Some Plants Can Fart

Some plants can fart. 

Researchers at the University of Albany in New York have discovered a defence mechanism in the roots of Mimosa pudica, the sensitive plant whose leaflets fold when touched, and is weedy throughout Australia's north and north east. 

Mimosa pudica flowers 

The roots are also touch-sensitive, releasing sulfurous odours from tiny, hairlike sacs dotted along the roots, sufficiently powerful to stink out a room. They’re even clever enough to tell what’s prodding them, as a finger touch always triggers the fart response but glass or metal objects don’t — useful in distinguishing predators from harmless objects. 

The stink bomb also may warn off competitive plants’ roots that grow too close. 

Closely related Acacia species are next to be studied for smelly behaviour.

I also wonder if the Mimosa pigra  plant  / tree - the Giant sensitive plant - is similarly endowed?

[ from Twig - Life magazine in the Weekend Australian of Feb 27 2016]

NEW - Online NT Flora List

It has been a slow gestation, but at last an online version of the NT plants list and related materials, with the following email in the inbox today.....

The Northern Territory Herbarium of the Flora and Fauna Division of the NT Land Resource Management Department is pleased to announce the first release of FloraNT (Northern Territory flora online) http://eflora.nt.gov.au.

The main features are:

·        Checklists of:

o   NT Plants;

o   NT Threatened species; and

o   Introduced naturalised species.

·        Searching of flora information by any combination of spatial attributes, plant name or plant characteristics including conservation status to produce a species list meeting the search criteria.

·        Browsing by plant name to access fact sheets and other information.

·        Attached to names in the above lists:

o   fact sheets including distribution map, illustrations, photos of each plant, conservation status, distribution, flowering times and other information; and

o   pdfs of descriptions and keys.

·        Searching of spatial data by any combination of spatial attributes, plant name or plant characteristics including conservation status to produce point data extracts meeting the search criteria.

Please note there are about 3300 images awaiting bulk upload.

For anyone else interested in the NT flora, this should be a very useful resource and reference  Let's hope it is kept up to date, even if only several times a year.

NEW Nickel Accumulating Tropical Plants Discovered

Researchers have uncovered dozens of new nickel hyperaccumulator plants in a study in Borneo.

Anthony van der Ent, working with the Centre for Mined Land Rehabilitation (CMLR) with the University of Queensland’s Sustainable Minerals Institute has discovered the new plants species in Borneo’s Mount Kinabalu world heritage site.

The researchers found local trees contain some of the world’s highest concentrations of nickel in plants.

Mid last year scientists also uncovered a similar plant in the Philippines, Rinorea niccolifera, which can accumulate up to 18 000 ppm of nickel without being affected.  "Hyperacccumulator plants have great potentials for the development of green technologies, for example, 'phytoremediation' and 'phytomining'," Dr. Augustine Doronila, from University of Melbourne said 

“From magnets to mobile phones and car motors, the world’s population uses a huge amount of nickel and the availability of mineable deposits, and the costs and complexity of recovery, are potentially limiting future supplies van der Ent said.  "Hyperacccumulator plants have great potentials for the development of green technologies, for example, 'phytoremediation' and 'phytomining'," Dr. Augustine Doronila, from the University of Melbourne said.

The trees uncovered in Boreneo contain up to three per cent nickel “so there is the real potential to develop large nickel ‘farms’ in the Tropics, which would be of benefit to the environment and local communities who have previously dealt with the impacts of mining.”

CMLR Director Professor David Mulligan added: “By studying intact landscapes such as Kinabalu Park, researchers are gaining insights into plant development and growth and an understanding of the relationships between the biotic and abiotic environments – knowledge that is enormously useful for informing strategies relating to mine site rehabilitation.”

The use of hyperaccumlators has a long and storied history in mining.

Previously plants known thrive in soils with heavy metals were used to uncover metal deposits.

The technique has been recorded as being used in China since the 5th century BC, and in fact Sweden's former Viscaria copper mine was actually named after the Viscaria aplina flower which prospectors used to discover the deposit, as the flower is known to grow in soils with heavy copper concentrations.

