In honor of creepiest, scariest night of the year this post will pay tribute to some of the most horrifyingly poisonous plants on the planet. Terrifying trees and plants have long played a part in the imagination of humans, from the 1800s when rumors of a man-eating tree received widespread public attention to the more recent and infamous…
For over 250 years a bur oak has been growing on what is now the campus of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. The University is currently constructing its new Ross School of Business and the large tree’s seniority has run out, it stands in the way of progress. However, rather than just cutting…
Researchers at Michigan State University (MSU) have been awarded a 6.9 million dollar grant by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to develop sustainable pollination strategies for the country’s specialty crops. In this country specialty crops account for 50 billion dollars per year for the agricultural industry and pollination is critical to fruit set…
Since 2009 the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center, located at the University of Texas at Austin, has been partnered with the Garden Club of America, The National Invasive Species Council and the National Park Service to educate the public and promote best practices for the prevention of invasive species from taking over parklands and natural areas.…
One of the most common and yet widely unknown beneficial insects on our landscapes is the common black ground beetle (CBGB), Pterostichus spp.. The dullish appear and nocturnal and reclusive behavior is partly to blame for their obscurity, in spite of all of the great benefits of their inclusion in our landscapes. These incredibly valuable players in our…
Mycorrhizal fungi are the beneficial fungi which can form symbiotic relationships with the plant roots of nearly all evergreen species and approximately 60% of deciduous plants. This symbiotic relationship provides plant roots with additional surface area with which to absorb water and nutrients and allows the fungus to feed on sugars and starches produced by…
Forest fragmentation, or habitat fragmentation, is the breakdown of habitat from a large, contiguous swath into smaller, distinct, discontinuous pieces. When habitat is broken apart three interrelated processes occur 1) reduction of the total amount of vegetation, in other words, habitat loss, 2) division of remaining vegetation into remnants or patches and 3) new land-use…
Forests are undeniably integral to the supply of clean, drinking water available to populations living in the midwest and northeast. More than 52 million people in this region depend on surface water to drink, cook, bath and wash with and the majority of this water comes from forested lands. The general population is mostly unaware…
Plants are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to escaping fire, they cannot get up and run. So, many plants have adapted specific traits for fire survival, using it to their advantage as an aid in reproduction or regeneration. These adaptations have made wildfires essential to some ecosystems. Fire ecology is an arm of…
Biomass energy or “bioenergy” is energy from plants and plant-derived materials. Wood and wood products are the largest source of biomass fuel with many companies supplying bulk hardwood pellets for those who use them. However, other sources are being tested and used including; crops, grasses, woody plants, algae, residual waste from agricultural forestry and the…
