Roads pave the way for weed invasions
...n-native seeds into uninfestedareas, and disturbed roadsides give weed seeds a place to grow. In the April issue of Conservation Biology, UC Davis doctoralcandidate Jonathan Gelbard and research ecologist Jayne Belnap of theU.S. Geological Survey report a study of plants along 42 roads in andaround Utah's Cany...Roads pave the way for weed invasions
...-native seeds into uninfested areas, and disturbed roadsides give weed seeds a place to grow. In the April issue of Conservation Biology, UC Davis doctoral candidate Jonathan Gelbard and research ecologist Jayne Belnap of the U.S. Geological Survey report a study of plants along 42 roads in and around Utah's C...Pollen productionand allergiesmay rise significantly over next 50 years
...ing fossil fuels." Ragweed, which flourishes along roadsides and in disturbed habitats throughout North America, produces one of the most common allergens. The researchers grew ragweed plants from seeds in two different enclosed environments. One was maintained at 350 parts carbon dioxide to a million parts ai......vey the flora and fauna on the farms and along the roadsides of this fertile farming region. The result of the survey is a checklist of biodiversity that amazed landholders and scientists. Over 100 bird species were recorded, as well as 145 different types of ants, over 250 species of native plants and over 60...Roadsides may provide butterfly corridors
...its tallgrass prairie, and restoring prairie along roadsides may help butterflies, according to new research in... study showing that restoring native habitat along roadsides can benefit wildlife. "Our data offer some preliminary evidence that restored roadsides may be able......erritories (38% versus 23% per year). Moreover, on roadsides the number of adults that died was much larger than the number of young that survived, which means that the roadside population would have decreased by nearly a third each year if new jays had not immigrated there. In contrast, on non-road territorie......ology. The four million miles of public roads and roadsides in the U.S. cover only 1% of the country, an area ...als, says Forman. For instance, people can restore roadsides with native plants, providing habitat for butterflies, birds and other animals. Many roads in agricu...Butterflies thrive in restored roadside prairies
...ft. New research shows thatrestoring prairie along roadsides increases the number of butterfly species that liv.... The results showed that restoring prairie along roadsides increases thediversity of rare butterflies: compared to grass and weeds, roadside prairie hadtwice a...Roadsides Benefit From Waste, UF Researchers Say
... made up of organic material. "The goal is to make roadsides a friendly environment to establish grass and at the same time get rid of waste products in an environmentally friendly way," said turfgrass researcher Grady Miller, of UF's Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Miller and his colleagues were ......st canopy. Any seedlings she found wereinstead "on roadsides and abandoned agricultural fields," shesaid. Back in the forest, Snook also found young mahogany trees growing whereshe detected signs of old hurricane or fire damage. Snook then began a systematic search for more sites of past disturbancesby condu...