Home / Resources and Writings / Weblog / November 2009
Assisted Migration - the Answer to Climate Change?
Category(-ies): Climate Change , Other Botanical Gardens , Plant Conservation
Thank you to Claire Thompson, UBC BG work-study student, for writing this entry.
Scientists at the Chicago Botanic Garden are sending teams of people out across the Midwest and northern Great Plains of America to collect seeds from 1500 prairie species before 2010.
The collections are part of a project to preserve species and investigate assisted migration of plants as a response to climate change. Researchers are planning to test this idea with Pitcher's thistle, a native plant to sand dunes along several of the Great Lakes.
Assisted migration is a controversial issue among scientists, as it has risks associated with interfering with complex habitats and uncertainties surrounding climate change. Scientists at the botanic gardens in favor of assisted migration have recently finished a paper outlining a strategic framework for collecting and prioritizing seeds from species that are most likely to go extinct under climate change, and for predicting where species should be relocated.
Links:
- "A Hunt for Seeds to Save Species, Perhaps by Helping Them Move" via the New York Times
- The Dixon National Tallgrass Prairie Seed Bank and National Tallgrass Prairie Preparation Laboratory at Chicago Botanic Garden
- Vitt et al. 2009. Assisted migration of plants: Changes in latitudes, changes in attitudes. Bio. Cons. Available online doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2009.08.015
- Pitcher's thistle (Cirsium pitcheri)
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 7:00 AM
Bio-Diversity
Category(-ies): Botanical Art
Christoph Niemann is an award-winning graphic artist, whose work has appeared on the covers of such magazines as The New Yorker and the Atlantic Monthly.
In a recent posting on his weblog with the New York Times, Christoph turned his attention to autumn leaves...
Links:
- Bio-Diversity (the weblog post)
- Abstract City, Christoph's weblog for the New York Times
- Christoph Niemann, his personal web site
Thank you to Dr. Andrew Riseman who first let me know about this.
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 11:28 AM
Why is Rye as a Cover Crop an Effective Weed Killer?
Category(-ies): Plant Diseases and Pests
And another from Claire...
John Teasdale from the USDA's Sustainable Agricultural Systems Laboratory has teamed up with Cliff Rice from the USDA's Agricultural Research Service to investigate the science behind why rye works as a cover crop against weeds. Rye is often used on organic farms as an alternative to herbicides, because of its ability to prevent soil erosion and block sunlight, thereby suppressing weed invasion. Teasdale and Rice have tested whether organic compounds found in rye, called benzoxazinoids, are also responsible for weed suppression. Their results suggest that benzoxazinoids do affect soil chemistry in ways that enhance the weed-suppressing abilities of rye and are worthy of further study.
Links:
- Why rye cover crops are great natural weed killers via the USDA's Agricultural Research Service
- Rye as a Cover Crop - Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (PDF)
Posted by Daniel Mosquin at 7:00 AM
