Celebrating Plants and People
-
Unique Seagrass Seed Uses Current To Plant Itself
In sum, rather than helping to lift and disperse the seeds as with maples, the team’s research shows that evolution has engineered the Posidonia wing to push the seed against the seafloor, like the downforce generated by the wing on the rear of a race car. (Click on title for full story)
-
Ancient Tropical Trees Have Tales To Tell
Using findings from a range of multidisciplinary case studies, we demonstrate that ancient trees are still preserved in tropical forests and are the last living witnesses of various Late Holocene climatic oscillations and natural forest disturbances, as well as past changes in human land use and management practices (Click on title for full story.)
-
The Unsung Relationship Of Mosquitoes And Nectar
. “For male mosquitoes, nectar is their only food source, and female mosquitoes feed on nectar for all but a few days of their lives.” Yet scientists know little about the scents that draw mosquitoes toward certain flowers, or repel them from others. This information could help develop less toxic and better repellents, more effective traps and understand how the mosquito brain responds to sensory information — including the cues that, on occasion, lead a female mosquito to bite one of us. (Click on title for full story.)
-
Traditional Chinese Parasite Cure Reveals Effective Insecticidal Compounds
Testing the substances on insects revealed that they were strongly toxic to aphids and moderately toxic to spider mites. A bacterial extract containing all of the compounds had greater lethal activity than any compound alone. These substances, or the bacteria that produce them, could be promising new natural pesticides, the researchers say. (Click on title for full story.)
-
Consuming This Algae May Be The Answer For IBS Sufferers
“The benefits of consuming this species of algae were immediately obvious when examining the data from both mice and humans who suffered from gastrointestinal symptoms, (Click on title for full story.)
-
3,000 Years Ago Pacific Islanders Survived By Cultivating Bananas
Humans began transporting and growing banana in Vanuatu 3000 years ago, a University of Otago scientist has discovered. The discovery is the earliest evidence of humans taking and cultivating banana into what was the last area of the planet to be colonised. (Click on title for full story.)
-
Wood From Old Log Cabins Reveals Secrets Of Trees, Forests, Population And People
The historic logs showed evidence that a lot of trees began to grow at the same time across a fairly large area in West Virginia. This synchronous growth may indicate that trees began growing on cleared land that Native Americans had once inhabited and then abandoned following European contact, It’s a small area, but we found compelling evidence that a major forest change occurred, and that change coincided with the estimated timing of depopulation in that particular region. However, there was also a sub-continental drought that may have led to broad-scale forest thinning and subsequent tree growth in the 1670s in eastern North America.” (Click on title for full story.)
-
How Did Indigenous North Americans Feed Thousands Before Maize?
Make some room in the garden, you storied three sisters: the winter squash, climbing beans and the vegetable we know as corn. Grown together, newly examined “lost crops” could have produced enough seed to feed as many indigenous people as traditionally grown maize, according to new research. (Click on title for full story.)
-
What Watermelon Can Do For Obese Mice Health (And Maybe Ours)
“Even though the two groups of mice were eating the same amount of fat and sugar, that consumption of 1½ servings of watermelon flesh or 2% of high-fiber rind or skin products had significant effects,” (Click on title for full story.)
-
Non-Native Plants Play Important Role In Supporting Native Insects
“A balance of both native and non-native plants may help provide a home for the widest variety of insects in our gardens. It is important to ensure that at least a third of plants are native, as the research suggests that these plants provide the best home for most insects. However, “The presence of some non-native plants may help provide a home for unusual or rare British insects that may be struggling to find a home on our native plants.” (Click on title for full story)