1.
United States Department of Agriculture
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Approximately 80% of USDAs $140 billion budget goes to the Food and Nutrition Service program. The largest component of the FNS budget is the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, after the resignation of Thomas Vilsack on January 13,2017 and the departure of President Barack Obama from office on January 20,2017, the acting Secretary of Agriculture is Michael Young. Activities in this include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, which provides healthy food to over 40 million low-income. The USDA also is concerned with assisting farmers and food producers with the sale of crops and it plays a role in overseas aid programs by providing surplus foods to developing countries. This aid can go through USAID, foreign governments, international bodies such as World Food Program, the Agricultural Act of 1949, section 416 and Agricultural Trade Development and Assistance Act of 1954, also known as Food for Peace, provides the legal basis of such actions. The USDA is a partner of the World Cocoa Foundation, early in its history, the economy of the United States was largely agrarian. Officials in the government had long sought new and improved varieties of seeds, plants. In 1837 Henry Leavitt Ellsworth, a Yale-educated attorney interested in improving agriculture, became Commissioner of Patents and he began collecting and distributing new varieties of seeds and plants through members of the Congress and agricultural societies. In 1839, Congress established the Agricultural Division within the Patent Office and allotted $1,000 for the collection of agricultural statistics, Ellsworth was called the Father of the Department of Agriculture. In 1849, the Patent Office was transferred to the newly created Department of the Interior, in the ensuing years, agitation for a separate bureau of agriculture within the department or a separate department devoted to agriculture kept recurring. Lincoln called it the peoples department, in the 1880s, varied advocacy groups were lobbying for Cabinet representation. Business interests sought a Department of Commerce and Industry, and farmers tried to raise the Department of Agriculture to Cabinet rank, finally, on February 9,1889, President Grover Cleveland signed a bill into law elevating the Department of Agriculture to Cabinet level. In 1887, the Hatch Act provided for the funding of agricultural experiment stations in each state. The Smith-Lever Act of 1914 then funded cooperative extension services in each state to teach agriculture, home economics, with these and similar provisions, the USDA reached out to every county of every state. During the Great Depression, farming remained a way of life for millions of Americans. The Department of Agricultures Bureau of Home Economics, established in 1923, published shopping advice and recipes to stretch family budgets and make food go farther. USDA helped ensure that continued to be produced and distributed to those who needed it, assisted with loans for small landowners. The Department of Agriculture was authorized a budget for Fiscal Year 2015 of $139.7 billion, the Washington Post reports that he said There are days when I have literally nothing to do, he recalled thinking as he weighed his decision to quit
2.
DNA
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Deoxyribonucleic acid is a molecule that carries the genetic instructions used in the growth, development, functioning and reproduction of all known living organisms and many viruses. DNA and RNA are nucleic acids, alongside proteins, lipids and complex carbohydrates, most DNA molecules consist of two biopolymer strands coiled around each other to form a double helix. The two DNA strands are termed polynucleotides since they are composed of simpler units called nucleotides. Each nucleotide is composed of one of four nitrogen-containing nucleobases—cytosine, guanine, adenine, or thymine —a sugar called deoxyribose, and a phosphate group. The nucleotides are joined to one another in a chain by covalent bonds between the sugar of one nucleotide and the phosphate of the next, resulting in an alternating sugar-phosphate backbone. The nitrogenous bases of the two polynucleotide strands are bound together, according to base pairing rules, with hydrogen bonds to make double-stranded DNA. The total amount of related DNA base pairs on Earth is estimated at 5.0 x 1037, in comparison the total mass of the biosphere has been estimated to be as much as 4 trillion tons of carbon. The DNA backbone is resistant to cleavage, and both strands of the double-stranded structure store the same biological information and this information is replicated as and when the two strands separate. A large part of DNA is non-coding, meaning that these sections do not serve as patterns for protein sequences, the two strands of DNA run in opposite directions to each other and are thus antiparallel. Attached to each sugar is one of four types of nucleobases and it is the sequence of these four nucleobases along the backbone that encodes biological information. RNA strands are created using DNA strands as a template in a process called transcription, under the genetic code, these RNA strands are translated to specify the sequence of amino acids within proteins in a process called translation. Within eukaryotic cells DNA is organized into structures called chromosomes. During cell division these chromosomes are duplicated in the process of DNA replication, eukaryotic organisms store most of their DNA inside the cell nucleus and some of their DNA in organelles, such as mitochondria or chloroplasts. In contrast prokaryotes store their DNA only in the cytoplasm, within the eukaryotic chromosomes, chromatin proteins such as histones compact and organize DNA. These compact structures guide the interactions between DNA and other proteins, helping control which parts of the DNA are transcribed, DNA was first isolated by Friedrich Miescher in 1869. DNA is used by researchers as a tool to explore physical laws and theories, such as the ergodic theorem. The unique material properties of DNA have made it an attractive molecule for material scientists and engineers interested in micro-, among notable advances in this field are DNA origami and DNA-based hybrid materials. DNA is a polymer made from repeating units called nucleotides
3.
Genetic engineering
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Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct manipulation of an organisms genome using biotechnology. It is a set of used to change the genetic makeup of cells, including the transfer of genes within. Genes may be removed, or knocked out, using a nuclease, gene targeting is a different technique that uses homologous recombination to change an endogenous gene, and can be used to delete a gene, remove exons, add a gene, or introduce point mutations. An organism that is generated through genetic engineering is considered to be a modified organism. The first GMOs were bacteria generated in 1973 and GM mice in 1974, insulin-producing bacteria were commercialized in 1982 and genetically modified food has been sold since 1994. GloFish, the first GMO designed as a pet, was first sold in the United States in December 2003, Genetic engineering techniques have been applied in numerous fields including research, agriculture, industrial biotechnology, and medicine. However the European Commission has also defined genetic engineering broadly as including selective breeding, cloning and stem cell research, although not considered genetic engineering, are closely related and genetic engineering can be used within them. Synthetic biology is a discipline that takes genetic engineering a step further by introducing artificially synthesized material from raw materials into an organism. If genetic material from another species is added to the host, if genetic material from the same species or a species that can naturally breed with the host is used the resulting organism is called cisgenic. Genetic engineering can also be used to remove material from the target organism. In Europe genetic modification is synonymous with genetic engineering while within the United States of America it can refer to conventional breeding methods. The Canadian regulatory system is based on whether a product has novel features regardless of method of origin, within the scientific community, the term genetic engineering is not commonly used, more specific terms such as transgenic are preferred. Plants, animals or micro organisms that have changed through genetic engineering are termed genetically modified organisms or GMOs, bacteria were the first organisms to be genetically modified. Plasmid DNA containing new genes can be inserted into the bacterial cell and these genes can code for medicines or enzymes that process food and other substrates. Plants have been modified for insect protection, herbicide resistance, virus resistance, enhanced nutrition, tolerance to environmental pressures, most commercialised GMOs are insect resistant and/or herbicide tolerant crop plants. Genetically modified animals have used for research, model animals. The genetically modified animals include animals with genes knocked out, increased susceptibility to disease, hormones for extra growth, humans have altered the genomes of species for thousands of years through selective breeding, or artificial selection as contrasted with natural selection, and more recently through mutagenesis. Genetic engineering as the manipulation of DNA by humans outside breeding
4.
Phenotypic trait
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For example, eye color is a character of an organism, while blue, brown and hazel are traits. A phenotypic trait is an obvious, observable, and measurable trait, it is the expression of genes in an observable way. An example of a trait is hair color, underlying genes, which make up the genotype, control the hair color, but the actual hair color. The inheritable unit that may influence a trait is called a gene, a gene is a portion of a chromosome, which is a very long and compacted string of DNA and proteins. An important reference point along a chromosome is the centromere, the distance from a gene to the centromere is referred to as the locus or map location. The nucleus of a cell contains two of each chromosome, with homologous pairs of chromosomes having the same genes at the same loci. Different phenotypic traits are caused by different forms of genes, or alleles, a gene is only a DNA code sequence, the slightly different variations of that sequence are called alleles. Alleles can be different and produce different product RNAs. Combinations of different alleles thus go on to different traits through the information flow charted above. For example, if the alleles on homologous chromosomes exhibit a simple dominance relationship and his most famous analyses were based on clear-cut traits with simple dominance. He determined that the units, what we now call genes. His tool was statistics The biochemistry of the intermediate proteins determines how they interact in the cell, therefore, biochemistry predicts how different combinations of alleles will produce varying traits. Extended expression patterns seen in diploid organisms include facets of incomplete dominance, codominance, incomplete dominance is the condition in which neither allele dominates the other in one heterozygote. Instead the phenotype is intermediate in heterozygotes, thus you can tell that each allele is present in the heterozygote. Codominance refers to the relationship that occurs when two alleles are both expressed in the heterozygote, and both phenotypes are seen simultaneously. Multiple alleles refers to the situation there are more than 2 common alleles of a particular gene. Blood groups in humans is a classic example, the ABO blood group proteins are important in determining blood type in humans, and this is determined by different alleles of the one locus. Schizotypy is an example of a phenotypic trait found in schizophrenia-spectrum disorders
5.
Herbicide
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Herbicide, also commonly known as weedkillers, are chemical substances used to control unwanted plants. Apart from selective/non-selective, other important distinctions include persistence, means of uptake, Herbicides have also been used in warfare and conflict. Modern herbicides are often mimics of natural plant hormones which interfere with growth of the target plants. The term organic herbicide has come to mean herbicides intended for organic farming, due to herbicide resistance - a major concern in agriculture - a number of products also combine herbicides with different means of action. In the US in 2007, about 83% of all herbicide usage, in 2007, world pesticide expenditures totaled about $39.4 billion, herbicides were about 40% of those sales and constituted the biggest portion, followed by insecticides, fungicides, and other types. Smaller quantities are used in forestry, pasture systems, and management of areas set aside as wildlife habitat, prior to the widespread use of chemical herbicides, cultural controls, such as altering soil pH, salinity, or fertility levels, were used to control weeds. Mechanical control was used to control weeds. The first modern herbicide,2, 4-D, was first discovered and synthesized by W. G. Templeman at Imperial Chemical Industries, in 1940, he showed that Growth substances applied appropriately would kill certain broad-leaved weeds in cereals without harming the crops. By 1941, his team succeeded in synthesizing the chemical, in the same year, Pokorny in the US achieved this as well. Independently, a team under Juda Hirsch Quastel, working at the Rothamsted Experimental Station made the same discovery, Quastel was tasked by the Agricultural Research Council to discover methods for improving crop yield. By analyzing soil as a system, rather than an inert substance. Quastel was able to quantify the influence of plant hormones, inhibitors and other chemicals on the activity of microorganisms in the soil. While the full work of the unit remained secret, certain discoveries were developed for use after the war, including the 2. When it was released in 1946, it triggered a worldwide revolution in agricultural output. It allowed for greatly enhanced weed control in wheat, maize, rice, and similar cereal crops, because it kills dicots. The low cost of 2, 4-D has led to continued usage today, like other acid herbicides, current formulations use either an amine salt or one of many esters of the parent compound. These are easier to handle than the acid, atrazine does not break down readily after being applied to soils of above neutral pH. Under alkaline soil conditions, atrazine may be carried into the profile as far as the water table by soil water following rainfall causing the aforementioned contamination
6.