Australian natives such as Stackhouse tyronii and ­Hybanthus floribundus can also be used as lead and nickel indicators due to their hyper-accumulator ability, according to The Lead Group and to research carried out by CQ University professor Nanjappa Ashwatha and Dr. Poonam Bhatia.

In fact "Stackhousia try­onii is a serpentine-endemic, rare, native Australian plant and is reported to hyperaccumulate nickel up to 55,500 mg g-1 on a dry weight basis," the group explained.

In 2013 it was also reported that native eucalypts were thriving around the highly acidic decommissioned Mt Morgan gold mine, near Rockhampton, and highlighted the potential for the plants to be used in mine site remediation.  "Seedlings were growing in highly acidic soil where the pH shouldn't support them, and they are thriving," local councillor Neil Fisher said.  "On the very edge of the water, 300-400 eucalypt seedlings are growing where plants normally would have died."

[ originally reported by Cole Latimer on 14 January 2015 ]

Green Walls - Featured Inside And Outside

Seen recently - a new green wall in Terminal 1 at Changi Airport Singapore.

Announcing  - Arrivals.............. in a large display right at the top of the escalator down to Immigration and Passport Control.  A great prominent display with plants well adapted to lower light levels.

That has been a noticeable improvement over the past year or so - plant selection that works, especially for inside feature walls, where light levels and composition being a big issue.

This feature wall is a great display.  Check it out at Changi - hard to miss!

There is no doubt that green walls do a great job of improving air quality indoors where it can often be a problem if circulation is uneven.  And look good as well.

Darwin Airport  - take note.  Can you do a great green wall as part of the terminal improvements??

Carbon Science - There is More Phytosynthesis Occurring!

It is not all doom.....recent experiments and measurements have shown that current phytosynthesis - globally - is about 25% more than has previously been calculated.

The work is based on isotopic analysis of atmospheric carbon dioxide, but essentially follows flows of oxygen and carbon dioxide in and out and through the atmosphere.

Plants take up CO2 and emit oxygen, and from that, using isotope analysis total phytosynthesis is estimated..........and it is a lot more than previously thought.

It will have considerable effect on the performance of the climate change models, but this nett phytosynthesis increase still has to be incorporated into the large and complex models used.

Read more details here in a CSIRO media release-
http://qcl.farmonline.com.au/news/nationalrural/agribusiness-and-general/general/new-leaf-turns-for-carbon-science/2308093.aspx?storypage=0

BUT.....is it possibly related to more CO2 in the atmosphere boosting plant utilisation, seen as a response to more CO2 in the atmosphere? That is not mentioned.

And there is more as well - http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/43340 with this story also reporting an increase in plant productivity via uptake of carbon - essentially the same data as above but reported in a different way, referring to productivity of land plants. Remember, they produce oxygen!

Potential New Cacao Varieties

Do you like chocolate? Delicious not so sweet dark chocolate?

Over the past few years we have seen increases in interest in wine varieties, followed by new and different olive oil flavours. Coffee is going the same way, with new blends, varieties and types offered in the market place, to titillate and entrance consumers and coffee lovers.

Watch this space..........chocolate may be next!

Recently reports of work by USDA staff in conjunction with several other agencies as well as commercial choclate company partners have been chasing new and different types of cacao.......the source tree for chocolate.

While West Africa is the source of much of the world supply of cacao, the centre of diversity is actually in south America, and up into lower central america, areas now being investigated for additional genetic diversity in cacao.

The researchers found hundreds of new cacao tree samples during the trips. One of these, discovered by collaborators from Maranon Chocolate, was Pure Nacional, an old, very rare, and highly coveted variety that has garnered a great deal of interest from makers of fine-flavoured chocolates. Chocolate is produced from cacao.

This industry covets new and unique flavour sources.

Usually, cacao trees are found along rivers, but these gems were found at a higher altitude than normal, and in Peru instead of Ecuador or Venezuela.

The industry flourished in Africa as commercial plantation trees in the new World succumbed to some nasty plant diseases. These new collections may offer some advantages for Peru to create a niche industry for the new cacao varieties.

Food Prices WILL Go Up

Mankind has enjoyed several decades of falling food prices, and relative abundance. Some even say that food prices have really been trending down ever since about the mid 1800s, although there have been some periods where that has not been so clear.

