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IN THIS NEWSLINE ISSUED August 31, 2007:
- NATIONAL COORDINATING OFFICE FOR PHENOLOGY NETWORK OPENS AT UA
- NEW SHENNONG CENTER FOR CROP FUNCTIONAL GENOMICS
- BOYCE THOMPSON ARBORETUM EVENTS: BUTTERFLY ART AND PRICKLY PEAR HARVEST
- BACKYARDS AND BEYOND: NEW MAGAZINE FROM ARIZONA COOPERATIVE EXTENSION
- SOUTHERN ARIZONA SITE PART OF NEON
- NEW COTTON REPORT ONLINE
- NUTRITIONAL FRONTIERS CONFERENCE OCT. 22-23 ON UA CAMPUS
- VINE TO WINE RESEARCH IN TUCSON HIGHLIGHTED IN UA "ALUMNUS" MAGAZINE
- CRYPTIC FUNGI ON THE NAVAJO NATION
- CALS PROFESSOR COMPLETES LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
- NEW PUBLICATION ON INVASIVE PLANTS IN ARIZONA'S FORESTS AND WOODLANDS
- CALS IN THE NEWS
1 NATIONAL COORDINATING OFFICE FOR PHENOLOGY NETWORK OPENS AT UA
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the University of Arizona are establishing a National Coordinating Office in Tucson to support a new and fast-evolving initiative: the USA-National Phenology Network (USA-NPN).
Phenology is an important biological indicator of change, involving study of periodic biological phenomena. In particular, phenology considers how plant and animal life cycles are influenced by seasonal and inter-annual variations in climate and weather. Examples include the timing of leafing and flowering, agricultural crop stages, insect emergence and animal migration. All of these events are sensitive measures of climatic variation and change, and are relatively simple to record and understand.
Dr. Jake Weltzin, most recently an Associate Professor at the University of Tennessee and a Program Director at the National Science Foundation, has accepted an offer by USGS to become the first Executive Director of USA-NPN. The USGS will provide support to maintain the National Coordinating Office. The University of Arizona UA has hired Mark Losleben as Assistant Director of USANPN, and will provide offices and other services at the UA Office of Arid Lands Studies.
To read the entire press release from USGS go to: http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1725
2 NEW SHENNONG CENTER FOR CROP FUNCTIONAL GENOMICS
Cultivation of a green super rice is one goal of the newly formed Shennong Center for Crop Functional Genomics, a collaboration between The University of Arizona (UA) and Huazhong Agricultural University (HZAU) in Wuhan, China. Green refers not to the color, but the fact that the rice will be grown under very environmentally friendly conditions.
UA Department of Plant Sciences professor and BIO5 member Rod Wing is working together on the rice project with Qifa Zhang who heads HZUA's National Key Laboratory for Crop Improvement--the number one crop molecular biology lab in China.
Wing has significantly contributed to the sequencing of one species of domesticated rice. This understanding of domesticated rice, combined with the knowledge gained from his most recent work studying the genomes of wild relatives of rice will ultimately lead to crop improvements.
The wild relatives of rice can grow in conditions unsuited to domestic rice. Pinning down genes linked to desirable properties such as crop yield, drought tolerance, and resistance to pests, heat, cold, weeds, salt and pathogens could make it possible to grow domesticated rice in less than ideal environments, thus increasing production acreage and helping to reduce hunger around the world.
Rod Wing, BIO5, rwing@email.arizona.edu
To learn more: http://bio5.org/news/article.php?module=NewsExport&action=ViewArticle&news_id=547&styles=2
3 BOYCE THOMPSON ARBORETUM EVENTS: BUTTERFLY ART AND PRICKLY PEAR HARVEST
Sweet cactus candy and prickly pear margaritas are just two of the unique items created from the distinctive magenta-colored juice from prickly pear cacti. On Saturday, September 1, at 10:30 a.m. visitors to the Boyce Thompson Arboretum can learn how to harvest the fruits without ill effect from painful glochids and spines.
Vivid colors and bold patterns make butterflies seem more like works of art than insects. September's exhibition in the Arboretum's Visitor Center Gallery allows viewers to appreciate butterfly ecology and artistry simultaneously with a display of macro photography by Scottsdale resident and Arboretum volunteer Adriane Grimaldi.
The opening reception will be September 1, 2007; the exhibit continues through September 30. Boyce Thompson Arboretum is open daily from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
These are just two of the upcoming events at the arboretum. Information on additional events can be found at the link below.
Paul Wolterbeek, Boyce Thompson Arboretum, btainfo@ag.arizona.edu
To learn more: http://arboretum.ag.arizona.edu/events.html
4 BACKYARDS AND BEYOND: NEW MAGAZINE FROM ARIZONA COOPERATIVE EXTENSION
Texas Root Rot, Landscaping with Succulents, Barbeque Food Safety; these are just a few of the topics covered in the the second issue of the new Arizona Cooperative Extension magazine, Backyards & Beyond: Rural Living in Arizona.
