Celebrating Plants and People
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Jumbo-gardeners: How elephants affect weather
How elephants are the most important player when it comes to the diversity of tree species in the rainforest.
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Walden Pond trees leafing out far earlier than in Thoreau’s time
By comparing historical observations with current experiments, we see that climate change is creating a whole new risk for the native plants in Concord
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Fish oil extracted from plant seeds
It is hoped that the transgenic plants will provide a more environmentally friendly source of the oil.
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Phragmites australis management in the United States: 40 years of methods and outcomes
We suggest that Phragmites management needs to shift to watershed-scale efforts in coastal regions, or larger management units inland. In addition, management efforts should focus on restoring native plant communities, rather than simply eradicating Phragmites stands.
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The ultimate tulip? Bulbiferous coconut
The primary and secondary bulbil shoots were found to be capable of growing into independent plants making it possible to use them as propagules to develop a homogeneous clonal population hitherto unavailable in coconut.
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Insect’s Tobacco Breath Repels Predators
Thus, chemical defenses, too toxic to sequester, can be repurposed for defensive functions through respiration as a form of defensive halitosis, and predators can assist the functional elucidation of herbivore genes
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Free E-Book Examines What Drives Deforestation
The Little Book of Big Deforestation Drivers outlines the global context to the drivers of deforestation, provides a detailed overview of the most critical forest risk commodity supply chains, and presents a clear and realistic framework of 24 regulatory, market and supply chain catalysts that can act to reduce deforestation caused by these commodities
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Co-evolution Insufficient to Explain All Nature’s Connections
The study provides an interesting and novel story about early mammal evolution, diet, and paleoecology. More importantly, it provides a good example of how simple narratives don’t always explain nature’s messiness.
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Grazing Pressure Affects Evolution Of Plants
The study shows that grazing pressure impacts not only which plants dominate but also the genetic composition of the plant populations. These findings help us understand how differences in environmental conditions influence the evolution of genetic differentiation among plant populations,
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Bats Using Leaves To Play Telephone
Bats that nest inside curled-up leaves may be getting an extra benefit from their homes: the tubular roosts act as acoustic horns, amplifying the social calls that the mammals use to keep their close-knit family groups together.