Author: Cindi Deutschman-Ruiz

New Herbicide-Resistant Weed Discovered

The existence of herbicide-resistant weeds is not new, but in the last 10 years the problem has grown worse. And just one newly-resistant weed may now be cause for significant concern, as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Cindi Deutschman-Ruiz reports:

Transcript

The existence of herbicide-resistant weeds is not new,
but in the last 10 years the problem has grown worse.
And just one newly resistant weed may now be cause
for significant concern, as the Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Cindi Deutschman-Ruiz reports:


Penn State weed specialist Bill Curran says horseweed is
the first kind of North American weed that has shown it can
survive the use of the weed killer glyphosate. Glyphosate is
the active ingredient in RoundUp and other widely used
herbicides.


Resistance to the chemical was first spotted in six fields in
Delaware in the year 2000. It has since moved into at least
half a dozen states. In an affected field, glyphosate may
still kill thousands of horseweed plants, but leave a few
intact and able to reproduce.


“I think what’s unique about the glyphosate case is
there really isn’t anything that’s quite like it. What
typically people have done is they’ve tried to substitute one
thing for something else, and there isn’t really a substitute
for this.”


Still, Curran says farmers’ best option is to frequently switch
the chemicals they use, and stop relying so heavily on
glyphosate. Otherwise, he sees the problem of super strong
weeds continuing to spread.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Cindi
Deutschman-Ruiz.

Converting Food Waste Into Power

Imagine turning food waste into power. It’s a prospect that could be on the horizon for some food manufacturers. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Cindi Deutschman-Ruiz has more:

Transcript

Imagine turning food waste into power. It’s a prospect that
could be on the horizon for some food manufacturers. The
Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Cindi Deutschman-Ruiz
has more:


Let’s say you transformed your love of potato chips and
candy into a business empire. Every day, you produce tons
of treats along with vats of wastewater that must be cleansed
before they can be dumped. Now let’s say there’s a way to
take your wastewater and turn it into energy you can sell or
use.


It’s a scenario that could become reality, according to Penn State
researcher Steven Van Ginkel. He’s part of a team that has identified
bacteria found in ordinary soil as a key part of the process.
But before the soil can be used, it must be prepared.


“And we just take it, bake it like a cake in our oven for two hours
at 100 degrees Celsius.”


Having killed the bacteria they don’t want, researchers
introduce surviving bacteria to the wastewater. The bacteria
produce energy in the form of hydrogen.


Researchers need to reproduce their findings reliably and
on a large scale to prove the process works. And it looks like
they’re going to get the chance to do so. Van Ginkel says
Utz potato chip maker is already on board for further testing.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Cindi
Deutschman-Ruiz.

Study Finds Deer Reduce Forest Diversity

A soon-to-be-published study concludes that deer overpopulation is having a devastating, long-term impact on forests. The study will come out next month in the journal Ecological Applications. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Cindi Deutschman-Ruiz reports:

Transcript

A soon-to-be-published study concludes that deer overpopulation is having a
devastating, long-term impact on forests. The study will come out next month in the
journal Ecological Applications. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Cindi Deutschman-Ruiz reports:


The U.S. Forest Service study was conducted in Pennsylvania’s
Allegheny National Forest. It examined deer densities
ranging from 10 deer to 64 deer per square mile.
As deer increased, tree species declined.


Red maple, sugar maple, white ash, yellow poplar, and
cucumber trees were all adversely affected, and native yew has been practically eradicated in the forest.


Steve Horsley is the study’s co-author. He says the next step is to determine
whether the impact of deer on forests is as great in areas where there
are also housing developments and
farmland.


“Deer tend, for example, when agriculture is in the mix, to
spend their time eating alfalfa and corn,
which have more digestible energy than most of the
plants that you find in the woods.”


Horsely says in the meantime, deer populations must come down,
preferably to less than 20 per square mile. In the Allegheny National Forest, that would mean cutting the
population in half.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Cindi Deutschman-Ruiz.

Hope for Preventing Lyme Disease

Every year 16,000 cases of lyme disease are reported to the Centers for Disease Control, and the CDC says many more go unreported. In the Northeast and Upper Midwest, the disease is spread by deer ticks. And as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Cindi Deutschman-Ruiz reports, their numbers are rising:

Transcript

Every year 16-thousand cases of lyme disease are reported to the Centers for Disease Control, and the CDC says many more go unreported. In the Northeast and Upper Midwest, the disease is spread by deer ticks. And as the Great Lakes Radio Consortium¹s Cindi Deutschman-Ruiz reports, their numbers are rising:


The CDC began tracking lyme disease 20 years ago. In that time, more than
180-thousand cases have been reported. A CDC map of lyme disease makes it clear
that Northeastern areas are at highest risk. But many localized areas of infection can
be seen throughout the Upper Midwest as well, including parts of Minnesota,
Wisconsin, and Michigan.


Steve Jacobs is an entomologist at Penn State. He¹s been studying ticks in
Pennsylvania and says their numbers are growing, largely as a result of deer
overpopulation. With loggers cutting down fewer trees, deer enjoy more forested
habitat. And it hasn’t helped that city dwellers are buying large properties in the
suburbs, and leaving some of their land forested. But according to Jacobs, more ticks
doesn’t need to mean more cases of lyme disease.


“Even if the tick population is expanding, as I think it is, the fact that people are aware
and are taking precautions, like using a repellant such as DEET, may offset the
increase in ticks somewhat.”


There’s other good news as well. Jacobs says promising new research involving
insecticide may mean fewer deer ticks in the future. For the Great Lakes Radio
Consortium, I’m Cindi Deutschman-Ruiz.

Farm Chemicals Weaken Frog Immune Systems

The worldwide population decline in frogs and other amphibians has concerned scientists for many years, in part because when amphibians are threatened, other species are as well. A current study provides new insights into the factors that can make frogs more susceptible to disease. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Cindi Deutschman-Ruiz reports:

Transcript

The worldwide population decline in frogs and other amphibians has concerned
scientists for many years, in part because when amphibians are threatened, other
species are as well. A current study provides new insights into the factors that can
make frogs more susceptible to disease. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Cindi
Deutschman-Ruiz reports:


New research conducted by Penn State Ecologist Joseph Wiesecker indicates that
frogs face a much higher risk of developing severe limb deformities when exposed to
currently acceptable levels of two common farm chemicals… the weedkiller atrazine
and the insecticide malathion.


These chemicals lowered the immune response of frogs, which is why they became
more susceptible to disease. Wiesecker says understanding this susceptibility is key
to safeguarding not only amphibians but humans as well.


“The apparent increase in limb deformities over the last decade is part of a larger
issue, one that involves amphibians but also humans and other animals. And that is
the increase or prevalence of infectious disease.”


Wiesecker is now conducting a five-year regional study that will artificially create
environmental changes associated with human development, and chart their impact
on frogs and other wetland animals.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Cindi Deutschman-Ruiz.