In addition the National park service's Weeds Gone Wild site has a manageable list of factsheets for some of the most common invasives.
A weed that is spreading rapidly in the Mid-atlantic states this Asian native is dispersed by seed and grows prolifically in lawns.
On the other hand Snetselaar notes pulling up Japanese knotweed (Fallopia japonica) a notorious invader isn't recommended
Meanwhile farmers looking to avoid herbicides often have to combat weeds with tillage which causes erosion.
But no-till requires herbicides to control weeds and even after adoption of the practice by many farmers harmful algal blooms were still occurring in surface waters.
because the light tilling and in-row cultivation that was done kept weeds under control. Reduced-input rotations strike a medium between conventional tillage
Successes and failures from the first billion acressince 1996 farmers worldwide have planted more than a billion acres (400 million hectares) of genetically modified corn and cotton that produce insecticidal proteins from the bacterium
which evolved resistance rapidly to Bt cotton in India but not in the U s. Tabashnik said.
We've also started exchanging ideas and information with scientists facing related challenges such as herbicide resistance in weeds and resistance to drugs in bacteria HIV and cancer.
Also endangered bee species often specialize on flowers that cannot easily be established on farmland such as heather or bilberry.
In the case of Celtic Europe grape wine displaced a hybrid drink of honey wheat/barley and native wild fruits (e g. lingonberry and apple) and herbs (such as bog myrtle yarrow and heather.
#A grassy trend in human ancestors dietsmost apes eat leaves and fruits from trees and shrubs.
C3 plants include trees bushes and shrubs and their leaves and fruits; most vegetables; cool-season grasses and grains such as timothy alfalfa wheat oats barley and rice;
CAM plants include tropical succulent plants such as cactus salt bush and agave. Today North americans eat about half C3 plants including vegetables fruits and grains such as wheat oats rye and barley and about half C4
and rhinos that browsed on C3 leaves it would appear they ate C3 trees-shrubs.
while human ancestors ate more grasses and other apes stuck with trees and shrubs two extinct Kenyan baboons represent the only primate genus that ate primarily grasses and perhaps sedges throughout its history.
F (5 C). During the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum 55 million years ago tropical temperatures rose by 5 F (3 C) in less than 10000 years.
wheat maize rice barley rye millet sorghum soybean sunflower potato cassava sugarcane sugar beet oil palm rapeseed (canola) and groundnut (peanut.
the uglier a flower or weed the more allergy-inducing its pollen tends to be.
Ragweed mugwort plantain and pigweed have more than just their unappealing appearance in common--they're some of the worst offenders to allergy sufferers said Robert Valet M d. assistant professor of Medicine and an allergist at Vanderbilt University Medical center's Asthma
Ragweed can produce up to 1 billion pollen grains per plant throughout a pollen season according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.
Of those allergic to pollen-producing plants 75 percent are allergic to ragweed. The relationship between allergy-causing pollens and their flowers is something like a beauty pageant Valet said.
In late summer and fall the weeds make their presence known. Common weed allergens include ragweed lamb's quarter pigweed English plantain and mugwort.
This year the pollen count is proving to be high in Nashville according to Valet. The pollen count may change from day to day due to an event like rain
For the analysis researchers reviewed 104 studies that looked at exposure to weed fungus rodent or bug killers and solvents and the risk of developing Parkinson's disease.
Also slithering it way onto this year's top 10 is a snail-eating false coral snake as well as flowering bushes from a disappearing forest in Madagascar a green lacewing that was discovered through social media
Although the forests where the monkeys live are remote the species is hunted for bush meat
Madagascarendangered shrub: Eugenia is a large worldwide genus of woody evergreen trees and shrubs of the myrtle family that is particularly diverse in South america New caledonia and Madagascar.
The new species E. petrikensis is a shrub growing to two meters with emerald green slightly glossy foliage and beautiful dense clusters of small magenta flowers.
It is one of seven new species described from the littoral forest of eastern Madagascar
or nightshade family includes a wide range of flowering plants some of which are important agricultural crops.
Members of the Dulcamaroid clade are all woody plants and vary in appearance from shrubs to vines.
Some are large canopy lianas while other vining species are woody only at the base.
All representatives have beautiful clusters of flowers varying in color from deep purple through fuchsia and pale pink to pure white.
