Should Plants and Animals That Relocate Because of Climate Change Be Considered Invasive?
04 August
Animals
America Pikas are found from the Sierra Nevada to the Rocky Mountains, and have been migrating to higher elevations. Jon LeVasseur / Flickr / Public Domain
By Jenny Morber
Caribbean corals sprout off Texas. Pacific salmon tour the Canadian Arctic. Peruvian lowland birds nest at higher elevations.
<p>In the past 100 years, the planet has warmed in the range of <a title="" href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/GlobalWarming/page3.php" target="_blank">10 times faster</a> than it did on average over the past 5,000. In response, thousands of species are traveling poleward, climbing to higher elevations, and diving deeper into the seas, seeking their preferred environmental conditions. This great migration is challenging traditional ideas about native species, the role of conservation biology and what kind of environment is desirable for the future.</p><p>In a <a title="" href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/355/6332/eaai9214?rss=1" target="_blank">2017 review for <em>Science</em></a>, University of Tasmania marine ecology professor Gretta Pecl and colleagues wrote, "[C]limate change is impelling a universal redistribution of life on Earth. For marine, freshwater, and terrestrial species alike, the first response to changing climate is often a shift in location." In fact, Pecl says, data suggest that at least 25% and perhaps as much as 85% of Earth's estimated 8.7 million species are already shifting ranges in response to climate change.</p><p>But when they arrive, will they be welcome? Traditional definitions classify species according to place. "Native" species arrived without human help and usually before widespread human colonization, so are likely to have natural predators and are unlikely to go rogue. Non-natives are newcomers and suspect. Though 90% cause no lasting damage, 10% become invasive — meaning that they harm the environment, the economy or human health. Last year <a title="" href="https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/05/nature-decline-unprecedented-report/" target="_blank">a multinational report</a> flagged invasive species as a key driver of Earth's biodiversity crisis.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUzMzA5My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMzM0MTI3NH0.oMhAPPXcPHecfraPvGcNqifWPj2zCRImoy-dGHjAIwA/img.jpg?width=980" id="89fd0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5acc10628b03ca297c3b53aefdcaacb2" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Known and anticipated changes in species distribution due to climate change around the world have implications for culture, society ecosystems, governance and climate change. Figure used with permission from Gretta T. Pecl, originally published on 31 Mar 2017 in Science 355(6332).
<p>How we define species is critical, because these definitions influence perceptions, policy and management. The U.S. National Invasive Species Council (NISC) defines a biological invasion as "the process by which non-native species breach biogeographical barriers and extend their range" and states that "preventing the introduction of potentially harmful organisms is … the first line of defense." But some say excluding newcomers is myopic.</p><p>"If you were trying to maintain the status quo, so every time a new species comes in, you chuck it out," says Camille Parmesan, director of the French National Centre for Scientific Research, you could gradually "lose so many that that ecosystem will lose its coherence." If climate change is driving native species extinct, she says, "you need to allow new ones coming in to take over those same functions."</p><p>As University of Florida conservation ecologist Brett Scheffers and Pecl warned in a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-019-0526-5" target="_blank">2019 paper in <em>Nature Climate Change</em></a>, "past management of redistributed species … has yielded mixed actions and results." They concluded that "we cannot leave the fate of biodiversity critical to human survival to be randomly persecuted, protected or ignored."</p>Existing Tools
<p>One approach to managing these climate-driven habitat shifts, suggested by University of California, Irvine marine ecologist Piper Wallingford and colleagues in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-0768-2" target="_blank">a recent issue of Nature Climate Change</a>, is for scientists to adapt existing tools like the <a href="https://www.iucn.org/theme/species/our-work/invasive-species/eicat" target="_blank">Environmental Impact Classification of Alien Taxa (EICAT)</a> to assess potential risks associated with moving species. Because range-shifting species pose impacts to communities similar to those of species introduced by humans, the authors argue, new management strategies are unnecessary, and each new arrival can be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.</p><p>Karen Lips, a professor of biology at University of Maryland who was not associated with the study, echoes the idea that each case is so varied and nuanced that trying to fit climate shifting species into a single category with broad management goals may be impractical. "Things may be fine today, but add a new mosquito vector or add a new tick or a new disease, and all of a sudden things spiral out of control," she says. "The nuance means that the answer to any particular problem might be pretty different."</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUzMzEwOC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTU5Nzc3Mzg5OH0.mfmERsqdqXWZxoqSAKjoS_djEwYmc5sqJGvc3vaxQhM/img.jpg?width=980" id="5d0ac" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0b6c13afe6f55afc739919773358c08f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
In recent years, northern flying squirrels in Canada have found themselves in the company of new neighbors — southern flying squirrels expanding their range as the climate warms. Public Domain / USFW
<p>Laura Meyerson, a professor in the Department of Natural Resources Science at the University of Rhode Island says scientists should use existing tools to identify and address invasive species to deal with climate-shifting species. "I would like to operate under the precautionary principle and then reevaluate as things shift. You're sort of shifting one piece in this machinery; as you insert a new species into a system, everything is going to respond," she says. "Will some of the species that are expanding their ranges because of climate change become problematic? Perhaps they might."</p><p>The reality is that some climate-shifting species may be harmful to some conservation or economic goals while being helpful to others. While sport fisherman are excited about red snapper moving down the East Coast of Australia, for example, if they eat juvenile lobsters in Tasmania they could harm this environmentally and economically important crustacean. "At the end of the day … you're going to have to look at whether that range expansion has some sort of impact and presumably be more concerned about the negative impacts," says NISC executive director Stas Burgiel. "Many of the [risk assessment] tools we have are set up to look at negative impact." As a result, positive effects may be deemphasized or overlooked. "So that notion of cost versus benefit … I don't think it has played out in this particular context."</p>Location, Location, Location
<p>In a <a href="https://www-nature-com.ezp3.lib.umn.edu/articles/s41558-020-0770-8" target="_blank">companion paper</a> to Wallingford's, University of Connecticut ecology and evolutionary biology associate professor Mark Urban stressed key differences between invasive species, which are both non-native and harmful, and what he calls "climate tracking species." Whereas invasive species originate from places very unlike the communities they overtake, he says, climate tracking species expand from largely similar environments, seeking to follow preferred conditions as these environments move. For example, an American pika may relocate to a higher mountain elevation, or a marbled salamander might expand its New England range northward to seek cooler temperatures, but these new locations are not drastically different than the places they had called home before.</p><p>Climate tracking species may move faster than their competitors at first, Urban says, but competing species will likely catch up. "Applying perspectives from invasion biology to climate-tracking species … arbitrarily chooses local winners over colonizing losers," he writes.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzUzMzExOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNDcyNzA3Mn0.n_ebiiONrITEyBQmEWJFAbXDUd4ZWzPOBE8CKnyHm1Q/img.jpg?width=980" id="ec01c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="84cbbac4ee5597e41544f6cedfcce139" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
The marbled salamander, a native of the eastern U.S., is among species whose range could expand northward to accommodate rising temperatures. Seánín Óg / Flickr / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
<p>Urban stresses that if people prevent range shifts, some climate-tracking species may have nowhere to go. He suggests that humans should even <a href="https://ensia.com/features/time-for-trees-to-pack-their-trunks/" target="_blank">facilitate movement</a> as the planet warms. "The goal in this crazy warming world is to keep everything alive. But it may not be in the same place," Urban says.</p><p>Parmesan echoes Urban, emphasizing it's the distance that makes the difference. "[Invasives] come from a different continent or a different ocean. You're having these enormous trans-global movements and that's what ends up causing the species that's exotic to be invasive," she says. "Things moving around with climate change is a few hundred miles. Invasive species are moving a few thousand miles."</p><p>In 2019 University of Vienna conservation biology associate professor Franz Essl published a similar argument for species classification beyond the native/non-native dichotomy. Essl uses "neonatives" to refer to species that have expanded outside their native areas and established populations because of climate change but not direct human agency. He argues that these species should be considered as native in their new range.</p>They Never Come Alone
