News by Subject Biology

A predictive model combining information about plant physiology, real-time soil conditions and weather forecasts can help make more informed decisions about when and how much to irrigate. This could save 40 percent of the water consumed by more traditional methods, according to new Cornell University research.

Researchers have shown for the first time that cigarette butts reduce plant growth. Cigarette butts are the most common form of litter worldwide, with an estimated 4.5 trillion discarded annually.

Through a participatory forest-carbon monitoring project in the Darien forest of Panama, scientists and a team of trained indigenous technicians found that, even in disturbed areas, it maintained the same tree species richness and a disproportionately high capacity to sequester carbon.

When tornadoes touch down, we brace for news of property damage, injuries, and loss of life, but the high-speed wind storms wreak environmental havoc, too. They can cut through massive swaths of forest, destroying trees and wildlife habitat, and opening up opportunities for invasive species to gain ground.

Waterhemp and Palmer amaranth, two aggressive weeds that threaten the food supply in North America, are increasingly hard to kill with commercially available herbicides. A novel approach known as genetic control could one day reduce the need for these chemicals. Now, scientists are one step closer.

The aggressiveness of ants in arid environments with scarce food supply helps protect plants against herbivorous arthropods.

A new review article appearing in the journal Nature Reviews Microbiology highlights the evolution and ecology of plant viruses. Arvind Varsani, a researcher at ASU's Biodesign Institute joins an international team to explore many details of viral dynamics. They describe the subtle interplay between three components of the viral infection process, the virus itself, the plant cell hosts infected by the virus and the vectors that act as go-betweens -- an intricate system evolving over some 450 million years.

Salt marshes are important habitats for fish and birds and protect coasts under sea level rise against stronger wave attacks. However, marshes themselves are much more vulnerable than previously thought. Stronger waves due to sea level rise can not only reduce the marsh extent by erosion of the marsh edge, but these waves hamper plant re-establishment on neighboring tidal flats, making it much more difficult for the marsh to recover and grow again.