Modern agriculture has improved productivity of most farm animals, crops and even trees and enhanced efficiency of the use of inputs such that more is produced for less.

Recent trends in agricultural productivity increases are much lower, a lot of the productive land is used already, some even disappearing into urban sprawl, and new areas are far less available, or have other constraints eg clearing of rainforest, and may even be less productive intrinisically.

Malthus and his predictions are back in the spotlight.

A recent short article from the Lowy Institue in Australia, a respected academic institue has examined this issue more critically.
link is here - http://lowyinstitute.org/Publication.asp?pid=1565 and the publication can be downloaded as a pdf.

We need 71% more food production to feed the world population of 9.1 billion [estimated] by 2050.

So far, it does not seem to be recognised as a serious issue, with R and D expenditure on agriculture still declining, and some are suggesting that it will be difficult to again obtain the agricultural productivity gains of the past 60 years. These are years in which use of hybrid crops, the development of the "green revolution" in Asia with both wheat and rice, etc etc all took place.

Genetic modification has been embraced by some.......and strongly rejected by others.

Many scientists do think that some form of major genetic advance will be needed to ensure this food will be produced, and that there will be significant changes in how and where food is produced. Will we see more food produced within cities? Many think so, grown in novel ways too.....even vertically on walls, replacing the lawn with a food garden, food grown on building rooftops and there will be greater use of recycled water and nutrients including organic materials eg compost. These are happening in some way already around the world.

At present there is a nett movement of nutrients from farms to cities, and it just about all goes down the sewer or into landfill. That might have to change.

Science might be capable to develop new food production systems but social and cultural adjustments might be needed too. They might be more difficult.

Plant Power - Build Better Plants for More Carbon Capture or Bioenergy

WOW!!! Scientific American seems to have woken up to a fact probably well understood by many in the agriculture research area, and also by many farmers.

Better plants for carbon capture, biofuels, or for that matter almost anything else requires an investment in R and D, specifically some decent plant breeding and genetics. Along with some public policy work to see that the plants get used.

The article below appeared in http://www.sciam.com/ in mid October 2010, and at least the review does build a case for a decent and ongoing investment in plant research, something that seems to have been over looked in the rush to develop geosequestration of carbon. Algae also probably has a place, especially for coal power stations, as does agrichar.

The comments about a price for carbon are very US-centric, and reflect what I would consider as "head in the sand" thinking by many US policy gurus, as another study, on mainstream media reports today, has indicated that many countries already have an explicit or implicit carbon price, including China and the EC countries, and that the US is probably out of line in its current thinking.

The article really says little that is new, but getting this approach into the mainstream thinking is very necessary to ensure the $$$$ do flow into a very useful avenue of development, in a time when agriculture seems to be less endowed with investment for long term progress.

Review article below.

-----------------------------
Flower Power: Genetic Modification Could Amply Boost Plants' Carbon-Capture and Bioenergy Capacity
A new review sums up options for increasing global carbon-sequestration by flora, and speculates that genetically engineering crops and trees could enhance the process, trapping gigatons of the greenhouse gas as well as increasing bioenergy production.

Human activities currently add about nine gigatons of carbon to the atmosphere yearly.
Photosynthetic organisms on land and in the ocean absorb about five of those gigatons through the natural uptake of CO2, leaving to humans the task of dealing with the rest. But no matter how much carbon there is, capturing it and preventing it from reentering the atmosphere is an immense engineering challenge; even today's best technology is orders of magnitude less effective than photosynthesis at trapping atmospheric carbon.

A new analysis published in the October issue of Bioscience suggests that by 2050 humans could offset between five and eight gigatons of the carbon emitted annually by growing plants and trees optimized via genetic engineering both for fuel production and carbon sequestration.

Bioenergy crops represent an opportunity to mitigate atmospheric carbon dioxide in two separate ways, says lead author Christer Jansson, a senior staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Earth Sciences Division. First, they are a carbon-neutral energy source that could offset the burning of fossil fuels. Second, "if they are the right kind of plants, they have a chance to transfer a lot of carbon underground for long-term sequestration," he says.

