Home / Resources and Writings / Weblog / March 2006
Australia's Wild Wollemi Pines Threatened by Disease
Category(-ies): Plant Conservation , Plant Diseases and Pests
Wollemi pines were thought to be long extinct until a park ranger discovered two small groves of the trees in 1994. Fewer than a hundred trees were found. Researchers have kept the location of the wild population secret. Although the scientists have been very careful not to introduce pathogens, an infection of Phytophthora cinnamomi, believed to have been brought in by a hiker, has recently been discovered in the groves. Although propagations of the trees now grow in gardens around the world, the wild groves are important to research and prized for their extreme rarity and remarkable survival.
Link:
Disease hits Australia’s ‘dinosaur’ trees from Aljazeera
For background see this earlier weblog entry: Auction of Jurassic Trees Brings in Over a Million Dollars
Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 12:44 PM | Comments (0)
A New Green Revolution in India?
Category(-ies): Plant Legal News and Issues , Plants, Food and Medicine
India and the US have recently entered an agreement to conduct joint agricultural research in biotechnology. The research will focus on the development of drought- and heat-resistant crops suitable for the Indian climate. There is little new land available for agricultural development in the Asian nation, but increased food production is needed to feed the growing population. Analysts note that India's agricultural production lags behind countries that grow biotech crops. Leaders hope that biotechnology can increase farm productivity enough to help the country meet its economic and development goals.
Critics are concerned that farmers will become dependent on large biotech firms and doubt the claims of increased productivity promised by the industry. Farmers have definitely shown interest in modified crops however, rapidly expanding their planting of genetically modified Bollgard cotton seeds since Monsanto was first allowed to sell them in India in 2002.
Link:
Bush, Biotech Can Transform India’s Countryside from Bloomberg
Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 11:42 AM | Comments (0)
Taking "Green Construction" to a New Level
Category(-ies): Novel Uses of Plants
People have turned to trees for home building materials since prehistory. Usually the trees are cut to harvest the timber used for construction. Architect, Mitchell Joachim is designing a home that will use living trees as its framework - a home that will grow into its environment and can be adapted to its dwellers' needs. This is not to be a house built in a tree like a typical children's treehouse. Joachim's design will train the branches of living trees and woody vines to form the structure of the house. Directing plant growth into structural forms is not a new idea, pleaching has long been used to create garden arches and fences. This project will take that horticultural art to a new level.
Continue reading "Taking "Green Construction" to a New Level"
Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 11:19 AM
