Home / Resources and Writings / Weblog / February 2006


DeSmogBlog

Category(-ies): Climate Change

At a recent dinner party the topics of global climate change, species loss and sustainability came up again and again. The thing that perplexed everyone was, "Why is no one taking the issue seriously?" Evidence of global warming has been mounting steadily for years and the general consensus of the scientific community is that the climate is warming, due at least in part, to humans releasing greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Many people, this author included, feel that the issues of climate change and species loss are the most important ones before us today. We are risking our future by not actively addressing the unsustainable nature of human activities on earth today.

Continue reading "DeSmogBlog"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 2:01 PM | Comments (2)



Who Shall Be the Keeper of the Names?

Category(-ies): Botanical Resources , Plant Legal News and Issues

Two centuries after Linnaeus developed his binomial classification system that brought order to the naming of species, there is still no universally accepted central authority for registering the names of life forms on earth. One and a half to two million species have been described and named. New discoveries are being made regularly. Internationally accepted rules for describing a species have been established by agencies such as the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN) and the International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT). Whatever name and description meeting these standards is published first, is the name that is accepted for the organism. Names can be published virtually anywhere. An officially accepted central registry of species names would be a welcome boon for biologists.

Continue reading "Who Shall Be the Keeper of the Names?"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 11:47 AM | Comments (1)



Japan Tries to Save Giant Radish

Category(-ies): Plants, Food and Medicine

Japan has been following the progress of an unlikely hero after it was ruthlessly attacked. Last summer in the town of Aioi, Japan, residents were impressed by a daikon radish that was sprouting up through an area of asphalt pavement. They named the little plant Dokonjo Daikon, or the radish with fighting spirit. When Dokonjo was found with its top sliced off in an apparent attack, one morning last November, Japanese news picked up the story. Public sympathy caused the assailant to return the severed head. Since that fateful day the townspeople of Aioi have kept the severed head alive in hopes of reviving the plant. Now biologists are proposing tissue culture to create new Dokonjos.

Links:


Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 3:34 PM



Winterizing the Green Roof

Category(-ies): Novel Uses of Plants , Plants in the Landscape

Green roofs are becoming more popular in North America. They bring nature into the urban environment, soften the view for people and provide habitat for insects and wild birds. They also have been shown to absorb noise pollution, alleviate stormwater runoff and help keep buildings cooler in summer. Canadian researchers, working in Ottawa and Toronto, have been testing designs for northern green roofs. A few simple changes to the typical green roof design resulted in dramatic reductions of heat loss from the buildings.

Typical green roofs use grasses, wildflowers and other low-growing plants in shallow soil beds - as little as 6 centimetres. The Canadian research team chose a plant that was well suited to the north. Juniper shrubs were planted to help reduce the effect of windspeed, which draws heat from the building. Deeper beds were constructed to form insulation against heat loss. Even in an experiment on a carefully designed energy-efficient house, the addition of a green roof resulted in a reduction of heat-loss around 8½ percent.

Link:
Green Roof Technology Adapted to Cold Climates from EnviroZine, online publication of Environment Canada

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 1:41 PM



Environment Canada's Ecological Gifts Program

Category(-ies): Plant Conservation , Plant Legal News and Issues

One of the greatest threats to biodiversity is the destruction of habitat for human development projects. Environment Canada's Ecological Gifts Program, created in 1995, provides tax incentives to citizens who want to protect wild lands. Private and corporate land owners can receive a tax deduction equal to the value of their gift for donations of ecologically sensitive land or for setting up special property rights restrictions limiting development of the land - in this way property owners may remain on their land while it is protected. Groups can also receive tax benefits by purchasing land for protection. Environment Canada coordinates the needs of recipient organizations to the wishes of donors and makes sure that the agencies are committed to protecting the land in perpetuity.

Continue reading "Environment Canada's Ecological Gifts Program"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 3:13 PM | Comments (0)



Armchair Gardening

Category(-ies): Plants in the Landscape

For many northern gardeners, the planting season is still far off. Cold winter days indoors give gardeners a chance to find out what is new in gardens, by reading through some of the seed catalogs that have been accumulating since the Christmas holiday. Americans spend over $3 billion on mail order and online gardening sales. Avid gardeners know that they will find much more variety in the catalogs than can be stocked on the shelf at the garden centre. Each year catalogs tout the latest, greatest varieties to get the gardener dreaming. Where do all these new plants come from?

Continue reading "Armchair Gardening"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 2:50 PM | Comments (1)



Saving Seattle's Native Urban Forests

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

When people think of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest in general, images of dense forest with towering trees come to mind. But, like many other areas, the natural parklands in the city are under serious threat from invasive species. A century ago, when Seattle was a young growing city, much of the area was clearcut for development. Few of the grand conifers that populate the forests of the Northwest remained to produce new offspring. The area was largely repopulated with deciduous trees like maple and red alder. Strong competition from invasive species kept the conifers from regenerating. Now many of the bigleaf maples, the most common tree in Seattle's urban forest, are nearing the end of their lifespan and an invasion of aggressive weeds is taking their place.

