How South Africa is keeping invasive famine weed at bay

The poisonous herb, Parthenium hysterophorus, is one of the world's most destructive invasive plants. It threatens biodiversity, national food security and human health. Native to parts of Central and South America (Gulf ...

High tunnels boost yield, along with plant-damaging insects

Growers of tomatoes, cucumbers and other vegetables can extend their growing season and increase yield by placing high tunnels over their cold-sensitive crops, but those tunnels don't provide the pest protection that has ...

Spiders eat 400-800 million tons of prey every year

It has long been suspected that spiders are one of the most important groups of predators of insects. Zoologists at the University of Basel and Lund University in Sweden have now shown just how true this is - spiders kill ...

Pressures from grazers hastens ecosystem collapse from drought

Extreme droughts, intensified by a warming climate, are increasingly causing ecosystem collapse in many regions worldwide. But models used by scientists to predict the tipping points at which drought stress leads to ecosystem ...

Butterfly eggs alert mustard plant to voracious caterpillars

Mustard plants are able to defend themselves against voracious caterpillars before these emerge from their eggs. As butterflies lay eggs, a substance is released that the plant recognises, thus activating a series of defence ...

Speckled beetle key to saving crops in Ethiopia

(Phys.org) —An invasive weed poses a serious and frightening threat to farming families in Ethiopia, but scientists from a Virginia Tech-led program have unleashed a new weapon in the fight against hunger: a tiny, speckled ...

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