Among the species included in this revision is the common European woody nightshade Solanum dulcamara distributed all over the northern hemisphere
Two of the most well-known decorative representatives of the group featured in the study are S. crispum also known as Chilean potato vine or Chilean nightshade and S. laxum commonly called potato climber or jasmine nightshade.
or nightshade family includes a wide range of flowering plants some of which are important agricultural crops.
Members of the Dulcamaroid clade are all woody plants and vary in appearance from shrubs to vines.
Some are large canopy lianas while other vining species are woody only at the base.
All representatives have beautiful clusters of flowers varying in color from deep purple through fuchsia and pale pink to pure white.
Among the species included in this revision is the common European woody nightshade Solanum dulcamara distributed all over the northern hemisphere
Two of the most well-known decorative representatives of the group featured in the study are S. crispum also known as Chilean potato vine or Chilean nightshade and S. laxum commonly called potato climber or jasmine nightshade.
and other factors increase the severity of cheatgrass invasion in sagebrush steppe one of North america's most endangered ecosystems.
and land managers to promote a diverse sagebrush and bunchgrass ecosystem Doescher said. That type of community will protect the native plant
which were carpeted once by millions of acres of native sagebrush perennial bunchgrasses and associated wildlife that had evolved with little herbivore pressure.
and ultimately cause an irreversible loss of these native shrub-steppe communities. This also has grazing implications:
After you cross that threshold a major rangeland fire will come through that takes out the sagebrush
--and there are dozens--sacred lotus bears the closest resemblance to the ancestor of all eudicots a broad category of flowering plants that includes apple cabbage cactus coffee cotton grape melon peanut poplar
Rhododendron a woody evergreen shrub common in southern Appalachian forests is one of the species replacing eastern hemlock trees.
Although rhododendron is evergreen it has lower leaf area than hemlock and thus transpiration in rhododendron-dominated forest stands is lower than in previously-healthy hemlock forests.
Most of the other species replacing eastern hemlock trees are deciduous such as sweet birch which unlike the evergreen rhododendron and eastern hemlock do not transpire during the Winter sweet birch trees also have a much higher transpiration rate than eastern hemlock trees during the growing season.
The cumulative effect of these species changes will probably mean permanent changes in seasonal transpiration patterns says Brantley.
The original article was written by Heather Buschman. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference
Monica Gagliano and Michael Renton from the University of Western australia attempted to grow chilli seeds (Capsicum annuum) in the presence or absence of other chilli plants or basil (Ocimum basilicum.
and the increased spread of Cassava Brown Streak Disease or CBSD warning that the rapidly proliferating plant virus could cause a 50 percent drop in production of a crop that provides a significant source of food and income for 300 million Africans.
because agriculture experts have been looking to the otherwise resilient cassava plant --which is used also to produce starch flour biofuel
Cassava is already incredibly important for Africa and is poised to play an even bigger role in the future
and eliminate this plague said Claude Fauquet a scientist at the International Center for Tropical agriculture (known by its Spanish acronym CIAT) who heads the Global Cassava Partnership for the 21st Century (GCP21).
and particularly Nigeria--the world's largest producer and consumer of cassava--because Nigeria would provide a gateway for an invasion of West Africa where about 150 million people depend on the crop.
Fauquet and his colleagues in the GCP21--an alliance of scientists developers donors and industry representatives--are gathering at the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center in Italy this week for a conference dedicated to declaring war on cassava viruses in Africa.
and little-known until about ten years ago CBSD has emerged as the most serious threat among the various cassava viruses.
The leaves of infected plants can look healthy even as the roots cassava's most prized asset are being ravaged underground.
There have been recent reports of new outbreaks in the Democratic republic of the congo--the world's third largest cassava producer
because the country now produces 50 million tons of cassava each year and has made a big bet on cassava for its agricultural and industrial development in the near future.
Nigeria is the first African country to massively invest in the potential of cassava to meet the rapidly growing global demand for industrial starches
which are used in everything from food products to textiles plywood and paper. Nigeria hopes to mimic the success of countries in Southeast asia where a cassava-driven starch industry now generates US$5 billion per year
and employs millions of smallholder farmers and numerous small-scale processors CMD--a Scourge for Cassava on the African Continentscientists at the conference will also consider options for dealing with another devastating virus--the Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD).
CMD has plagued the whole African continent for over a century each year removing a minimum of 50 million tons of cassava from the harvest.