Lignin
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Lignin is a class of complex organic polymers that form important structural materials in the support tissues of vascular plants and some algae. Lignins are particularly important in the formation of walls, especially in wood and bark, because they lend rigidity. Chemically, lignins are cross-linked phenolic polymers and he named the substance “lignine”, which is derived from the Latin word lignum, meaning wood. It is one of the most abundant organic polymers on Earth, lignin constitutes 30% of non-fossil organic carbon and 20-35% of the dry mass of wood. The Carboniferous Period is in part defined by the evolution of lignin, the composition of lignin varies from species to species. An example of composition from a sample is 63. 4% carbon,5. 9% hydrogen,0. 7% ash. As a biopolymer, lignin is unusual because of its heterogeneity and its most commonly noted function is the support through strengthening of wood in vascular plants. Global commercial production of lignin is around 1.1 million metric tons per year and is used in a range of low volume, niche applications where the form. Lignin fills the spaces in the wall between cellulose, hemicellulose, and pectin components, especially in vascular and support tissues, xylem tracheids, vessel elements. It is covalently linked to hemicellulose and therefore cross-links different plant polysaccharides, conferring mechanical strength to the cell wall and it is particularly abundant in compression wood but scarce in tension wood, which are types of reaction wood. Lignin plays a part in conducting water in plant stems. The polysaccharide components of plant cell walls are highly hydrophilic and thus permeable to water, the crosslinking of polysaccharides by lignin is an obstacle for water absorption to the cell wall. Thus, lignin makes it possible for the vascular tissue to conduct water efficiently. Lignin is present in all plants, but not in bryophytes. However, it is present in red algae, which seems to suggest that the ancestor of plants. This would suggest that its function was structural, it plays this role in the red alga Calliarthron. Another possibility is that the lignins in red algae and in plants are result of convergent evolution, lignin plays a significant role in the carbon cycle, sequestering atmospheric carbon into the living tissues of woody perennial vegetation. Lignin is one of the most slowly decomposing components of dead vegetation, the resulting soil humus, in general, holds nutrients onto its surface, and hence increases its cation exchange capacity and moisture retention, hence it increases the productivity of soil
7.
Pulp (paper)
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Pulp is a lignocellulosic fibrous material prepared by chemically or mechanically separating cellulose fibres from wood, fiber crops or waste paper. The wood fiber sources required for pulping are 45% sawmill residue, 21% logs and chips, many kinds of paper are made from wood with nothing else mixed into them. This includes newspaper, magazines and even toilet paper, Pulp is one of the most abundant raw materials worldwide. Using wood to make paper is a recent innovation. The ancient Egyptians were the first to make paper from reeds, papermaking using cotton and linen fibers spread to Europe in the 13th century, and the increasing use of fabric brought more rag paper, which was a factor in the development of printing. By the 1800s, fibre crops such as flax, which provided linen fibres, were still the material source. Chemical processes quickly followed, first with J. Roths use of acid to treat wood, then by Benjamin Tilghmans U. S. patent on the use of calcium bisulfite, Ca2. Almost a decade later, the first commercial sulfite pulp mill was built and it used magnesium as the counter ion and was based on work by Carl Daniel Ekman. By 1900, sulfite pulping had become the dominant means of producing wood pulp, the competing chemical pulping process, the sulfate, or kraft, process, was developed by Carl F. Dahl in 1879, the first kraft mill started, in Sweden, in 1890. The invention of the boiler, by G. H. Tomlinson in the early 1930s, allowed kraft mills to recycle almost all of their pulping chemicals, global production of wood pulp in 2006 was 175 million tons. In the previous year,63 million tons of market pulp was sold, with Canada being the largest source at 21 percent of the total, chemical pulp made up 93 percent of market pulp. The timber resources used to make wood pulp are referred to as pulpwood, wood pulp comes from softwood trees such as spruce, pine, fir, larch and hemlock, and hardwoods such as eucalyptus, aspen and birch. A pulp mill is a facility that converts wood chips or other plant fibre source into a thick fiberboard which can be shipped to a paper mill for further processing. Pulp can be manufactured using mechanical, semi-chemical or fully chemical methods, the finished product may be either bleached or non-bleached, depending on the customer requirements. Wood and other plant materials used to make pulp contain three components, cellulose fibers, lignin and hemicelluloses. The aim of pulping is to break down the structure of the fibre source, be it chips, stems or other plant parts. The various mechanical pulping methods, such as groundwood and refiner mechanical pulping, much of the lignin remains adhering to the fibres
8.
Forestry
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Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, using, conserving, and repairing forests and associated resources to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human and environment benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands, the science of forestry has elements that belong to the biological, physical, social, political and managerial sciences. A practitioner of forestry is known as a forester, other terms are used a verderer and a silviculturalist being common ones. Silviculture is narrower than forestry, being concerned only with forest plants, Forest ecosystems have come to be seen as the most important component of the biosphere, and forestry has emerged as a vital applied science, craft, and technology. Forestry is an important economic segment in various industrial countries, the preindustrial age has been dubbed by Werner Sombart and others as the wooden age, as timber and firewood were the basic resources for energy, construction and housing. The development of forestry is closely connected with the rise of capitalism, economy as a science and varying notions of land use. Roman Latifundiae, large estates, were quite successful in maintaining the large supply of wood that was necessary for the Roman Empire. Large deforestations came with respectively after the decline of the Romans, however already in the 5th century, monks in the then Byzantine Romagna on the Adriatic coast, were able to establish stone pine plantations to provide fuelwood and food. This was the beginning of the massive forest mentioned by Dante Alighieri in his 1308 poem Divine Comedy, the use and management of many forest resources has a long history in China as well, dating back to the Han Dynasty and taking place under the landowning gentry. A similar approach was used in Japan and it was also later written about by the Ming Dynasty Chinese scholar Xu Guangqi. In Europe, land rights in medieval and early modern times allowed different users to access forests. The notion of commons refers to the traditional legal term of common land. The idea of enclosed private property came about during modern times, however, most hunting rights were retained by members of the nobility which preserved the right of the nobility to access and use common land for recreation, like fox hunting. Systematic management of forests for a yield of timber is said to have begun in the German states in the 14th century, e. g. in Nuremberg. Typically, a forest was divided into sections and mapped. Large firs in the black forest were called „Holländer“, as they were traded to the Dutch ship yards, large timber rafts on the Rhine were 200 to 400m in length, 40m in width and consisted of several thousand logs. The crew consisted of 400 to 500 men, including shelter, bakeries, ovens, timber rafting infrastructure allowed for large interconnected networks all over continental Europe and is still of importance in Finland. The notion of Nachhaltigkeit, sustainability in forestry, is connected to the work of Hans Carl von Carlowitz
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Populus
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Populus is a genus of 25–35 species of deciduous flowering plants in the family Salicaceae, native to most of the Northern Hemisphere. English names variously applied to different species include poplar /ˈpɒp. lər/, aspen, in the September 2006 issue of Science Magazine, the Joint Genome Institute announced that the western balsam poplar was the first tree whose full DNA code had been determined by DNA sequencing. The genus has a genetic diversity, and can grow from 15–50 m tall. The shoots are stout, with the terminal bud present, leaf size is very variable even on a single tree, typically with small leaves on side shoots, and very large leaves on strong-growing lead shoots. The leaves often turn bright gold to yellow before they fall during autumn, the flowers are mostly dioecious and appear in early spring before the leaves. They are borne in long, drooping, sessile or pedunculate catkins produced from buds formed in the axils of the leaves of the previous year. The flowers are each seated in a disk which is borne on the base of a scale which is itself attached to the rachis of the catkin. The scales are obovate, lobed, and fringed, membranous, hairy or smooth, the female flower also has no calyx or corolla, and comprises a single-celled ovary seated in a cup-shaped disk. The style is short, with two to four stigmata, variously lobed, and numerous ovules, pollination is by wind, with the female catkins lengthening considerably between pollination and maturity. Poplars of the section are often wetlands or riparian trees. The aspens are among the most important boreal broadleaf trees, Poplars and aspens are important food plants for the larvae of a large number of Lepidoptera species. Pleurotus populinus, the oyster mushroom, is found exclusively on dead wood of Populus trees in North America. The genus Populus has traditionally divided into six sections on the basis of leaf and flower characters. Recent genetic studies have supported this, confirming some previously suspected reticulate evolution due to past hybridisation and introgression events between the groups. Some species had differing relationships indicated by their nuclear DNA and chloroplast DNA sequences and they have the advantage of growing to a very large size at a rapid pace. Almost all poplars take root readily from cuttings or where broken branches lie on the ground, trees with fastigiate branching are particularly popular, and are widely grown across Europe and southwest Asia. Common poplar varieties are, G48 w22 The trees are grown from kalam or cuttings, harvested annually in January and February, most commonly used to make plywood, Yamuna Nagar in Haryana state has a large plywood industry reliant upon poplar. It is graded according to known as over, under
10.
China
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China, officially the Peoples Republic of China, is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia and the worlds most populous country, with a population of over 1.381 billion. The state is governed by the Communist Party of China and its capital is Beijing, the countrys major urban areas include Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Hong Kong. China is a power and a major regional power within Asia. Chinas landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from forest steppes, the Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from much of South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third and sixth longest in the world, respectively, Chinas coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometers long and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East China and South China seas. China emerged as one of the worlds earliest civilizations in the basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. For millennia, Chinas political system was based on hereditary monarchies known as dynasties, in 1912, the Republic of China replaced the last dynasty and ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949, when it was defeated by the communist Peoples Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War. The Communist Party established the Peoples Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949, both the ROC and PRC continue to claim to be the legitimate government of all China, though the latter has more recognition in the world and controls more territory. China had the largest economy in the world for much of the last two years, during which it has seen cycles of prosperity and decline. Since the introduction of reforms in 1978, China has become one of the worlds fastest-growing major economies. As of 2016, it is the worlds second-largest economy by nominal GDP, China is also the worlds largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. China is a nuclear weapons state and has the worlds largest standing army. The PRC is a member of the United Nations, as it replaced the ROC as a permanent member of the U. N. Security Council in 1971. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BCIM, the English name China is first attested in Richard Edens 1555 translation of the 1516 journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa. The demonym, that is, the name for the people, Portuguese China is thought to derive from Persian Chīn, and perhaps ultimately from Sanskrit Cīna. Cīna was first used in early Hindu scripture, including the Mahābhārata, there are, however, other suggestions for the derivation of China. The official name of the state is the Peoples Republic of China. The shorter form is China Zhōngguó, from zhōng and guó and it was then applied to the area around Luoyi during the Eastern Zhou and then to Chinas Central Plain before being used as an occasional synonym for the state under the Qing
11.