A subcommittee of the Cooperative Extension Natural Resource Education committee initiated this informative, concise, and timely quarterly magazine. The magazine is targeted to the small acreage landowner, new landowner or backyard enthusiast, to provide the education and guidance owners need to successfully manage their resources and care for their property. Articles are designed to promote sustainable practices that enhance the ecological, economic and social aspects of the land and its people.
It is available through a yearly subscriptions of $10.00. For a limited time free copies can be requested by contacting CALSmart at calsmart@cals.arizona.edu or from the local county Extension office.
Subscriptions can be ordered by printing and mailing the order form available at http://cals.arizona.edu/backyards/orderform.pdf
Susan Pater, Cochise County Cooperative Extension, spater@cals.arizona.edu
To learn more: http://cals.arizona.edu/backyards/
5 SOUTHERN ARIZONA SITE PART OF NEON
The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) recently announced its selection of 20 core sites that will form a national observatory that, when completed, will measure ecological change on an unprecedented continental scale.
NEON, which is funded by the National Science Foundation, will link a network of stationary and mobile instrument sites, including a permanent site based in southern Arizona, and will monitor changes in climate, land-use patterns and other ecological features in the U.S. The southwestern domain of NEON will be anchored at the historic Santa Rita Experimental Range south of Tucson, which is administered by The University of Arizona.
To read the entire article from the Office of University Communications go to the link below.
David Breshears, School of Natural Resources, daveb@email.arizona.edu
To learn more: http://uanews.org/node/13523
High stocks-to-use ratios for cotton have persisted for the last three years and market conditions have presented limited pricing opportunities. U.S. production declined 9.6% or 2.3 million bales from 2005 while foreign production increased by 4.7 million bales or 5.2%.
Performance of new technologies and genetic varieties, along with the continued efficacy of established technologies and practices are the focus of articles included in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Cotton Report. The report covers varied production regimes, from the low desert of Yuma to the high desert elevations in Southeast Arizona.
The new report, titled Cotton: A College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Report, is available at the link below. This report is intended to provide scientific and unbiased information that will empower the irrigated cotton industry, particularly producers, in Arizona and the desert Southwest to improve their economic vitality.
Russ Tronstad, Agriculture and Resource Economics, tronstad@cals.arizona.edu
To learn more: http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/crops/az1437/
7 NUTRITIONAL FRONTIERS CONFERENCE OCT. 22-23 ON UA CAMPUS
The Research Frontiers in Nutritional Sciences conference is a multidisciplinary, translational research meeting designed to bring together scientists to develop collaborative solutions and research agendas for combating cancer, obesity, and diabetes.
Goals of the conference are to:
- Discuss novel research approaches to the treatment and prevention
- Describe the influence of diet and nutrition on genomics, proteomics, and metabolomics
- Develop and facilitate interdisciplinary interactions leading to collaborations among participating scientists and clinicians
- Provide a platform for highlighting current research efforts in Arizona
The conference is geared to basic scientists, applied scientists, epidemiologists, clinicians in practice (public health practitioners, medical doctors, and allied health professionals) as well as graduate students. It will take place Oct. 22-23 in the Grand Ballroom of the UA Student Union. Registration information can be found at the link below.
Theresa Spicer, Department of Nutritional Sciences, tspicer@ag.arizona.edu
To learn more: http://nutrition.arizona.edu/nscconf/home.phtml
8 VINE TO WINE RESEARCH IN TUCSON HIGHLIGHTED IN UA "ALUMNUS" MAGAZINE
John Begeman knows a good crop. He's an urban horticulture agent with the UA/Pima County Cooperative Extension, and he directs its Master Gardener Program.
These days Begeman is also in charge of the Vine to Wine project. That ambitious venture furnishes master gardener volunteers with the skills to create their own backyard vineyards. But it's also helping put Arizona's wine industry on the national map.
To read the entire story from the Fall, 2007 magazine of the University of Arizona Alumni Association, go to:
http://arizonaalumni.com/Alumnus/wine/
9 CRYPTIC FUNGI ON THE NAVAJO NATION
Several studies suggest that Native American students from reservations succeed when they complete their education on-reservation and contribute directly to their communities.
Recognizing the special opportunity encapsulated by living and working on the Navajo Nation, CALS assistant professor Elizabeth Arnold and her graduate students trained student peer-mentors who worked almost one-on-one with the Dine students to achieve the research goals of a project focusing on cryptic fungi. These tiny fungi, many of which are new to science, live within leaves and stems without causing disease, and may actually protect the plants from invasive pathogens.
The research team brought leaves back to the mobile laboratory at Dine College and washed each with a series of chemicals to kill any fungal spores on the leaf surface. Each leaf was cut into small pieces that were placed on a sterile growth medium for analysis.
To read the entire story from the Arizona Agricultural Experiment Station Research Report, go to the link below.
Elizabeth (Betsy) Arnold, Robert L. Gilbertson Mycological Herbarium, arnold@ag.arizona.edu
To learn more: http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/general/resrpt2006/article5_2006.pdf
10 CALS PROFESSOR COMPLETES LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
Billye Foster, Associate Professor of Agricultural Education at the University of Arizona, recently completed the Higher Education Resource Services (HERS) Bryn Mawr Summer Institute for Women in Higher Education Administration. The Summer Institute is sponsored jointly by the college and HERS, an educational non-profit based at the University of Denver. Seventy selected participants from 32 states, Guam and South Africa attended the program this summer on the Bryn Mawr College campus near Philadelphia.
