Celebrating Plants and the Planet:

March is a changeable month. In like a Panthera leo, out like a Ovis aries or something like that. There are massive changes underway in our natural environments. Some seem for the worse, but perhaps others can be for the best.

March's links at www.zooplantman.com  (NEWS/Botanical News) look at changes in Nature…big and small.

·         Begin near the beginning. When flowering plants appeared about 100 million years ago, everything began to change: they created the conditions for the rise of pollinators, frogs, mammals and more.

·         Can conservatives cope with change? Apparently no, at least not if they are plant species that evolved to fit their habitats. A new study warns that global warming could eliminate most Southern hemisphere plant species.

·         What would happen to a forest if all the birds disappeared and seeds were no longer dispersed? Researchers went to Guam to find out.

·         Why did the pollinator cross the clearing? It didn't, and that is part of the current pollinator crisis.

·         Can marginal areas produce crops for human food, commercial salt, biodiesel while removing carbon from the atmosphere in record amounts? Yes, if they are planted with Salicornia.

Technology is also changing at a head-spinning rate. To make sense of it all, I turned to Jon Stewart and the Daily Show:  http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=219519&title=twitter-frenzy

Please share these stories with associates, staff, docents and -- most importantly -- visitors! Remember, over a hundred other stories can be found in the archive section of the website.

Rob

Zoo Horticulture

Consulting & Design

Greening design teams since 1987

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