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A Moth Named for Trump, Snopes, and the Bohart Museum of Entomology
It's not every day that Snopes "gets involved" in setting the record straight regarding a moth linked to an entomology department--specifically...
These are images of the moth, Neopalpa donaldtrumpi, a species that Bohart Museum scientists collected in the Algodones Dunes. The Bohart Museum loaned the collection to evolutionary biologist and systematist Vazrick Nazari of Canada, who discovered it was a new species and named it. (Images by Vazrick Nazari, posted in ZooKeys)
Food Waste Project: Emma Vazquez on the Mike!
Over the Thanksgiving holiday week, American consumers tossed out about 200 million pounds of turkey, according to the Natural Resources Defense...
Feeding grazing cattle seaweed cuts methane emissions by almost 40%
Findings offer solution for more climate-friendly cattle farming
Seaweed is once again showing promise for making cattle farming more sustainable. A new study by researchers at the University of California, Davis, found that feeding grazing beef cattle a seaweed supplement in pellet form reduced their methane emissions by almost 40% without affecting their health or weight. The study was published Dec. 2 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
This is the first study to test seaweed on grazing beef cattle in the world. It follows previous studies that showed seaweed cut methane emissions 82% in feedlot cattle and over 50% in dairy cows.
How much methane do cattle produce?
“Beef cattle spend only about three months in feedlots and spend most of their lives grazing on pasture and producing methane,” said senior author Ermias Kebreab, professor in the Department of Animal Science. “We need to make this seaweed additive or any feed additive more accessible to grazing cattle to make cattle farming more sustainable while meeting the global demand for meat.”
Difficulty in reducing methane emissions from cattle
Kebreab said that daily feeding of pasture-based cattle is more difficult than feedlot or dairy cows because they often graze far from ranches for long periods. However, during the winter or when grass is scarce, ranchers often supplement their diet.
For this study, researchers divided 24 beef steers (a mix of Angus and Wagyu breeds) into two groups: one received the seaweed supplement, and the other did not. Researchers conducted the 10-week experiment at a ranch in Dillon, Montana. Since these were grazing cattle, they ate the supplement voluntarily, which still resulted in a nearly 40% cut in emissions.
Most research studies to reduce methane emissions using feed additives have taken place in controlled environments with daily supplements. But Kebreab noted in the study that fewer than half of those methods are effective for grazing cattle.
“This method paves the way to make a seaweed supplement easily available to grazing animals,” said Kebreab. “Ranchers could even introduce the seaweed through a lick block for their cattle.”
Kebreab said pastoral farming, which includes large grazing systems, supports millions of people around the world, often in areas vulnerable to climate change. This study suggests a way to make cattle grazing better for the environment, while playing a role in fighting climate change.
A related article in the same PNAS issue highlights the need to improve the efficiency of livestock production in low- and middle-income countries using better genetics, feeding and health practices. UC Davis Professor and Cooperative Extension Specialist Alison Van Eenennaam, the article's author, said it is the most promising approach to meet the global demand for meat while limiting greenhouse gas emissions.
Other authors of the seaweed study include UC Davis postdoctoral researchers Paulo de Méo Filho and John-Fredy Ramirez-Agudelo.
The research was supported by Matador Ranch in Dillon, Montana.
This article was first published on the UC Davis news site.
Chill Out, Tulips!
Each fall, I plant a variety of bulbs to enjoy in the garden each spring and to ensure plenty of cut flowers. But I never plant tulips or other bulbs that need to be chilled in our mild climate. While I admire my neighbor's tulip beds, I prefer the ease of planting other flowers, such as daffodils, anemones, ranunculus, and snowdrops.
So when my husband and I toured Keukenhof in the Netherlands during the park's 75th anniversary this spring, I was adamant that I would not purchase any bulbs for shipping home. I hadn't been tempted by tulips before and I didn't expect to be tempted then. Spoiler alert: I didn't buy any bulbs there or in the gorgeous flower markets in Amsterdam. I was 100% tulip-proof on my travels!
This was no easy task because, as others have written in thisblog,Keukenhof offers a spectacular display of tulips and other spring-flowering bulbs. More than 7 million spring-flowering bulbs, as well as sculptures and art, are distributed across approximately 79 acres. While our visit took place on an unseasonably cold, rainy day, the park was still spectacular with enormous garden beds planted with a wide variety of flowers. I never knew so many varieties of tulips existed! At the beginning, I naively told my husband that I was only going to take photos of my favorites. Nearly 450 photos later, apparently, I had a lot of favorites!
But when I got home and two days later there was a tulip sale, including bulbs featured at Keukenhof. I broke down and ordered several varieties, just for fun. This then raised the big question – to chill or not to chill?
Tulips and certain other bulbs, such as hyacinths, requirevernalization, which means that the plants need a certain amount of chilling to grow and set flowers. They may bloom without chilling, but the flowers may be stunted. Some plants requirevernalization, while others benefit from chilling, but do not require it. Different sources of information specify different minimum temperatures and time periods for chilling tulip bulbs, but, in general, tulips require chilling temperatures below 55 degrees for approximately 10-12 weeks to ensure proper development of the blooms. Luckily, this chilling process is easy to duplicate by placing the bulbs in a paper bag and chilling them in refrigerator drawer for a minimum of 6-8 weeks before planting them. But don't put them in a drawer with apples or other fruit because the fruit gives off ethylene gas as it ripens, which interferes with the bulbs' flower development. It is helpful to write down the date when the bulbs should be removed from the refrigerator to ensure that you don't forget when to plant them. I usually write the date on the bag and also put a reminder on my calendar.
Will tulips bloom in our area without chilling? Perhaps. Some bulbs come pre-chilled. Sometimes, our area has a colder winter. I never chill my crocus bulbs, and they bloom just fine. In contrast, my snowdrop flowers have been a bit stunted the past few years and, if I plant more in the future, I will try chilling them first. In any event, since I rarely plant tulips, I want to promote favorable growing and blooming conditions by chilling the bulbs. I will treat the tulips as annuals because they are unlikely to return for more than a year, perhaps two, in our mild climate.
As much as I love growing my usual types of spring-flowering bulbs, I'm looking forward to trying something a little different this year that will bring fond memories of our travels.
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Bohart Museum of Entomology Gearing Up for 2025
Drum roll... The Bohart Museum of Entomology, University of California, Davis, is gearing up for the new year. Open houses or special...
Visitors to an upcoming Bohart Museum of Entomology open house will learn the differences between venomous and poisonous. This jumping spider is venomous. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
