Trojan Trout?
Non-native Brook Trout have been made with two copies of the Y chromosome so that they only produce male fish. Stocking these altered Brook Trout in western US waters may help tip the population balance back to native cutthroat.
Biden Protects Old Growth Forest
President Biden has signed an order to protect America's old-growth forests.
He Always Has Been
The United Nations Environment Programme has appointed 95-year old Sir David Attenborough a Champion of the Earth.
Damn Foreigners
European earthworms reduce insect populations in North American forests. Also see The Earthworm Connection to Terrier Work on this blog.
Name It to Save It
The Seychelles have given creole names to their native seagrass for a a simple reason: "How can you value something that you don’t have a decent name for?”
Name What, After Who?
Scientists have named a new species of millipede after Taylor Swift. It's a twisted-claw millipede -- one of 17 new millipede species discovered in Tennessee's Appalachian mountains.
Get Rid of Japanese Barberry
It's a tick magnet.
Dr. Spock's Sister Started Quite a Lot
In 1957, Marjorie “Hiddy” Spock, the younger sister of famed pediatrician Dr. Benjamin Spock sued after her partner, Polly, became sick after spraying of DDT over her property to control gypsy moths. The case reached the Supreme Court, where it was dismissed on a technicality, but it drew the interest of Rachel Carson, who used the information collected by the plaintiffs to write her 1962 book Silent Spring, which led congress to ban the use of DDT, and which also inspired the modern environmental movement.
Damn Foreigners
Dr. Spock's Sister Started Quite a Lot
In 1957, Marjorie “Hiddy” Spock, the younger sister of famed pediatrician Dr. Benjamin Spock sued after her partner, Polly, became sick after spraying of DDT over her property to control gypsy moths. The case reached the Supreme Court, where it was dismissed on a technicality, but it drew the interest of Rachel Carson, who used the information collected by the plaintiffs to write her 1962 book Silent Spring, which led congress to ban the use of DDT, and which also inspired the modern environmental movement.
Damn Foreigners
The gypsy moth is an immigrant to the US brought in by a French fellow who wanted to start an American silk-worm industry.
Marijuana Will Save Medicare and Medicaid Billions
Legalizing marijuana lowers demand for prescription drugs -- a reduction that will save Medicare and state Medicaid programs billions of dollars.
1 comment:
This frothing about ticks and barberry drives me up a wall. The three experimental groups: 1)barberry, not cleared 2) barberry, cleared 3) clear to begin with. This is missing another set of groups: 4)several natural polycultures of native undergrowth plants 5) several examples of monocultures of aggressive native plants.
The ONLY thing this study shows is that areas with barberry undergrowth host more ticks than areas without any undergrowth. It does NOT demonstrate that barberry is—as so many in the native plant groups I belong to are prone to parroting any time a barberry post comes up—a tick magnet.
Show me better research.
As the researchers point out, dense barberry monocultures create a humid environment that favors the ticks. Know where I've picked up the most ticks? Slogging through a marsh, dominated by a diverse collection of native wetland herbaceous and woody plants, and the woods bordering the marsh. During peak host seeking season I'd pick 70+ ticks off the dog and myself. I started carrying a small container of soapy water because I can only crush so many of the bastards before my nails crumble.
I'm willing to bet that a properly controlled study will show that they only things that matter to tick population are overall plant density and suitability of the habitat to support dense populations of suitable hosts. I'm also willing to bet that a good healthy polyculture can host more ticks than a barberry monoculture.
Something else to consider. Tick populations may appear higher in barberry thickets because, while the dense growth offers protection to the small primary hosts, it may also hinder movement of secondary hosts, leaving more ticks available to be collected by the researchers, who don't follow normal patterns of animal movement. Additionally, primary hosts living within a barberry monoculture may have to spend more time foraging for food, given the reduced plant diversity, reducing the time available to groom off any tick nymph they may have collected.
But yes, by all means, get rid of barberry and every other invasive plant destroying any area that isn't already paved over.
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