March 26, 2009, 9:44 PM CT

MRI for a Gorilla

Talk about house calls! The Wildlife Conservation Society thanks The Brain Tumor Foundation and its "Road To Early Detection" campaign for their assistance in performing a brain scan on a gorilla at the Bronx Zoo.

The on-site procedureperformed by dozens of wildlife veterinarians, zookeepers, and medical personnel from several institutionswas made possible by the Bobby Murcer Mobile MRI Unit, a 48-foot-long MRI facility on wheels that conducted a comprehensive neurological scan on the brain of Fubo, a 42-year-old western lowland gorilla. Fubo is one of two adult males, or silverbacks, living in the Bronx Zoo's Congo Gorilla Forest exhibit, which houses one of the largest breeding groups of western lowland gorillas in North America (more than 20 individuals). Fubo recently suffered a seizure, prompting WCS health and curatorial staff to seek out a neurological diagnosis.

The Brain Tumor Foundation responded to WCS's request for assistance with Fubo by sending its mobile MRI facility and staff to the Bronx Zoo's campus, free of charge. The gorilla was sedated for the two-hour procedure, placed into the MRI's magnetic tube for the scans (a snug fit for a patient with gorilla-sized shoulders), and returned to the Congo Gorilla Forest as planned. Under strict protocol, the MRI Unit was cleaned and sanitized after the procedure......... Posted by: Kelly      Read more         Source

March 26, 2009, 9:40 PM CT

Why those fishes went extinct 65 million years ago

Large size and a fast bite spelled doom for bony fishes during the last mass extinction 65 million years ago, according to a new study to be published March 31, 2009, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Today, those same features characterize large predatory bony fishes, such as tuna and billfishes, that are currently in decline and at risk of extinction themselves, said Matt Friedman, author of the study and a graduate student in evolutionary biology at the University of Chicago.

"The same thing is happening today to ecologically similar fishes," he said. "The hardest hit species are consistently big predators".

Studies of modern fishes demonstrate that large body size is linked to large prey size and low rates of population growth, while fast-closing jaws appear to be adaptations for capturing agile, evasive preyin other words, other fishes. The fossil record provides some remarkable evidence supporting these estimates of function: fossil fishes with preserved stomach contents that record their last meals.

When an asteroid struck the earth at the end of the Cretaceous about 65 million years ago, the resultant impact clouded the earth in soot and smoke. This blocked photosynthesis on land and in the sea, undermined food chains at a rudimentary level, and led to the extinction of thousands of species of flora and fauna, including dinosaurs......... Posted by: Kelly      Read more         Source

March 25, 2009, 9:45 PM CT

Who influences purchases of native plants?

Native plants are a growing niche market in the southeastern United States. Scientists have documented recent trends toward increased interest in native plants by landscape architects, wholesale and retail nursery owners, and home gardeners. But landscape professionals and amateur gardeners purchase native plants for distinctly different reasons. Statistics reveal that landscape architects most often select native species because they are suited to difficult or unique growing conditions, while retail plant buyers purchase native plants based on recommendations from landscape architects and contractors.

If landscape architects are the primary drivers of native plant sales in the southeastern United States, what impact does that have upon wholesale nursery growers and the retail market? What is the potential of the native plant market in this region, and what are the best ways of fostering its growth? To answer these questions, Robert F. Brzuszek and Richard L. Harkess, scientists at Mississippi State University, developed an e-mail survey for wholesale and retail nursery owners (members of the Southern Nursery Association) in the southeastern region of the United States. The survey results and recommendations were reported in the latest issue of the American Society for Horticultural Science journal HortTechnology........ Posted by: Erica      Read more         Source

March 25, 2009, 9:39 PM CT

Alternatives to pine bark and peatmoss identified for commercial, home gardens

Pine bark and peatmoss are the two most common substrates used for horticultural crop production in the southeastern United States, but both media can present challenges to growers. Reduced forestry production and increased use of pine bark as fuel and landscape mulch has made the medium less available, while the price of peatmoss is rising due to transportation costs and growing environmental concerns over the mining of peat bogs in Canada and Europe. These and other factors have contributed to a demand for new alternative substrates for container production of horticultural crops.

