Home / Resources and Writings / Weblog / August 2004
Biologists Question Decision to Thin Forest
Category(-ies): Plant Conservation , Plant Legal News and Issues
Biologists are questioning the US Forest Service's decision to thin forests in the Sierra Nevada. The decision is rationalized by the Forest Service asserting that preventing wildfires will save spotted owl habitat. However, the Forest Service's claims of habitat loss due to wildfires appear to be exaggerated.
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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 10:17 PM
Coffee's Genetic Code Unravelled
Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries , Plants, Food and Medicine
Brazilian scientists have identified the 35000 genes that make up the genome of coffee. Researchers will use the findings of the two year government study to develop superior new coffee strains.
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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 9:56 PM
The Olive Tree and the 2004 Olympics
Category(-ies): Plants, Food and Medicine
In this year's Olympic Games in Athens, winning athletes are awarded olive wreaths. These wreaths, called “kotinos”, mirror the sacred prizes awarded to champions at the ancient Olympic Games. Coloured in blue and white, the kotinos is also the emblem of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.
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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 9:46 PM
Creating Memories to Promote Organic Produce
Category(-ies): Plants, Food and Medicine
David ‘Mas’ Masumoto is a writer and organic peach farmer in central California who creates memories. He links these memories of places, friends, and family to people's experiences of the flavours and aromas of fresh organic produce. And, he feels, these shared experiences and memories are a valuable tool in promoting small farms.
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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 3:14 PM
Hikers Spreading Sudden Oak Death?
Category(-ies): Plant Diseases and Pests
Research conducted by J. Hall Cushman, a biologist at Sonoma State University in California, seems to indicate that hikers and other recreational trail users are spreading the pathogen that causes sudden oak death. The pathogen was found along trails in grasslands and other uninfected forest areas, while samples a few metres from the trail turned up few or no spores of the disease.
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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 2:29 PM
Premier Committed to Supporting RBG in Hamilton
Category(-ies): Other Botanical Gardens
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has promised to give the financially strapped Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton the support it needs to stay open. Although no guarantees of additional provincial funding were made, the premier was confident that a plan could be worked out to keep the gardens open.
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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 2:16 PM
Germinating Molecule in Smoke Identified
Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries
A team of Australian scientists has identified the molecule in smoke that makes plant seeds germinate after bushfires, a goal sought by biologists since it was determined by South African researchers that smoke, not heat or ash, induced seed germination.
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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 2:12 PM
Trees are Good
Category(-ies): Botanical Resources , Plants in the Landscape
Billed as the “the largest and most influential arboricultural organization in the world”, the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) has created a website to provide quality information about arboriculture to the general public: Trees are Good.
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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 11:59 AM
Young Actor Dies of Monkshood Poisoning
Category(-ies): Plants, Food and Medicine
Andre Noble, a 25 year-old actor from Newfoundland, died July 30 after coming in contact with a poisonous plant on an outing to Silver Fox Island near his family's home in Centreville. A medical examiner in Newfoundland confirmed that poison from a monkshood (aconite) plant caused the death.
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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 1:13 PM
