A Green Evangelist in India

Category(-ies): Plants in the Landscape

Darepalli Ramaiah hopes to plant ten million trees before his life is over. After being punished for stealing mangoes at age eight, the villager from Andhra Pradesh, decided to take up tree planting. Although he lacks formal training, Mr. Ramaiah makes up for it with his enthusiasm for nature. Each day he travels around the countryside proclaiming the value of trees and environmental protection, passing out saplings and seeds to all who are interested. The modern day Johnny Appleseed has received many awards and accolades for his efforts to promote environmental awareness and tree conservation - including recognition from the late Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao.

So far Ramaiah has given out more that one million plants, with a little luck he may surpass his goal.

Link: Green man who wants to plant 10 million trees from WebIndia123.com

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 10:47 AM

How Plants Resist Powdery Mildew Infection

Category(-ies): Plant Diseases and Pests

Powdery mildew is a common fungal disease that infects more than 9,000 plant species. Recent research found that plants use various genetic defenses against the infection. The plant's first line of defense against the pathogen is at the cell wall. Scientists, working with arabidopsis, have identified two genes, called PEN1 and PEN2, that block the fungus from entering the cell. Each works in a different way, and although the mechanisms are not yet understood, researchers think the process is relatively simple.

Powdery mildew and other fungal diseases cause growers great losses each year. Scientists hope to use the arabidopsis genes to develop new crops that are resistant to fungal infections.

Link: Genetic defenders protect crops from fungal disease a news release from the Carnegie Institution

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 3:15 PM

Resurrected Plant Yields Genetic Clues to Drought Stress

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

A newly discovered gene that regulates lipid synthesis in plants, appears to play a role in embryo development and drought stress. Researchers at Purdue University made the discovery in a plant with a mutated version of the gene. While the gene does not play a direct role in embryo formation, it regulates the production of waxy lipids, which are important in preventing dehydration in developing plant tissues.

A plant that is unable to produce sufficient lipids cannot develop healthy embryos and will abort many or all of its seeds. Researchers hope the findings will lead to the development of crops that retain more of their fruit and seeds.

Link: Newly recognized gene mutation may reduce seeds, resurrect plants a Purdue University news release

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 10:57 AM | Comments (0)

Preserving British Columbia's Agricultural Lands

Category(-ies): Plant Legal News and Issues , Plants, Food and Medicine

British Columbia, like the rest of Canada, has vast land area with overall low population density. Although abundant, only around five percent of the land in the province is suitable for agriculture. Fertile soils can take thousands of years to develop. Land suited to agriculture is often the most desirable for other human uses as well. Recognizing that BC's agricultural land was a precious limited commodity that would come under increasing pressure for development, the provincial government established the Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR), in the mid 1970s.

Continue reading "Preserving British Columbia's Agricultural Lands"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 2:16 PM | Comments (0)

Future Forests of Champion Trees?

Category(-ies):

Record holders have a particular fascination; superlatives of the plant world are no exception. Since 1940, American Forests, an environmental advocacy group, has published a list of the largest known specimens of native tree species in the country - the National Register of Big Trees. Groups from all over the US and the world hold annual searches for the biggest trees in their areas, and work to preserve them. Around ten years ago, tree farmers David and Jared Milarch, founded the Champion Tree Project - to clone and plant trees chosen as state or national champions.

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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 11:46 AM | Comments (0)

Archaeological Sites Destroyed By Agriculture

Category(-ies): Plant Legal News and Issues

Archaeological digs in the Somerset Levels of Britain have provided researchers with rare views into how Bronze Age man dealt with life in a wetland five thousand years ago. When the sites were first opened up around a century ago, organic items had been remarkably well preserved under the flooded land. A recent scientific survey of the wetlands, found that many of the organic artifacts had completely disintegrated. The culprit, it seems, is agriculture. In the past century land in the wetland has been drained for agriculture. Preserved organic artifacts decomposed quickly when water levels were lowered, exposing them to air.

Scientists are encouraging a return to traditional lower impact farming methods in the area to preserve the remaining artifacts.

Link: Britain's ancient sites destroyed by agriculture from the Guardian Unlimited

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 2:31 PM | Comments (0)

Bacteria "Sniffs Out" Plant Wounds

Category(-ies): Plant Diseases and Pests

Crown gall is a disease of many woody species caused by a common soil bacterium, Agrobacterium tumefaciens. The disease causes considerable losses for fruit and wine grape growers. New research shows how the pathogen infects its hosts, using a protein sensor to "sniff out" compounds emitted from plant wounds. The findings will help scientist develop controls for the gall tumours.

