News & Views

Great Plants, The Great Plantspeople, June 3-4, 2005, Raleigh, NC

Plant Delights Nursery in Raleigh, North Carolina is the first of four venues for Horticulture magazine's The Great Plants, The Great Plantspeople event, a unique mix of lectures, tours, workshops, and exclusive shopping privileges.

On Friday, June 3, there will be lectures by renowned plantspeople, including Plant Delights owner and plant explorer Tony Avent; noted plantsman, teacher, and woody-plant expert Michael Dirr; award-winning author, lecturer, and photographer Ken Druse; Thomas Hobbs, co-owner of Southlands Nursery in Vancouver; and Horticulture's director of programs, Nan Sinton. Friday evening laugh and relax at the Great Plants Dinner, when Carol Reese, known for her irreverent attitude to plants and gardening, reveals Seductive Plants with Torrid Reputations.

On Saturday, June 4, Plant Delights will open specially for Horticulture. Join the other plant aficionados to indulge in a leisurely stroll through the display gardens and explore the astonishing array of plants.

secure.hortmag.com/greatplants/symposia.asp?id=65

India Wins "Bio-piracy" Case Over Plant-based Pesticide

A University of Pittsburg Researcher has reported stunning mortality rates in amphibians that are exposed to the widely used herbicide Roundup, manufactured by Monsanto. With the introduction of many genetically modified organisms (GMOs) designed to be resistant to Roundup, allowing for increased application rates, there has been increasing concern among researchers about the effects of the herbicide on the environment. The concern is especially great as related to amphibians which have seen an unexplained global population decrease.

Rick Relyea, an assistant professor of biology at the University's Pymatuning Laboratory of Ecology conducted experiments to test the effects of the herbicide on pond algae which is the food source for much aquatic life. His findings were shocking in that the algae content actually increased due to the high mortality rate of the amphibians. Relyea found that Roundup caused a 70 percent decline in amphibian biodiversity and an 86 percent decline in the total mass of tadpoles. His findings were reported on April 1st in a paper titled "The Impact of Insecticides and Herbicides on the Biodiversity and Productivity of Aquatic Communities," published in the journal Ecological Applications. "The most shocking insight coming out of this was that Roundup, something designed to kill plants, was extremely lethal to amphibians," said Relyea. "We added Roundup, and the next day we looked in the tanks and there were dead tadpoles all over the bottom."

www.umc.pitt.edu:591/m/FMPro?-db=ma&-lay=a&-format=d.html&id=2022&-Find

Study Concludes Organic Farming Boosts Biodiversity

A recent study conducted by English Nature, a UK government agency which champions wildlife conservation, and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has determined that organic farming methods can help reverse farmland wildlife declines. The study, published in the journal of Biological Conservation (vol 122, p 113), which compares evidence about wildlife on close to 100 organic and equivalent non-organic farms has concluded that organic farms support markedly higher levels of biodiversity. Reasons cited by the study include:

- non-use of synthetic fertilisers and pesticides;

- sympathetic management of non-cropped habitats such as hedges, ditches and ponds,

- a greater tendency for organic farms to be mixed livestock and arable enterprises.

The study was the largest review ever done of research from around the world comparing organic and conventional agriculture, reviewing data from 76 individual studies from Europe, Canada, New Zealand and the US.

www.english-nature.org.uk/news/story.asp?ID=647