Author: zooplantman
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For Impala On The Serengeti Staying Put And Changing Diet Is Better Than Migrating
For impala, the migration they undertake is a ‘dietary migration’, where they switch from eating mostly grass in the wet season, to eating more tree leaves or ‘browse’ during the dry season. This ‘mixed feeding’ strategy makes a huge amount of sense, because grasses tend to be higher quality and more abundant food in the wet season, but trees tend to stay greener much longer into the dry season and become the better food source then.” (Click on title for full story.)
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Plant Based Remedies During Pandemics. A Historical Review
My aim is to stress the significant role of plants in global health (past, present and future) and the need of enhancing and protecting the botanical knowledge, from systematics to conservation, from ecology to ethnobotany. (Click on title for full story)
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Those Water Droplets On Leaf Edges Are Sustaining Insects
Many insects such as bees, wasps and flies drink the small droplets, which arise on nights with high levels of moisture in soil, and biologists considered them only as a source of water for insects. But the droplets are rich in carbohydrates and contain proteins that are essential for many insect species. (Click on title for full story.)
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Tropical Forests Subjected To Redesign Due To Human Interference
Previous studies in disturbed tropical forests have often found plant communities are more likely to rely on seeds dispersed by wind and other abiotic mechanisms, rather than fruit-eating animals. In contrast, our study found that disturbance led to tree communities in which a greater proportion of species and individuals rely on animal dispersal. (Click on title for full story)
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Plants Evolve To Entice Humans To Spread Their Seed
“Humans are the best seed dispersers that have ever existed, dispersing plant species all over the world,” Spengler says. “We are currently removing all competitive plant species across the Amazon to spread soybean seeds – a plant that originally evolved traits for a mutualistic relationship with humans in East Asia. (Click on title for full story.)
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Tree Rings Reveal Astonishing Impact Of Industrial Pollution On Boreal Forest
What surprised us is just how widespread the effects of industrial pollution are – the scale of the damage shows just how vulnerable and sensitive the boreal forest is, Given the ecological importance of this biome, the pollution levels across the high-northern latitudes could have an enormous impact on the entire global carbon cycle. (Click on title for full story)
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Human Drug Helps Control Fungus On Plants
The team administered acetohydroxamic acid onto the plants, a substance also used to treat harmful bacteria in the human stomach, and which is known to inhibit the breakdown of urea. “The acid prevents the harmful fungi from penetrating into the plants and from becoming infectious, (Click on title for full article)
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How An Innovative Use Of Local Materials Reduced Forest Fires And Powered Villages
After seeing forest fires endanger lives and cause destruction year on year, they wanted to do something about it. Rajnish began to explore the idea of harnessing energy from the abundant pine needles. (Click on title for full story.)
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New Plant Species Discovered In Ikea Parking Lot (Really)
It goes to show that you don’t have to go to a remote tract of rainforest to discover new plant life – new species can be hiding in plain sight. Next time you do the shopping or refill the car, look carefully at the shrubbery and you may well spot a ‘vegetable vampire’ at your feet… (Click on title for full story.)
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Australian Tree That Stings Like A Scorpion (Literally)
Our results provide an intriguing example of inter-kingdom convergent evolution of animal and plant venoms with shared modes of delivery, molecular structure, and pharmacology. (Click on title for full story.)