Tag archives for plants
Studies Link Warming to Increased Weather Extremes
Posted by Tim Profeta of Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, Duke University on March 28, 2013 A new study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) finds global temperatures to be one of the best predictors of hurricane activity. In fact, the PNAS study found that a one degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) rise in global temperatures could multiply the frequency of Katrina-like storms by two to seven times. In the Arctic, melting sea ice—which reached its sixth lowest…
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Today I flipped through a reference book called A Handbook of Global Freshwater Invasive Species (always a cheerful read). My eye was caught by purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria L.), since I have often encountered it on wetlands hikes around the country. Purple loosestrife is native to Eurasia, but has become an aggressive invader in North…
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Come along on a behind-the-scenes tour of the Smithsonian’s orchid collection, which includes the odd-looking spider orchid and mysterious butterfly orchid.
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A 24-hour BioBlitz by some 150 scientists and 2,000 students this weekend identified 489 species alive and well in Rocky Mountain National Park. Or did a last-minute flyover by a bald eagle make the final count 490? Presenting the tally confirmed by scientists this afternoon, BioBlitz coordinators said there were 89 species of birds, 12…
Botanist Scott Smith specializes in ferns, orchids and cactus, but today at the Rocky Mountain National Park BioBlitz he was looking for ferns. At something like 9,500 feet above sea level, in the park’s subalpine zone, he showed visitors how to find two species of an ancient plant invisible to all but expert eyes. Story, photos and video.
How Do Antarctic Plants Survive? Some Survive On Ancient Penguin Poo
Posted by Suzan Eaton on July 10, 2012 
Scientists studying moss beds in East Antarctica have found that the moss there is growing on the site of an ancient penguin colony. The colony is believed to date back some 3,000 to 8,000 years ago. No penguins live there now, but their droppings have been preserved, thanks to Antarctica’s constant cold temperatures.
The Farm Bill Rollercoaster Gets Ready to Roll
Posted by Dan Klotz on June 5, 2012 
This week, the Senate began debating the “Agriculture Reform, Food and Jobs Act of 2012,”the latest name for the Farm Bill. This legislation comes up for renewal every five years, and the back-and-forth always been larger than life and somewhat crazy. If you follow the coverage closely this year, you’ll learn about Southern peanut and rice…
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I reached a fall in the debris mass and to my right, there it was—this beautiful, giant fern that only grows right here. The leaf stipes were over an inch in diameter and the fiddleheads as big as just that.
Extreme Winter Weather–Groundhog Day Edition
Posted by Dan Klotz on February 2, 2012 
When is partly cloudy and 70 degrees Fahrenheit considered extreme? When it happens in Washington, D.C., on February 1st and the temperature ends up more than 25 degrees above normal. To be fair, no weather records were set yesterday and we average about one 70 degree day every other February here at the nation’s capital.…
As part of the 2011 BioBlitz in Saguaro National Park, NG Explorer-in-Residence J. Michael Fay walked some 70 miles over seven days on a transect across park and city, noting all the plants and animals along the way. Experience the whole exhilarating journey for yourself.
On the occasion of National Geographic making its 10,000th grant for exploration, we interview Peter Raven, chairman of the Committee for Research and Exploration, the Society’s oldest grant-making body. Raven discusses why funding scientific research and exploration has never been more important, especially as the human population has passed the 7,000,000,000 mark, and the planet is pressed hard to meet everyone’s needs.
Meg Quinn, of Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation, talked to me at the recent BioBlitz in the Saguaro National Park about the scourge that’s blighting much of the Sonoran Desert of Arizona — a tough alien grass that’s taken hold and threatening the native ecosystem.
When the clock stopped at noon on Saturday, more than 170 scientists and 2,000 students had collected or identified 859 species in the 94,000-acre park.
The Promise of Solar Energy
Posted by Chad Lipton on June 6, 2011 
Featured speaker and MIT professor, Daniel Nocera, participated in an eloquent dialogue at the Aspen Environmental Forum. He captivated the audience with humorous and informative anecdotes, while explaining his vision to meet the world’s energy needs. The world will require 30 terawatts* of power by 2050, assuming that humans will achieve an additional 15 terawatts…
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Dr. Stephen B. Malcolm, professor at Western Michigan University, has been studying monarch butterflies in the field for 28 years, recently with support from National Geographic’s Committee for Research and Exploration. He can tell you all about the monarchs passing through your garden this spring — and some of their mysterious cousins in South America.
Thirty million flowers, half a million plants, dozens of character topiaries and 1,000 butterflies add up to the 18th annual Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival, now blooming at Walt Disney World Resort, Florida.
Finding a Home for Dracula
Posted by Stuart Pimm on March 23, 2011 National Geographic scientist Stuart Pimm reports on the quest for Dracula, a particularly lovely orchid that flourishes in the cloud forests of the northern Andes of Colombia.
A region the size of the U.S. state of Vermont has been earmarked by Myanmar as a sanctuary for the tiger, one of the most endangered animals on the planet. But can the poaching of the big cats and their prey be stopped? The entire Hukaung Valley is to be declared a Protected Tiger Area, the government…
A paper published today by a trio of American and British researchers in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B reveals that as many as a third of all flowering plants could be threatened with extinction. A great many of them could disappear before they are discovered and studied by scientists. The lead author…
Can Colombia’s rich biodiversity escape to cooler altitudes?
Posted by Stuart Pimm on July 1, 2010 By Stuart Pimm Chingaza National Park, Colombia–Colombia didn’t qualify for the World Cup this year. You’d never know from the throngs of people around TVs everywhere I went in Bogota last week. (If you are not a football follower: Fans have to cheer for more than one team given the odds and the vagaries of…
Two birds, one insect and forty-five plants unique to the Hawaiian island Kauai are now listed under the federal Endangered Species Act, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced this week. Salazar also announced that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), which is responsible for administering the Endangered Species Act, is designating critical habitat on the…
As the rampant invasive plant purple loosestrife spreads across North America, it might be facing a natural barrier, according to researchers at the University of Toronto. Lythrum salicaria, a beautiful but highly destructive plant, has been heading north since it was first introduced from Europe to the eastern seaboard 150 years ago, the university says in…
Japanese gardens appear to relieve stress and calm people who sit in them, according to researchers who observed the effects of Japanese gardens on Alzheimer’s patients. NGS stock photo by Sam Abell Seiko Goto, assistant professor of landscape architecture at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at Rutgers University, and Karl Herrup, professor and…
New measures to conserve and manage sustainably bluefin tuna, elephants, and a wide range of sharks, corals, reptiles, insects and plants have been proposed by governments attending the next world conference of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Over 40 proposals will be decided on at the conference,…
Invasive alien species, ranging from disease and plants, to rats and goats, are one of the top three threats to life on this planet, according to a new publication coordinated by the Global Invasive Species Programme (GISP). The Juan Fernandez firecrown, threatened by a range of introduced plant and animal species on Isla Robinson Crusoe,…