<p>Meyerson calls for caution. "I don't think we should be introducing species" into ecosystems, she says. "I mean, they never come alone. They bring all their friends, their microflora, and maybe parasites and things clinging to their roots or their leaves. … It's like bringing some mattress off the street into your house."</p><p>Burgiel warns that labeling can have unintended consequences. We in the invasive species field … focus on non-native species that cause harm," he says. "Some people think that anything that's not native is invasive, which isn't necessarily the case." Because resources are limited and land management and conservation are publicly funded, Burgiel says, it is critical that the public understands how the decisions are being made.</p><p>Piero Genovesi, chair of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Invasive Species Specialist Group, sees the debate about classification — and therefore about management — as a potential distraction from more pressing conservation issues.</p><p>"The real bulk of conservation is that we want to focus on the narrow proportion of alien species that are really harmful," he says. In Hawaii "we don't discuss species that are there [but aren't] causing any problem because we don't even have the energy for dealing with them all. And I can tell you, no one wants to remove [non-native] cypresses from Tuscany. So, I think that some of the discussions are probably not so real in the work that we do in conservation."</p><p>Indigenous frameworks offer another way to look at species searching for a new home in the face of climate change. According to <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11625-018-0571-4" target="_blank">a study</a> published in Sustainability Science in 2018 by Dartmouth Native American studies and environmental studies associate professor Nicholas Reo, a citizen of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, and Dartmouth anthropology associate professor Laura Ogden, some Anishnaabe people view plants as persons and the arrival of new plants as a natural form of migration, which is not inherently good or bad. They may seek to discover the purpose of new species, at times with animals as their teachers. In their paper Reo and Ogden quote Anishnaabe tribal chairman Aaron Payment as saying, "We are an extension of our natural environment; we're not separate from it."</p>The Need for Collaboration
<p>The successful conservation of Earth's species in a way that keeps biodiversity functional and healthy will likely depend on collaboration. Without global agreements, one can envision scenarios in which countries try to impede high-value species from moving beyond their borders, or newly arriving species are quickly overharvested.</p><p>In Nature Climate Change, Sheffers and Pecl call for a Climate Change Redistribution Treaty that would recognize species redistribution beyond political boundaries and establish governance to deal with it. Treaties already in place, such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which regulates trade in wild plants and animals; the Migratory Bird Treaty Act; and the Agreed Measures for the Conservation of Antarctic Fauna and Flora, can help guide these new agreements.</p><p>"We are living through the greatest redistribution of life on Earth for … potentially hundreds of thousands of years, so we definitely need to think about how we want to manage that," Pecl says.</p><p>Genovesi agrees that conservationists need a vision for the future. "What we do is more to be reactive [to known threats]. … It's so simple to say that destroying the Amazon is probably not a good idea that you don't need to think of a step ahead of that." But, he adds, "I don't think we have a real answer in terms of okay, this is a threshold of species, or this is the temporal line where we should aim to." Defining a vision for what success would look like, Genovesi says, "is a question that hasn't been addressed enough by science and by decision makers."</p><p>At the heart of these questions are values. "All of these perceptions around what's good and what's bad, all [are based on] some kind of value system," Pecl says. "As a whole society, we haven't talked about what we value and who gets to say what's of value and what isn't."</p><p>This is especially important when it comes to marginalized voices, and Pecl says she is concerned because she doesn't "think we have enough consideration or representation of Indigenous worldviews." Reo and colleagues <a href="https://cpb-us-e1.wpmucdn.com/sites.dartmouth.edu/dist/9/52/files/2012/10/Reo_etal_AIQ_invasive_species_2017.pdf" target="_blank">wrote in American Indian Quarterly in 2017</a> that climate change literature and media coverage tend to portray native people as vulnerable and without agency. Yet, says Pecl, "The regions of the world where [biodiversity and ecosystems] are either not declining or are declining at a much slower rate are Indigenous controlled" — suggesting that Indigenous people have potentially managed species more effectively in the past, and may be able to manage changing species distributions in a way that could be informative to others working on these issues.</p><p>Meanwhile, researchers such as Lips see species classification as native or other as stemming from a perspective that there is a better environmental time and place to return to. "There is no pristine, there's no way to go back," says Lips. "The entire world is always very dynamic and changing. And I think it's a better idea to consider just simply what is it that we do want, and let's work on that."</p>
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At least 27 states have warned their residents not to plant any seeds they receive from mysterious, unsolicited packages that appear to have been sent from China. Washington State Department of Agriculture / Twitter
At least 27 states have warned their residents not to plant any seeds they receive from mysterious, unsolicited packages that appear to have been sent from China, The New York Times reported Sunday.
<p><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/agriculture" target="_self">Agriculture</a> officials also told anyone who received one of the packages to alert authorities. They are worried the seeds could harm the environment by introducing <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/invasive-species" target="_self">invasive species</a>, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/insects" target="_self">insect</a> pests or diseases.</p><p>"Invasive species wreak havoc on the environment, displace or destroy native <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/plants" target="_self">plants</a> and insects and severely damage crops," the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services said in a news release Friday, as <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/27/us/unsolicited-seed-packages-china-trnd/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>.</p><p>"Taking steps to prevent their introduction is the most effective method of reducing both the risk of invasive species infestations and the cost to control and mitigate those infestations."</p>
<div id="85bd5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e1f0df779b03596cd02d1e104d2ad755"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1287748788292071425" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">VDACS urges #Virginia residents who have received unsolicited seed packets from #China not to plant the seeds & con… https://t.co/K58ogfefc1</div> — VDACS (@VDACS)<a href="https://twitter.com/VaAgriculture/statuses/1287748788292071425">1595858211.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The seed packages have been mailed to people in several states. Photos shared online by agricultural departments show they come in white or yellow packaging and have Chinese characters and the words "China Post" on the outside, according to The New York Times. Several packages falsely claimed to contain jewelry. Some reported in Louisiana claimed to contain ear buds or toys, the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry said.</p><p>It is not yet clear why the seeds were sent.</p><p>"At this point in time, we don't have enough information to know if this is a hoax, a prank, an internet scam or an act of agricultural bio-terrorism," Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles said, as <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/seeds-from-china-mysterious-seed-landing-american-mail-boxes-usda-investigating-do-not-plant/#app" target="_blank">CBS News reported</a>. "Unsolicited seeds could be invasive and introduce unknown diseases to local plants, harm livestock or threaten our environment."</p>
<p>The police department in Whitehouse, Ohio said the seeds appeared to be linked to an internet scam called "brushing," in which online vendors send cheap, unsolicited items and then write positive reviews on the part of the receiver in order to boost their business.</p><p>"Although not directly dangerous, we would still prefer that people contact us to properly dispose of the seeds," the police wrote on <a href="https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1543895642438424&id=283704898457511" target="_blank">Facebook</a>.</p>
<p>The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is investigating the situation and also said there was no evidence the seeds were sent for any purpose besides a brushing scam.</p><p>"USDA is currently collecting seed packages from recipients and will test their contents and determine if they contain anything that could be of concern to U.S. agriculture or the environment," the department said in a <a href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/newsroom/stakeholder-info/sa_by_date/sa-2020/sa-07/seeds-china" target="_blank">statement</a>.</p>
<div id="9412a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="960da07b2951c6e7b73b4858287d7f5c"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1287839378274836481" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">#APHIS is working closely with @CBP and State Depts of Ag re: unrequested seeds. If received, pls contact State Dep… https://t.co/xjivlSAR1P</div> — USDA APHIS (@USDA APHIS)<a href="https://twitter.com/USDA_APHIS/statuses/1287839378274836481">1595879809.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>In addition to Virginia, Louisiana, Kentucky and Ohio, agricultural departments have issued warnings about the packages in Washington State, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Wyoming, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, South Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, West Virginia, Florida, Kansas and Alabama, according to The New York Times. People also received the seeds in Utah and Arizona, according to local news reports. Officials in Arkansas, Michigan, New Jersey and Oregon also put out warnings about the packages but did not say if any of their residents had received them.</p><p>Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said the country's postal service had asked for the packages to be sent back to China for further investigation, but that their records appeared to have been falsified, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-china-seeds-idUSKCN24S2OM" target="_blank">Reuters reported</a>. Wenbin said the Chinese postal service worked to follow the rules for sending seeds.</p>
<p>Seeds imported into the U.S. for the first time usually follow a strict procedure overseen by the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), Penn State University plant pathology expert professor Carolee Bull told The New York Times.</p><p>"Say that when I import seed into the country that has not been here before — wheat seed, for example — I know they'll bring it in and they'll actually grow it out at the A.P.H.I.S. facility to check it for disease," she said.</p><p>But, in the case of the mysterious seeds, that hasn't happened.</p><p>"The reason that people are concerned is — especially if the seed is the seed of a similar crop that is grown for income and food, or food for animals — that there may be plant pathogens or insects that are harbored in the seed," Bull said.</p>
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Plant pathologist Carolee Bull works in her home garden in State College, Pennsylvania. Carolee Bull, CC BY-ND
By Matt Kasson, Brian Lovett and Carolee Bull
Home gardening is having a boom year across the U.S. Whether they're growing their own food in response to pandemic shortages or just looking for a diversion, numerous aspiring gardeners have constructed their first raised beds, and seeds are flying off suppliers' shelves. Now that gardens are largely planted, much of the work for the next several months revolves around keeping them healthy.