Pulp and paper industry
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The pulp and paper industry comprises companies that use wood as raw material and produce pulp, paper, paperboard and other cellulose-based products. The industry is dominated by North American, northern European and East Asian countries, australasia and Brazil also have significant pulp and paper enterprises. The United States had been the leading producer of paper until it was overtaken by China in 2009. The industry is criticized by groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council for unsustainable deforestation. The industry trend is to expand globally to countries like Russia, China and Indonesia with low wages, considering that the pulp and paper industry is a practitioner of nanotechnology, then it is easily the worlds largest. The pulp is fed to a machine where it is formed as a paper web. On the paper machine the most common is the steam heated can dryer, the first mechanised paper machine was installed at Frogmore Mill, Apsley, Hertfordshire in 1803, followed by another in 1804. The site operates currently as a museum
12.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
13.
Papaya
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The papaya, papaw, or pawpaw is the plant Carica papaya, one of the 22 accepted species in the genus Carica of the family Caricaceae. It is native to the tropics of the Americas, perhaps from southern Mexico and it was first cultivated in Mexico several centuries before the emergence of the Mesoamerican classical civilizations. The papaya is a small, sparsely branched tree, usually with a stem growing from 5 to 10 m tall. The lower trunk is conspicuously scarred where leaves and fruit were borne, the leaves are large, 50–70 cm in diameter, deeply palmately lobed, with seven lobes. All parts of the plant contain latex in articulated laticifers, unusually for such large plants, the trees are dioecious. The flowers are 5-parted and highly dimorphic, the flowers with the stamens fused to the petals. The female flowers have a superior ovary and five contorted petals loosely connected at the base, male and female flowers are borne in the leaf axils, the males in multiflowered dichasia, the female flowers is few-flowered dichasia. The flowers are sweet-scented, open at night and are moth-pollinated, the fruit is a large berry about 15–45 cm long and 10–30 cm in diameter. It is ripe when it feels soft and its skin has attained an amber to orange hue, Papaya is native to Mexico and extends to South America and has become naturalized throughout the Caribbean Islands, Florida and several countries of Africa. Additional crops are grown in India, Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Papaya plants grow in three sexes, male, female, hermaphrodite. The male produces only pollen, never fruit, the female will produce small, inedible fruits unless pollinated. The hermaphrodite can self-pollinate since its flowers contain both male stamens and female ovaries, almost all commercial papaya orchards contain only hermaphrodites. Originally from southern Mexico, Central America, and northern South America, in cultivation, it grows rapidly, fruiting within three years. It is, however, highly frost-sensitive, limiting its production to tropical climates, temperatures below −2 °C are greatly harmful if not fatal. In Florida and California, growth is limited to southern parts of the states. It prefers sandy, well-drained soil, as standing water will kill the plant within 24 hours, India and Brazil are the major producers of papaya, together providing 57% of the world total of 12.4 million tons in 2013. Gaining in popularity among tropical fruits worldwide, papaya is now ranked fourth in total tropical fruit production after bananas, oranges, global papaya production has grown significantly over the last few years, mainly as a result of increased production in India. Papaya has become an important agricultural export for developing countries, where export revenues of the fruit provide a livelihood for thousands of people, especially in Asia, Carica papaya was the first transgenic fruit tree to have its genome sequenced
14.
Plum tree
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A plum is a fruit of the subgenus Prunus of the genus Prunus. Mature plum fruit may have a waxy coating that gives them a glaucous appearance. This is a wax coating and is known as wax bloom. Dried plum fruits are called dried plums or prunes, although, in American English, prunes are a type of plum. Plums are a group of species. The commercially important plum trees are medium-sized, usually pruned to 5–6 metres height, the tree is of medium hardiness. Without pruning, the trees can reach 12 metres in height and they blossom in different months in different parts of the world, for example, in about January in Taiwan and early April in the United Kingdom. Fruits are usually of medium size, between 1 and 3 inches in diameter, globose to oval, the flesh is firm and juicy. The fruits peel is smooth, with a waxy surface that adheres to the flesh. The plum is a drupe, meaning its fleshy fruit surrounds a single hard seed, Plum has many species, and taxonomists differ on the count. Depending on the taxonomist, between 19 and 40 species of plum exist, from this diversity only two species, the hexaploid European plum and the diploid Japanese plum, are of worldwide commercial significance. The origin of commercially important species is uncertain but may have involved P. cerasifera. Other species of plum variously originated in Europe, Asia and America, the subgenus Prunus is divided into three sections, Sect. It is juicy and can be fresh or used in jam-making or other recipes. Plum juice can be fermented into plum wine, in central England, a cider-like alcoholic beverage known as plum jerkum is made from plums. Dried plums are also sweet and juicy and contain several antioxidants, plums and prunes are known for their laxative effect. This effect has been attributed to compounds present in the fruits, such as dietary fiber, sorbitol. Prunes and prune juice are used to help regulate the functioning of the digestive system
15.
Genetically modified crops
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Genetically modified crops are plants used in agriculture, the DNA of which has been modified using genetic engineering techniques. In most cases, the aim is to introduce a new trait to the plant which does not occur naturally in the species, examples in non-food crops include production of pharmaceutical agents, biofuels, and other industrially useful goods, as well as for bioremediation. Farmers have widely adopted GM technology, between 1996 and 2015, the total surface area of land cultivated with GM crops increased by a factor of 100, from 17,000 km2 to 1,797,000 km2. 10% of the arable land was planted with GM crops in 2010. In the US, by 2014, 94% of the area of soybeans, 96% of cotton. Use of GM crops expanded rapidly in developing countries, with about 18 million farmers growing 54% of worldwide GM crops by 2013. A2014 meta-analysis concluded that GM technology adoption had reduced chemical pesticide use by 37%, increased crop yields by 22% and this reduction in pesticide use has been ecologically beneficial, but benefits may be reduced by overuse. Yield gains and pesticide reductions are larger for insect-resistant crops than for herbicide-tolerant crops, yield and profit gains are higher in developing countries than in developed countries. Nonetheless, members of the public are much less likely than scientists to perceive GM foods as safe, the legal and regulatory status of GM foods varies by country, with some nations banning or restricting them, and others permitting them with widely differing degrees of regulation. Several natural mechanisms allow gene flow across species and these occur in nature on a large scale – for example, it is one mechanism for the development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria. This is facilitated by transposons, retrotransposons, proviruses and other genetic elements that naturally translocate DNA to new loci in a genome. Movement occurs over a time scale. The introduction of foreign germplasm into crops has been achieved by traditional crop breeders by overcoming species barriers, a hybrid cereal grain was created in 1875, by crossing wheat and rye. Since then important traits including dwarfing genes and rust resistance have been introduced, plant tissue culture and deliberate mutations have enabled humans to alter the makeup of plant genomes. The first genetically modified plant was produced in 1982, an antibiotic-resistant tobacco plant. The first field trials occurred in France and the USA in 1986, the Peoples Republic of China was the first country to allow commercialized transgenic plants, introducing a virus-resistant tobacco in 1992, which was withdrawn in 1997. The first genetically modified crop approved for sale in the U. S. in 1994, was the FlavrSavr tomato and it had a longer shelf life, because it took longer to soften after ripening. In 1994, the European Union approved tobacco engineered to be resistant to the herbicide bromoxynil, in 1995, Bt Potato was approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency, making it the countrys first pesticide producing crop
16.
Convention on Biological Diversity
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The Convention on Biological Diversity, known informally as the Biodiversity Convention, is a multilateral treaty. In other words, its objective is to develop strategies for the conservation. It is often seen as the key document regarding sustainable development, the Convention was opened for signature at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro on 5 June 1992 and entered into force on 29 December 1993. At the 2010 10th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in October in Nagoya, Japan, the notion of an international convention on biological diversity was conceived at a United Nations Environment Programme Ad Hoc Working Group of Experts on Biological Diversity in November 1988. In 1991, a negotiating committee was established, tasked with finalizing the conventions text. A Conference for the Adoption of the Agreed Text of the Convention on Biological Diversity was held in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1992, the Conventions text was opened for signature on 5 June 1992 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. By its closing date,4 June 1993, the convention had received 168 signatures and it entered into force on 29 December 1993. The agreement covers all ecosystems, species, and genetic resources and it links traditional conservation efforts to the economic goal of using biological resources sustainably. It sets principles for the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the use of genetic resources and it also covers the rapidly expanding field of biotechnology through its Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, addressing technology development and transfer, benefit-sharing and biosafety issues. Importantly, the Convention is legally binding, countries that join it are obliged to implement its provisions, the convention reminds decision-makers that natural resources are not infinite and sets out a philosophy of sustainable use. While past conservation efforts were aimed at protecting particular species and habitats, however, this should be done in a way and at a rate that does not lead to the long-term decline of biological diversity. The Convention acknowledges that substantial investments are required to conserve biological diversity and it argues, however, that conservation will bring us significant environmental, economic and social benefits in return. The Convention on Biological Diversity of 2010 banned some forms of geoengineering, some of the many issues dealt with under the convention include, Measures the incentives for the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. Regulated access to resources and traditional knowledge, including Prior Informed Consent of the party providing resources. Access to and transfer of technology, including biotechnology, to the governments and/or local communities that provided traditional knowledge and/or biodiversity resources, coordination of a global directory of taxonomic expertise. National reporting on efforts to implement treaty commitments, the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety of the Convention, also known as the Biosafety Protocol, was adopted in January 2000. The Biosafety Protocol seeks to protect biological diversity from the risks posed by living modified organisms resulting from modern biotechnology. The Biosafety Protocol makes clear that products from new technologies must be based on the precautionary principle, the required number of 50 instruments of ratification/accession/approval/acceptance by countries was reached in May 2003
17.
