Species Summary A “BioBlitz” is a 24 hour event in which volunteer teams comprised of teachers, scientists, naturalists, students, families and community members come together to find and identify as many plants, animals, fungi, microbes and other organisms as possible within a given space. National Geographic is aiding in conducting a BioBlitz in a different…
Disease Diagnosis Dutch elm disease (DED) is one of the most destructive diseases affecting shade trees in the United States today. This disease is caused by the fungus Ophiostoma ulmi, and vectored via either European or native elm bark beetles. It has also been found to spread from plant to plant through root grafts among adjacent trees. Affecting…
Mid-Summer Scourge Spotted Wing Drosophila (Drosphila suzukii) or SWD is an invasive vinegar fly which lays eggs in immature or ripe fruit. This can result in larvae being present in otherwise saleable fruit. These fruit flies are usually active mid to late summer and damage is most often found on raspberries, blackberries and blueberries. However,…
Nutritional Network There are essential elements for plant growth and success, in addition to sunlight, oxygen, carbon dioxide, soil and water they also require mineral nutrients. These nutrients are normally absorbed from the soil, but not all soils are mineral rich or they may not contain the needed quantities. There are 14 mineral nutrients required for…
Baltimore City is in the process of conducting a series of public stakeholder meetings to support development of a Watershed Implementation Plan (WIP) to achieve targets under its MS4 permit related to the Chesapeake Bay TMDL (pollution diet). The Chesapeake Bay Program learned a long time ago that because of stormwater runoff, land cover has…
Grazing Grief It seems as if white-tailed deer are a ubiquitous pest and there is almost no time of year we can escape damage occurring to our landscape plants from their foraging. While it may seem as if no plant is safe from grazing, deer do have food preferences although they vary dependent on season…
Current Conditions The last couple of weeks in June were dry across the region, receiving only a fraction (0.05 inches) of the average expected rainfall for the month. July began with a couple of downpours and thunderstorms across the region as we experienced the outskirts of Hurricane Arthur. Daytime high temperatures have been seasonal, with…
Progressive Peril While Lyme disease is predicted to be as perilous as ever this summer, with the CDC estimating 300,000 new cases to present, there is a new tick-borne illness endangering those of us who spend time outdoors. Borrelia miyamotoi is a bacteria carried by an estimated 10 percent of ticks, mostly in the Northwestern region of…
As temperatures continue to rise into the peak of the summer, deer pressure will be at its highest. We continue to see peak temperatures consistently above 80 degrees, which will drive deer pressure up significantly. In addition to the newly born fawns that are now looking for solid foods, many adult deer will be on the…
Charged about Recharge Groundwater is water that is pumped up from storage units called aquifers below the Earth’s surface. It is typically used for agricultural irrigation and drinking water. Unfortunately groundwater is being used faster than it can be replaced and recharge is a lengthy process. Groundwater recharge occurs when precipitation infiltrates through the surface…