<p>Contrary to the <a href="https://biblehub.com/galatians/6-7.htm" target="_blank">Biblical adage</a>, we do not necessarily reap what we sow. As researchers specializing in <a href="https://www.davis.wvu.edu/faculty-staff/directory/matthew-kasson" target="_blank">plant</a> <a href="https://plantpath.psu.edu/directory/ctb14" target="_blank">pathology</a> and <a href="https://www.lovettbr.com/about" target="_blank">entomology</a>, we have devoted our careers to understanding and managing plant pests and pathogens. We are also gardeners with varying levels of experience and have seen firsthand the damage these insects and disease-causing agents can inflict.</p><p>Plant health is essential for seeing your garden succeed all the way to harvest. The United Nations General Assembly has declared 2020 as the <a href="https://www.apsnet.org/members/engagement/IYPH2020/Pages/default.aspx" target="_blank">International Year of Plant Health</a> to help bring needed attention to pests and diseases that threaten global food production.</p><p>Thousands of pests and pathogens are known to target commercial crops, but a few usual suspects are routinely responsible for havoc in gardens across the U.S. Although each organism's preferences vary, a few common tactics can help you detect them and protect your plants.</p>
Start With Prevention
<p>Just as preventive steps like maintaining a balanced diet help keep humans healthy, home growers can take many actions to help their gardens thrive.</p><p>One key step is assessing soil fertility – the ability of soil to sustain plant growth – which can vary widely depending on your location and soil type. Low soil fertility limits food production and predisposes plants to disease and pests. University extension <a href="https://soiltesting.wvu.edu/" target="_blank">soil testing labs</a> can help evaluate the quality of garden soil and identify nutrient deficiencies and acidic soils, often at no charge.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQzNzU0Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NzE2MTA4MX0.TMP1j2YhGRmeSglNZ3bYQd-4ckRdv6WVB0yC0D48eus/img.jpg?width=980" id="e50c3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d73f4dd41b07cd5c3451a01298aabc76" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
Using weed barrier landscape cloth for planting rows and mulching between rows is an effective way to suppress weeds. Matt Kasson, CC BY-ND
<p>Suppressing weeds, either through mulching or weeding by hand each week, increases air flow and reduces humidity around garden plants, making it harder for pests and pathogens to thrive. Weed control ensures that nutrients are available for the plants you want to grow.</p><p>Proper spacing between plants is also important. Crowding can contribute to disease and pest outbreaks, so check and follow recommendations on seed packs or online as you add and move plants throughout the season. You can always cull plants after they come up to help with spacing. In small gardens, fewer plants that are properly supported can produce a bigger harvest than many overcrowded plants.</p><p>And then there's the weather. Frost, hail, drought and flooding all pose unique risks to plants. Inconsistent rainfall can kill thirsty plants more quickly than infertile soils. Both too little and too much water will stress plants and can make them more vulnerable to severe pest and pathogen outbreaks.</p><p>A general rule of thumb is to follow a consistent daily watering regimen – preferably first thing in the morning – and to avoid over-watering, which can encourage root pathogens in soil.</p>
Diagnosing Problems
<p>Common plant pathogens include <a href="https://www.apsnet.org/edcenter/disandpath/viral/introduction/Pages/PlantViruses.aspx" target="_blank">viruses</a>, <a href="https://www.apsnet.org/edcenter/disandpath/prokaryote/intro/Pages/Bacteria.aspx" target="_blank">bacteria</a>, <a href="https://www.apsnet.org/edcenter/disandpath/nematode/intro/Pages/IntroNematodes.aspx" target="_blank">nematodes</a>, <a href="https://www.apsnet.org/edcenter/disandpath/oomycete/introduction/Pages/IntroOomycetes.aspx#:%7E:text=The%20oomycetes%2C%20also%20known%20as,foliar%20blights%20and%20downy%20mildews." target="_blank">oomycetes</a> and <a href="https://www.apsnet.org/edcenter/disandpath/fungalasco/intro/Pages/IntroFungi.aspx" target="_blank">fungi</a>. All of these microorganisms, especially at an early stage of infection, are too small to see. But when they proliferate, they cause changes in plants that we can recognize.</p><p>Unlike insects, which move around on six legs or on wings through the air, pathogens can move unseen and unchecked from leaf to leaf on the wind, through the soil or in droplets of water. Some microbes have even formed intimate relationships with insects and use them as vehicles to move from plant to plant, which makes these pathogens even more challenging to manage. Unfortunately, by the time some pathogens make their presence known, the damage is already done.</p><p>We recently conducted a <a href="https://twitter.com/kasson_wvu/status/1265989041725624323" target="_blank">Twitter poll</a> of gardeners nationwide to find out which culprits plagued their gardens. People named <a href="https://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/aphids" target="_blank">aphids</a>, <a href="https://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/squash-vine-borer" target="_blank">squash vine borers</a>, <a href="https://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/squash-bug" target="_blank">squash bugs</a> and <a href="https://ento.psu.edu/extension/factsheets/flea-beetle" target="_blank">flea beetles</a> as the most problematic insect pests. Their most troublesome pathogens included <a href="https://extension.wvu.edu/lawn-gardening-pests/plant-disease/fruit-vegetable-diseases/powdery-mildew" target="_blank">powdery mildew</a>, <a href="https://plantpath.ifas.ufl.edu/rsol/Trainingmodules/BWTomato_Module.html" target="_blank">tomato bacterial wilt</a> and <a href="https://extension.wvu.edu/lawn-gardening-pests/plant-disease/fruit-vegetable-diseases/downy-mildew" target="_blank">cucurbit downy mildew</a>.</p><p>To manage such perennial challenges, the first step is to spend time closely looking at your plants. Do you notice any insects consistently hanging around, or molds colonizing leaves or other plant parts? How about symptoms such as blight, stunting, or leaves that are yellowing, browning or wilting?</p><img lazy-loadable="true" src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQzNzU1MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NzAzNjI3NX0.YMze8ypLJeMta1zj22z2Ol0gLeOaKPzuJUXAJDGMkWw/img.jpg?width=980" id="a7f6e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="21b23fe729f14504c8177a38ae257301" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" />
This white fungal growth is an early sign of powdery mildew on a leaf of susceptible summer squash. Matt Kasson, CC BY-ND
<p>There are countless resources online for keen-eyed and curious gardeners looking to identify and manage pests and diseases. Try uploading a photo to the <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/" target="_blank">iNaturalist app</a> or a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/StateCollegeGardens/?multi_permalinks=600704970572066%2C600705577238672%2C600746833901213%2C600249863950910%2C599671614008735&notif_id=1593225594524195&notif_t=group_activity&ref=notif" target="_blank">Facebook gardeners group</a> that can offer a community-sourced ID. Plant disease clinics in your state will also diagnose plant damage from diseases and pests <a href="https://www.npdn.org/home" target="_blank">for free or at low cost</a>.</p><p>Once you've identified a problem serious enough to intervene, the land grant extension system can provide solutions. Extension programs at land grant schools like <a href="https://extension.wvu.edu/lawn-gardening-pests" target="_blank">West Virginia University</a> and <a href="https://extension.psu.edu/insects-pests-and-diseases" target="_blank">Penn State University</a> offer critical information on agriculture and management of pests and diseases in multiple languages for commercial and home growers.</p><p>Their resources include information on safe and proper use of <a href="https://extension.wvu.edu/agriculture/farm-management/pesticide-education" target="_blank">pesticides</a> as part of <a href="https://www.entsoc.org/sites/default/files/files/Science-Policy/ESA-Factsheet-IPM.pdf" target="_blank">integrated pest management</a> strategies. This approach employs pesticides in a targeted way along with non-chemical control methods and <a href="https://landscapeipm.tamu.edu/what-is-ipm/ipm-practices/cultural-practices/#:%7E:text=In%20IPM%2C%20cultural%20and%20physical,watering%2C%20nutrient%20management%2C%20etc." target="_blank">cultural practices</a>, such as choosing native plants. Our professional societies, including the <a href="https://www.apsnet.org/Pages/default.aspx" target="_blank">American Phytopathological Society</a>, also offer <a href="https://www.apsnet.org/apsstore/pages/oncompendia.aspx" target="_blank">a compendium series</a> to help users diagnose and treat pests and diseases.</p>
<div id="e9449" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="180afa5785eb73e78677137f4f7a6e44"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1278028757362790400" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Sow seed for fall transplants of broccoli, kale, turnip, and cauliflower in flats or containers by the 3rd to 4th w… https://t.co/i3chrkKCj0</div> — Montgomery County Master Gardeners - Maryland (@Montgomery County Master Gardeners - Maryland)<a href="https://twitter.com/mcmgmd/statuses/1278028757362790400">1593540775.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Those who are serious about learning and sharing their experience with others may want to consider <a href="https://mastergardener.extension.org/" target="_blank">Master Gardener programs</a>, which train and certify community members on the latest evidence-based gardening techniques, tailored to their growing area. Master Gardeners pay it forward by training new Master Gardeners and answering questions for any gardener.</p><p>Plant pests are a daily reminder that gardens do not exist in a vacuum, and gardeners shouldn't struggle alone either. Joining the gardening community takes attentiveness and time, but we believe the investment required to become an active member of your local gardening community is well worth it. With experience, the nervous tightrope act of keeping pests at bay and food on the table becomes a delicate dance that can help us appreciate where our food comes from – and ultimately, our place in the global ecosystem.</p>
<p>
<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/matt-kasson-1024196" target="_blank">Matt Kasson</a> is an </em><em>Associate Professor of Plant Pathology and Mycology, West Virginia University.</em>
</p><p>
<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/brian-lovett-1032419" target="_blank">Brian Lovett</a> is a </em><em>Postdoctoral Researcher in Mycology, West Virginia University.</em>
</p><p>
<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/carolee-bull-1106097" target="_blank">Carolee Bull</a> is a </em><em><em>Professor of Plant Pathology and Systematic Bacteriology, Pennsylvania State University.</em></em>
</p><p>
<em><em></em>Disclosure statement: </em><em>Matt Kasson receives funding from USDA and The Ohrstrom Foundation. </em><em>Carolee Bull receives funding from the USDA and from the mushroom industry, and matching funds from seed companies for her research projects. </em><em><em>Brian Lovett does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</em></em>
</p><p>
<em><em></em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-to-manage-plant-pests-and-diseases-in-your-victory-garden-139545" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em>
</p><p>
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Barcelona's Liceu Opera house played a concert for plants Monday. Jordi Vidal / Getty Images
A Barcelona opera house played its first concert since mid-March to an unusual audience: 2,292 plants.