Phenotype
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A phenotype is the composite of an organisms observable characteristics or traits, such as its morphology, development, biochemical or physiological properties, behavior, and products of behavior. A phenotype results from the expression of a genetic code, its genotype, as well as the influence of environmental factors. When two or more clearly different phenotypes exist in the population of a species, the species is called polymorphic. A well-documented polymorphism is Labrador Retriever coloring, while the color depends on many genes, it is clearly seen in the environment as yellow, black. This genotype-phenotype distinction was proposed by Wilhelm Johannsen in 1911 to make clear the difference between an organisms heredity and what that heredity produces, the distinction is similar to that proposed by August Weismann, who distinguished between germ plasm and somatic cells. The term phenotype has sometimes incorrectly used as a shorthand for phenotypic difference from wild type. Despite its seemingly straightforward definition, the concept of the phenotype has hidden subtleties and it may seem that anything dependent on the genotype is a phenotype, including molecules such as RNA and proteins. It may seem that this goes beyond the intentions of the concept with its focus on the organism in itself. Either way, the term phenotype includes traits or characteristics that can be visible by some technical procedure. A notable extension to this idea is the presence of molecules or metabolites that are generated by organisms from chemical reactions of enzymes. Another extension adds behavior to the phenotype, since behaviors are also observable characteristics, behavioral phenotypes include cognitive, personality, and behavioral patterns. Some behavioral phenotypes may characterize psychiatric disorders or syndromes, phenotypic variation is a fundamental prerequisite for evolution by natural selection. It is the organism as a whole that contributes to the next generation. Without phenotypic variation, there would be no evolution by natural selection, the plant Hieracium umbellatum is found growing in two different habitats in Sweden. These habitats alternate along the coast of Sweden and the habitat that the seeds of Hieracium umbellatum land in, the concept of phenotype can be extended to variations below the level of the gene that affect an organisms fitness. For example, silent mutations that do not change the amino acid sequence of a gene may change the frequency of guanine-cytosine base pairs. The term extended phenotype refers to the idea that a phenotype is not restricted to biological processes, the concept generalized by Richard Dawkins explains that phenotype includes all the influence a gene has on the environment and other organisms. ”There are three types of extended phenotypes. The first describes an organism using architectural constructions to modify their environment for living, the most common example given by Dawkins is the beaver
18.
Selective breeding
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Domesticated animals are known as breeds, normally bred by a professional breeder, while domesticated plants are known as varieties, cultigens, or cultivars. Two purebred animals of different breeds produce a crossbreed, and crossbred plants are called hybrids, flowers, vegetables and fruit-trees may be bred by amateurs and commercial or non-commercial professionals, major crops are usually the provenance of the professionals. There are two approaches or types of selection, or selective breeding. The second is called controlled natural selection, which is natural selection in a controlled environment. In this, the breeder does not choose which individuals being tested survive or reproduce, there are also selection experiments, which is a third approach and these are conducted in order to determine the strength of natural selection in the wild. However, this is often an observational approach as opposed to an experimental approach. In animal breeding, techniques such as inbreeding, linebreeding, in plant breeding, similar methods are used. Charles Darwin discussed how selective breeding had been successful in producing change over time in his 1859 book and its first chapter discusses selective breeding and domestication of such animals as pigeons, cats, cattle, and dogs. Darwin used artificial selection as a springboard to introduce and support the theory of natural selection, the deliberate exploitation of selective breeding to produce desired results has become very common in agriculture and experimental biology. Selective breeding can be unintentional, e. g. resulting from the process of human cultivation, for example, in some grains, an increase in seed size may have resulted from certain ploughing practices rather than from the intentional selection of larger seeds. Most likely, there has been an interdependence between natural and artificial factors that have resulted in plant domestication, Selective breeding was practiced by the Romans. Treatises as much as 2,000 years old give advice on selecting animals for different purposes, the notion of selective breeding was later expressed by the Persian Muslim polymath Abu Rayhan Biruni in the 11th century. He noted the idea in his book titled India, which included various examples, the agriculturist selects his corn, letting grow as much as he requires, and tearing out the remainder. The forester leaves those branches which he perceives to be excellent, the bees kill those of their kind who only eat, but do not work in their beehive. Selective breeding was established as a practice by Robert Bakewell during the British Agricultural Revolution in the 18th century. Arguably, his most important breeding program was with sheep, using native stock, he was able to quickly select for large, yet fine-boned sheep, with long, lustrous wool. The Lincoln Longwool was improved by Bakewell, and in turn the Lincoln was used to develop the subsequent breed, named the New Leicester and it was hornless and had a square, meaty body with straight top lines. Bloodlines of these original New Leicesters survive today as the English Leicester, Bakewell was also the first to breed cattle to be used primarily for beef
19.
Pollination
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Pollination is the process by which pollen is transferred to the female reproductive organs of a plant, thereby enabling fertilization to take place. Like all living organisms, seed plants have a major goal. The reproductive unit is the seed, and pollination is a step in the production of seeds in all spermatophytes. The process is different in angiosperms from what it is in gymnosperms. In angiosperms, after the grain has landed on the stigma. Sperm cells from the pollen grain then move along the tube, enter the egg cell through the micropyle and fertilise it. A successful angiosperm pollen grain containing the gametes is transported to the stigma. Its two gametes travel down the tube to where the containing the female gametes are held within the carpel. One nucleus fuses with the bodies to produce the endosperm tissues. In gymnosperms, the ovule is not contained in a carpel, details of the process vary according to the division of gymnosperms in question. Two main modes of fertilization are found in gymnosperms, the study of pollination brings together many disciplines, such as botany, horticulture, entomology, and ecology. The pollination process as an interaction between flower and pollen vector was first addressed in the 18th century by Christian Konrad Sprengel and it is important in horticulture and agriculture, because fruiting is dependent on fertilization, the result of pollination. The study of pollination by insects is known as anthecology, pollen germination has three stages, hydration, activation and pollen tube emergence. The pollen grain is severely dehydrated so that its mass is reduced enabling it to be easily transported from flower to flower. Germination only takes place after rehydration, ensuring that premature germination does not take place in the anther, hydration allows the plasma membrane of the pollen grain to reform into its normal bilayer organization providing an effective osmotic membrane. Activation involves the development of actin filaments throughout the cytoplasm of the cell, hydration and activation continue as the pollen tube begins to grow. In conifers, the structures are borne on cones. The cones are either pollen cones or ovulate cones, but some species are monoecious, a pollen cone contains hundreds of microsporangia carried on reproductive structures called sporophylls
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Seed
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A seed is an embryonic plant enclosed in a protective outer covering. The formation of the seed is part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, Seeds are the product of the ripened ovule, after fertilization by pollen and some growth within the mother plant. The embryo is developed from the zygote and the coat from the integuments of the ovule. Seed plants now dominate biological niches on land, from forests to both in hot and cold climates. The term seed also has a meaning that antedates the above—anything that can be sown, e. g. seed potatoes. In the case of sunflower and corn seeds, what is sown is the seed enclosed in a shell or husk, many structures commonly referred to as seeds are actually dry fruits. Plants producing berries are called baccate, sunflower seeds are sometimes sold commercially while still enclosed within the hard wall of the fruit, which must be split open to reach the seed. Different groups of plants have other modifications, the stone fruits have a hardened fruit layer fused to. Nuts are the one-seeded, hard-shelled fruit of plants with an indehiscent seed. Seeds are produced in several related groups of plants, and their manner of production distinguishes the angiosperms from the gymnosperms, angiosperm seeds are produced in a hard or fleshy structure called a fruit that encloses the seeds, hence the name. Some fruits have layers of hard and fleshy material. In gymnosperms, no special structure develops to enclose the seeds, however, the seeds do become covered by the cone scales as they develop in some species of conifer. Seed production in natural plant populations varies widely from year-to-year in response to weather variables, insects and diseases, over a 20-year period, for example, forests composed of loblolly pine and shortleaf pine produced from 0 to nearly 5 million sound pine seeds per hectare. Over this period, there were six bumper, five poor, and nine good seed crops, right after fertilization, the zygote is mostly inactive, but the primary endosperm divides rapidly to form the endosperm tissue. This tissue becomes the food the young plant will consume until the roots have developed after germination, after fertilization the ovules develop into the seeds. The ovule consists of a number of components, The funicle or seed stalk which attaches the ovule to the placenta and hence ovary or fruit wall, the nucellus, the remnant of the megasporangium and main region of the ovule where the megagametophyte develops. The micropyle, a pore or opening in the apex of the integument of the ovule where the pollen tube usually enters during the process of fertilization. The chalaza, the base of the ovule opposite the micropyle, the shape of the ovules as they develop often affects the final shape of the seeds
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Pollen
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Pollen is a fine to coarse powdery substance comprising pollen grains which are male microgametophytes of seed plants, which produce male gametes. If pollen lands on a compatible pistil or female cone, it germinates, individual pollen grains are small enough to require magnification to see detail. The study of pollen is called palynology and is useful in paleoecology, paleontology, archaeology. Pollen in plants is used for transferring haploid male genetic material from the anther of a flower to the stigma of another in cross-pollination. In a case of self-pollination, this takes place from the anther of a flower to the stigma of the same flower. Pollen itself is not the male gamete, each pollen grain contains vegetative cells and a generative cell. In flowering plants the vegetative tube cell produces the pollen tube, pollen is produced in the microsporangia in the male cone of a conifer or other gymnosperm or in the anthers of an angiosperm flower. Pollen grains come in a variety of shapes, sizes. Pollen grains of pines, firs, and spruces are winged, the smallest pollen grain, that of the forget-me-not, is around 6 µm in diameter. Wind-borne pollen grains can be as large as about 90–100 µm, in angiosperms, during flower development the anther is composed of a mass of cells that appear undifferentiated, except for a partially differentiated dermis. As the flower develops, four groups of cells form within the anther. The fertile sporogenous cells are surrounded by layers of cells that grow into the wall of the pollen sac. Some of the cells grow into nutritive cells that supply nutrition for the microspores that form by meiotic division from the sporogenous cells, in a process called microsporogenesis, four haploid microspores are produced from each diploid sporogenous cell, after meiotic division. After the formation of the four microspores, which are contained by callose walls, the exine is what is preserved in the fossil record. Two basic types of microsporogenesis are recognised, simultaneous and successive, in simultaneous microsporogenesis meiotic steps I and II are completed prior to cytokinesis, whereas in successive microsporogenesis cytokinesis follows. While there may be a continuum with intermediate forms, the type of microsporogenesis has systematic significance, the predominant form amongst the monocots is successive, but there are important exceptions. During microgametogenesis, the unicellular microspores undergo mitosis and develop into mature microgametophytes containing the gametes, in some flowering plants, germination of the pollen grain may begin even before it leaves the microsporangium, with the generative cell forming the two sperm cells. Except in the case of submerged aquatic plants, the mature pollen grain has a double wall
22.