The use of agricultural waste and other composted materials is not a new concept, but factors such as consistency and reproducibility of product, disease and insect infestation, and availability of composted materials often influence growers' decisions regarding the use of these materials.

Alternative substrates grown from wood and wood-based products have been investigated as suitable substrates or substrate components in nursery and greenhouse crop production. European research has resulted in numerous successful commercialized wood substrates. More recently, a pine tree substrate called WoodGro has been developed from ground whole loblolly pine logs to successfully produce a wide range of nursery and greenhouse crops......... Posted by: Erica      Read more         Source

March 25, 2009, 9:37 PM CT

What influeces floral purchase

Scientific studies of "consumption value" explore the reasons consumers choose particular products and provide marketers with ways to analyze consumer behavior and influence purchasing. Studying the value of consumption is believed to have diagnostic value in the analysis of consumer choice behavior and, therefore, is helpful in improving the efficiency of the market. To enhance efficiency and promotion, it is essential for marketers to know the consumption value that buyers place on products.

Tzu-Fang Yeh and Li-Chun Huang from Da-Yeh University in Changhua, Taiwan, and National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, recently published a research report in the American Society of Horticultural Science journal HortTechnology The study's objective was to identify the consumption value that consumers seek from floral products, while clarifying the context of these values.

Men and women from three main cities in Taiwan were sampled to represent a population living an urban lifestyle. To compare differences in the consumption values, both genders of consumers from rural areas also participated in the survey. From a consumer survey of 33 questions, 644 valid questionnaires were analyzed.

The researchers discovered that "the statistical results of the analysis revealed that sensory hedonics, emotion conditioning, curiosity fulfillment, monetary worth, and showing care to others were the main types of the consumption values related to floral products"......... Posted by: Erica      Read more         Source

March 25, 2009, 9:26 PM CT

Vipers shape lizards' tail-shedding abilities

University of Michigan ecologists and their colleagues have answered a question that has puzzled biologists for more than a century: What is the main factor that determines a lizard's ability to shed its tail when predators attack?

The answer, in a word: Venom.

Tail-shedding, known to researchers as caudal autotomy, is a common anti-predator defense among lizards. When attacked, a number of lizards jettison the wriggling appendage and flee. The predator often feasts on the tail while the lucky lizard scurries to safety. Later, the lizard simply grows a new tail.

The ease with which lizards shed their tails varies from species to species and from place to place. For more than a century, biologists have suspected that this variation is controlled mainly by predator pressure: As the number of local lizard-eaters rises, so does the need for this effective defense mechanism.

When lizards live alongside lots of creatures eager to devour them, they're more likely to evolve the ability to shed their tails easily, because this trait enables them to survive long enough to reproduce and pass their genes to the next generation.

However, tail loss carries long-term costs, including impaired mobility, lower social status and slower growth rates. So from an evolutionary perspective, it only makes sense to maintain tail-shedding ability if there are predators around......... Posted by: Kelly      Read more         Source

March 24, 2009, 6:21 AM CT

Small investments to battle soybean pest paying off big

The small amount of money put toward fighting the tiny, yet destructive soybean aphid will pay big dividends in the coming years, said a Michigan State University economist, thanks to a research and outreach system developed during the last 50 years.

State and federal governments have spent $17 million on soybean aphid research and education since 2003, MSU agricultural, food and resource economics professor Scott Swinton said. The net economic benefit of that integrated pest management work, or IPM, should reach $1.3 billion during the next 15 years, he said. That's an annual rate of return of 180 percent.

"This is an example of what a good payoff you can get as a result of long-term research," Swinton said. "There's been a half century of research into integrated pest management. In the process a lot of techniques were developed and lots of understanding was gained about the relationships between crop and pest life cycles, infestations and the weather to decide when it's necessary to control them without wasting money and creating health risks".