Plants take up CO2 and store carbon in their biomasses. Carbon can stay for decades or centuries in leaves, stems, branches, seeds and flowers aboveground, whereas carbon allocated to underground root systems is more apt to be transferred into the soil, where it can stay sequestered for millennia. Therefore, an ideal bioenergy plant would produce lots of aboveground biomass for fuel as well as have an extensive root system. Preliminary research indicates that genetic engineering approaches could be employed to enhance both these traits.

Using genetic modification to enhance photosynthesis and thus biomass yield is a realistic approach, says Stephen P. Long, a professor of crop sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign who was not part of the study. Long notes that transgenic tobacco plants, with simple modifications applicable to other plants as well, have already been shown to be more productive. "We are in a position now where we certainly know enough to where we could engineer quite a few of these changes," he says.

Meanwhile, regarding the problem of coaxing plants to allocate more carbon to their root systems, Jansson says an important difference between perennial and annual plants is a good place to start. "Perennials are more efficient than annuals at hiding carbon underground," he says. That's because annuals, which make up most of the world's food crops, spend much more energy producing seeds, stems and leaves than for building their root systems. On the other hand, perennials like switchgrass and Miscanthus have more extensive root systems—necessary because they remain dormant for part of the year and then must grow up again from their roots.

Whereas it may be exciting to imagine a bioenergy or food crop that produces lots of aboveground biomass and has large, carbon-sequestering root systems, research into whether this goal is realistic is still in its early stages. "Perenniality is a complex trait," Jansson says. He suggests it may end up being easier to modify perennials so they possess desirable annual-like features, as opposed to the other way around—but it's too early to tell. For the short term Jansson is confident that science can modify plants so they are more drought resistant and salt tolerant. Crops that could be maintained with brine or brackish water, such as industrial wastewater or seawater, would help preserve freshwater supplies. "These are important traits that need to be introduced into food and bioenergy crops," Jansson says, adding that "we will see this sooner" than enhanced photosynthesis or perennials with annual traits and/or vice versa.

The authors stress that genetic engineering should not be viewed as a cure-all, but rather part of a larger breeding effort. Further, Jansson says, "One problem is that the different aspects we mention—increasing photosynthesis, improving bioenergy crop yield, and putting more carbon into the root systems—are highly interlinked, and thus not necessarily additive." It could be, for example, that a modifying a plant to grow more roots takes away aboveground biomass production. Again, research in this area is too preliminary to tell.

Allison Thomson, who studies climate change and land use at the Joint Global Change Research Institute in College Park, Md., also expressed the need for caution when interpreting the study's projections. They are valuable in principle, she says, but also based on many assumptions regarding future economic conditions, land availability, and the size of bioenergy's role in a larger future energy strategy. For example, she says, "you can't really say how much bioenergy we are going use if you're not also considering other available energy sources and how much they emit." Furthermore, she points out, whether or not there is a price for carbon, which is hard to account for at this point, will figure heavily into future energy scenarios.

Also important to consider are potential land-use issues related to increasing demand for food. "When we do modeling, that's the one demand you can't ignore," Thomson says. "People want to eat before they want bioenergy."Besides all the unknowns, there is also existing regulatory policy regarding genetically modified organisms, which imposes high costs of compliance, thereby making it difficult to assess whether the ideas discussed in the paper are all doable.

Long says: "The bottleneck and damper on all this is really, 'How do you get transgenics out there, and meet all the regulatory requirements and costs?'"

Rotten Falling Palms

Hygiene, hygiene, hygiene - but only after palms die. If you have unexplained falling, rotting palms, then one of these two diseases may be involved.

They occur in the NT, as well as many tropical regions around the world.

Ganoderma Butt Rot of Palms
· Ganoderma butt rot is caused by the fungus Ganoderma zonatum. This fungus degrades or rots the lower 1-1.5m of the trunk.
· All palms are considered hosts of this fungus. This fungus is not a primary pathogen of any other plant species.
· Symptoms may include wilting (mild to severe) or a general decline.

