and grow like weeds. These will cover an area fast so be aware of that.
A fern that can take sun or shade in a continually wet area is the Sensitive fern.
Cardinal flower has a beautiful red flower and is loved by Hummingbirds. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Wake Forest University.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length h
#Hotspots of climate change impacts in Africa: Making sense of uncertaintiesoverlapping impacts of climate change such as drought
or flooding declining crop yields or ecosystem damages create hotspots of risk in specific parts of Africa.
Save threatened species by giving them treated cotton for nestswhen University of Utah biologists set out cotton balls treated with a mild pesticide wild finches in the Galapagos islands used the cotton to help build their nests killing parasitic
if treated cotton is placed only in the habitats of endangered finches not others. Knutie and Clayton conducted the study with University of Utah doctoral students Sabrina Mcnew and Andrew Bartlow and with Daniela Vargas now of the Autonomous University of Barcelona in Spain.
and Clayton say their method might help the endangered mangrove finches with only 60 cotton dispensers needed to cover the less than half a square mile inhabited by the birds on Isabela Island.
if mangrove finches will collect cotton balls from dispensers. There are other species of birds that are hurt by parasites
and so if the birds can be encouraged to incorporate fumigated cotton into their nests then they may be able to lessen the effects of the parasites Knutie says.
but that is labor-intensive so it might be used on vegetation the animals drag into their burrows.
Knutie says permethrin-treated cotton has been used in the Northeast to get mice to incorporate it in their nests to kill Lyme disease-carrying ticks.
if finches could be encouraged to pick up treated cotton to fumigate their own nests located in tree cacti and acacia trees.
The biologists built wire-mesh dispensers for the cotton. They tried processed cotton balls treated with 1 percent permethrin solution
and as a control unprocessed cotton balls treated with water. Processed and unprocessed cotton balls appear slightly different so researchers could distinguish treated or untreated cotton in nests.
In a preliminary experiment Knutie showed the birds had no preference for collecting treated versus untreated cotton or for processed or unprocessed cotton.
In another preliminary test the researchers showed that the finches which are territorial travel no more than 55 feet from their nests to collect nest-building material.
Collecting Cotton Balls and Killing Maggotsduring the key experiment Knutie and colleagues set up two lines of 15 cotton dispensers--one line on each side of a road
in arid scrub woodland. In each line dispensers alternated between treated and untreated cotton and dispensers were 130 feet apart--more than twice 55 feet making it likely each nesting finch had a favorite dispenser.
That was confirmed: none of the nests were found to have both types of cotton. The researchers searched for active finch nests weekly within 65 feet of each dispenser using a camera on a pole to check each nest
and confirm breeding activity. They found cotton balls were collected by at least four species of Darwin's finches:
the medium ground finch (Geospiza fortis) small ground finch (Geospiza fuliginosa) small tree finch (Camarhynchus parvulus) and vegetarian finch (Platyspiza crassirostris.
and separated all the nest materials including cotton. The Utah biologists found 26 active nests of which 22 (85 percent) contained cotton:
13 nests had treated permethrin cotton nine had untreated cotton and four had no cotton. Regardless of treatment the amount of cotton in nests and the percent of the nest made of cotton didn't vary significantly.
The researchers write that their study found self-fumigation had a significant negative effect on parasites killing at least half the fly maggots.
The 13 nests with treated cotton averaged 15 maggots give or take 10. Nests with untreated cotton averaged 30 maggots give or take eight.
The amount of untreated cotton in a nest was unrelated to the number of maggots; but the more treated cotton the fewer the parasites.
Of eight nests with at least 1 gram of cotton (one 28th of an ounce) seven had no maggots
and one nest had four. If the birds insert a gram or more of treated cotton--about a thimbleful--it kills 100 percent of the fly larvae Clayton says.
A separate follow-up experiment--and earlier studies by others--showed killing the parasites with sprayed permethrin increases baby bird survival.
The researchers did not study survival of offspring in nests with cotton balls because that requires repeatedly climbing to nests
so birds can be weighed and banded which might disrupt the birds from self-fumigating their nests with cotton balls.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Utah. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
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