Celebrating Plants and People
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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…
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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…
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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.)
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…