Silviculture
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Silviculture is the practice of controlling the establishment, growth, composition, health, and quality of forests to meet diverse needs and values. The name comes from the Latin silvi- + culture, the study of forests and woods is termed silvology. Silviculture also focuses on making sure that the treatment of forest stands are used to preserve, more particularly, silviculture is the theory and practice of controlling the establishment, composition, constitution, and growth of forests. Suggestions for how best to go about the job, presented by Jeglum et al. though aimed primarily at the boreal forest in Ontario, the 110-page publication describes Best Management Practices, first by general principles, then by sensitive sites. Illustrations are plentiful and are chosen to complement this excellent text. To some the distinction between forestry and silviculture is that silviculture is applied at the level and forestry is broader. For example, John D. Matthews says complete regimes for regenerating, tending, adaptive management is common in silviculture, whereas forestry can include natural, conserved land without a stand level management and treatment being applied. A common taxonomy divides silviculture into regenerating, tending and harvesting techniques, and Dauerwald - Continuous cover forestry, in which are found, un-even aged forestry - Plenterwald - Selection forest - Zielstärkennutzung - Target diameter harvesting. This misunderstanding has meant that many older English textbooks did not capture the complexity of silviculture as practiced where it originated in Mitteleuropa. This silviculture was culturally predicated on wood production in temperate and boreal climates, the misapplication of this philosophy to those tropical forests has been problematic. There is also an alternative silvicultural tradition which developed in Japan, after harvesting comes regeneration, which may be split into Natural and Artificial. And tending which includes release treatments, pruning, thinning and intermediate treatments, as it can be imagined it maybe that any of these 3 phases may happen at the same time, within a stand, depending on the goal for that particular stand. Regeneration is basic to the continuation of forested, as well as to the afforestation of treeless land, regeneration can take place through self-sown seed, by artificially sown seed, or by planted seedlings. In whichever case, the performance of regeneration depends on its growth potential, seed, of course, is needed for all regeneration modes, both for natural or artificial sowing and for raising planting stock in a nursery. The process of natural regeneration involves the renewal of forests by means of self-sown seeds, root suckers, in natural forests, conifers rely almost entirely on regeneration through seed. Most of the broadleaves, however, are able to regenerate by the means of emergence of shoots from stumps, any seed, self-sown or artificially applied, requires a seedbed suitable for securing germination. In order to germinate, a seed requires suitable conditions of temperature, moisture, white spruce seed germinated at 35 °F and 40 °F after continuous stratification for one year or longer and developed radicles <6 cm long in the cold room. When exposed to light, those germinants developed chlorophyll and were normally phototropic with continued elongation, shade is very important to the survival of young seedlings
23.
Eucalyptus
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Eucalyptus /ˌjuːkəˈlɪptəs/ LHeritier 1789 is a diverse genus of flowering trees and shrubs in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Members of the genus dominate the flora of Australia. There are more than 700 species of eucalyptus and most are native to Australia, one species, Eucalyptus deglupta, ranges as far north as the Philippines. Of the 15 species found outside Australia, just nine are exclusively non-Australian, species of eucalyptus are cultivated widely in the tropical and temperate world, including the Americas, Europe, Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East, China, and the Indian subcontinent. However, the range over which many eucalypts can be planted in the zone is constrained by their limited cold tolerance. Australia is covered by 92,000,000 hectares of eucalypt forest, Eucalyptus is one of three similar genera that are commonly referred to as eucalypts, the others being Corymbia and Angophora. Many species, though by no means all, are known as gum trees because they exude copious kino from any break in the bark. The generic name is derived from the Greek words ευ well and καλύπτω to cover, Eucalyptus oil finds many uses like in aromatherapy, as a cure for joint pains. Eucalyptus trees show allelopathic effects, they release compounds which inhibit other plant species from growing nearby, on warm days, eucalyptus forests are sometimes shrouded in a smog-like mist of vaporised volatile organic compounds, the Australian Blue Mountains take their name from the haze. A mature eucalyptus may take the form of a low shrub or a large tree. The species can be divided into three main habits and four size categories, as a generalisation forest trees are single-stemmed and have a crown forming a minor proportion of the whole tree height. Woodland trees are single-stemmed, although they may branch at a distance above ground level. Many mallee trees may be so low-growing as to be considered a shrub, two other tree forms are notable in Western Australia and described using the native names mallet and marlock. The mallet is a small to medium-sized tree that does not produce lignotubers and has a long trunk. This is the habit of mature healthy specimens of Eucalyptus occidentalis, E. astringens, E. spathulata, E. gardneri, E. dielsii, E. forrestiana, E. salubris, E. clivicola. The smooth bark of mallets often has a satiny sheen and may be white, cream, grey, green, or copper. The term marlock has been used, in Forest Trees of Australia, it is defined as a small tree without lignotubers. They usually grow in more or less pure stands, clearly recognisable examples are stands of E. platypus, E. vesiculosa, and the unrelated E. stoatei
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Pine
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A pine is any conifer in the genus Pinus, /ˈpiːnuːs/, of the family Pinaceae. Pinus is the genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The Plant List compiled by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden accepts 126 species names of pines as current, together with 35 unresolved species, the modern English name pine derives from Latin pinus, which some have traced to the Indo-European base *pīt- ‘resin’. Before the 19th century, pines were often referred to as firs, the genus is divided into three subgenera, which can be distinguished by cone, seed, and leaf characters, Pinus subg. Pinus, the yellow, or hard pine group, generally harder wood. Ducampopinus, the foxtail or pinyon group Pinus subg, strobus, the white, or soft pine group, generally with softer wood and five needles per fascicle Most regions of the Northern Hemisphere host some native species of pines. One species crosses the equator in Sumatra to 2°S, in North America, various species occur in regions at latitudes from as far north as 66°N to as far south as 12°N. Various species have been introduced to temperate and subtropical regions of both hemispheres, where they are grown as timber or cultivated as ornamental plants in parks, a number of such introduced species have become invasive and threaten native ecosystems. Pine trees are evergreen, coniferous trees growing 3–80 m tall. The smallest are Siberian dwarf pine and Potosi pinyon, and the tallest is a 81.79 m tall ponderosa pine located in southern Oregons Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, the bark of most pines is thick and scaly, but some species have thin, flaky bark. The branches are produced in regular pseudo whorls, actually a very tight spiral, the spiral growth of branches, needles, and cone scales are arranged in Fibonacci number ratios. The new spring shoots are sometimes called candles, they are covered in brown or whitish bud scales and point upward at first, then turn green. These candles offer foresters a means to evaluate fertility of the soil, pines are long-lived, and typically reach ages of 100–1,000 years, some even more. The longest-lived is the Great Basin bristlecone pine, Pinus longaeva, one individual of this species, dubbed Methuselah, is one of the worlds oldest living organisms at around 4,600 years old. This tree can be found in the White Mountains of California, an older tree, now cut down, was dated at 4,900 years old. It was discovered in a grove beneath Wheeler Peak and it is now known as Prometheus after the Greek immortal, pines have four types of leaf, Seed leaves on seedlings, born in a whorl of 4–24. Juvenile leaves, which follow immediately on seedlings and young plants, 2–6 cm long, single, green or often blue-green and these are produced for six months to five years, rarely longer. Scale leaves, similar to bud scales, small, brown and non-photosynthetic, needles, the adult leaves, are green and bundled in clusters called fascicles
25.
Ecosystem
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An ecosystem is a community of living organisms in conjunction with the nonliving components of their environment, interacting as a system. These biotic and abiotic components are regarded as linked together through nutrient cycles, as ecosystems are defined by the network of interactions among organisms, and between organisms and their environment, they can be of any size but usually encompass specific, limited spaces. Energy, water, nitrogen and soil minerals are other essential components of an ecosystem. The energy that flows through ecosystems is obtained primarily from the sun and it generally enters the system through photosynthesis, a process that also captures carbon from the atmosphere. By feeding on plants and on one another, animals play an important role in the movement of matter and they also influence the quantity of plant and microbial biomass present. Ecosystems are controlled both by external and internal factors, other external factors include time and potential biota. Ecosystems are dynamic entities—invariably, they are subject to disturbances and are in the process of recovering from some past disturbance. Ecosystems in similar environments that are located in different parts of the world can have different characteristics simply because they contain different species. The introduction of species can cause substantial shifts in ecosystem function. Internal factors not only control ecosystem processes but are controlled by them and are often subject to feedback loops. Other internal factors include disturbance, succession and the types of species present, although humans exist and operate within ecosystems, their cumulative effects are large enough to influence external factors like climate. Biodiversity affects ecosystem function, as do the processes of disturbance, classifying ecosystems into ecologically homogeneous units is an important step towards effective ecosystem management, but there is no single, agreed-upon way to do this. The term ecosystem was first used in 1935 in a publication by British ecologist Arthur Tansley, Tansley devised the concept to draw attention to the importance of transfers of materials between organisms and their environment. He later refined the term, describing it as The whole system, including not only the organism-complex, but also the whole complex of physical factors forming what we call the environment. Tansley regarded ecosystems not simply as natural units, but as mental isolates, Tansley later defined the spatial extent of ecosystems using the term ecotope. G. Raymond Lindeman took these ideas one step further to suggest that the flow of energy through a lake was the driver of the ecosystem. Most mineral nutrients, on the hand, are recycled within ecosystems. Ecosystems are controlled both by external and internal factors, external factors, also called state factors, control the overall structure of an ecosystem and the way things work within it, but are not themselves influenced by the ecosystem
26.
Disease
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A disease is a particular abnormal condition, a disorder of a structure or function, that affects part or all of an organism. The study of disease is called pathology which includes the study of cause, Disease is often construed as a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs. When caused by pathogens, even in the literature, the term disease is often misleadingly used in the place of its causal agent. This language habitat can cause confusion in the communication of the principle in epidemiology. Diseases can affect not only physically, but also emotionally. Death due to disease is called death by natural causes, there are four main types of disease, infectious diseases, deficiency diseases, genetic diseases, and physiological diseases. Diseases can also be classified as communicable and non-communicable, the deadliest diseases in humans are coronary artery disease, followed by cerebrovascular disease and lower respiratory infections. In many cases, terms such as disease, disorder, morbidity, there are situations, however, when specific terms are considered preferable. Disease The term disease broadly refers to any condition that impairs the normal functioning of the body, for this reason, diseases are associated with dysfunctioning of the bodys normal homeostatic processes. The term disease has both a count sense and a noncount sense, by contrast, an infection that is asymptomatic during its incubation period, but expected to produce symptoms later, is usually considered a disease. Non-infectious diseases are all other diseases, including most forms of cancer, heart disease, acquired disease disease that began at some point during ones lifetime, as opposed to disease that was already present at birth, which is congenital disease. Acquired sounds like it could mean caught via contagion, but it simply means acquired sometime after birth and it also sounds like it could imply secondary disease, but acquired disease can be primary disease. It is often, genetic and can be inherited and it can also be the result of a vertically transmitted infection from the mother such as HIV/AIDS. Genetic disease disease that is caused by genetic mutation and it is often inherited, but some mutations are random and de novo. Hereditary or inherited disease a type of disease caused by mutation that is hereditary Iatrogenic disease A disease condition caused by medical intervention. Idiopathic disease disease whose cause is unknown, as medical science has advanced, many diseases whose causes were formerly complete mysteries have been somewhat explained or even extensively explained. Bacterial infections can be primary or secondary to a viral infection or burn. Terminal disease disease with death as an inevitable result Illness Illness is generally used as a synonym for disease, however, this term is occasionally used to refer specifically to the patients personal experience of his or her disease
27.