The disease is caused by several viruses and the African continent witnessed several major CMD epidemics over the past decades the most recent and devastating
In fact by the mid-2000s half of all cassava farmers were benefiting from these varieties in large parts of East and Central africa.
Whiteflies Ambush a Climate-Resilient Cropinterest in cassava has intensified across Africa as rising temperatures and shifting rainfall patterns caused by climate change threaten the future viability of food staples such as maize and wheat.
Cassava has been called the Rambo root for its extraordinary ability to survive high temperatures and tolerate poor soils.
But rising temperatures now pose a threat to cassava because they appear to be one of several factors causing an explosion in whiteflies
now we're seeing thousands said James Legg a leading cassava expert at the International Institute of Tropical agriculture (IITA.
Efforts to breed high-yielding disease-resistant plants suitable for Africa's various growing regions will involve going to South america where cassava originated
and working with scientists to mine the cassava gene bank at CIAT in Colombia--the biggest repository of cassava cultivars in the world.
how to eradicate cassava viruses altogether. The aim will be to develop a bold regional strategy that will gradually step-by-step village-by-village replace farmers'existing infested cassava plants with virus-free planting material of the best and most resistant available cultivars.
Approaches will include new molecular breeding and genetic engineering technologies to speed up the selection and production of CMD and CBSD resistant cassava cultivars more appealing to farmers.
There also will be discussions about cost-effective and environmentally sustainable ways to control whiteflies as well as proposals for new surveillance systems that can better track
Scientists will also discuss new research into the potential threat African cassava producers face from the introduction of new diseases currently found outside the continent.
More than any other crop cassava has the greatest potential to reduce hunger and poverty in Africa but CBSD and other viruses are crippling yields.
and other destructive viruses like the smallpox of cassava--formidable diseases but threats we can eradicate
Wetlands and buffers of trees grasses and shrubs help to keep runoff from fields out of the waterways slowing erosion of soil and blooms of algae downstream.
The restricted foods included grains beans fruit poultry and plants belonging to the nightshade family
buckthorn. This nonnative shrub which has invaded two-thirds of the United states has long been known to negatively impact plant community composition
and forest structure but these two innovative studies slated to publish in upcoming editions of the Journal of Herpetology
and Natural Areas Journal demonstrate how this shrub negatively impacts native amphibians and affects habitat use by mammals including increased prevalence of coyotes and other carnivores.
Lincoln Park Zoo Reintroduction Biologist Allison Sacerdote-Velat Ph d. and Northern Illinois University Professor of Biological sciences Richard King have identified European buckthorn as a contributor to amphibian
Several amphibian species exhibit low hatching rates in sites that are infested heavily with European buckthorn.
The Chicago Wilderness 2004 Woodland Audit found that in the Chicagoland area alone more than 26 million stems of European buckthorn exist with a density of 558 stems per acre.
hypothesize that emodin may impact the reproductive success of other frog species in regions where buckthorn is not native.
The new study demonstrates how a shrub that is viewed by many as a decorative plant can become invasive
Additionally new research from the zoo's Urban Wildlife Institute reveals how the presence of the invasive shrub in forest preserves and natural areas correlates to increased prevalence of carnivores.
and nestlings such as robins when nests are built in buckthorn and honeysuckle compared to nests built in native shrubs or trees.
The relationship between invasive plants and wildlife is complex. This is the first study of its kind to investigate the association between buckthorn
and habitat use by mammal species explained Director of the Urban Wildlife Institute Seth Magle Ph d. We know based on prior research that birds which build nests in buckthorn are more susceptible to predation.
Our study found that the presence of buckthorn alters wildlife distribution and attracts some carnivore species. We now know that there are significantly more coyotes raccoons
and opossums in buckthorn invaded areas and significantly fewer white-tailed deer. Magle hypothesizes that the carnivores could be drawn to buckthorn areas
because birds and their nests are easier to prey upon. He suggests that deer may be avoiding these areas
because buckthorn is an undesirable food source and also due to the increased prevalence of coyotes.
Research shows that deer fawns are a relatively common food item for Chicago-area coyotes.
In some areas like Lake County Forest Preserve District where Sacerdote-Velat works regularly ecologists and land managers have been committed to removing buckthorn from the area.
which is a common herbicide used against weeds. Relyea and his Pitt collaborators exposed the tadpoles from each of the nine populations to environments containing either no pesticides chlorpyrifos or Roundup.
