Florida has an invasive species problem. At the edge of the Caribbean, it attracts unwanted attention from organisms looking to spread out and settle down in a tropical paradise where agriculture is as important as tourism. There they feed on the crops and molest the visitors, threatening both the...

By now, everyone has heard of global warming and the horrible effects it will continue to have upon life on Earth. Many studies that have shown the consequences of climate change on biodiversity. This study performed by scientists from Norway, Austria, and France, however, sheds new light on these...

Phosphorus, essential to the health of plants, is unfortunately in short supply. Over the next twenty years our soils will experience the crunch of phosphorous depletion, a fate suffered by some already. As the amount of phosphorous in the soil decreases, the vitality of the plants growing there is...

When it comes to global warming, there are winners and losers. Consider the white spruce, an evergreen that grows in the Alaskan tundra. Historically, the region’s cool climate restricts the rate at which this tree matures. But a recent study by the Lamont Tree-Ring Lab finds that these arctic forests...

“When we began this study, we started with the assumption that every year we advanced in the twentieth century there would be fewer and fewer varieties offered for sale commercially.” So confesses Paul Heald, law professor and co-author of a recent article debunking one of our most widely circulated,...

How can we minimize the carbon output in the bio fuel making process itself? This question addresses a major problem that all second generation bio fuels face. In a previous article, “Conservation Reserve Policy Reduces Bio fuel’s Carbon Debt,” we discussed how producing biofuels requires energy...

There are many examples of beneficial relationships between two different species. One species helps another in return for a favor, much like how we humans interact with each other. What happens, however, when one party does not hold up their end of the deal? Humans retaliate to take revenge in sometimes...

Plant pollen is responsible for the perpetuation of plant species, for bringing us beautiful flowers each spring, and for giving us tasty fruits. But, pollen may have another, more unexpected, effect on our world. It turns out that pollen is transported not only by bees and other nectar-seeking creatures...

Botanists have recently stumbled upon a flower in the mountain area of Murcia, Spain that has yet to be found elsewhere. After further analyzing this strange plant, they concluded that it is the species Astragalus nitidiflorus legume, also known as “Tallante’s chickpea.” The plant was last recorded...

If you take a close look–very close–at different species of birds and insects as they court wildflowers, you’ll discover a pleasing variety of feeding styles. Most bees, for example, use their tongues to get at the flower’s nectar, rather like a spoon. Other animals, such as butterflies,...

Data from the past thirty-three years show that the population of gray jays in Algonquin Park, a Canadian boreal forest and the birds’ yearlong habitat, is shrinking. As in many other cases of species decline, scientists suspect climate change may be to blame for the overall dwindling. But as a...

At the Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS), ecologists are working hard to manage the land in order to mitigate changes we’ve stimulated in the climate.  Models for the region predict more varied and extreme rainfall patterns. Based on data gathered at Coweeta Hydrological Laboratory...

Bahia, Brazil – located in the rural northeastern part of the country – holds one of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world. There, around two years ago, handyman José Carlos Mendes Santos found a miniscule plant – one inch in height and with white and pink flowers.

Though Santos...

Scientific discoveries can be made anywhere,  but it’s probably safe to say that the last place one would think to look is in animal feces.  Yes, I am talking about poop and not just any poop, great panda poop.  In research was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society, bacteria...

When humans can’t find a suitable mate, they are out of luck (with the exception, of course, of those who use gamete donors). Plants, such as certain types of Babiana, however, can simply self-fertilize if there are insufficient pollinators.

For cross pollination, the Babiana family of plants...

The penchant to avoid or discourage freeloaders is not limited to animals: even plants and fungi reward fair players and punish freeloaders.

Plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi continuously exchange nutrients with one another in a mutualistic symbiotic relationship well known to the...

Washing your fruits and vegetables prior to consumption may not be sufficient to rid produce of pathogenic bacteria. According to a new study conducted at Purdue University, bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella can exist inside, as well as outside, the plant.

E. coli and Salmonella have...

New research indicates that deadly fungi played a significant role in the death of forests approximately 250 million years ago in the Permian extinction, during which the vast majority of life on earth was wiped out. The destroyed forests consisted largely of conifers and took 4-5 million years to...