<p>The "Concert for the Biocene" at the Liceu opera house came the day after Spain finally lifted an emergency order put in place to prevent the spread of the new <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a>, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-spain-opera-for-pl-idUSKBN23T22V" target="_blank">Reuters reported</a>. A string quartet played Giacomo Puccini's "Chrysanthemum," bowing respectfully before and after to its leafy audience.</p><p>"Nature advanced to occupy the spaces we snatched from it," Eugenio Ampudio, the conceptual artist behind the unique concert, said during a rehearsal Sunday, according to Reuters. "Can we extend our empathy? Let's begin with art and music, in a great theatre, by inviting <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/nature" target="_self">nature</a> in."</p><p>Human listeners were invited in too via a livestream.</p>
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="aa1381ac01a4d1ce253436574b1122c4"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rgvadprJFRc?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<p>The concert organizers are also sharing the event in another way.</p><p>"After the concert, the plants will be donated with a certificate from the artist to 2,292 people who have been on the healthcare frontlines, the toughest front in a battle unprecedented for our generations, in recognition of their work," a <a href="https://www.liceubarcelona.cat/en/artist-eugenio-ampudia-inaugurates-activity-liceu-concert-2292-plants" target="_blank">Liceu press release explained</a>.</p><p>The plants came from local nurseries and will be given to workers at the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona in particular.</p>
<p>Spain has been one of the countries hardest hit by the coronavirus, with 28,323 deaths and 246,272 cases to date, according to Reuters. As it emerges from lockdown, theaters and cinemas are being allowed to reopen with limits on audience size, <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/06/22/881943143/barcelona-opera-reopens-with-an-audience-of-plants" target="_blank">NPR reported</a>.</p><p>Monday's unique concert was conceived as a prelude to the opera's 2020-2021 season.</p><p>"The Liceu, one of the largest and most important opera halls in the world, thus welcomes and leads a highly symbolic act that defends the value of art, music and nature as a letter of introduction to our return to activity," the opera house wrote.</p>
<p>The concert also embodies Liceu artistic director <a href="https://www.liceubarcelona.cat/en/victor-garcia-de-gomar-future-artistic-director-gran-teatre-del-liceu" target="_blank">Víctor García de Gomar's</a> goal of forging dialogue between the venue and the visual arts. It is a collaboration between the Liceu, Ampudia, the Max Estrella Gallery and the curator Blanca de La Torre. As part of the collaboration, Ampudia took pictures and a video during the performance that will be added to the Contemporary Art Collection of "la Caixa."</p><p>"After a strange, painful period, the creator, the Liceu's artistic director and the curator Blanca de la Torre offer us a different perspective for our return to activity, a perspective that brings us closer to something as essential as our relationship with nature," the press release said.</p>
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A large plantation of young trees is contrast against an older forest in the background. georgeclerk / Getty Images
By Lauren Waller and Warwick Allen
Large-scale reforestation projects such as New Zealand's One Billion Trees program are underway in many countries to help sequester carbon from the atmosphere.
But there is ongoing debate about whether to prioritize native or non-native plants to fight climate change. As our recent research shows, non-native plants often grow faster compared to native plants, but they also decompose faster and this helps to accelerate the release of 150% more carbon dioxide from the soil.
<p>Our results highlight a challenging gap in our understanding of carbon cycling in newly planted or regenerating forests.</p><p>It is relatively easy to measure plant biomass (how quickly a plant grows) and to estimate how much carbon dioxide it has removed from the atmosphere. But measuring carbon release is more difficult because it involves complex interactions between the plant, plant-eating insects and soil microorganisms.</p><p>This lack of an integrated carbon cycling model that includes species interactions makes predictions for carbon budgeting exceedingly difficult.</p>
How Non-Native Plants Change the Carbon Cycle
<p>There is uncertainty in our climate forecasting because we don't fully understand how the factors that influence carbon cycling - the process in which carbon is both accumulated and lost by plants and soils - differ across ecosystems.</p><p>Carbon sequestration projects typically use fast-growing plant species that accumulate carbon in their tissues rapidly. Few projects focus on what goes on in the soil.</p><p><span></span>Non-native plants often <a href="https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev-ecolsys-102209-144650" target="_blank">accelerate carbon cycling</a>. They usually have less dense tissues and can grow and incorporate carbon into their tissues faster than native plants. But they also decompose more readily, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51402506_Plant_species_traits_are_the_predominant_control_on_litter_decomposition_rates_within_biomes_worldwide" target="_blank">increasing carbon release</a> back to the atmosphere.</p><p>Our research, recently published in the journal <a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/368/6494/967" target="_blank">Science</a>, shows that when non-native plants arrive in a new place, they establish new interactions with soil organisms. So far, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/7074562_Biotic_interactions_and_plant_invasions" target="_blank">research</a> has mostly focused on how this resetting of interactions with soil microorganisms, herbivorous insects and other organisms helps exotic plants to invade a new place quickly, often overwhelming native species.</p><p>Invasive non-native plants have already become a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0169534712001747" target="_blank">major problem worldwide</a>, and are changing the <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/51146313_Ecological_impacts_of_invasive_alien_plants_A_meta-analysis_of_their_effects_on_species_communities_and_ecosystems" target="_blank">composition and function of entire ecosystems</a>. But it is less clear how the interactions of invasive non-native plants with other organisms affect carbon cycling.</p>
Planting Non-Native Trees Releases More Carbon
<p>We established 160 experimental plant communities, with different combinations of native and non-native plants. We collected and reared herbivorous insects and created identical mixtures which we added to half of the plots.</p><p>We also cultured soil microorganisms to create two different soils that we split across the plant communities. One soil contained microorganisms familiar to the plants and another was unfamiliar.</p><p>Herbivorous insects and soil microorganisms feed on live and decaying plant tissue. Their ability to grow depends on the nutritional quality of that food. We found that non-native plants provided a better food source for herbivores compared with native plants – and that resulted in more plant-eating insects in communities dominated by non-native plants.</p><p>Similarly, exotic plants also raised the abundance of soil microorganisms involved in the rapid decomposition of plant material. This synergy of multiple organisms and interactions (fast-growing plants with less dense tissues, high herbivore abundance, and increased decomposition by soil microorganisms) means that more of the plant carbon is released back into the atmosphere.</p><p>In a practical sense, these soil treatments (soils with microorganisms familiar vs. unfamiliar to the plants) mimic the difference between reforestation (replanting an area) and afforestation (planting trees to create a new forest).</p><p>Reforested areas are typically replanted with native species that occurred there before, whereas afforested areas are planted with new species. Our results suggest planting non-native trees into soils with microorganisms they have never encountered (in other words, afforestation with non-native plants) may lead to more rapid release of carbon and undermine the effort to mitigate climate change.</p>
<p>
<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/lauren-waller-1102831" target="_blank">Lauren Waller</a> is a </em><em>Postdoctoral Fellow, Lincoln University, New Zealand.</em>
</p><p>
<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/warwick-allen-1124148" target="_blank">Warwick Allen</a> is a </em><em>Postdoctoral fellow, University of Canterbury.</em>
</p><p>
<em></em><em>Disclosure statement: Lauren Waller receives funding from the Tertiary Education Council. </em><em>Warwick Allen was supported by Centre of Research Excellence funding from the Tertiary Education Commission.</em>
</p><p>
<em>Reposted with permission from The Conversation.</em>
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A worker at a flower farm in Kiambu County, Kenya, piles up roses to be dumped on March 24, 2020. Patrick Meinhardt / AFP / Getty Images
By Peyton Fleming
Gerison Ndwiga, a small rural farmer in Kenya, felt the economic sting of COVID-19 just days after the government announced a curfew and travel restrictions in late March.