The data set collected from 2001 to 2008 includes a sample of all trees shrubs vines herbs grasses fern
and shrubs burn during a forest fire and remain in the soil after the fire ensuring the forest will regenerate.
fiber crops such as flax and cotton; ornamental plants like roses and lilies; Echinacea St john's wort and other medicinal herbs;
and what Khoury calls iconic U s. crops including sugar maple and wild rice. The rich assortment of U s. crop wild relatives came as something of a surprise to him
and his colleagues but Khoury says there are several possible reasons for it. For one although North america is itself not a major center of crop plant diversity it abuts one--Mesoamerica--where crops like corn bean squash
while nearly 5 percent are listed as federal or state noxious weeds. Despite being nonnative and potentially invasive however these plants are still valuable genetic resources for breeding Khoury says;
This was the assertion of Prof Niels Anten in his inaugural speech upon accepting the post of Professor of Crop and Weed Ecology at Wageningen University on Monday 22 april.
In both cases plants are surrounded by numerous organisms such as weeds pollinating insects fungi blights and diseases and their natural enemies all engaged in the struggle for existence.
and Weed Ecology he will be looking at the connections between these areas of study for the benefit of sustainable crops with high yields.
Alien neighbouring plants include weeds which pose an important threat to crop production. The use of herbicides is an important element of weed control
but also harmful to the environment while more and more weeds are becoming resistant to these agents.''We will need therefore also to look at other more ecological solutions'says Professor Anten.'
'In short in order to achieve a sustainable increase in food production we will need to deploy all the weapons in our arsenal;
'Our first task was to find so-called macrofossils such as old weed seeds or pieces of grain.
Hopefully we'll find some weed seeds as they may help confirm that fertilisers were used indeed
since the type of weeds found in a field can signal whether fertilisers or some other method was used'says Axelsson.
In reality there is a de facto moratorium in Europe on the cultivation of genetically engineered crops such as maize cotton
or triple cassava and maize yields by introducing disease-resistant plant varieties increasing fertilizer use
The research focused the state of Mato grosso the epicenter of an agricultural revolution that has made Brazil one of the world's top producers of soybeans corn cotton and other staple crops.
With wheat all the seeds germinated in one to two days instead of four or five and with peas and beans the typical 40 percent rate of germination rose to 60 to 70 percent.
or triple cassava and maize yields by introducing disease-resistant plant varieties increasing fertilizer use
Parasite-infected monarch butterflies protect their offspring against high levels of parasite growth by laying their eggs on anti-parasitic milkweed.
Working with cotton--a well-defined cellulosic material--as their model system the researchers applied PALM imaging in combination with a mathematical analysis they devised.
and branches corn stalks and cotton fibers and it is the main component of paper and cardboard.
whether the presence of an audience influences the behaviour and the testosterone changes of Japanese quails (Coturnix japonica) after a fight.
prices rose by 44%before taking inflation (8. 3%)into account in Spain in the years 2006-2010 but by only 10%before inflation (8. 5%)in the Canary islands during the same period.
--and it's quickly become prominent in the rocky intertidal zone of the Gulf of Maine attached to common seaweeds like rockweed or Corallina officinalis also known as coral weed.
It was authored co by civil engineering postdoctoral researchers Jeryang Park and Heather Gall and by Rao and Dev Niyogi Indiana state climatologist and an associate professor in the Purdue Department of Agronomy and the Department of Earth
In places where trees and shrubs have encroached into native grassland soil carbon increased 31 percent after several decades according to the study.
Corn and cotton have been modified genetically to produce pest-killing proteins from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt for short.
As reported in the study the pyramid strategy has been adopted extensively with two-toxin Bt cotton completely replacing one-toxin Bt cotton
We tested the underlying assumptions of the models in lab experiments with a major pest of corn and cotton.
As expected the resistant caterpillars survived after munching on cotton plants producing only that toxin. The surprise came
when Carriã re's team put them on pyramided Bt cotton containing Cry2ab in addition to Cry1ac.
and may also explain the reports indicating some field populations of cotton bollworm rapidly evolved resistance to both toxins.
In addition to Kern Gilbert and Hossain other scientists involved in the research include Kalpesh Patel Soma Ghosh and Anil Bhunia from Johns Hopkins. Story Source:
or federal noxious weed lists are regulated and those lists are biased often toward species that affect agricultural crops.
Quinn said that a more transparent listing process would be based on a scientific process developed by the USDA known as the weed risk assessment.
unless it's on the noxious weed list said U of I professor of agricultural law A. Bryan Endres.
