Extent of Human Impact on the World’s Plant Life Revealed in New Research
Research has shed new light on the impact of humans on Earth’s biodiversity. The findings suggest that the rate of change in an ecosystem’s plant…
Plant Science
Astronauts Enjoyed a Fresh Supply of Leafy Greens Grown on the International Space Station
Astronauts on the International Space Station recently enjoyed a fresh supply of leafy greens, thanks in large part to the efforts of Expedition 64 crew…
Naturally GM: Crops Steal Genes From Other Species to Accelerate Evolution
Grass crops are able to bend the rules of evolution by borrowing genes from their neighbors, giving them a competitive advantage, a new study has…
Researchers Notice Long-Overlooked Pattern Pattern on Surface of Leaves, Uncover New Clue About Plant Evolution
Uncommon group of aquatic and terrestrial species key to discovery of how plants breathe. A doctoral student has identified a long-overlooked pattern in how plants…
Mapping North Carolina’s Ghost Forests From 430 Miles up Provides New Answers
Rising seas and inland-surging seawater are leaving behind the debris of dying forests. Now, 35 years of satellite images capture the changes from space. Emily…
Forests on Caffeine: Coffee Waste Can Boost Tropical Forest Recovery
A new study finds that coffee pulp, a waste product of coffee production, can be used to speed up tropical forest recovery on post agricultural…
Catastrophic Wildfires on the Fish Lake Plateau Reduced by Indigenous “Cultural Burning”
If you were to visit the Great Basin and Colorado Plateau a thousand years ago, you’d find conditions remarkably familiar to the present. The climate…
Noise Can Be Detrimental to Plant Life – Effects Persist Even Years After the Noise Has Been Removed
Though noise may change moment by moment for humans, it has a more lasting effect on trees and plants. A new Cal Poly study reveals…
Unusual Fossil Discovered That Reveals Last Meal of a Prehistoric Pollinator
An amber fossil of a Cretaceous beetle has shed some light on the diet of one of the earliest pollinators of flowering plants. The animal’s…
Predicting Effects of Genetic Mutations: For Tomato Genes, One Plus One Doesn’t Always Make Two
Both people and tomatoes come in different shapes and sizes. That is because every individual has a unique set of genetic variations — mutations —…
Origin of Modern Rainforests Traced to Cataclysmic Asteroid Impact That Destroyed Nearly 75% of All Terrestrial Life on Earth
In an analysis of thousands of fossil pollen and leaves spanning the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary, researchers found that the cataclysmic asteroid impact that resulted in…
How the Giant Asteroid That Wiped Out the Dinosaurs Gave Rise to Modern Rainforests
About 66 million years ago, a huge asteroid crashed into what is now the Yucatan, plunging the Earth into darkness. The impact transformed tropical rainforests,…
Intact Plant Fossils Discovered Beneath Greenland’s Ice Sheet After Lucky Find of Ice Cores Drilled by U.S. Military in 1966
For the first time ever, researchers have found fossils under Greenland’s ice sheet that are so large and well preserved that they can be seen…
Discovery Unravels Darwin’s “Abominable Mystery” Surrounding Origin of Flowering Plants
The origin of flowering plants famously puzzled Charles Darwin, who described their sudden appearance in the fossil record from relatively recent geological times as an…
Seagrass Meadows Turn Back the Clock on Ocean Acidification – Can Reduce Local Acidity by Up to 30%
Expansive study shows seagrass meadows can buffer ocean acidification. Spanning six years and seven seagrass meadows along the California coast, a paper published today from…
64% of Farmland at Risk of Pesticide Pollution – Revealed in Global Map of Agricultural Land Across 168 Countries
Global Pesticide Use Is Set to Increase A global map of agricultural land across 168 countries has revealed that 64 percent of land used for…
New Chili Hybrids: Genetics Research Could Lead to Variety of New Flavors
Scientists investigating the genetics of chili pepper species have discovered a whole host of new chili hybrids that can be grown by crossing domesticated peppers…
Melting Glaciers Could Enhance Decomposition, Speeding Up Carbon Emissions Into the Atmosphere
The loss of glaciers worldwide enhances the breakdown of complex carbon molecules in rivers, potentially contributing further to climate change. An international research team led…