Continue reading "Saving Seattle's Native Urban Forests"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 1:21 PM | Comments (0)



Viet Nam's "Robinson Crusoe"

Category(-ies): Plants, Food and Medicine

A little over ten years ago, Luong Kim Loan, a 63 year-old Vietnamese woman began a challenging adventure after her son found a large area of land available for cultivation on nearby Lom Bo Island. Loan was inspired by the remains of fruit orchards abandoned on the island during the war and decided to start a fruit cultivation project on the land. She quit her job and applied to the regional government for permission and a grant to fund the project. Some of the money was used to build a transport ship and the remainder paid for litchi seeds. Unfortunately Loan could not convince anyone from her family or friends to work with her on the project, so, although initially very lonely she pushed on by herself.

Just a little over ten years later, the island is covered with valuable fruit trees. Friends visit more frequently and four workers on the island help care for the orchard, which now produces 4-5 tonnes of litchis every year.
Link:
Lone woman plants trees on Bay isle from Viet Nam News

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 1:11 PM | Comments (0)



Research Literally Blown Away

Category(-ies): Plant Legal News and Issues

Florida's climate makes it an important state in terms of agricultural production - it ranks second in the US in the production of fresh vegetables. Scientists at some of the state's major agricultural research centres suffered serious setbacks, as years of research literally blew away in one of the most damaging hurricane seasons to hit the area. Wilma was particularly destructive, destroying 12 greenhouses and damaging 55 of 60 buildings at the Belle Glade centre. Many studies will be delayed until next season; some researchers will have to start their experiments over from scratch. Several research centres are petitioning the Florida state government for funds to rebuild infrastructure and programs. As centres rebuild, they have to expect that they will be hit by destructive storms again in the future and use the opportunity to construct more secure facilities to prevent future setbacks and losses of valuable research.
Link:
Agriculture labs blown for a loss from the Palm Beach Post (story expired)

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 3:00 PM | Comments (0)



Gardens by the Bay

Category(-ies): Other Botanical Gardens

Singapore's well-planned efforts to green the city over the past forty years have earned it a reputation as a leadingTropical Garden City. The city's newest project, The Gardens by the Bay, should secure Singapore's standing as a leader among tropical cities. An international design competition is being held to plan the three-garden complex that is to be built on 94 hectares of prime waterfront land. The Garden at Marina South will be a little larger than the existing Singapore Botanic Gardens. Plans include what is expected to be the largest cool house in the tropics. The other two sections of the project will offer beachfront recreation and water-sports in beautiful garden settings.

Links:


Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 11:39 AM | Comments (0)



Christopher Lloyd (Christo) 1921-2006

Category(-ies): Botanists and Horticulturists

Renowned garden writter, Christopher Lloyd, affectionately called "Christo" by his friends, passed away January 27, 2006.

UBC Botanical Garden staff and Friends of the Garden share their memories of Christopher Lloyd:

I like to think I knew Christopher Lloyd pretty well, having both stayed at Dixter on a number of occasions and corresponded with him for fifteen years. Still, I think it was pretty easy for anybody to know Christo if they spent any amount of time with him. He was exactly who he appeared to be. Some people didn’t like what they saw. I recommended him to a good friend who was travelling to England some years ago, and upon meeting, they had an instant, mutual dislike. He certainly didn’t have that effect on me—he could be obstreperous, inflexible and demanding, and even unkind, but he was also a brilliant teacher, a scientist, an enviable artist, an excellent cook and the best writer I’ve ever met. I found I could reconcile the various aspects of his character and generally enjoy his company.

Continue reading "Christopher Lloyd (Christo) 1921-2006"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 4:35 PM



Increased Competition for Pollen May Lead to Plant Extinctions

Category(-ies): Plant Conservation , Plant Discoveries

A recently completed analysis of 482 field experiments conducted on flowering plants reveals marked deficits in pollination in areas with rich biodiversity as compared to less-diverse ecosystems. Researchers theorize that the abundance of different species results in stronger competition for pollinators and sufficient pollen for maximum fruit production cannot be delivered. It is not known if this is a new pattern due to declines in pollinators or is a chronic problem for plant species in global biodiversity hotspots. The findings raise the question of how habitat destruction and fragmentation are affecting the risk of extinction to plants in such competitive environments.

Link:
Increased Competition for Pollen May Lead to Plant Extinctions from Kansas City infoZine

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 4:26 PM | Comments (0)



Adapting Crops for Climate Change

Category(-ies): Climate Change , Plant Discoveries

UK researchers have uncovered a gene that may help in the development of crops able to cope with a changing climate. Responding to changing day length, the Ppd-H1 gene controls the timing of other genes that trigger flowering. Variations in the gene shift the bloom time of barley plants. Climate change is expected to produce drier hotter summers in Britain. The findings could be used by plant breeders to develop an earlier flowering barley that could survive summer droughts. Researchers expect to find similar genes in other crops.

Link:
Growing Crops To Cope With Climate Change from ScienceDailey

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 3:39 PM | Comments (0)



Pyrethrins

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

As the dangers of some of the chemicals used as pesticides have come to light, gardeners and farmers have sought less damaging compounds to battle pests. The use of organic pesticides, such as pyrethrins derived from chrysanthemum flowers, has increased. Organic does not necessarily mean non-toxic. Gardeners should use caution when handling the pesticides and resist overusing them. Overuse can kill beneficial insects, may lead to the development of resistance in pest species and surplus chemicals in runoff from fields and gardens may concentrate in streams.

Continue reading "Pyrethrins"

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 1:42 PM | Comments (1)