Mountain pine beetle has damaged more than 2 million acres of lodgepole pine forest. This shows tree loss on the Klamath National Forest in California. (U.S. Forest Service/Zachary Heath)
Sometimes, heroes aren’t who we expect.
With more than 750 million acres classified as forest land and millions more acres with trees in urban areas, the U.S. population receives a wide array of services and commodities from forests, such as wood and other forest products, recreation, wildlife, clean water, energy and jobs. Read more »
ARS scientists and NIFA-funded researchers work to improve the tools and processes to develop better grapes and grapevines. Their discoveries will make it easier for grape breeders to identify vines that combine the most desirable traits.
This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from USDA’s rich science and research portfolio.
When it comes to grapes, there’s a New World-Old World dichotomy. Grapevines originating in the Americas (e.g. Vitis labrusca, Vitis riparia) can resist pests and diseases, but they generally don’t have the taste or aroma of grapes with European origins (Vitis vinifera). But European grapes are more susceptible to pests and disease.
Grape breeders try to combine the best of both worlds, but here’s the problem: if you cross one grape with another, there is no guarantee your progeny will inherit the desirable traits. And because it takes so much time to grow a grapevine, produce grapes from those vines, and for those grapes to be evaluated, bringing a new grape to market can take 20 years or more. Scientists can speed things up by identifying genes that give grapes the right blend of the best characteristics. Identifying the genes will tell you the characteristics of the vine without having to wait for it to grow. Read more »
Written by Kayla Harless, People’s Garden Intern
Today, Dr. Karen Rane presented a workshop in the People’s Garden about diseases of the flower garden. As a plant pathologist and diagnostician, she provided us with lots of fascinating insight. Dr. David Clement, a fellow plant pathologist, joined her in instructing the workshop. Read more »