Poplar trees redirect resources in response to simulated attack
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory have applied some of the same techniques used in medical imaging to track the distribution of nutrients in poplar trees in response to a simulated insect attack. The research provides new insights on a long-debated theory about how plants respond to environmental stress, and shows that radiotracer imaging can be a big he...Family trees of ancient bacteria reveal evolutionary moves
A geomicrobiologist at Washington University in St. Louis has proposed that evolution is the primary driving force in the early Earth's development rather than physical processes, such as plate tectonics. Carrine Blank, Ph.D., Washington University assistant professor of geomicrobiology in the Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences in Arts & Sciences, studying Cyanobacteria ?bac...Alien woodwasp, threat to US pine trees, found in N.Y.
Despite dozens of interceptions at U.S. ports, a public enemy has infiltrated the nation's borders. Taken captive in Fulton County, N.Y., and identified by a Cornell University expert, the adult female alien is the only one of its kind ever discovered in the eastern United States. The discovery of a single specimen of Sirex noctilio Fabricius, an Old World woodwasp, raises red flags across...Shade trees getting 'scorched' by plant disease
Bacterial leaf scorch is severely affecting urban shade trees grown not only to provide shade, but to help clear the air, reduce noise, and improve the aesthetics in many U.S. communities, say plant pathologists with The American Phytopathological Society (APS). According to Ann Brooks Gould, associate extension specialist at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, bacterial leaf scorch (...Seeing the forest and the trees
With human emissions of carbon dioxide on the rise, there is growing interest in maintaining the Earth's natural mechanisms that absorb and store carbon. A new study released this week in the on-line edition of the journal Science suggests that tree diversity in tropical forests plays a crucial role in determining how much carbon these natural storehouses are able to hold, as well as their abilit...Christmas trees to yield key Tamiflu ingredient
Biolyse Pharma Corp., a closely held Canadian company that extracts chemicals from plants, plans to use used Christmas trees to extract the chemical for making Tamiflu, the drug that treat bird flu.// The trees contain shikimic acid in their pine, spruce and fir needles, Ontario-based Biolyse said today in a statement. The acid is used in Roche Holding AG's Tamiflu and is mainly extract...Growth Of Maple Trees Affected By Acid Rain
A new study conducted by researchers from Cornell University has pointed out to the reduction in the number of sugar maple trees as a consequence of acid rain// and alteration in the soil nature due to increase in cars, burning of fossil fuels and establishment of factories in the U.S. The sugar maple is the most economically valuable tree species in the eastern United States because...Trees to Predict Climate Change
Following a long-term research a geographer from Guangdong Province has claimed that ancient trees could provide clues to the pattern of global climate change. // Li Pingri, 75, from Guangdong Academy of Sciences has opined that rising temperatures globally is not only a result of the greenhouse effect but in fact was a part of the cyclical order of nature. 'Through th...Scientists Saying Against Trees Sparks Debate
A leading expert in Germany has spawned a major scientific debate by claiming that trees put millions of tonnes of methane into the atmosphere every year exacerbating the greenhouse effect. Amid controversy, Frank Keppler of the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry has reaffirmed findings by his team in Mainz, Germany, in January 2006 that they had detected methane exhaled from livin...