Pesticide
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Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests or weeds. The most common of these are herbicides which account for approximately 80% of all pesticide use, most pesticides are intended to serve as plant protection products, which in general, protect plants from weeds, fungi, or insects. In general, a pesticide is a chemical or biological agent that deters, incapacitates, kills, or otherwise discourages pests. Target pests can include insects, plant pathogens, weeds, mollusks, birds, mammals, fish, nematodes, although pesticides have benefits, some also have drawbacks, such as potential toxicity to humans and other species. According to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants,9 of the 12 most dangerous, the term includes substances intended for use as a plant growth regulator, defoliant, desiccant, or agent for thinning fruit or preventing the premature fall of fruit. Also used as substances applied to either before or after harvest to protect the commodity from deterioration during storage. Pesticides can be classified by target organism, chemical structure, biopesticides include microbial pesticides and biochemical pesticides. Plant-derived pesticides, or botanicals, have been developing quickly and these include the pyrethroids, rotenoids, nicotinoids, and a fourth group that includes strychnine and scilliroside. Many pesticides can be grouped into chemical families, prominent insecticide families include organochlorines, organophosphates, and carbamates. Organochlorine hydrocarbons could be separated into dichlorodiphenylethanes, cyclodiene compounds, and they operate by disrupting the sodium/potassium balance of the nerve fiber, forcing the nerve to transmit continuously. Their toxicities vary greatly, but they have phased out because of their persistence. Organophosphate and carbamates largely replaced organochlorines, both operate through inhibiting the enzyme acetylcholinesterase, allowing acetylcholine to transfer nerve impulses indefinitely and causing a variety of symptoms such as weakness or paralysis. Organophosphates are quite toxic to vertebrates, and have in some cases replaced by less toxic carbamates. Thiocarbamate and dithiocarbamates are subclasses of carbamates, prominent families of herbicides include phenoxy and benzoic acid herbicides, triazines, ureas, and Chloroacetanilides. Phenoxy compounds tend to selectively kill broad-leaf weeds rather than grasses, the phenoxy and benzoic acid herbicides function similar to plant growth hormones, and grow cells without normal cell division, crushing the plants nutrient transport system. Many commonly used pesticides are not included in these families, including glyphosate, Pesticides can be classified based upon their biological mechanism function or application method. Most pesticides work by poisoning pests, a systemic pesticide moves inside a plant following absorption by the plant. With insecticides and most fungicides, this movement is usually upward and outward, increased efficiency may be a result
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Abiotic stress
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Abiotic stress is defined as the negative impact of non-living factors on the living organisms in a specific environment. Abiotic stress affects animals, but plants are dependent on environmental factors. Abiotic stress is the most harmful factor concerning the growth and productivity of crops worldwide, research has also shown that abiotic stressors are at their most harmful when they occur together, in combinations of abiotic stress factors. Abiotic stress comes in many forms, the most common of the stressors are the easiest for people to identify, but there are many other, less recognizable abiotic stress factors which affect environments constantly. The most basic stressors include, High winds Extreme temperatures Drought Flood Other natural disasters, lesser-known stressors generally occur on a smaller scale. They include, poor edaphic conditions like rock content and pH levels, high radiation, compaction, contamination, abiotic stress, as a natural part of every ecosystem, will affect organisms in a variety of ways. Although these effects may be beneficial or detrimental, the location of the area is crucial in determining the extent of the impact that abiotic stress will have. The higher the latitude of the affected, the greater the impact of abiotic stress will be on that area. So, a taiga or boreal forest is at the mercy of whatever abiotic stress factors may come along, one example of a situation where abiotic stress plays a constructive role in an ecosystem is in natural wildfires. While they can be a safety hazard, it is productive for these ecosystems to burn out every once in a while so that new organisms can begin to grow. Even though it is healthy for an ecosystem, a wildfire can still be considered an abiotic stressor, every tree that is scorched and each bird nest that is devoured is a sign of the abiotic stress. On the larger scale, though, natural wildfires are positive manifestations of abiotic stress, what also needs to be taken into account when looking for benefits of abiotic stress, is that one phenomenon may not affect an entire ecosystem in the same way. While a flood will kill most plants living low on the ground in an area, if there is rice there. Another example of this is in phytoplankton and zooplankton, the same types of conditions are usually considered stressful for these two types of organisms. The two may be living in the environment, but an increase in temperature of the area would prove stressful only for one of the organisms. Lastly, abiotic stress has enabled species to grow, develop, both plants and animals have evolved mechanisms allowing them to survive extremes. The most obvious detriment concerning abiotic stress involves farming and it has been claimed by one study that abiotic stress causes the most crop loss of any other factor and that most major crops are reduced in their yield by more than 50% from their potential yield. Because abiotic stress is considered a detrimental effect, the research on this branch of the issue is extensive
29.
MeadWestvaco
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MeadWestvaco Corporation was an American packaging company based in Richmond, Virginia. In February 2006, it moved its headquarters to Richmond. In March 2008, the company announced a change to start using MWV as its brand, MeadWestvaco announced in January 2015 that it would form a combined $16 billion company with RockTenn to take on market leaders in the packaging industry in the US. The new company is titled WestRock, MeadWestvaco was a producer of packaging, specialty papers, consumer and office products and specialty chemicals. The company had 153 operating and office locations in 30 countries, the company’s paperboard, package and paper brands included Carrier Kote, Custom Kote, Printkote, Tango, Digipak, Amaray, Dosepak and Vision. MeadWestvaco held leading positions in the markets it served, MeadWestvaco managed over 3 million acres of forestlands meeting stringent environmental standards and certified to Sustainable Forestry Initiative standards. MeadWestvaco was formed in January 2002 as the result of a merger between The Mead Corporation of Dayton, Ohio, and Westvaco, the ancestor of the Mead Paper Company started out in the paper business in 1846 but did not adopt the name Mead until 1882. Over the decades, Mead diversified into different businesses and economic sectors, through purchases, mergers. It was first listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1935, in 1966, Mead acquired Westab, whose product line included the Big Chief tablet, Spiral Notebook brand and Hytone Notebooks. In 1968, Mead entered the technology sector by acquiring a small company called Data Corporation for $6 million. Mead was originally interested in a printing system developed by Data. After an Arthur D. Little study indicated that the information retrieval product had a promising future, in December 1994, Mead sold the LexisNexis system to Reed Elsevier for $1.5 billion. On April 15,2008, the U. S, the Court reversed and remanded so that the lower courts could apply the correct test and determine whether Mead and Lexis were a unitary business. In 1986 Mead acquired Ampad makers of legal pads which it sold in 1992 to Bain Capital, Mead acquired in 1994 from a consortium of banks that had purchased Olympia and York from the receiver, O&Ys subsidiary through Abitibi-Price the Hilroy companies. In 2005, the Papers business unit—including both Mead and Westvaco paper mills—was sold to the investment firm Cerberus Capital Management for about $2.3 billion, the new company is called NewPage Corporation, which operated from Dayton, Ohio for a time until it outgrew its facilities. NewPage is currently headquartered in Miamisburg, Ohio, in 2008, MeadWestvaco sold its Charleston, SC kraft paper mill to Kapstone Paper and Packaging. MeadWestvaco began using the MWV brand in 2008, in February 2011, MeadWestvaco sold its Envelope Products Business including the Columbian Brand Envelope to Cenveo Corporations Quality Park Envelope Products Group. In 2012, ACCO Brands acquired the consumer and office businesses, including Mead, Five Star, AT-A-GLANCE, Cambridge, Day Runner, Hilroy, Tilibra
30.
International Paper
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The International Paper Company is an American pulp and paper company, the largest such company in the world. It has approximately 65,000 employees, and it is headquartered in Memphis, the company was incorporated January 31,1898, upon the merger of 18 pulp and paper mills in the northeastern United States. Its founders and first two presidents were William Augustus Russell, who died suddenly in January 1899, and Hugh J. Chisholm, the newly formed company supplied 60 percent of all newsprint in the country. The Hudson River Mill in Corinth, New York, where the Sacandaga River joins the Hudson River, was a pioneer in the development of the modern paper industry in the late 19th century. The first wood-based paper mill in New York, it was built by Albrecht Pagenstecher in 1869, after World War II, Hudson River Mill workers developed and perfected the production of coated papers for the company. Shifting economic forces resulted in the closure in November 2002. The historic mill was slated for demolition in 2011, given the nature of their products, paper plants are highly flammable. Therefore, International Paper Company frequently used asbestos insulation in its walls and floors, roof, as a result, many former employees of International Paper are being diagnosed with mesothelioma. In 1987, the paper mill workers went on strike at a number of its U. S. plants. In 1996, it purchased Federal Paper Board, in 1999, the company purchased Union Camp Corporation, and in 2000 Champion International Paper. Additionally, it shares in the Chilean company Copec. Paper Mills Rajahmundry, which is now an International Paper company, is one of the biggest integrated paper, the company produces writing, printing, and copier papers and paper boards for foreign and domestic markets. APPMs production facilities are two mills in Rajahmundry and Kadiam with a production capacity of 240,000 TPA. International Paper owns a majority interest in APPM, and the shares are publicly traded on the Bombay. In 2012, International Paper, through the merger of its wholly owned subsidiary Metal Acquisition Inc. with and into Temple-Inland, Temple-Inland then became a wholly owned subsidiary of International Paper. At the time of sale, Temple-Inlands corrugated packaging operation consisted of 7 mills and 59 converting facilities as well as the products operation. The coated paper business were sold to Apollo Management and now operate as Verso Paper, the kraft paper business was sold to Kapstone Paper and Packaging and operates as Kapstone Kraft Paper. The beverage packaging business, now called Evergreen Packaging, was purchased by Carter Holt Harvey, the company sold its wood products division to West Fraser Timber, based in Vancouver, British Columbia
31.
Florida
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Florida /ˈflɒrᵻdə/ is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, Florida is the 22nd-most extensive, the 3rd-most populous, and the 8th-most densely populated of the U. S. states. Jacksonville is the most populous municipality in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States, the Miami metropolitan area is Floridas most populous urban area. The city of Tallahassee is the state capital, much of the state is at or near sea level and is characterized by sedimentary soil. The climate varies from subtropical in the north to tropical in the south, the American alligator, American crocodile, Florida panther, and manatee can be found in the Everglades National Park. It was a location of the Seminole Wars against the Native Americans. Today, Florida is distinctive for its large Cuban expatriate community and high population growth, the states economy relies mainly on tourism, agriculture, and transportation, which developed in the late 19th century. Florida is also renowned for amusement parks, orange crops, the Kennedy Space Center, Florida has attracted many writers such as Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams, and continues to attract celebrities and athletes. It is internationally known for golf, tennis, auto racing, by the 16th century, the earliest time for which there is a historical record, major Native American groups included the Apalachee, the Timucua, the Ais, the Tocobaga, the Calusa and the Tequesta. Florida was the first part of the continental United States to be visited and settled by Europeans, the earliest known European explorers came with the Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León. Ponce de León spotted and landed on the peninsula on April 2,1513 and he named the region La Florida. The story that he was searching for the Fountain of Youth is a myth, in May 1539, Conquistador Hernando de Soto skirted the coast of Florida, searching for a deep harbor to land. He described seeing a wall of red mangroves spread mile after mile, some reaching as high as 70 feet. Very soon, many smokes appeared along the whole coast, billowing against the sky, the Spanish introduced Christianity, cattle, horses, sheep, the Spanish language, and more to Florida. Both the Spanish and French established settlements in Florida, with varying degrees of success, in 1559, Don Tristán de Luna y Arellano established a settlement at present-day Pensacola, making it the first attempted settlement in Florida, but it was abandoned by 1561. Spain maintained tenuous control over the region by converting the tribes to Christianity. The area of Spanish Florida diminished with the establishment of English settlements to the north, the English attacked St. Augustine, burning the city and its cathedral to the ground several times. Florida attracted numerous Africans and African-Americans from adjacent British colonies who sought freedom from slavery, in 1738, Governor Manuel de Montiano established Fort Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose near St
32.