<p>For Ndwiga, who grows vine ripe tomatoes and exotic French beans 75 miles north of the nation's capital, the pain was double: He couldn't transport his tomatoes to Nairobi and traders stopped exporting his beans to Europe.</p><p>Within days, he made a tough choice: he left more than 16,000 pounds of ripe beans in the ground unpicked – a loss he estimated at more than US$4,000. "I didn't pick anything because there were no flights in and out of Nairobi," Ndwiga said, noting that most Kenyans have no interest in buying his long skinny beans known as haricot verts.</p><p>COVID-19 is eating away at most sectors of the world's economy. But in Kenya, which has enjoyed a booming <a href="https://www.economist.com/special-report/2020/03/26/many-of-africas-economies-are-doing-well" target="_blank">trade relationship</a> with Europe in recent years, the global lockdown has hit small and large commercial farmers especially hard. Europeans are noticing this as favorite roses and passion fruits are hard to find in stores. Meanwhile, Kenyan producers are pivoting at jet speed to develop new markets closer to home, creating new revenue streams and new outlets for small farmers like Ndwiga trying to sell their crops.</p><p>"After decades of high dependency on exports, the opportunities for tapping local and regional markets are becoming clearer, especially as African economies and income levels grow," said Jane Ambuko, associate professor and Head of Horticulture at the University of Nairobi. "Exports aren't going away, but growing domestic markets opens new frontiers for trade while supporting our local populations, many of whom are small farmers."</p>
<p>Kenya's horticulture industry is a much-heralded success story. Fresh produce and flower exports that totaled $68 million in 1991 sprouted 20-fold to <a href="http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-03/19/c_138892693.htm" target="_blank">$1.37 billion</a> by 2019, much of it from roses, avocados and French beans. Every day, dozens of airplanes filled with cut flowers, fresh fruits and vegetables take off from Nairobi, most of them heading to Europe. Three million Kenyans were directly involved in growing and processing those crops.</p><p>When Europe closed its borders and economy in March, the flights – and exporters' lifeline – snapped shut.</p><p>"The last two months have been really tough," said Frank Obure, general manager packhouses at AAA Growers Ltd., Kenya's third largest exporter which provides premium roses, fruits and vegetables all across Europe. Obure has wrestled with worker layoffs, cancelled deliveries, rotting crops, safety protocols and devastating rains. "I've never been through an experience like this before."</p><p>How bad has it been? Before the pandemic, AAA Growers was exporting 1.4 million flowers every week. When Holland's vast flower markets were shuttered, shipments dropped to virtually zero. Millions of roses that should have been adorning homes across Europe on Easter Sunday were wilting instead at two flower farms near Mount Kenya.</p>
<p>"We're harvesting and throwing, harvesting and throwing. Upwards of 250,000 stems a day are going into the bin," Obure said, estimating overall flower losses at 70 to 80 percent.</p><p>Fruit and vegetable exports have also been hurt, although not as badly since some fresh produce can be redirected to local markets – at substantially marked down prices.</p><p>All told, with produce exports down by 70 to 75 percent, Kenya's horticulture industry is losing about EU $3 million a day, according to Industry trade group <a href="https://www.coleacp.org/?lang=en" target="_blank">COLEACP</a>. But that figure does not account for thousands of small growers like Ndwiga who have been largely cut off from export markets and Nairobi's informal urban markets due to travel bans. </p><p>Due to paperwork limitations, Ndwiga, who owns 10 acres, says he can only get into Nairobi once every two weeks to sell his tomatoes in informal markets. "I'm selling many of my tomatoes locally at village prices because they're getting overripe." he said, noting that prices are half what he'd fetch in Nairobi.</p><p>Ndwiga's predicament is common, say local industry experts<strong>.</strong> "For bigger companies whose trucks are registered, they don't have problems moving produce into Nairobi, but the small farmers who don't have the necessary paperwork, they're the ones who are suffering the most," said Emmanuel Oriedo, a food and farming system consultant who works with small farmers.</p>
Uncertainty and Hope
<p>To be sure, the situation has improved the past few weeks, particularly as flight restrictions to Europe are loosening a bit and more passenger planes are being converted to carry cargo. But major obstacles remain, including in-country transport bottlenecks and prohibitively high air freight costs. Shipping costs to Europe are averaging $2.80 to $4 per kilogram, more than double previous rates.</p><p>Companies are not sitting and waiting. AAA Growers is scrambling to sell more produce locally through popular Nairobi retailers like Carrefour, Quick Mart and KFC. The company's 'sell-local' efforts began last year, and it gained urgency when COVID-19 hit. Local sales now total 12 to 15 tons a week. </p><p>TwigaFoods, which sells all of its fresh produce within Kenya, responded to COVID-19 with a new e-commerce push. In late April, it launched a <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/28/goldman-backed-ventures-jumia-and-twiga-partner-on-produce-in-kenya/" target="_blank">partnership</a> with e-commerce company Jumia to deliver bundles of fruits and vegetables directly to people's homes. The effort is aimed at affluent Nairobi customers who want to avoid buying at more expensive supermarkets.</p><p>"We'd been thinking about the idea and we were starting to see more home deliveries (due to COVID-19)," said TwigaFoods CEO Peter Njongo. "For now, it's something we'll do in Kenya. We'll see how it works."</p>From Your Site Articles
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Andrey Nikitin / iStock / Getty Images Plus
By Adrienne Santos-Longhurst
Plants are awesome. They brighten up your space and give you a living thing you can talk to when there are no humans in sight.
Turns out, having enough of the right plants can also add moisture (aka humidify) indoor air, which can have a ton of health benefits.
<p>Yep, the right amount of humidity in the air can:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li>relieve <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/dry-skin" target="_blank">dry skin</a> and <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/skin/home-remedies-for-chapped-lips" target="_blank">lips</a></li><li>prevent <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/dry-throat" target="_blank">dry throat</a></li><li>soothe <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/dry-sinuses" target="_blank">dry sinuses</a> and nasal irritation</li><li>prevent <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/nosebleed" target="_blank">nosebleeds</a></li><li>reduce the likelihood of <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/infections" target="_blank">infections</a> and <a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/allergies" target="_blank">allergies</a></li></ul><p>Plants increase humidity in the air through a process called evapotranspiration.</p><p>Water from the soil makes its way up through the roots of the plant, through the stems, and up to the leaves (transpiration), where it's evaporated into the air through pores on the leaves, called stomata.</p><p>Ready to work on your green thumb? We'll cover which plants to get and which ones to avoid, and even throw in a few pro tips to help you make the most of your plants.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from </em><a href="https://www.healthline.com/" target="_blank"><em>Healthline</em></a><em>. For detailed source information, please view the original article on </em><em><a href="https://www.healthline.com/health/humidifying-plants" target="_blank">Healthline</a></em><em>.</em></p>
Spider Plant
<p>Spider plants are one of the best plants you can buy for increasing indoor humidity, according to <a href="https://krex.k-state.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2097/35195/803.full.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y" target="_blank">research</a> from 2015.</p><p>Even NASA agrees. It did a <a href="https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19930073077.pdf" target="_blank">study</a> in the '80s that found spider plants are able to remove toxins like carbon monoxide and formaldehyde from indoor air.</p><p>Perhaps the coolest part of all? They're super easy to grow.</p><p>Their stems grow long. A hanging container is best so the plant has room to cascade.</p><p>Spider plants grow best in bright, indirect sunlight, so try to keep them near a window that gets a lot of natural light. Aim to keep the soil moist, but not soggy.</p>Jade Plant
<p><a href="https://krex.k-state.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2097/35195/803.full.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y" target="_blank">Research</a> shows that a jade plant can increase the relative humidity in a room. Most of its evapotranspiration happens in the dark, making it a good option for increasing humidity during darker months of the year.</p><p>To help keep a jade plant thriving, keep it in a bright spot, like near a south-facing window. As for watering, how much you give it depends on the time of the year.</p><p>The spring and summer is its active growing time, so you'll want to water it deeply, and wait till the soil is almost dry to water it again.</p><p>In the fall and winter, growing slows or stops, so you can let the soil dry completely before watering again.</p>Areca Palm
<p>Palms tend to be great for adding humidity, and the areca palm — also called the butterfly or yellow palm — is no exception.</p><p>They're relatively low maintenance, but they do require lots of sun and moist soil. Keep them near a window that gets a lot of sunlight. Water them enough to keep their soil moist, especially in the spring and summer.</p><p>They can grow up to 6 or 7 feet tall and don't like crowded roots, so you'll need to repot it every couple of years as it grows.<span></span></p>English Ivy
<p>English ivy (<em>Hedera helix</em>) is easy to care for and gives you a lot of bang for your buck because it grows like crazy.</p><p>It's also been <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11869-018-0618-9" target="_blank">shown</a> to have one of the highest transpiration rates. This makes it a good option for increasing relative humidity AND removing carbon monoxide from indoor air.</p><p>A hanging basket is best for this small-leafed ivy. It'll grow as long and lush as you let it. To keep it controlled, just prune to the size you want.</p><p>English ivy likes bright light and soil that's slightly dry. Check the soil to make sure it's almost dry before watering again.</p>Lady Palm
<p>The lady palm is a dense plant that's low maintenance when it comes to sunlight and water needs.</p><p>It does best in bright light, but is adaptable enough to grow in low-light spots, too, though at a slightly slower pace.</p><p>Lady palms like to be watered thoroughly once the surface is dry to the touch, so always check the soil before watering.</p>Rubber Plant
<p>The rubber plant isn't as finicky as other indoor tropical plants, making it really easy to care for. Rubber plants also have a high transpiration rate and are great for helping clean indoor air.</p><p>Rubber plants like partial sun to partial shade. They can handle cooler temps and drier soil (perfect for people who tend to kill every plant they bring into the home).</p><p>Let the soil dry before watering again. In the fall and winter months, you'll be able to cut watering in half.</p>Boston Fern