Toucans play a vital role in nutmeg seed dispersal by ingesting the seeds, digesting their outer layers, then regurgitating the seeds in different locations where they may develop into new trees. Researchers at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute devised a method to track when and where seeds...

Due to their limited mobility, plants often depend on the assistance of pollinators. Attractively colored flowers and sweet fragrances are some common evolutionary adaptations through which plants increase their likelihood of attracting pollinators such as insects and birds.

We now have evidence...

Pesticide use has long been associated with many costs—among them financial and environmental. The assumption has always been that the advantage of deterring crop-eating insects outweighs the disadvantages.

A new study at the Biocenter of the University of Würzburg not only challenges this...

Synthetic fertilizer is often considered necessary for the world today, given that since its introduction, both the yield and quality of crops have grown substantially. In a time where increasing the amount of food available remains a necessity, synthetic fertilizer does indeed have its uses. However,...

Naturalists have long been fascinated by the incredible swathes and splotches of colors present on organisms ranging from plants to insects.  Two years after Darwin published Origin of Species and forever changed science’s understanding of how such diversity arises, Henry Walter Bates proposed...

Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s) have been a huge topic of debate for many years now and most of the time, we hear the about the possible negative effects that these crops carry with them – rarely do we hear about their beneficial outcomes.

Researchers at Lawrence Berkley National...

Wine enthusiasts will likely know tannins as the class of chemicals that creates a dry feeling in the mouth after a sip of red wine. However, these compounds do more than give sommeliers a topic for debate—they are widespread chemical defenses in the plant world that work by forming complexes with...

Schoolchildren learn a very simple interaction between plants and animals—we take in oxygen and release carbon dioxide, they take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen.

However, plants and animals contribute to the cycling of many more essential molecules, and those cycles are sometimes connected...

It seems as though we always discuss what we, society, can do to protect the environment, but what if we left the responsibility up to the plants instead?

Scientists from the University of Missouri have discovered that buffer strips of grass can help limit ground erosion and can reduce herbicide...

As I often research water conservation efforts around the world for my current internship, I recently came across an extraordinary study conducted by two scientists from the University of California-Santa Barbara. The study, published in the journal Oeciligia earlier this year, highlights the UC Santa...

Algae have been shown to be a likely prospect for biofuel production for myriad reasons, as we explored in an article highlighting algae production and its relationship to the burgeoning biofuel industry. One of the primary benefits of algae is their ability to grow in a variety of conditions so long...

Last week, my family and I took a road trip across the diverse landscapes that form the countries of Lebanon and Syria. While this region of the world is often known for its instability, relative unrest, and political uncertainty, what I witnessed in our week long trip was far from any of that.

When...

With experts telling us that the world’s viable reserves of oil are on track to run out in 50 years, the race is on to discover new processes for producing alternative fuels that can be used to power our vehicles. The fuels that have received most of the attention in this hunt for an alternative...

As a child, I often remember playing outside with my friends and coming home to find tiny spike like seeds attached to my shirt, pants, and worst of all, socks. Although I didn’t understand what they were at the time, I now know that these tiny “hitchhiker” seeds come from the bur...

For all of human history, we omnivores have been inextricably dependent on plants for their ability to convert gaseous carbon dioxide into a solid form useable to us. While all plants convert (or “fix”) atmospheric CO2 into sugar, two classes of plants exist, distinguished by their method of delivering...

The beginning of this week, March 20th to be exact, marked the first day of spring.  While some people may see this time as the perfect opportunity to unpack their spring wardrobe and fire up the grill, others have a bit more negative connotation of the phrase “spring has sprung.”  For those...

As a tourist in Peru a few years ago, I learned that coca leaves were often used by laborers to wake up early and stay focused throughout the day. In addition, many foreigners often chewed on coca leaves to help adjust to the drastic change in elevation and prevent altitude sickness. In fact, the...

As many of you probably know by now, I have been living in Damascus, Syria for the past 8 months as a part of an Arabic Studies Scholarship known as the Arabic Flagship Program. For the past month or so, I have been fortunate enough to have been able to intern with a project funded by the European...