Brazil
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Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. As the worlds fifth-largest country by area and population, it is the largest country to have Portuguese as an official language. Its Amazon River basin includes a vast tropical forest, home to wildlife, a variety of ecological systems. This unique environmental heritage makes Brazil one of 17 megadiverse countries, Brazil was inhabited by numerous tribal nations prior to the landing in 1500 of explorer Pedro Álvares Cabral, who claimed the area for the Portuguese Empire. Brazil remained a Portuguese colony until 1808, when the capital of the empire was transferred from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro, in 1815, the colony was elevated to the rank of kingdom upon the formation of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. Independence was achieved in 1822 with the creation of the Empire of Brazil, a state governed under a constitutional monarchy. The ratification of the first constitution in 1824 led to the formation of a bicameral legislature, the country became a presidential republic in 1889 following a military coup détat. An authoritarian military junta came to power in 1964 and ruled until 1985, Brazils current constitution, formulated in 1988, defines it as a democratic federal republic. The federation is composed of the union of the Federal District, the 26 states, Brazils economy is the worlds ninth-largest by nominal GDP and seventh-largest by GDP as of 2015. A member of the BRICS group, Brazil until 2010 had one of the worlds fastest growing economies, with its economic reforms giving the country new international recognition. Brazils national development bank plays an important role for the economic growth. Brazil is a member of the United Nations, the G20, BRICS, Unasul, Mercosul, Organization of American States, Organization of Ibero-American States, CPLP. Brazil is a power in Latin America and a middle power in international affairs. One of the worlds major breadbaskets, Brazil has been the largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years and it is likely that the word Brazil comes from the Portuguese word for brazilwood, a tree that once grew plentifully along the Brazilian coast. In Portuguese, brazilwood is called pau-brasil, with the word brasil commonly given the etymology red like an ember, formed from Latin brasa and the suffix -il. As brazilwood produces a red dye, it was highly valued by the European cloth industry and was the earliest commercially exploited product from Brazil. The popular appellation eclipsed and eventually supplanted the official Portuguese name, early sailors sometimes also called it the Land of Parrots. In the Guarani language, a language of Paraguay, Brazil is called Pindorama
33.
Plant disease resistance
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Plant disease resistance protects plants from pathogens in two ways, by pre-formed structures and chemicals, and by infection-induced responses of the immune system. Disease outcome is determined by the interaction of the pathogen, the plant. Defense-activating compounds can move cell-to-cell and systemically through the plant vascular system, however, plants do not have circulating immune cells, so most cell types exhibit a broad suite of antimicrobial defenses. Plants consistently resist certain pathogens but succumb to others, resistance is specific to certain pathogen species or pathogen strains. Plant disease resistance is crucial to the production of food. Plants in both natural and cultivated populations carry inherent disease resistance, but this has not always protected them, the late blight Irish potato famine of the 1840s was caused by the oomycete Phytophthora infestans. The world’s first mass-cultivated banana cultivar Gros Michel was lost in the 1920s to Panama disease caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum. The current wheat stem rust, leaf rust and yellow stripe rust epidemics spreading from East Africa into the Indian subcontinent are caused by rust fungi Puccinia graminis and P. striiformis. Other epidemics include Chestnut blight, as well as recurrent severe plant diseases such as Rice blast, Soybean cyst nematode, Plant pathogens can spread rapidly over great distances, vectored by water, wind, insects, and humans. However, disease control is reasonably successful for most crops, the plant immune system carries two interconnected tiers of receptors, one most frequently sensing molecules outside the cell and the other most frequently sensing molecules inside the cell. Both systems sense the intruder and respond by activating antimicrobial defenses in the infected cell, in some cases, defense-activating signals spread to the rest of the plant or even to neighboring plants. The two systems detect different types of molecules and classes of plant receptor proteins. The first tier is primarily governed by pattern recognition receptors that are activated by recognition of evolutionarily conserved pathogen or microbial–associated molecular patterns, activation of PRRs leads to intracellular signaling, transcriptional reprogramming, and biosynthesis of a complex output response that limits colonization. The system is known as PAMP-Triggered Immunity or as Pattern-Triggered Immunity, the second tier, primarily governed by R gene products, is often termed effector-triggered immunity. ETI is typically activated by the presence of pathogen effectors. In addition to PTI and ETI, plant defenses can be activated by the sensing of damage-associated compounds, the two above-described tiers are central to plant immunity but do not fully describe plant immune systems. In addition, many examples of apparent PTI or ETI violate common PTI/ETI definitions. PAMPs, conserved molecules that inhabit multiple pathogen genera, are referred to as MAMPs by many researchers, the defenses induced by MAMP perception are sufficient to repel most pathogens
34.
American chestnut
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The American chestnut is a large, monoecious deciduous tree of the beech family native to eastern North America. It is estimated that between 3 and 4 billion American chestnut trees were destroyed in the first half of the 20th century by blight after its discovery in 1904. Very few mature specimens of the tree exist within its historical range, Castanea dentata is a rapidly growing deciduous hardwood tree, historically reaching up to 30 metres in height, and 3 metres in diameter. It ranged from Maine and southern Ontario to Mississippi, and from the Atlantic coast to the Appalachian Mountains, C. dentata was once one of the most common trees in the Northeastern United States. In Pennsylvania alone, it is estimated to have comprised 25–30% of all hardwoods, the trees huge population was due to a combination of rapid growth and a large annual seed crop in comparison to oaks which do not reliably produce sizable numbers of acorns every year. Nut production begins when C. dentata is 7–8 years old, C. dentata can be best identified by the larger and more widely spaced saw-teeth on the edges of its leaves, as indicated by the scientific name dentata, Latin for toothed. The leaves, which are 14–20 cm long and 7–10 cm broad, the blight-resistant Chinese chestnut is now the most commonly planted chestnut species in the US, while the European chestnut is the source of commercial nuts in recent decades. It can be distinguished from the American chestnut by its hairy twig tips which are in contrast to the twigs of the American chestnut. The chestnuts are in the family along with beech and oak, but are not closely related to the horse-chestnut. The chestnut is monoecious, producing small, pale green male flowers found tightly occurring along 6 to 8 inch long catkins. The female parts are found near base of the catkins and appear in spring to early summer. Like all members of the Fagaceae family, American chestnut is self-incompatible, the American chestnut is a prolific bearer of nuts, usually with three nuts enclosed in each spiny, green burr, and lined in tan velvet. The nuts develop through late summer, with the opening and falling to the ground near the first fall frost. The American chestnut was an important tree for wildlife, providing much of the fall mast for species such as white-tailed deer and wild turkey and, formerly. Black bears were known to eat the nuts to fatten up for the winter. The American chestnut also contains nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and magnesium in its leaves when compared to other trees that share its habitat. This means they return more nutrients to the soil which helps with the growth of plants, animals. The disease was first noticed on American chestnut trees in what was then the New York Zoological Park, now known as the Bronx Zoo, in 1904, Merkel estimated that by 1906 blight had infected 98 percent of the chestnut trees in the Bronx alone
35.
Chestnut blight
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The chestnut blight is a fungal infection affecting the American Chestnut tree that had a devastating economic and social impact on communities in the eastern United States. It later spread to parts of the world including Italy. The fungus is spread by wind-borne ascospores and, over a shorter distance, in the first half of the 20th Century it killed an estimated 4 billion trees. Infection is local in range, so some isolated American chestnuts survive where there is no other tree within 10 km, there are at least two viral pathogens that weaken the fungus through a mechanism termed hypovirulence that helps trees survive. However, these regrown shoots seldom reach the reproductive stage before being killed by the fungus. They only survive as living stumps, or stools, with only a few growing enough shoots to produce seeds. This is just enough to preserve the material necessary to engineer an American chestnut tree using genes from any of the disease-immune Asiatic species to confer resistance to the disease. American chinquapin is also susceptible to chestnut blight. The European chestnut and the West Asian species are also susceptible and its important to realize, though, that even Chinese chestnut trees vary considerably in blight resistance. Some individuals are quite susceptible while others are essentially immune to the disease, many kinds of environmental stress may break down a trees resistance to blight. Indeed, at elevations in areas exposed to severe climate, normally resistant. The fungus will infect other tree species such as oaks, red maples, staghorn sumacs. Once infected, these trees will also exhibit orange bark with cankers, however, they will not exhibit shoot die back and death of the main tree. Instead the pathogen will be able to persist in trees, causing the fungus to be able to attack new growth in American Chestnut trees, the chestnut blight was accidentally introduced to North America around 1904 when Endothia parasitica was introduced into the United States from Japanese nursery stock. Commonly known as the Chestnut blight, it was first found in the trees on the grounds of the New York Zoological Garden by Herman W. Merkel. In 1905, American mycologist William Murrill isolated and described the fungus responsible, by 1940, most mature American chestnut trees had been wiped out by the disease. Japanese and some Chinese chestnut trees have some resistance to infection by C. parasitica, because of the disease, American chestnut wood almost disappeared from the market for decades, although it can still be obtained as reclaimed lumber. It is estimated that in places, such as the Appalachian Mountains
36.
Ulmus minor 'Atinia'
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He suggested that the tree may be a true native of Spain, indigenous in the alluvial plains of the great rivers, now almost completely deforested. Richens believed that English Elm was a clone of the variable species Ulmus minor. Thus, despite its name, the origin of the tree is believed to be Italy. Dr Max Coleman of the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh writes and this means that enigmatic British elms such as. English Elm have turned out to be clones of field elm. Most floras and field guides, however, do not list English Elm as a form of Ulmus minor, Ulmus campestris L. var. vulgaris Aiton Ulmus procera Salisb. Ulmus atinia J. Walker Ulmus surculosa Stokes Ulmus minor Mill. var. vulgaris Richens Ulmus minor Mill. subsp, Ulmus procera Atinia The tree often exceeded 40 m in height with a trunk <2 m d. b. h. The largest specimen recorded in England, at Forthampton Court. While the upper branches form a crown, heavy more horizontal boughs low on the bole often give the tree a distinctive figure-of-eight silhouette. The small, reddish-purple hermaphrodite apetalous flowers appear in spring before the leaves. The leaves are green, almost orbicular, <10 cm long. They flush a lighter green in April, about an earlier than most Field Elm. Since the tree does not produce long shoots in the canopy, the bark of old trees is scaly, unlike the vertically-furrowed bark of ancient Field Elm. The tree does not produce fertile seed as it is female-sterile, seed production in England was often unknown in any case. By the late 19th century, urban specimens in Britain were often grafted on to wych elm root-stock to eliminate suckering, after about 20 years, these suckers too become infected by the fungus and killed back to ground level. English Elm was the first elm to be engineered to resist disease. It was a subject for such an experiment, as its sterility meant there was no danger of its introgression into the countryside. In the United States, English Elm was found to be one of the most preferred elms for feeding by the Japanese Beetle Popillia japonica, the leaves of the English Elm in the UK are mined by Stigmella ulmivora
37.
