News tagged with land plants

New insights into invasive plant management

Over a decade of research at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has resulted in the development of a new matrix for invasive plant management. The model was created by scientists with the Agricultural ...

Biology / Ecology

created Feb 06, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Dry conditions spurred advanced photosynthesis

The need to conserve water played a vital role in driving plants to evolve a specialised form of photosynthesis, scientists have shown.

Biology / Evolution

created Feb 03, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

First plants caused ice ages: research

New research reveals how the arrival of the first plants 470 million years ago triggered a series of ice ages. Led by the Universities of Exeter and Oxford, the study is published today (February 1, 2012) in Nature Geoscience.

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Feb 01, 2012 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (12) | comments 12 | with audio podcast

Algae may be sustainable alternative for animal feed

The pigs and poultry in Professor Xingen Lei's lab have been consuming feed one wouldn't expect in Ithaca: marine algae.

Biology / Biotechnology

created Jan 19, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Salt-tolerant crops show higher capacity for carbon fixation

Salt can have drastic effects on the growth and yield of horticultural crops; studies have estimated that salinity renders an about one-third of the world's irrigated land unsuitable for crop production. Imbalances in soil ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Dec 12, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Biologists identify light-regulated mechanism in cyanobacteria as aid to optimizing photosynthesis

(PhysOrg.com) -- Indiana University biologists have uncovered how a control system works in producing the important light-harvesting antennae that power photosynthesis in cyanobacteria, the microorganisms ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Nov 03, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 4

U.S. announces desert 'solar energy zones'

The Obama administration on Thursday announced its plan for solar energy development, directing large-scale industrial projects to 285,000 acres of desert in the Western U.S. while opening 20 million acres of the Mojave for ...

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Oct 28, 2011 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (12) | comments 9

A new leaf turns in carbon science

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new insight into global photosynthesis, the chemical process governing how ocean and land plants absorb and release carbon dioxide, has been revealed in research that will assist scientists ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Sep 29, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 2

Sustaining young forest communities

The recent Southern Research Station (SRS) publication Sustaining Young Forest Communities: Ecology and Management of Early Successional Habitats in the Central Hardwood Region, USA, addresses a variety of concerns raised ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Sep 20, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

War on willows

Willows are major environmental weeds of riverbank habitats across much of south-eastern Australia. They obstruct water flow, increase water temperature, change water chemistry and can displace native riverine ...

Biology / Ecology

created Jul 29, 2011 | popularity 3 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Reforestation's cooling influence -- a result of farmer's past choices

Decisions by farmers to plant on productive land with little snow enhances the potential for reforestation to counteract global warming, concludes new research from Carnegie's Julia Pongratz and Ken Caldeira. Previous research ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Jul 26, 2011 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New gene discovered: Sheds light on the evolution of life on Earth

A chance discovery of a genetic mutation in wild barley that grows in Israel's Judean Desert, in the course of a doctoral study at the University of Haifa, has led to an international study deciphering evolution of life on ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Jul 25, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

How algae could change your world (or at least your car)

Will we soon be fueling our cars, applying cosmetics and eating food - all made from algae? That's the rather science-fiction-y premise of the new cluster of companies (many of them based in San Diego, home of the San ...

Technology / Energy & Green Tech

created Jul 13, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 2

Adjustable valves gave ancient plants the edge

Controlling water loss is an important ability for modern land plants as it helps them thrive in changing environments. New research from the University of Bristol, published today in the journal Current Biology, shows ...

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jun 09, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Not just 'woody weeds' - spreading shrubs have silver lining

The global spread of native trees and shrubs into open grazing land and abandoned farms can bring unexpected environmental and economic benefits, a major new international study has found.

Biology / Ecology

created Jun 01, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0