For economic reasons the horticultural industry has a strong incentive to keep these new plants off of the noxious weed list
Quinn first noticed the discrepancies in the regulated noxious weed lists and the nonregulated invasive plant lists
For some really problematic plants like yellow star thistle landowners are required not to do anything. It made no sense to
In comparing the lists from all 50 states the researchers found that Montana has a noxious weeds law that is well enforced.
If a noxious weed is found on private property it's the responsibility of the landowner to eradicate it Quinn said.
They don't want individuals to be able to go to their local weed commissioner and complain'my neighbor is going to plant Miscanthus
'and it gets added to the state's noxious weed list. That's not a good way to do business and to develop a new industrial model.
During their research and development phase they would petition the invasive species council to do the weed risk assessment on the plant that they're proposing.
I attorneys who specialize in agricultural law and Jacob Barney a weed scientist at Virginia Tech.
Boal said prairie chickens for example are not very likely to use cotton fields to nest in or for lekking (places where males aggregate to try to attract females to mate with).
The survey revealed that more than 80%of people in these areas use wetland resources including collecting water catching fish hunting bush meat (Sitatunga a type of antelope
and aluminum-sensitive plants she found a similar MATE1 allele (version of a gene) in both types of plants.
but in his view there could well be an increase in bushes and lianas. This would also have negative consequences for the local population.
and planting sticky nightshade as a trap crop whose roots exude the chemicals but don't support the nematode's reproduction.
Allen said cows stood for longer bouts of time as their core body temperatures rose from 101 degrees Fahrenheit to above 102 degrees.
hemp or other plant materials. These are sterilized mixed with nutrients and chilled. Then the mycelia spawn are added
and inhibiting the invasion of aggressive nonnative species including Scotch broom and hairy cat's ear.
Industrial forest managers and private landowners in Washington and Oregon are already using early results of the study to prevent Scotch broom invasions Harrington said.
in the Arctic is visible on the ground as an increasing abundance of tall shrubs
This may portend a decoupling between growing season warmth and vegetation productivity in some parts of the North as the ramifications of amplified greenhouse effect--including permafrost thawing frequent forest fires outbreak of pest infestations
However some plants that are ideal for bioenergy production come with a drawback--they can potentially become invasive weeds that can cause billions of dollars in economic damage.
We did this analysis to draw attention to state noxious weed lists and to suggest ways to help prevent additional plants from escaping cultivation
Barney is an assistant professor of plant pathology physiology and weed science in the College of Agriculture and Life sciences.
According to our analysis current noxious weed laws do not provide adequate protection to prevent invasions in natural areas
This will help take the expense of noxious weed control away from taxpayers while protecting conscientious biofuels developers some of
and cultivation of 111 species of terrestrial aquatic and parasitic plants included on the Federal Noxious Weed List.
Noxious weeds on federal or state lists and invasive weeds are defined generally as plants with adverse social economic or ecological effects.
or federal noxious weed lists are subject to regulation. Since state departments of agriculture have responsibility for most regulatory bodies occasionally sharing responsibility with environmental agencies fewer plants that invade forests pastureland
The authors analyzed noxious and invasive weed species reports from each state and determined that official noxious plant lists contain on average only 19.6%of the species considered invasive by the IPCS and EPCS.
since funding for weed control is funneled generally into formally listed noxious plants. Because control is easiest in the early stages of infestation
when the political process involved in listing a weed may not have begun even the financial effects of this gap can be massive.
and more inclusive if revamped regulatory boards with input from invasive and exotic weed councils evaluated plants based on criteria such as the plant's history ecology reproductive potential and the potential for rapid spreading.
Barney earned his bachelor's degree in chemistry at the University of Kentucky and his master's and doctorate degrees in weed ecology at Cornell University.
He is a member of the Weed Science Society of America and the Ecological Society of America.
#Assembling the transcriptome of a noxious weed: New resources for studying how plants invadein order to build
Pankaj Jaiswal Assistant professor of Botany and Plant pathology at Oregon State university Samuel Fox a Postdoctoral Associate in Jaiswal's laboratory and colleagues assembled transcriptomes of a noxious weed Brachypodium sylvaticum
and is listed as a noxious weed along the West Coast of the United states. It is aggressively invasive within its current range--near monocultures of this grass occupy thousands of hectares of mixed coniferous understory
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