<p>The Boston fern has air-purifying properties that add moisture and remove toxins from indoor air. Did we mention they're lush and gorgeous, too?</p><p>To keep a Boston fern healthy and happy, water it often enough so the soil is always moist, and make sure it gets a lot of indirect sunlight by placing it in a bright part of the room.</p><p>Occasionally misting the fern's leaves with a spray bottle of water can help keep it perky when you have the heat blasting or fireplace going.</p>Peace Lily
<p>Peace lilies are tropical evergreens that produce a white flower in the summer. They usually grow up to around 16 inches tall, but can grow longer in the right conditions.</p><p>A peace lily feels most at home in a room that's warm and gets a lot of sunlight. It takes its soil moist.</p><p>No need to stress if you forget to water it on occasion. It'll handle that better than being overwatered.</p><p>If you have cats, you'll want to keep this plant out of reach or avoid it. Lilies are <a href="https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/animal-poison-control/toxic-and-non-toxic-plants/lily" target="_blank">toxic</a> to our feline friends.</p>Golden Pothos
<p>Golden pothos is also called devil's ivy and devil's vine because it's pretty much impossible to kill. You can forget to water it and even forget to give it light for long periods, and it'll still be green whenever you finally remember.</p><p>That said, it thrives in brighter spaces and does like some water. Let it dry out between watering.</p><p>Its trailing stems grow as long as you want it to, so it's perfect for hanging planters or setting on a higher shelf.</p><p>The higher the better if you have pets, though, since some of its compounds are toxic to dogs and cats… and horses, if you happen to live in a big apartment with really relaxed pet rules.</p>Dwarf Date Palm
<p>Dwarf date palms are also called pygmy date palms. They're perfect as far as plants go. They're basically mini versions of the palm trees you see on tropical postcards.</p><p>They can help keep a room's air clean and increase humidity, and are super easy to maintain.</p><p>They can grow to be anywhere from 6 to 12 feet tall with bright, indirect sunlight and moist — not soaking wet — soil.</p><p>They also prefer a slightly toasty environment, so avoid placing them near a drafty window or source of cold.</p>Corn Plant
<p>The corn plant won't give you an endless supply of corn — just leaves that look like corn leaves and the occasional bloom if you treat it nice. It also helps humidify indoor air and remove toxic vapors.</p><p>Maintenance is easy. Let the top inch or so of soil dry before watering, and keep in a well-lit room where it can get a good amount of indirect sunlight.</p>Parlor Palm
<p>This is another high-transpiration palm that doesn't take any real skill to grow. You're welcome.</p><p>Parlor palms like partial sun, but can manage in full shade, too, as long as you keep the soil consistently moist with a couple of waterings per week.</p><p>To help it grow, make sure it's got enough space in the pot by sizing up every year or two, or whenever it starts to look crowded.</p>Plants to Avoid
<p>Plants are generally good for your environment, but some do have the opposite effect when it comes to humidity.</p><p>These plants tend to draw moisture <em>in</em> instead of letting it out. This doesn't happen instantly, and a couple of plants won't have enough of an effect to really zap the moisture out of your home.</p><p>Still, if you're looking for maximum moisture, you may want to limit these.</p><p>Plants that fall into this category are those that require very little water to survive. Think plants that you find in dry climates, like the desert.</p><p>These include plants like:</p><ul><li>cactuses</li><li>succulents</li><li>aloe vera</li><li>euphorbia, also called "spurge"</li></ul>Pro Tips
<p>If you really want to take advantage of all the moisture and purification these plants offer, here are some tips to consider:</p><ul><li><strong>Size matters.</strong> Plants with bigger leaves typically have a higher transpiration rate, so go bigger to humidify and purify a room.</li><li><strong>The more the merrier.</strong> Have at least two good-sized plants per 100 square feet of space — more is even better.</li><li><strong>Keep 'em close.</strong> Group your plants closer together to increase the humidity in the air and help your plants thrive, too.</li><li><strong>Add pebbles.</strong> If you're dealing with dry indoor air, put your plants on a pebble tray with water to create more humidity for your plants <em>and</em> your room.</li></ul>The Bottom Line
<p>If you're looking to combat dry air in your home and have some space, consider stocking up on some houseplants. Just keep in mind that this is one area where less definitely isn't more.</p><p>For a noticeable impact on the air in your home, try to have at least several plants in each room. If you only have room for a few plants, try to go for larger ones with big leaves.</p>From Your Site Articles
- 5 Common Houseplants That Clean the Air for a Healthier Home ... ›
- 20 Plants That Improve Air Quality in Your Home - EcoWatch ›
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Since prehistoric times, purslane has been grown by humans around the world, from Australia to the Middle East to Asia. Nik West / Getty Images
By Jared Kaufman
This Friday, May 22, marks the International Day for Biological Diversity. Every year, the United Nations uses this day as an opportunity both to celebrate the Earth's stunning biodiversity and to recognize our task to protect it.
<p>Unfortunately, due to biodiversity loss from industrialization and unsustainable land use, the planet's health is threatened. Nearly a quarter of wild food species—plant and animal—are decreasing in abundance, <a href="http://www.fao.org/state-of-biodiversity-for-food-agriculture/en/" target="_blank">according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization</a>. Biodiversity is not only important for the planet—but it's important for human health, too. Eating a range of fresh fruits, vegetables, and whole grains can help immune systems by providing the full range of nutrients, from vitamins C and D to zinc and iron. And COVID-19 is revealing the urgency of improving immunity—and the power of food to protect us. </p><p>"There's a range of vitamins, of flavanols, of minerals that have been looked at, that we know improve the immune system function. … Several specific nutrients seem to have activity against COVID-19-specific proteins," Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and the dean of the Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, <a href="https://foodtank.com/news/2020/05/new-on-the-podcast-dr-dariush-mozaffarian-on-creating-healthier-american-diets-and-nutrition-programs/" target="_blank">told me on Food Talk Live this week</a>. "What's really interesting, beyond the general immune-boosting effects and the COVID-specific protein effects, many of these same nutrients or other nutrients blunt or soften this excessive inflammatory response that's really what's causing deaths in COVID."</p><p>These 15 indigenous crops, among countless others, are prized in traditional agriculture systems for their resiliency, diversity, versatility, and most of all, nutritious value.</p>
<p>1. <strong>Amaranth</strong> <em>(Amaranthus)</em></p><p>The more than 75 species of amaranth grow across nearly every continent, from the humid lowlands of Africa to mountainous countries in South America. Amaranth, which grows quickly in hot weather, is cultivated both as a leafy green and a cereal-like grain. It's an excellent source of protein, vitamins, and essential minerals, including calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, and zinc.</p><p>2. <strong>Arracacha</strong> <em>(Arracacia xanthorrhiza)</em></p><p>An important South American root crop, Arracacha is best described as somewhere between a carrot and celery root. It was originally cultivated in the Andes, but because of its versatility and low-input costs, is now an important crop in many lower regions of Brazil, Colombia, and Venezuela. Arracacha is typically prepared similarly to potatoes, but contains four times the calcium as potatoes and significant carotenoid pigments, the precursor to vitamin A.</p><p>3. <strong>Bay of Fundy Dulse</strong> <em>(Palmaria palmata)</em></p><p>Dulse is a red seaweed that's been used for culinary and medicinal purposes across Ireland, Iceland, and Canada's Atlantic coast. Dulse that grows in the Bay of Fundy, between the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, was once a popular snack food and an important ingredient in traditional chowders and stews for many First Nations communities. Dulse has a high protein content, and contains iodine, iron, and many other trace vitamins and minerals.</p>
<p>4. <strong>Chaya</strong> <em>(Cnidoscolus aconitifolius)</em></p><p>Chaya, an evergreen plant native to the Yucatán Peninsula of Mexico, has been a staple of indigenous diets for centuries in Mexico and Central America. Chaya grows very easily and is resistant to insects, heavy rains, and droughts. The leaves must be cooked to be safe to eat, but chaya is rich in protein, vitamins A and C, calcium, iron, phosphorus, and many minerals and enzymes.</p><p>5. <strong>Chayote</strong> <em>(Sechium edule)</em></p><p>The chayote, a green, pear-shaped member of the squash family, has been an important part of diets across mesoamerica since pre-Columbian times. The plant is extremely versatile and can be grown in warm climates from sea level to more than 2000 meters above sea level. Most parts of the plant may be eaten, including the fruit, stems, and leaves, and it's a good source of vitamin C and folate.</p><p>6. <strong>Desert Lime </strong>(Citrus glauca) </p><p><a href="https://anfab.org.au/main.asp?_=Desert%20Lime" target="_blank">Desert lime</a> grows naturally in the semi-arid regions in eastern Australia in a range of soil types. It is tolerant of heat, frost, drought, and salinity, and it can withstand extreme temperature conditions from -12 degrees C to 45 degrees C (10.4 degrees F to 113 degrees F). Desert lime has high levels of vitamin C, folate, calcium, and antioxidants.</p>
<p>7. <strong>Fonio</strong> <em>(Digitaria)</em></p><p>The two species of fonio — white and black — grown across West Africa are versatile and gluten-free varieties of millet. Fonio is fast-growing and suitable for dry conditions, although very labor-intensive to harvest. The grain has been cited as a path toward greater food security in Africa and is high in iron, calcium, and several essential amino acids.</p><p>8. <strong>Kakadu Plum</strong> <em>(Terminalia ferdinandiana)</em></p><p>The Kakadu Plum—also called the Gubinge, Billygoat Plum, or Murunga—grows across northern Australia and has the <a href="http://anfab.org.au/edit/research_publications/14-115_KakaduPlum.pdf" target="_blank">highest recorded natural vitamin C</a> content of any plant in the world. Suited to its natural hot and coastal environment, the kakadu plum can grow in a variety of dry and saline habitats, from dry creek beds to cliff tops and ridges.</p><p>9.<strong> Kumara/Sweet Potato</strong> <em>(Ipomoea batatas)</em></p><p>Sweet potatoes, also known as kumara in many Polynesian languages and in New Zealand's indigenous Māori language, are a staple crop across Africa, Asia, and many cultures within and surrounding the Pacific Ocean. The starchy vegetable is a great source of protein, vitamins A and C, iron, calcium, and dietary fiber.</p>
