Seedling

• Joint press release by Hokkaido University and the National Institute for Environmental Studies.
• SAPPORO, Japan, Feb. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The effects of a phenomenon called tree masting on ecosystems and food webs can be better understood thanks to new theoretical models validated by real world observations.
• Researchers at Hokkaido University have developed new computer-based models of masting that, amongst other uses, could help predict the effects of climate change on woodland and forests.
• Végh and Kato developed four models of masting using combinations of three major masting theories, which cover the trees' resource budget, pollen limitation and exposure to weather patterns.

• In places where we need to protect valuable plants – whether for ecological or economic reasons – local herbivores can cause significant damage.
• But this is increasingly unacceptable due to animal welfare concerns and social pressures.
• Recently, our team discovered that herbivores – plant-eating mammals – primarily use their sense of smell to tell which plants they want to eat or avoid.

Herbivore-induced headaches

• They can devastate revegetation efforts and post-fire recovery, destroying more than half the seedlings in these areas.
• Every year, they cause billions of dollars of damage in forestry and agriculture.
• Read more:
  How to fool a mouse: ‘chemical camouflage’ can hide crops and cut losses by over 60%

A landscape of smells

In navigating a scent landscape, herbivores use odour to recognise and select among plants and plant patches. Odour is key in guiding the foraging of marsupials in Australia, elephants in Africa and Asia, and deer in the United States. With this in mind, we explored whether the smell of a plant they don’t like could be enough to nudge animals away from highly palatable native tree seedlings.

• Studies have shown having too many swamp wallabies around can limit the number of eucalypt seedlings that survive to become trees.
• Swamp wallabies also have a fantastic sense of smell – they can find just a few eucalypt leaves buried underground among complex vegetation.
• Using odours instead of real plants is a type of olfactory misinformation – it sends a deceptive message to the animals.

Real and virtual neighbours

• We also compared if virtual neighbours were as good as the real thing in protecting eucalypt seedlings from being eaten by wallabies.
• Five virtual neighbour vials or real Boronia pinnata plants were spaced evenly around single eucalypt seedlings the wallabies would find highly palatable.
• Seedlings were 20 times less likely to be eaten when surrounded by virtual neighbours than for both controls.

A highly effective approach

• The success of our study indicates we could use this approach as a new management tool – one that works by influencing the animals’ behaviour rather than trying to get rid of them.
• We believe the concept behind developing virtual neighbours is directly transferable to any herbivore, mammal or otherwise, that uses plant odour to forage.

• Clare McArthur receives funding from the Australian Research Council, NSW Environmental Trust and NSW Department of Planning and Environment.
• Peter Banks receives funding from the Australian Research Council, NSW Environmental Trust and NSW Department of Planning and Environment, Hermon Slade Foundation and Manaaki Whenua.

• HONOLULU, Jan. 27, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded Simonpietri Enterprises LLC a $206,500 grant to conduct research on producing organic fertilizer from locally-sourced green waste and wildfire-prone invasive plant biomass.
• This grant provides crucial funding to demonstrate the viability of Simonpietri's idea to manufacture fertilizer in Hawaii from invasive and fast-growing plants like guinea grass and koa haole.
• This competitive DOE low-greenhouse gas fertilizer research award demonstrates the strength and timeliness of Simonpietri Enterprises' vision for sustainable agriculture and clean energy in Hawaii.
• Simonpietri Enterprises is committed to leading the transition to a regenerative local economy that benefits all of Hawaii's communities.

• At Thursday's event, global authorities and leaders had the opportunity to closely explore Acelen Renováveis' key initiatives towards the energy transition.
• Very pleased to say that Acelen Renewables is already part of the seed of the future," commented Luiz de Mendonça, the company's CEO.
• It's an economy that, with natural capital for energy transition, is becoming healthier, growing more than the rest of Latin America.
• Acelen Renewables seized the importance of COP-28 to promote the signing of several contracts with strategic partners.