The disease is confirmed by observing the basidiocarp (conk) on the trunk. This is a hard, shelf-like structure that will be attached to the lower 1 - 1.5m of the palm trunk. However, not all diseased palms produce conks prior to death.
· A palm cannot be diagnosed with Ganoderma butt rot until the basidiocarp (conk) forms on the trunk, or the internal rotting of the trunk is observed after the palm is cut down.
· The fungus is spread by spores, which are produced and released from the basidiocarp (conk) [seen upside down in the left photo].
· Conditions that are conducive for disease development are unknown.
· There are currently no cultural or chemical controls for preventing the disease or for curing the disease once the palm is infected.
· A palm should be removed as soon as possible after the conks appear on the trunk. Remove as much of the stump and root system as possible when the palm is removed.
· Because the fungus survives in the soil, do not plant another palm back in that same location.

Thielaviopsis Trunk Rot of Palm
· Thielaviopsis trunk rot is caused by the fungus Thielaviopsis paradoxa.
· Due to this disease, the palm trunk either collapses on itself or the canopy suddenly falls off the trunk, both without warning. The palm canopy often appears healthy prior to collapse.
· Except for “stem bleeding,” which is common in coconut and some single stem palms, there may be no symptoms prior to collapse of the palm.
· Only fresh trunk wounds will become infected by the fungus, so disease management includes limiting man-made wounds to the palm trunk, especially the upper third of the trunk.
· If the disease is detected early, cutting out the rotted, infested wood followed by spraying the wound site with a fungicide may be useful.
· There are no other methods to prevent or cure this disease. The palm should be removed immediately, and the diseased trunk portion destroyed but not recycled.

Thielaviopsis paradoxa is a fungus that can infect any part of a palm, and so can cause numerous diseases. In Florida, the two most frequent (and usually lethal) Thielaviopsis diseases observed in the landscape and field nursery are a bud (heart) rot and trunk rot.

Unfortunately, there often are no visible indications that a palm has Thielaviopsis trunk rot until either the trunk collapses on itself or the canopy suddenly falls off the trunk. The canopy often appears normal and healthy.

Thus, there are no symptoms that can be used to predict which palms are infected and which ones are not. In most cases, the trunk rot is occurring in the upper half of the trunk. This may occur because the number of lignified fibers are greatest in the lower trunk and least in the upper trunk. As indicated previously, this fungus prefers to rot non-lignified or lightly lignified plant tissue. “Stem bleeding” is a common symptom of Thielaviopsis trunk rot observed on single stem palms eg coconut, royal palms. This stem bleeding is a reddish-brown stain that runs down the trunk from the point of infection.

Thielaviopsis trunk rot usually occurs quite randomly, with only a few palms in the landscape being affected. However, there are situations where high numbers of palms in a single landscape can become diseased, for reasons that are not always clear. In all situations, there has to be a fresh wound to the palm. Wounds can occur naturally, such as trunk cracks due to excess water uptake. Insects (such as beetles), birds (sapsuckers pounding on the trunk), rats, and other mammals can cause wounds. Blowing objects during a wind storm can strike a trunk and cause a fresh wound.

Humans cause wounds with nails and climbing spikes, or during the digging and transplanting process.

Humans also create wounds when trimming leaves that are not yet dead. Leaf petioles are cut as close as possible to the trunk. If a leaf petiole has any green color associated with it, the leaf is still living. When that still living petiole is cut, a fresh wound is created that may be infected by the fungus. Trunks can be easily wounded during the trimming process with the careless use of the pruning tool. Pulling a leaf off the trunk, when the leaf petiole still has green tissue, can create a fresh wound.

The fungal pathogen can spread from palm to palm as follows. First, if spores are produced on diseased palm tissue, these spores can be moved by wind and water to fresh wounds. The spores may also be moved about by insects or rodents. Second, the spores that can survive in the environment, especially soil, for long periods. Fresh wounds could become infected via contaminated soil.

Except for the stem bleeding, there are often no outwardly visible symptoms that indicate which palm in the landscape or field nursery has Thielaviopsis trunk rot. Thus, there are no proven strategies for preventing this disease. Once the palm has collapsed, remove it immediately as it is a source of fungal spores.