<p>10. <strong>Målselvnepe Turnip</strong> <em>(Brassica rapa </em>subsp.<em> rapa)</em></p><p>This old Norwegian landrace of turnip has been improved over the years through selective cultivation. It has an excellent, yet strong and distinct, taste compared to other turnip varieties. It can be eaten raw, roasted, baked, and boiled, and is frequently used to enhance the flavor of soups, salads, stir-fries, and side dishes. The Målselvnepe turnip is an excellent source of vitamin C and potassium.</p><p>11. <strong>Mung Bean</strong> <em>(Vigna radiata)</em></p><p>The mung bean is important in Asian diets and valuable for its easily digestible protein. High levels of iron in the vegetable help improve the diets of the most vulnerable women and children, and mung bean production offers an opportunity for increased income for small-scale farmers. The vegetable can also fix nitrogen in the soil, making it valuable for crop rotations.</p><p>12. <strong>Northern Wild Rice</strong> <em>(Zizania palustris)</em></p><p>Northern wild rice (<em>manoomin</em> in Anishinaabe languages), one of four global wild rice species, grows across the Great Lakes region in the U.S. and in aquatic areas of Canada's Boreal Forest. Wild rice has been central to Indigenous foodways in the region, particularly in Minnesota, for millennia. Although it is now domesticated and cultivated largely for commercial sale, much of it is still harvested using traditional methods. Wild rice is rich in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber, and contains more protein than most other whole grains.</p>
<p>13. <strong>Pawpaw</strong> <em>(Asimina triloba)</em></p><p>The pawpaw fruit is the largest edible fruit indigenous to North America, and has a tropical flavor reminiscent of a mix between mangoes and bananas. It was grown and eaten by Native Americans and early European settlers, although it has proven difficult to commercialize due to its very short shelf life after harvesting. However, the fruit is high in vitamin C, magnesium, and iron, and also contains some vitamin A.</p><p>14. <strong>Purslane</strong> <em>(Portulaca oleracea)</em></p><p>Since prehistoric times, purslane has been grown by humans around the world, from Australia to the Middle East to Asia. It's still common in Mediterranean countries and in aboriginal Australian foodways. Purslane is capable of <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/photosynthesis-in-plants/photorespiration--c3-c4-cam-plants/a/c3-c4-and-cam-plants-agriculture" target="_blank">CAM photosynthesis</a> in extreme conditions, which allows the plant to grow while saving water, making it a very successful plant across many climates. Purslane also contains more essential omega-3 fatty acids than any other leafy green, and the plant is also extraordinarily high in vitamin E.</p><p>15. <strong>Tepary Beans </strong><em>(Phaseolus acutifolius)</em></p><p>Tepary beans have been a staple crop for thousands of years and remain important for Indigenous farmers across North America, including in Tohono O'odham communities in the American southwest. They grow quickly in arid desert conditions and are resistant to alkaline soils, making them one of the most drought- and heat-tolerant crops in the world. Although related to standard beans, tepary beans actually contain more protein, calcium, fiber, iron, and zinc, and have a low glycemic index.</p>
<p class=""><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://foodtank.com/news/2020/05/15-indigenous-crops-to-boost-your-immune-system-and-celebrate-biodiversity/" target="_blank">Food Tank</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
- 12 Antioxidant-Rich Foods to Boost Your Immune System - EcoWatch ›
- Boost Your Immune System With Fermented Vegetables - EcoWatch ›
- 5 Reasons Why Biodiversity Matters ›
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Climate Explained: Why Higher Carbon Dioxide Levels Aren’t Good News, Even If Plants Grow Faster
20 May
Science
At first sight, it seems more CO₂ can only be beneficial to plants, but things are a lot more complex than that. sarayut Thaneerat / Getty Images
By Sebastian Leuzinger
Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change.
If you have a question you'd like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nz
If carbon dioxide levels were to double, how much increase in plant growth would this cause? How much of the world's deserts would disappear due to plants' increased drought tolerance in a high carbon dioxide environment?
Compared to pre-industrial levels, the concentration of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the atmosphere will have doubled in about 20 to 30 years, depending on how much CO₂ we emit over the coming years. More CO₂ generally leads to higher rates of photosynthesis and less water consumption in plants.
At first sight, it seems more CO₂ can only be beneficial to plants, but things are a lot more complex than that.
<p>Let's look at the first part of the question.</p><p>Some plants do grow faster under elevated levels of atmospheric CO₂, but this happens mostly in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0098847215300253" target="_blank">crops</a> and young trees, and generally not in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2128-9?proof=trueHere" target="_blank">mature forests</a>.</p><p>Even if plants grew twice as fast under doubled CO₂ levels, it would not mean they strip twice as much CO₂ from the atmosphere. Plants take carbon from the atmosphere as they grow, but that carbon is going straight back via natural decomposition when plants die or when they are harvested and consumed.</p><p>At best, you might be <a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-explained-why-your-backyard-lawn-doesnt-help-reduce-carbon-dioxide-in-the-atmosphere-122312" target="_blank">mowing your lawn twice as often</a> or harvesting your plantation forests earlier.</p><p>The most important aspect is how long the carbon stays locked away from the atmosphere - and this is where we have to make a clear distinction between increased carbon flux (faster growth) or an increasing carbon pool (<a href="https://science.sciencemag.org/content/355/6321/130.summary" target="_blank">actual carbon sequestration</a>). Your bank account is a useful analogy to illustrate this difference: fluxes are transfers, pools are balances.</p>
The Global Carbon Budget
<p>Of the almost 10 billion tonnes (gigatonnes, or Gt) of carbon we emit every year through the burning of fossil fuels, only about half accumulates in the atmosphere. Around a quarter ends up in the ocean (about 2.4 Gt), and the remainder (about 3 Gt) is thought to be <a href="https://www.earth-syst-sci-data.net/10/2141/2018/" target="_blank">taken up by terrestrial plants</a>.</p><p>While the ocean and the atmospheric sinks are relatively easy to quantify, the terrestrial sink isn't. In fact, the 3 Gt can be thought of more as an unaccounted residual. Ultimately, the emitted carbon needs to go somewhere, and if it isn't the ocean or the atmosphere, it must be the land.</p><p>So yes, the terrestrial system takes up a substantial proportion of the carbon we emit, but the attribution of this sink to elevated levels of CO₂ is difficult. This is because many other factors may contribute to the land carbon sink: rising temperature, increased use of fertilisers and atmospheric nitrogen deposition, changed land management (including land abandonment), and changes in species composition.</p><p><a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41598-017-03818-2" target="_blank">Current estimates</a> assign about a quarter of this land sink to elevated levels of CO₂, but estimates are very uncertain.</p><p>In summary, rising CO₂ leads to faster plant growth - sometimes. And this increased growth only partly contributes to sequestering carbon from the atmosphere. The important questions are how long this carbon is locked away from the atmosphere, and how much longer the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-017-0274-8" target="_blank">currently observed land sink will continue</a>.</p><p>The second part of the question refers to a side-effect of rising levels of CO₂ in the air: the fact that it enables plants to save water.</p><p>Plants regulate the exchange of carbon dioxide and water vapour by opening or closing small pores, called stomata, on the surface of their leaves. Under higher concentrations of CO₂, they can reduce the opening of these pores, and that in turn means they <a href="https://theconversation.com/rising-carbon-dioxide-is-making-the-worlds-plants-more-water-wise-79427" target="_blank">lose less water</a>.</p><p>This alleviates drought stress in already dry areas. But again, the issue is more complex because CO₂ is not the only parameter that changes. Dry areas also get warmer, which means that more water evaporates and this often compensates for the water-saving effect.</p><p>Overall, rising CO₂ has contributed to some degree to the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nclimate3004" target="_blank">greening of Earth</a>, but it is likely that this trend will not continue under the much more complex combination of global change drivers, particularly in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0098847217301168" target="_blank">arid regions</a>.</p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/sebastian-leuzinger-797584" target="_blank">Sebastian Leuzinger</a> is a Professor at Auckland University of Technology.</em></p><p><em>Disclosure statement: Sebastian Leuzinger receives funding from the Royal Society.</em></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from </em><a href="https://theconversation.com/climate-explained-why-higher-carbon-dioxide-levels-arent-good-news-even-if-some-plants-grow-faster-137235" target="_blank"><em>The Conversation.</em></a></p>From Your Site Articles
- Plant More Trees—Young Forests Use Carbon Most Effectively ... ›
- New Research Finds Plants Will Feast on Increased CO2, But Only ... ›
- 8 Ways to Sequester Carbon to Avoid Climate Catastrophe - EcoWatch ›
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Plants growing inside of a greenhouse nursery. pixinoo / Getty Images
Indoor farms can grow vegetables close to cities, where there are lots of people to feed.
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<p>Farming indoors can also extend the growing season in cold climates and protect crops from damage during extreme weather.</p><p>But growing food indoors is energy intensive, so it can produce a lot of carbon pollution.</p><p>"Lighting is a big factor," says Erico Mattos of the <a target="_blank" href="https://glase.org/">Greenhouse Lighting and Systems Engineering Consortium</a>. "You have the heating and cooling systems, ventilation systems, all the systems that you have to control. So it's really important for us to reduce this energy demand."</p>
<p>Mattos's group is working to reduce the energy used in indoor farms and greenhouses.</p><p>"The challenge is, how can we still provide all these inputs that the plants require, the crops require to grow, but using energy with the most efficient way as possible?" he says.</p><p>Researchers are tackling the problem from multiple angles. For example, they're designing high-efficiency LED lights and they're experimenting with ways to optimize specific crops' growth with customized lighting, ventilation, and humidity controls.</p><p>Mattos says these technologies and systems will help make greenhouses and indoor farms more cost-effective and better for the climate.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from </em><a href="https://www.yaleclimateconnections.org/2020/05/researchers-aim-to-cut-the-energy-footprint-of-indoor-farms/" target="_blank"><em>Yale Climate Connections.</em></a></p>From Your Site Articles
- World's Largest 'Vegetable Factory' Revolutionizes Indoor Farming ... ›
- 5 Ways Vertical Farms Are Changing the Way We Grow Food ... ›
- 'World's First' Solar-Powered Indoor Farm Coming to Philadelphia ... ›
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A woman gardens in an urban vegetable garden on April 17, 2020 in Annecy, France. Richard Bord / Getty Images
By Jennifer Atkinson
The coronavirus pandemic has set off a global gardening boom.