The Institute was established in 1976 to allow participants to gain knowledge, skills and perspectives for leading in the challenging environment of higher education. Additionally the program helps to build a network of women administrators who are committed to supporting each other and to expanding opportunities for women in higher education.
Billye Foster, Department of Agricultural Education, billye@ag.arizona.edu
To learn more: http://cals.arizona.edu/media/archives/12.7.html
11 NEW PUBLICATION ON INVASIVE PLANTS IN ARIZONA'S FORESTS AND WOODLANDS
Climate is critically linked to vegetation dynamics at many different spatial and temporal scales across the desert Southwest. Small-scale, short duration monsoon season thunderstorms can bring much needed precipitation to small patches of vegetation or can initiate widespread flooding.
Species native to the desert Southwest have evolved with this complex variability and have special adaptations to take advantage of ephemeral moisture sources and to endure long drought periods. Competition for resources (moisture, light, nutrients) is fierce in the often resource-limited environments of the Southwest and the delicate balance between native species can be quickly disrupted by more competitive exotic species. Other arid places in the world besides the southwestern United States support similar vegetation communities, but the climate of Arizona has unique features important to the interaction between native species and non-native invasive species.
"Invasive Plants in Arizona's Forests and Woodlands" is a new publication in the Climate Change and Variability in Southwest Ecosystems Series. The full publication, which includes recommendations for land management, public awareness and further research, is available to download as a pdf file (2.5 mb) at the link below.
Tom DeGomez, School of Natural Resources, degomez@cals.arizona.edu
To learn more: http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/natresources/az1436.pdf
MOSQUITOES IN TUCSON
The post-monsoon squadrons of mosquitoes attacking your ankles are just extremely annoying, not deadly. They don't carry West Nile virus, at least not in Tucson.
Meanwhile, a UA College of Agriculture and Life Sciences entomologist is evaluating treatments for standing water. There are products that work to varying degrees to inhibit growth of mosquitoes in standing water, said Tim Dennehy. "Mosquito dunks work marvelously." But the doughnut-shaped pellets plopped in water to kill larvae typically inhibit mosquitoes only before their later stages. The test results are preliminary and won't be published until next year. So far, he said, vegetable oils advertised for treating standing water don't seem to work, but some petroleum-based oils are effective.
To read the full story in the Arizona Daily Star, go to http://www.azstarnet.com/allheadlines/197026.php
SANTA RITA EXPERIMENTAL RANGE
An 80-square-mile island of land that^Ys off-limits to development but home to bears, mountain lions, lots of rabbits, deer and cattle is the 104-year-old Santa Rita Experimental Range, operated by the University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
It butts up against the Santa Rita Mountains on the east, lies behind the Quail Creek development on the West, is bounded on the south roughly by White House Canyon and Box Canyon roads and to the north it runs a little south of Sahuarita Road.
Through the years, a number of experiments have been tried on the range, including taking the population of certain plants, studying ways to battle termites, what are the best strategies for grazing livestock and most recently how to rein in the pest bufflegrass that is sweeping over parts of the American Southwest.
To read the entire story in the Green Valley News, go to http://www.gvnews.com/articles/2007/08/04/news/news03.txt
CALS STUDENT NEW BEEF AMBASSADOR
The purpose of the Beef Ambassador competition sponsored by the Arizona State Cowbelles (in conjunction with the Arizona Cattlemen's Association/Arizona State Cowbelle Convention) is to train youth spokespersons to promote beef and the beef industry. Contestants gain knowledge about the importance of beef as an agricultural product focusing on the positive impact of the beef cattle industry to the economy and local community.
Caitlin Williams, daughter of Heidi Williams, of Chino Valley, was the Senior Division winner of the competition. She will represent Arizona in the National Beef Ambassador Competition to be held in New Orleans, La., in October. Williams is a student at the University of Arizona in Tucson and a member of Jacob's-Cline Society within the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the University of Arizona.
To read the full story in the Nogales International Newspaper go to http://www.nogalesinternational.com/articles/2007/08/14/news/news7.txt
GREEN MARKETING
Marketing fads come and go, said Melinda Burke, director of the Terry J. Lundgren Center for Retailing at the University of Arizona's John and Doris Norton School of Family and Consumer Sciences.
"But this one could stay around awhile," she said. "With the issue of global warming front and center, concern about the environment isn't likely to go away, any time soon."
To read the full story in Inside Tucson Business, go to http://www.azbiz.com/articles/2007/08/06/news/doc46b767ef04eca522311520.txt
CICADAS
Cicadas are what cause all that loud buzzing during the hottest part of the day in summer, said Carl "Bug Man" Olson, a UA entomologist and lecturer.
But the phenomenon is not restricted to just noise. The sound people hear coming from the trees is often made from one male cicada trying to catch the attention of any females in the area, he said, though in some species, all of the males will congregate in one tree to maximize their volume. Female cicadas are silent.
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