News by Subject Agriculture

Fairy circles are one of nature's greatest enigmas and most visually stunning phenomena. Researchers led by Göttingen University have now collected detailed data to show that Alan Turing's model explains the striking vegetation patterns of the Australian fairy circles. In addition, the researchers showed that the grasses that make up these patterns act as "eco-engineers" to modify their hostile and arid environment, keeping the ecosystem functioning. Results were published in the Journal of Ecology.

Squeezed by changing ocean conditions that limit their food options and the long-term loss of old forest needed for nesting, marbled murrelets would benefit most from conservation efforts that take both ocean and forest into account, new research shows.

How much carbon dioxide, a pivotal greenhouse gas behind global warming, is absorbed by plants on land? It's a deceptively complicated question, so a Rutgers-led group of scientists recommends combining two cutting-edge tools to help answer the crucial climate change-related question.

A new study finds that glyphosate residue from herbicides in manure fertilizer decrease the growth of strawberry and meadow fescue as well as runner production of strawberry.

Stripe rust is one of the most destructive wheat diseases in the world, especially in the United States. While the disease can be controlled by chemicals, those may be harmful to humans, animals, and the environment and the application can cost millions of dollars. Rather than use chemicals, many farmers would prefer to grow wheat varieties that resist stripe rust and the development of such varieties is a top priority for wheat breeding programs.

A fruit used for centuries in countries around the world is getting the nutritional thumbs-up from a team of British Columbia researchers. Breadfruit, which grows in abundance in tropical and South Pacific countries, has long been a staple in the diet of many people. The fruit can be eaten when ripe, or it can be dried and ground up into a flour and repurposed into many types of meals, explains UBC Okanagan researcher Susan Murch.