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</p>
<p class="">
<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jennifer-atkinson-456724" target="_blank">Jennifer Atkinson</a> is a Senior Lecturer in Environmental Studies at University of Washington.</em>
</p><p>
<em>Disclosure statement:</em><strong> </strong><em>Jennifer Atkinson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</em>
</p><p>
<em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-impulse-to-garden-in-hard-times-has-deep-roots-137223" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em>
</p>
<p>In the early days of lockdown, seed suppliers <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/culture/article/A-comeback-for-victory-gardens-amid-Bay-Area-15177272.php" target="_blank">were depleted</a> of inventory and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/08/coronavirus-gardening-boom-overwhelms-seed-suppliers-in-new-zealand-and-australia" target="_blank">reported</a> "unprecedented" demand. Within the U.S., the trend <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/25/dining/victory-gardens-coronavirus.html" target="_blank">has been</a> <a href="https://crosscut.com/2020/03/wwii-era-victory-gardens-make-comeback-amid-coronavirus?fbclid=IwAR3ZAISo4LLibQcwlnYwjX2sKEdAIwCeU4maVah0DR8164AW7u76kLlZIMw" target="_blank">compared</a> to World War II <a href="https://library.si.edu/exhibition/cultivating-americas-gardens/gardening-for-the-common-good" target="_blank">victory gardening</a>, when Americans grew food at home to support the war effort and feed their families.</p><p>The analogy is surely convenient. But it reveals only one piece in a much bigger story about why people garden in hard times. Americans have long turned to the soil in moments of upheaval to manage anxieties and imagine alternatives. <a href="https://ugapress.org/book/9780820353197/gardenland" target="_blank">My research</a> has even led me to see gardening as a hidden landscape of desire for belonging and connection; for contact with nature; and for creative expression and improved health.</p><p>These motives have varied across time as growers respond to different historical circumstances. Today, what drives people to garden may not be the fear of hunger so much as hunger for physical contact, hope for nature's resilience and a longing to engage in work that is real.</p>
Why Americans Garden
<p>Prior to industrialization, most Americans were <a href="https://www.nass.usda.gov/AgCensus/" target="_blank">farmers</a> and would have considered it odd to grow food as a leisure activity. But as they moved into cities and suburbs to take factory and office jobs, coming home to putter around in one's potato beds took on a kind of novelty. Gardening also appealed to nostalgia for the passing of traditional farm life.</p><p>For black Americans denied the opportunity to abandon subsistence work, Jim Crow-era gardening reflected a different set of desires.</p><p>In her essay "<a href="https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxhbWVyaWNhbmxpdDE0MTV8Z3g6NWRlMGUyYzc5NDJjMTRmNA" target="_blank">In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens</a>," Alice Walker recalls her mother tending an extravagant flower garden late at night after finishing brutal days of field labor. As a child, she wondered why anyone would voluntarily add one more task to such a difficult life. Later, Walker understood that gardening wasn't just another form of labor; it was an act of artistic expression.</p><p>Particularly for black women relegated to society's least desirable jobs, gardening offered the chance to reshape a small piece of the world in, as Walker put it, one's "personal image of Beauty."</p><p>This isn't to say that food is always a secondary factor in gardening passions. Convenience cuisine in the 1950s spawned its <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7591/j.ctt5hh1rm" target="_blank">own generation</a> of home-growers and <a href="https://uwpress.wisc.edu/books/4372.htm" target="_blank">back-to-the-land</a> movements rebelling against a <a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520250352/meals-to-come" target="_blank">mid-century diet</a> now infamous for Jell-O mold salads, canned-food casseroles, TV dinner and Tang.</p><p><span></span>For millennial-era growers, gardens have responded to longings for <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329483674_The_Earth_Knows_My_Name_Food_Culture_and_Sustainability_in_the_Gardens_of_Ethnic_Americans" target="_blank">community and inclusion</a>, especially among <a href="https://www.themarshallproject.org/2015/06/09/doing-whatever-it-takes-to-create-a-prison-garden" target="_blank">marginalized groups</a>. Immigrants and inner-city residents lacking access to green space and fresh produce have taken up "<a href="https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520277779/paradise-transplanted" target="_blank">guerrilla gardening</a>" in vacant lots to revitalize their communities.</p>Gardening in the Age of Screens
<p>In 2011, Ron Finley – a resident of South Central L.A. and self-identified "<a href="https://www.latimes.com/food/dailydish/la-fo-ron-finley-project-20170503-story.html" target="_blank">gangsta gardener</a>" – was even threatened with arrest for installing vegetable plots along sidewalks.</p><p>Such appropriations of public space for community use are often seen as threats to existing power structures. Moreover, many people can't wrap their heads around the idea that someone would spend time cultivating a garden but not reap all of the rewards.</p><p>When reporters asked Finley if he were concerned that people would steal the food, <a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/ron_finley_a_guerrilla_gardener_in_south_central_la" target="_blank">he replied</a>, "Hell no I ain't afraid they're gonna steal it, that's why it's on the street!"</p><p>Since the lockdown began, I've watched my sister Amanda Fritzsche transform her neglected backyard in Cayucos, California, into a blooming sanctuary. She has also gotten into Zoom workouts, binged on Netflix and joined online happy hours. But as the weeks stretch into months, she seems to have less energy for those virtual encounters.</p><p>Gardening, on the other hand, has overtaken her life. Plantings that started out back have expanded around the side of the house, and gardening sessions have stretched later into the evening, when she sometimes works by headlamp.</p><p>When I asked about her new obsession, Amanda kept returning to her unease with screen time. She told me that virtual sessions gave a momentary boost, but "there's always something missing … an empty feeling when you log off."</p><p>Many can probably sense what's missing. It's the physical presence of others, and the opportunity to use our bodies in ways that matter. It's the same longing for community that fills coffee shops with fellow gig workers and yoga studios with the heat of other bodies. It's the electricity of the crowd at a concert, the students whispering behind you in class.</p>
<p>And so if the novel coronavirus underscores an age of distancing, gardening arises as an antidote, extending the promise of contact with something real. My sister talked about this, too: how gardening appealed to the whole body, naming sensory pleasures like "hearing song birds and insects, tasting herbs, the smell of dirt and flowers, the warm sun and satisfying ache." While the virtual world may have its own ability to absorb attention, it is not immersive in the way gardening can be.</p><p>But this season, gardening is about more than physical activity for the sake of activity. Robin Wallace, owner of a photo production business in Camarillo, California, noted how the lockdown made her professional identity "suddenly irrelevant" as a "non-essential" worker. She went on to point out a key benefit of her garden: "The gardener is never without a purpose, a schedule, a mission."</p><p>As automation and better algorithms make more forms of work obsolete, that longing for purpose gains special urgency. Gardens are a reminder that there are limits to what can be done without physical presence. As with handshakes and hugs, one cannot garden through a screen.</p><p>You might pick up skills from YouTube, but, as gardening icon Russell Page <a href="https://www.nyrb.com/products/the-education-of-a-gardener?variant=1094931829" target="_blank">once wrote</a>, real expertise comes from directly handling plants, "getting to know their likes and dislikes by smell and touch. 'Book learning' gave me information," he explained, "but only physical contact can give any real … understanding of a live organism."</p>
Filling the Void
<p>Page's observation suggests a final reason why the coronavirus pandemic has ignited such a flurry of gardening. Our era is one of profound <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amepre.2017.01.010" target="_blank">loneliness</a>, and the proliferation of <a href="https://www.upmc.com/media/news/012219-primack-sidani-posneg" target="_blank">digital devices</a> is only one of the causes. That emptiness also proceeds from the staggering <a href="https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2019/05/nature-decline-unprecedented-report/" target="_blank">retreat of nature</a>, a process underway well before screen addiction. The people coming of age during the COVID-19 pandemic have already witnessed oceans die and glaciers disappear, watched Australia and the Amazon burn and mourned the astonishing <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/press-releases/wwf-report-reveals-staggering-extent-of-human-impact-on-planet" target="_blank">loss of global wildlife</a>.</p><p>Perhaps this explains why <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/15/magazine/quarantine-animal-videos-coronavirus.html" target="_blank">stories of nature's "comeback"</a> are continually <a href="https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2020-04-21/wildlife-thrives-amid-coronavirus-lockdown" target="_blank">popping up</a> alongside those gardening headlines. We cheer at images of animals <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/01/science/coronavirus-animals-wildlife-goats.html" target="_blank">reclaiming</a> abandoned spaces and birds filling skies cleared of pollution. Some of these accounts are credible, others <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/03/coronavirus-pandemic-fake-animal-viral-social-media-posts/" target="_blank">dubious</a>. What matters, I think, is that they offer a glimpse of the world as we wish it could be: In a time of immense suffering and climate breakdown, we are desperate for signs of life's resilience.</p><p>My final conversation with Wallace offered a clue as to how this desire is also fueling today's gardening craze. She marveled at how life in the garden continues to "spring forth in our absence, or even because of our absence." Then she closed with an insight at once "liberating" and "humiliating" that touches on hopes reaching far beyond the nation's backyards: "No matter what we do, or how the conference call goes, the garden will carry on, with or without us."</p>From Your Site Articles
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