Celebrating Plants and People
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Humans Have Re-Shaped Forests Since The Ice Age
A new study of pollen samples extracted from tropical forests in southeast Asia suggests humans have shaped these landscapes for thousands of years. Although scientists previously believed the forests were virtually untouched by people, researchers are now pointing to signs of imported seeds, plants cultivated for food, and land clearing as early as 11,000 years…
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High School Students Rewilding Florida With Native Orchids
These kids are interested in the plants, they asked thoughtful, higher-level questions, they were meticulous about taking care of orchids, It was the most amazing unintended outcome I could’ve asked for.
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Everglades Endemic Plants Are Disappearing
I don’t think we should have to lobby to get plants noticed as well as animals, Funding for rare plants is a drop in the bucket compared to funding for python control.
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People Need Forests. Forests Need Animals.
The livelihoods of as much as a fifth of the world’s population are directly linked to forests, which also provide a home for 300 million people. The presence (or absence) of an animal as significant as elephants can have huge effects on the character of the habitat, as has been demonstrated by comparing two similar…
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The Plant, The Predatory Bug, And Genetic Engineering in The Dark
Plants produce odors known as herbivory-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) that are thought to offer indirect defense against herbivores by betraying their location to predators and parasites. However, HIPVs also influence other members of the ecological community, sometimes in ways that are detrimental to plants. Moreover, despite 30 years of research, no study has demonstrated that…
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Can Forests Grow Our Way Out Of Climate Change? Not If Bugs Have A Say
Carbon dioxide typically makes plants grow faster and makes them more efficient in how they use nutrients. But the amount of damage caused by leaf-munching bugs in the study nearly doubled under high carbon dioxide conditions
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The Flower That Interviews Pollinators To Select The Correct One
To our knowledge, these findings provide the first evidence of pollinator recognition in plants. H. tortuosa is capable of discerning morphologically specialized hummingbird species from those with generalized traits.
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Heating With Corn? Green As Well As Delicious?
Corn is just one choice, though, for a range of stoves now on the market. A long way from the good old cast-iron furnace, these modern appliances can burn fuels including wood, biomass pellets, and even cherry pits.
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Climate Change Is Tinkering With Forest Dynamics
In the long-term, the survival of some woodland plants could be affected as plants compete for light under the woodland canopy.
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The Tenuous Life Of An Unknown Yet Endangered Plant
Saving the wild plants will pose more of a challenge. In their paper the researchers noted that it would only take a single landslide, hurricane or flash flood to wipe out every remaining plant.