If one does observe the initial stages of the trunk rot, such as the stem bleeding, it would be useful to cut out the area of rotted wood (if it is not too large a trunk area) and spray the wound thoroughly with a fungicide labeled for Thielaviopsis diseases. Examples include, but are not limited to, products with the active ingredients thiophanate methyl or fludioxonil. The goal is to prevent the fungus from infecting the fresh wound made when you cut out the infested, rotted wood. All tools used to remove the rotted wood must be cleaned with a disinfectant. [Banrot is a possible trade name]

Examples of disinfectants include: 1) 25% chlorine bleach (3 parts water and 1 part bleach); 2) 25% pine oil cleaner (3 parts water and 1 part pine oil cleaner); 3) 50% rubbing alcohol (70% isopropyl; equal parts alcohol and water); 4) 50% denatured ethanol (95%; equal parts alcohol and water); 5) 5% quatenary ammonium salts. Soak tools for 10 minutes and rinse in clean water. For chain saws, soak chain and bar separately.

Diseased trunk material should be destroyed and should not be recycled in the landscape. Chipping and then spreading the infested material in the landscape could spread the fungus to healthy palms. If the trunk is chipped, it should be placed in a properly constructed and monitored compost heap, or taken to a landfill or incinerator.

[partially sourced from extension articles - Monica Elliott et al, Uni of Florida; all photos from Darwin]

The REAL GM Food Scandal

For a salutary examination of the issues around GM food have a look at the following:

http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/2007/11/therealgmfoodscandal/

This appeared in Prospect Magazine in November 2007.

The noises have increased but really.............lets get back to basics! If agriculture is to feed the world between now and 2050, we need to invest in technology, develop a whole lot of smarts about land management and crop production and produce food. While there will be changes in how and where food wil be produced and the logistics of moving food to where required, but food will definitely be needed.

Western Europe is dominated politically by left leaning greenies, hence the anti GM stance. But recent figures quoted in Scientific American November 2009 show the big use of GM crops are in the US, Argentina, Brazil, India and often by smaller scale farmers.

They are not always chosen because the multinationals dominate the seed industry.......rather they are chosen because they perform, make money for the growers and save labour and costs.

GM Debate Continues - STILL

While I generally support using modern plant breeding techniques to enhance most crops, across a wide spectrum of types, not everyone is for those techniques such as genetic modification - GM.

Modern techniques do have opportunities to develop very significant advances across a wide range of areas from salt tolerance and disease resistance, to herbicide resistance - the latter the one that seems to ire many people. So does the ownership of the intellectual property embedded in the plants, or for that matter in animals too.

Many just rant and rave about it. Others are more subtle, but still oppose many modern breeding concepts very trenchantly.

http://e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2191

This link connects to a piece opposing GM technology. It is worth reading. Not only for what it says, but how. And the comments are thoughtful, a bit provocative and useful.

This debate is far from settled, and both sides can do more to inform, rather than just squeal.

Plant breeding has much to contribute to agriculture. It has in the past and will continue to do so. The debate is about how...............but is the developed world being a bit cute, when the biggest gains are likely with modern techniques on crops and plants used in developing countries?

There are not many serious debates about using insecticide treated mosquito nets for mosquito control, or ivermectin as a region wide chemical taken by the population as a measure for treating river blindness, but there are qualms about GM technology to add disease resistance into bananas [ currently stressed and poor yielding due to disease] that are a food staple in east Africa. Is that logical??

Plant Based Lubricant Additives CAN Replace Petroleum Sources

Plants continue to amaze me with how adaptable the products from them can be, and how many functions they can contribute to, often replacing the petroleum based current generation of products.

Sustainable production of these plant materials seems a no brainer, if petroleum products continue to increase in price, as is expected. If peak oil is nigh, then NOW is the time to really investigate the substitution of oil based with plant based products.

This link http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/sep09/petroleum0909.htm

takes you a recent ARS publication where a few of these are discussed. Many will have heard of starch based "polystyrene" substitutes, which are fully biodegradeable, in fact mostly compostable. These are now becoming more mainstream in Australia, although the USA has much wider use. They are just one product among many options.

Oil additives for lubrication especially high end areas, are a developing field with opportunities to replace oil based products with plant substitutes.

While this is US work, it applies very much to Australia as well. While we do not always manufacture these products, it does open up opportunities to develop some new options.

And we do sure need that.........NOW.