Alien plants are threatening animals in one of the Kenya's major wildlife reserves, a study has shown. The study found that at least 245 alien species, introduced in the Mara-Serengeti ecosystem accidentally or intentionally as ornamental plants, were destroying the grass and native plants the animals feed on. The plants …
GUWAHATI: The search for alternative sources of energy is one of the main concerns of the conservationists of our times. A project in Guwahati was undertaken by the students of Sarala Birla Gyan Jyoti, Guwahati to extract biofuel from elephant grass (Pennisetum sp.), an indigenous botanic resource of Assam, stated …
Salt marshes around the world's coasts will help slow climate change until about 2050 by soaking up greenhouse gases but then risk making the problem even worse as sea levels rise, a study showed on Wednesday. Plants such as grasses and shrubs - which thrive in salt marshes found from …
Natural forages play an important role in the livestock based rural economy in developing countries like India. In this paper an attempt has been made to divide whole of India into four major natural silvipastoral cover that will help in forage resource planning and execution of various programmes for sustainable …
The present study was conducted in established plantations of Eucalyptus tereticornis in Dr. Y. S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni (Solan), Himachal Pradesh.
In the Neotropics the predominant pathway to intensify productivity is generally thought to be to convert grasslands to sown pastures, mostly in monoculture. This article examines how above-ground net primary productivity (ANPP) in semi-natural grasslands and sown pastures in Central America respond to rainfall by: (i) assessing the relationships between …
In the present study an estimation of livestock enteric CH4 emission has been made from feeding systems (diets) for different animal functions (maintenance, production and growth) prevailing in different agroecological regions (AERs) of India using livestock population 2003. Estimations comprised of dietary intake, digestibility and CH4 emission factors for ruminant …
The field experiment was conducted during the year 2001 to 2006 on marginal degraded bouldery riverbed lands of Doon Valley in North-West India under rainfed conditions. The performance of grasses viz Panicum maximum (fodder grass) and Eulaliopsis binata (industrial grass for fiber and paper pulp) was evaluated alone and in …
Imagine charging your cellphone from a meadow or harvesting electricity from rice paddies. The technology works, but can we make plant power a staple crop?
Both earthworms and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are important ecosystem engineers co-occurring in temperate grasslands. However, their combined impacts during grassland establishment are poorly understood and have never been studied. We used large mesocosms to study the effects of different functional groups of earthworms (i.e., vertically burrowing anecics vs. horizontally …
Savannas worldwide are vital for both socioeconomic and biodiversity values. In these ecosystems, management decisions are based on the perception that wildlife and livestock compete for food, yet there are virtually no experimental data to support this assumption. We examined the effects of wild African ungulates on cattle performance, food …
Widespread adaptation of biomass production for bioenergy may influence important biogeochemical functions in the landscape, which are mainly carried out by soil microbes. Here we explore the impact of four potential bioenergy feedstock crops (maize, switchgrass, Miscanthus X giganteus, and mixed tallgrass prairie) on nitrogen cycling microorganisms in the soil …
Global warming is predicted to induce desiccation in many world regions through increases in evaporative demand. Rising CO2 may counter that trend by improving plant water-use efficiency. However, it is not clear how important this CO2-enhanced water use efficiency might be in offsetting warming-induced desiccation because higher CO2 also leads …
The PWD in Majuli is planning to construct concrete roads on the island and plant vetiver grass along them to check the perennial problem of flood and erosion. Vetiver grass, which is native to India and whose roots grow much deeper than the normal grass, is famous for its soil-binding …
When the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced this month that it did not have the authority to oversee a new variety of genetically modified (GM) Kentucky bluegrass, it exposed a serious weakness in the regulations governing GM crops. These are based not on a plant's GM nature but on …
It is time to update decades-old regulation of genetically engineered crops. (Editorial) http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v475/n7356/full/475265b.html
The Agriculture Department has exempted a genetically engineered grass from federal regulation, a decision that some critics say could portend a loosening in oversight of biotech crops. The department said that an herbicide-tolerant Kentucky bluegrass being developed by Scotts Miracle-Gro was not subject to federal regulation because its creation did …
The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has written to states to include bamboo in the list of minor forest produce (MFP) and to take steps to facilitate its use, sale and management by communities. The letter, dated March 21, is addressed to all chief ministers. It acknowledges the …
“Stroke of the pen” reform is critical as in many cases policy is dastardly and change is laggardly. The essential element is to find that big-ticket item that can have impact on a scale and at a pace that is needed. I believe Union environment and forests minister Jairam Ramesh’s …