By 2050, scientists forecast that daytime and nighttime temperatures will have increased at least a few degrees Fahrenheit above the temperatures seen today. Although this may not seem drastic, such a “small” increase can actually have tremendous effects on plant and animal life. Therefore, scientists...

A few months ago,we reported that annual ryegrass had been developing a resistance to herbicides, and in turn was becoming a “superweed.”  In fact, many superweeds in the United States have developed a resistance to the commonly used herbicide glyophosate, more commonly known as Roundup.

Now...

Being from Houston but having lived in Austin for 4 years as a student at The University of Texas, I often heard arguments from my Austinite friends that their city is not only much more enjoyable than any other city in the state, but also infinitely more beautiful.

The proud Houstonian that...

A weed known as medusahead has begun to ravage rangelands in the western United States by simply outcompeting other species of grass. It is possible for the medusahead weed to outcompete other grasses due to its relatively high growth rate. Aside from growing faster than non-harmful grasses, medusahead...

Miscanthus can’t seem to stay out of the spotlight in recent plant energy research—it and other perennials like switchgrass (pictured) were highlighted in a recent Bioscience article as potential reservoirs to take up and store excess CO2 in the environment.

The authors of the review examined...

…A Swedish study indicates there might be

A recent study performed by researchers at Lund University in Sweden has shown that the use of biofuels in Sweden has had positive environmental benefits overall, a conclusion that significantly confronts the widely held conception...

The tenets of even the most basic biology courses hold that genetic diversity is crucial for a species’ survival, and an efficient way to achieve necessary diversity is by sexual reproduction of two individuals within a species.

Given those basic principles, the continued existence of self-fertilizing...

Not unlike Superman’s relationship with kryptonite, weeds around the world often fall without much of a fight when confronted with paraquat, one of the world’s most widely used herbicides. However, the difference in these two antagonistic relationships is that Superman developing a resistance...

A few weeks ago, we discussed an issue with environmental contaminants and urban gardening.  As previously stated, vegetables grown in unprotected urban soil tend to take in harmful substances into their root systems, ultimately exposing these urban vegetable consumers to another source of lead. ...

The summer following my sophomore year in High School, I was given the extraordinary opportunity of participating in a 10 week research program at the University of Wyoming-Laramie. Throughout my time there, I worked in the pharmaceutical department on a project that aimed to test the effects of crystal...

An international team of scientists led by Dr. Carmen Ulloa of the Missouri Botanical Garden just confirmed the discovery of a new genus of tree in the Aptandraceae family.  They named the genus Hondurodendron because it is native to Honduras.

The discovery of new species is not an uncommon...

For the much of previous millennia, the European corn borer has been a tremendous pest to grain crops worldwide. In particular, the European corn borer has an affinity for corn (hence its name); when corn borer caterpillars are hatched from their eggs, they damage both the ear and stalk by chewing...

April 26, 1986. A day that will live in infamy for the 14,000 or so residents of Chernobyl, Ukraine who witnessed their hometown turn into a nuclear disaster site in the aftermath of what is still considered the worst nuclear power plant accident in history and the only level  7 event on the International...

In a world filled with chemicals and toxins, environmental activists fight a constant battle to promote earth friendly habits to wasteful populations around the globe.  From exceedingly high carbon dioxide emissions to endocrine disrupting chemicals found in public water, society faces an onslaught...

Researchers from the University of Illinois published a study in The Journal of Environmental Quality this month on the environmental effects of Miscanthus giganteus, one of the top contender species in the search for biofuels.  They found that, like switchgrass, another perennial grass and candidate...

Scientists from the Institute of Integrative and Comparative Biology at the University of Leeds and the Department of Biology at the University of York recently published a study comparing the effects of conventional farming on wildlife with protected areas (spared land) and organic farming without...

After learning about cellulose in early high school, my vegetarian mind often wondered how much more energy I could have potentially obtained if humans had the ability to digest cellulose. Of course, with cellulose being the most common biopolymer on Earth, it seemed inevitable that one day, a scientist...

Detoxifying soils that are contaminated with arsenic has always been difficult to achieve with human hands and instruments. However, the introduction of genetically modified plants may be able to reduce arsenic levels with much greater ease.

The gene of interest comes from the fern Pteris...