Dutch elm disease
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Dutch elm disease is caused by a member of the sac fungi affecting elm trees, and is spread by elm bark beetles. It has also reached New Zealand, the disease affects species in the genera Ulmus and Zelkova, therefore it is not specific to the Dutch elm hybrid. The causative agents of DED are ascomycete microfungi, three species are now recognized, Ophiostoma ulmi, which afflicted Europe from 1910, reaching North America on imported timber in 1928. Ophiostoma himal-ulmi, an endemic to the western Himalaya. Ophiostoma novo-ulmi, an extremely virulent species from Japan which was first described in Europe, DED is spread in North America by three species of bark beetles, The native elm bark beetle, Hylurgopinus rufipes. The European elm bark beetle, Scolytus multistriatus, the banded elm bark beetle, Scolytus schevyrewi. In Europe, while S. multistriatus still acts as a vector for infection, it is less effective than the large elm bark beetle. H. rufipes can be a vector for the disease, but is inefficient compared to the other vectors, S. schevyrewi was found in 2003 in Colorado and Utah. Other reported DED vectors include Scolytus sulcifrons, S. pygmaeus, S. laevis, Pteleobius vittatus, other elm bark beetle species are also likely vectors. In an attempt to block the fungus from spreading farther, the tree reacts by plugging its own xylem tissue with gum and tyloses, bladder-like extensions of the xylem cell wall. As the xylem delivers water and nutrients to the rest of the plant, the first sign of infection is usually an upper branch of the tree with leaves starting to wither and yellow in summer, months before the normal autumnal leaf shedding. This progressively spreads to the rest of the tree, with further dieback of branches, eventually, the roots die, starved of nutrients from the leaves. Often, not all the roots die, the roots of some species, notably the English elm Ulmus procera, put up suckers which flourish for approximately 15 years, after which they too succumb. Dutch elm disease was first noticed in continental Europe in 1910, the disease was isolated in The Netherlands in 1921 by Bea Schwarz, a pioneering Dutch phytopathologist, and this discovery would lend the disease its name. Circa 1967, a new, far more virulent strain arrived in Britain on a shipment of rock elm U, the disease is still migrating northwards through Scotland, reaching Edinburgh in the late 1970s, and Inverness in 2006. By 1990, very few mature elms were left in Britain or much of continental Europe, one of the most distinctive English countryside trees, the English elm U. procera Salisb. is particularly susceptible. Thirty years after the outbreak of the epidemic, nearly all these trees, the species still survives in hedgerows, as the roots are not killed and send up root sprouts. These suckers rarely reach more than 5 m tall before succumbing to a new attack of the fungus, however, established hedges kept low by clipping have remained apparently healthy throughout the nearly 40 years since the onset of the disease in the UK
38.
Species reintroduction
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Species reintroduction is the deliberate release of a species into the wild, from captivity or other areas where the animal survives. A species that needs reintroduction is usually one whose existence has become threatened or endangered in the wild, however, reintroduction of a species can also be for pest control. For example, wolves being reintroduced to an area because of an overpopulation of elk or deer. Because reintroduction may involve returning native species to localities where they had been extirpated, Reintroduction has been practiced for many years. Reintroduction and translocation are both important tools for population and species management, translocation moves wild-caught animals from one natural location to another, while reintroduction moves captive-born animals into their natural historical range. Much of the research required to obtain reproduction will also be critical for reintroduction. More behavioral research to select the best candidates and prepare them for the different challenges that await them in nature will be essential also. Behaviorists will again play a role in post-release monitoring to determine the behavioral deficiencies that limit the success of reintroductions. There may be no other conservation action where the skills of behavioral researchers are more essential than reintroduction, in situ conservation means on site. In-situ conservation is the conservation of species diversity within normal and natural habitats, the challenge in using in-situ methods is to expand our vision of protected areas to include multiple use and extractive reserves to develop new models for conservation. In-Situ conservation uses innovative proposals such as damaged ecosystems to preserve rare, endangered, ex-situ conservation means literally, off-site conservation. It is the process of protecting an endangered species of plant or animal outside of its natural habitat, capturing and relocating part of a population from a threatened habitat and placing it in a new location where it may have a better chance of survival is one example. Ex-situ conservation should only be used when In-Situ conservation cannot, zoos are one of the most conventional methods of ex-situ conservation. Depending on their size and location, zoos receive between a few tens of thousands to several million visitors annually, zoos provide education to the public about the many endangered species and explain the factors contributing the threats they face in their native habitats. Through ex-situ conservation methods they provide protected specimens for breeding and reintroduction into the wild and it has been suggested that this method should be used only when necessary and when In-Situ conservation is not possible. Reintroduction biology is new and continues to be a work in progress, in other words, successful reintroduction programs should yield viable and self-sustainable populations on the long-term. The IUCN/SSC Re-introduction Specialist Group & Environment Agency, in their 2011 Global Re-introduction Perspectives,184 case studies were reported on a range of species which included invertebrates, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, and plants. Assessments from all of the studies included goals, success indicators, project summary, major difficulties faced, major lessons learned, the Siberian tiger population has rebounded from 40 individuals in the 1940s to around 500 in 2007
39.
Bacillus thuringiensis
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Bacillus thuringiensis is a Gram-positive, soil-dwelling bacterium, commonly used as a biological pesticide. During sporulation, many Bt strains produce crystal proteins, called δ-endotoxins and this has led to their use as insecticides, and more recently to genetically modified crops using Bt genes, such as Bt corn. Many crystal-producing Bt strains, though, do not have insecticidal properties, B. thuringiensis was first discovered in 1901 by Japanese biologist Ishiwata Shigetane. In 1911, B. thuringiensis was rediscovered in Germany by Ernst Berliner, in 1976, Robert A. Zakharyan reported the presence of a plasmid in a strain of B. thuringiensis and suggested the plasmids involvement in endospore and crystal formation. B. thuringiensis is closely related to B. cereus, a bacterium, and B. anthracis, the cause of anthrax. Like other members of the genus, all three are aerobes capable of producing endospores, the are several dozen recognized subspecies of bacillus thuringiensis. Subspecies commonly used as insecticides include Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies kurstaki and subspecies israelensis, upon sporulation, B. thuringiensis forms crystals of proteinaceous insecticidal δ-endotoxins, which are encoded by cry genes. In most strains of B. thuringiensis, the cry genes are located on a plasmid, Cry toxins have specific activities against insect species of the orders Lepidoptera, Diptera, Coleoptera, Hymenoptera and nematodes. Thus, B. thuringiensis serves as an important reservoir of Cry toxins for production of biological insecticides, the Cry toxin is then inserted into the insect gut cell membrane, paralyzing the digestive tract and forming a pore. The insect stops eating and starves to death, live Bt bacteria may also colonize the insect which can contribute to death, the midgut bacteria of susceptible larvae may be required for B. thuringiensis insecticidal activity. In 1996 another class of proteins in Bt was discovered. Vip proteins do not share sequence homology with Cry proteins, in general do not compete for the same receptors, in 2000, a novel functional group of Cry protein, designated parasporin, was discovered from noninsecticidal B. thuringiensis isolates. The proteins of parasporin group are defined as B. thuringiensis and related bacterial parasporal proteins that are not hemolytic, as of January 2013, parasporins comprise six subfamilies. Spores and crystalline insecticidal proteins produced by B. thuringiensis have been used to control insect pests since the 1920s and are applied as liquid sprays. They are now used as specific insecticides under trade names such as DiPel, each new strain is given a unique number and registered with the U. S. The Bt tobacco was never commercialized, tobacco plants are used to test genetic modifications since they are easy to genetically and are not part of the food supply. This was the New Leaf potato, and it was removed from the market in 2001 due to lack of interest, for current crops and their acreage under cultivation, see genetically modified crops. Corn genetically modified to produce VIP was first approved in the US in 2010, in India, by 2014, more than seven million cotton farmers, occupying twenty-six million acres, had adopted Bt cotton
40.
Insecticide
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An insecticide is a substance used to kill insects. They include ovicides and larvicides used against insect eggs and larvae, Insecticides are used in agriculture, medicine, industry and by consumers. Insecticides are claimed to be a factor behind the increase in agricultural 20th centurys productivity. Nearly all insecticides have the potential to significantly alter ecosystems, many are toxic to humans, Insecticides can be classified in two major groups, systemic insecticides, which have residual or long term activity, and contact insecticides, which have no residual activity. Furthermore, one can distinguish three types of insecticide, natural insecticides, such as nicotine, pyrethrum and neem extracts, made by plants as defenses against insects. Organic insecticides, which are chemical compounds, mostly working by contact. The mode of action describes how the pesticide kills or inactivates a pest and it provides another way of classifying insecticides. Mode of action is important in understanding whether an insecticide will be toxic to unrelated species, such as fish, birds, Insecticides are distinct from insect repellents, which do not kill. Systemic insecticides become incorporated and distributed throughout the whole plant. When insects feed on the plant, they ingest the insecticide, systemic insecticides produced by transgenic plants are called plant-incorporated protectants. For instance, a gene that codes for a specific Bacillus thuringiensis biocidal protein was introduced into corn, the plant manufactures the protein, which kills the insect when consumed. Contact insecticides are toxic to insects upon direct contact and these can be inorganic insecticides, which are metals and include arsenates, copper and fluorine compounds, which are less commonly used, and the commonly used sulfur. Contact insecticides can be organic insecticides, i. e. organic chemical compounds, synthetically produced, or they can be natural compounds like pyrethrum, neem oil etc. Contact insecticides usually have no residual activity, efficacy can be related to the quality of pesticide application, with small droplets, such as aerosols often improving performance. Many organic compounds are produced by plants for the purpose of defending the host plant from predation, a trivial case is tree rosin, which is a natural insecticide. Specific, the production of oleoresin by conifer species is a component of the response against insect attack. Many fragrances, e. g. oil of wintergreen, are in fact antifeedants, the technique has been expanded to include the use of RNA interference RNAi that fatally silences crucial insect genes. RNAi likely evolved as a defense against viruses, midgut cells in many larvae take up the molecules and help spread the signal