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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 10:49 AM

Gene that Controls Plant Size Discovered

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries

Washington State University researchers have identified a gene that directs the production of plant chemicals related to growth and size. By altering the gene, scientists were able to reduce the overall mature size of plants. Elimination of the gene, "resulted in a ground-hugging rosette of leaves with very little vertical growth." The findings could be used to produce plants in sizes that fit the needs of the grower. Dwarf plants often make good crop plants; energy saved on stem and leaf growth can be directed to the production of fruit and seeds, while their smaller size is more resistant to wind and weather.

The investigators worked primarily with arabidopsis, but genes with similar function were found in all plants that were studied. The gene functions as part of a "calcium messenger system", which has been poorly understood in plants.

Link:

Small Plants Loom Large: WSU Researchers Find a Key to Plant Growth a news release from Washington State University

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 2:51 PM | Comments (1)

The Keeling Curve

Category(-ies): Climate Change

For decades it was hard for the late Charles David Keeling to secure government funding for his research on atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. Government agencies did not see the value of measuring the same thing every year. But Dr. Keeling continued his measurements and eventually produced the Keeling curve - a graph that charts the steady rise of the CO₂ concentration in the Earth's atmosphere since the 1958. While the debate on global warming continues, the Keeling curve stands as clear empirical evidence that the atmosphere is changing.

Charles David Keeling passed away in June of this year at the age of 77.

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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 11:03 AM | Comments (0)

Getting to the Root of Tree Death

Category(-ies): Plant Discoveries , Plants in the Landscape

The life span of trees planted in our home and urban landscapes often falls far short of their typical natural duration. Linda Chalker-Scott of Washington State University thinks the primary reason that so many transplanted trees fail, is poor root development caused by improper but common planting methods. Through research and experience she has developed techniques to encourage healthy root development in transplanted trees and shrubs.

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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 4:30 PM | Comments (0)

Scottish and Chinese Botanists Team Up

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A century ago, George Forrest, an adventurous Scottish plant collector, initially trained as a chemist, travelled to China on botanical expeditions. He discovered many new plants on his expeditions and used his medical training to treat the Chinese for illnesses. The botanical connection between Scotland and China that began with Mr. Forrest, continues today with new projects involving the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh and China.

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Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 3:33 PM | Comments (0)

A Man of the Trees

Category(-ies): Botanical Art , Plant Conservation

For more than thirty years, Tom Zetterstrom has photographed the natural beauty of the Berkshire Mountains near his home. Trees have been a favourite subject for the artist - whose works have been shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Corcoran Gallery and the Getty Museum of Art. Mr. Zetterstrom may be know as much for his environmental activism as he is for his art. Noting the pressure of development on the wild lands in the region, the artist was inspired to work for environmental protection early on in his career.

Mr. Zetterstrom laments that the environmental work has taken on such great importance that he does not have time to devote to his art, but his work on both fronts will help preserve the beauty of the Berkshires.

Link: Canaan's Man of the Trees from the Litchfield County Times

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 12:53 PM

Ant Uses Herbicide to Create Habitat

Category(-ies): Plant Relationships

Curious tracts of Amazonian rainforest containing only a single species of tree, Duroia hirsuta, have puzzled people who have encountered them. Locals called them devil's gardens, referring to the belief that evil spirits created them. Botanists had suspected allelopathy, a process where one plant suppresses the growth of others by secreting toxins. Studies by Stanford University researchers indicate that the devil's gardens are actually created by an ant species that builds its nests in D. hirsuta trees. The ant, Myrmelachista schumanni, poisons other plants around the host trees with formic acid, a toxin commonly produced by ants.

Link: Ants, not evil spirits, create poisonous devil’s gardens in the Amazon rainforest a Stanford University news report

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 3:08 PM

A Substitute for Peat?

Category(-ies): Novel Uses of Plants

Peat has been used by gardeners as one of the finest soil amendments for ericaceous plants, but peat is collected from wetlands, which harbour many rare and endangered species. Peat bogs can take centuries to regenerate. "In the past half century, 94 per cent of Britain's lowland peat bogs have been lost," (Don). Garden writer and BBC personality, Monty Don, has found an alternative to peat, growing wild on his farm. Bracken fern, Pteridium aquilinum, seems to be an excellent addition to compost for acid-loving plants. Trimming off the top of the plant for mulch and compost can also help bring the competitive weed under control without using chemical herbicides.

Links:

• The Poor Sod from the Observer Magazine of the Guardian Unlimited


• Peat from Wikipedia


• Pteridium aquilinum - Bracken Fern by Earl J. S. Rook

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 11:43 AM