Integrated pest management "takes a comprehensive approach to pest management that balances economics with environmental and human safety, as well as with what makes sense on the ground in the local community," said Michael Brewer, MSU's IPM Program coordinator......... Posted by: Erica      Read more         Source

March 22, 2009, 9:57 PM CT

First Look at How Bats Land

People have always been fascinated by bats, but the scope of that interest generally is limited to how bats fly and their bizarre habit of sleeping upside down. Until now, no one had studied how bats arrive at their daytime perches.

A Brown University-led research team is the first to document the landing approaches of three species of bats - two that live in caves and one that roosts in trees. What they found was surprising: Not all bats land the same way.

"Hanging upside down is what bats do," said Daniel Riskin, a postdoctoral researcher in the Ecology and Evolutionary Biology department at Brown and main author on a paper reported in the Journal of Experimental Biology. "We've known this. But this is the first time anyone has measured how they land".

Using sophisticated motion capture cameras in a special flight enclosure, the team filmed each species of bat as it swooped toward a latticed landing pad and landed on it. Cynopterus brachyotis, a tree-roosting bat common in tropical parts of southeast Asia, executed a half-backflip as it swooped upward to the landing site, landing as its hind legs and thumbs touched the pad simultaneously - a four-point landing, the group observed.

The landing is hard, Riskin noted, with an impact force more than four times the species' body weight......... Posted by: Kelly      Read more         Source

March 22, 2009, 9:52 PM CT

'Delicious' new grape debuts

Scientists at the University of Florida have introduced 'Delicious', a new muscadine grape cultivar. 'Delicious' ripens early, produces high yields, and is disease-resistant. The black fruit features exceptional taste and texture with an edible skin, making it well-suited for fresh fruit consumption and the potential for wine production. The name 'Delicious' was selected based on the comments of vineyard visitors who sampled the fruit.

As per Dr. Dennis J. Gray, who led the research study reported in the February 2009 issue of HortScience, 'Delicious' (Vitis rotundifolia Michx.) originated from a cross between AA10-40, a self-fertile, bronze-fruited selection with medium-sized berries, and CD8-81, a self-fertile, black-fruited selection with larger berries. The scientists noted that black berry color of 'Delicious' likely originated from 'Southland' and the self-fertile trait came from 'Carlos', 'Southland', and/or 'Welder'. The original seedling was planted in 1993.

The berries of 'Delicious' are oval shaped and reddish, turning dark purple/black when ripe. Fruit ripening dates vary seasonally, but tend to occur in early August at Apopka, Florida, remarkably 2 to 3 weeks earlier than other muscadine cultivars reviewed. Early ripe fruit have a semicrunchy flesh and an edible skin. Fruit allowed to ripen further tend to have a softer flesh, become noticeably juicier, but retain an edible skin. The berries have a dry stem scar and harvest readily with mechanical shaking......... Posted by: Erica      Read more         Source

March 22, 2009, 9:50 PM CT

Flight of the bumble bee

Insects such as honeybees and bumble bees are predictable in the way they move among flowers, typically moving directly from one flower to an adjacent cluster of flowers in the same row of plants. The bees' flight paths have a direct affect on their ability to hunt for pollen and generate "gene flow", fertilization and seed production that results when pollen moves from one plant to another. The study of gene flow has experienced more attention in part due to the recent introduction of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) into the environment.

Scientists, plant breeders, and growers seek to understand flight patterns of honeybees, bumble bees, and other insect "pollinators" as a way to increase production and healthy produce. Eventhough several studies have focused on pollen movement among cucurbits, the plant family that includes cucumbers, gourds, melons, or pumpkins, little research has looked at pollinator flight patterns and, until recently, none has determined pollen flow in watermelon plantings.

New research reported in the February 2009 issue of HortScience by research researchers S. Alan Walters of Southern Illinois University and Jonathan R. Schultheis of North Carolina State University studied pollinator movements down and across rows in watermelon [Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.)] by tracking pollen flow. The direction of honeybees was tracked under field conditions during 2001 and 2002 at the Southern Illinois University Horticultural Research Center in Carbondale......... Posted by: Kelly      Read more         Source