Random image

Celebrating Plants and People

  • To Mitigate Climate Change Effects On Coffee Crops, Farmers Seek Matchmaker’s Help

    Coffee crops are incredibly sensitive to temperature changes. Increasing temperatures world-wide could make it difficult to grow coffee in Brazil. Farmers have tried to lower the temperature for coffee plants by intercropping them with shade trees. But so far, they haven’t been very successful. The trees provided too much shade and competed with the coffee plants for nutrients. The farmers lost money because they didn’t produce as much coffee. Researchers needed to find the right type of shade tree to make intercropping work. So the intercropping matchmakers stepped in. (Click on title for full story.)

  • Pollinators… Under The Sea

    Birds do it, bees do it, but until recently, no marine critters were thought to do it. Pollination, that is. Tides and currents do a great job of sweeping pollen from marine plant to plant, so scientists thought underwater pollinators were unnecessary. But now, researchers have discovered a species of Caribbean seagrass, Thalassia testudinum, that can be pollinated by zooplankton and bottom-dwelling invertebrates. (Click on title for full story.)

  • Local Forest Die-Offs Have Far Reaching Effects (All Forests Are Global)

    The new study describes how major forest losses can alter global climate by shifting the path of large-scale atmospheric waves or changing the amount of sunlight absorbed in the Northern versus the Southern hemispheres. Such changes can shift tropical rain bands and other climate features. (Click on title for full story.)

  • As Climate Change Forces Marine Life To Relocate, Kelp Forests Suffer

    As a result of climate change, warm-water fish species are shifting their range and invading temperate areas. Our results show that over-grazing by these fish can have a profound impact, leading to kelp deforestation and barren reefs. This is the first study demonstrating that the effects of warming in kelp forests are two-fold: higher temperatures not only have a direct impact on seaweeds, they also have an indirect impact by increasing the appetite of fish consumers, which can devour these seaweeds to the point of completely denuding the ocean floor. Increases in the number of plant-eating fish because of warming poses a significant threat to kelp-dependent ecosystems both in Australia and around the globe ((Click on title for full story.)

  • Are Coconut Palms Doomed?

    In this day and age, coconuts seem to be, somehow, everything at once. You can buy oil from coconuts—not to be confused with butter from coconuts—and flour and sugar and milk and aminos and vinegar from coconuts. The coconut market is booming. But the long-term outlook for coconuts? Not as good. In the Caribbean, bacteria that cause lethal yellowing are wiping out coconut trees (Click on title for full story).

  • Newly Discovered Parasitic Orchid Is A Rarity Among Rarities. And None Are Protected

    A number of mycoheterotrophic species have recently been discovered in Yakushima, from Oxygyne yamashitae in 2008, Gastrodia uraiensis in 2015, and this year Sciaphila yakushimensis and Lecanorchis tabugawaensis. These discoveries are evidence of the abundant ecosystems supported by Yakushima’s primeval forests. However, when most people think of Yakushima, their attention is first drawn by the Jomon cedars 500 meters above sea level, and the value of the lowland laurel forests is not widely known. The Tabugawa area where this new endangered species was discovered is not a national park or a world heritage site – it is an unprotected area where logging is permitted. Cedar logging is taking place nearby, and there are concerns that this could dry out the area, changing the mycoflora and creating an inhospitable environment. (Click on title for full story.)

  • The Rarer The Better: Birds Prefer Fruit Of Uncommon Tree Species

    “It appears that fruit-eating birds are drawn to rare species, and this behavior can affect the reproductive potential of plants in a way that favors species of lesser abundance, When faced with a buffet of food choices, including millions of fruits from common plant species and perhaps only a few hundred or thousand fruits from rare species, birds select the rare fruits in proportions that are higher than what are represented in nature.” (Click on title for full story.)

  • Elephants Support Savanna Plant Communities, Balancing The Destruction They Do

    We conclude that elephants locally facilitate understory plants by creating refuges from herbivory, which countervails the direct negative effects of consumption and enhances larger-scale biomass and diversity by promoting the persistence of rare and palatable species. Our results offer a counterpoint to concerns about the deleterious impacts of elephant “overpopulation” that should be considered in debates over wildlife management in African protected areas: understory species comprise the bulk of savanna plant biodiversity, and their responses to elephants are buffered by the interplay of opposing consumptive and non-consumptive interactions. (Click on title for full story.)

  • Autumn leaves, The Untapped Industrial Resource?

    Very little use has been made of fallen leaves so far. They are either left on the ground, composted or burned resulting in full landfills and a growing carbon dioxide load. Autumn leaves derive their colour from orange and yellow carotenoids and red anthocyanins. In addition to pigments, autumn leaves contain many beneficial compounds, such as phenols, lignin, carbohydrates and protein. There is a fast-growing need for natural pigments in various industries around the world – for example, these natural pigments can even have health-promoting effects and use as nutraceuticals. (Click on title for full story.)

  • Plants Channel Sunlight Directly To Their Roots! But Why?

    To check whether light was directly transmitted through the plant rather than it activating signalling chemicals that travelled to the roots, the researchers attached a light source to the stem of plants via an optical fibre. An underground detector at the end of the roots confirmed that light was transmitted through. (Click on title for full story.)