A Chance for Natural Observation

Our visit to the Desert Botanical Garden had a tremendous impact on my interest in the natural desert.  Fortunately, immediately after our S-STEM visit to Desert Botanical Garden on Friday, April 12,  I had the opportunity to spend the weekend camping, – Cub Scout Family Camp - and I was able to observe the plants of the Sonoran Desert with a new knowledge and understanding that I have not had on previous camping trips.

I found myself looking at the landscape with a new (and I hope improved) eye. I noticed the types, the sizes, the colors and the spacing of plants that grew wild as we hiked along trails. I observed the gradual changes that occurred as we ascended to higher elevations, and I took particular note of the layout of the various plant species, many of which Ainsley and I have been working with in the lab throughout this semester.

For example, the open community structure of the creosote bush strongly suggests some form of allelopathic properties. I thought back to my lab notebook and remembered my little creosote seeds all tucked away in their parafilmed Petri dishes that never even germinated. I wondered what happens out here in nature that allows them to germinate and thrive, but at such a distance from one another.

I also witnessed a terrific amount of the insidious buffelgrass that we learned about at Desert Botanical Garden. If I hadn’t known any better I would have thought how nicely these shrubby grasses fit into the desert landscape of the Sonoran. But, I do know better and I found myself almost angry at the numbers of plants growing particularly heavy along the roadways and rough trails. Even through my resentment I was fascinated by the realization that buffelgrass clearly displays strong allelopathic properties. Just by observation, it appears to not only force out the native plants by strangulation, but also by inhibiting the growth of native plants within a wide radius.

Next week I hope to have some definitive results from the allelopathy work that Ainsley and I have been doing this semester. However, I thought that it was important to acknowledge the motivation that I gained from having first visited the Desert Botanical Garden and then having the opportunity to experience first-hand the wonders of the plant world in the lower Sonoran Desert.

(This in my friend Vinny, he is a wonderful little man who is ridiculously curious and funny!)

Desert Botanical Gardens

Last Friday on the 12^th of April, the S-STEM took a little field trip to the Desert Botanical Gardens. It was an amazing day! The weather was great, the company exceptional and we had the opportunity to walk the gardens with not one but two incredibly knowledgeable escorts; our own Matt (a DBG veteran), Josh, Dijana and Dr. Schampel.

Our tour around the gardens exposed us to the many plants of the Sonoran Desert. If you have been reading my blog you know that the plants of the lower Sonoran are particularly interesting to me as they are the focus of my allelopathy project. However, I must confess that my favorite portion of the day was the time we spent with the butterflies! Yes, hundreds of living butterflies! It was such a magical experience to have these beautiful creatures flying around our heads and landing on our arms – it felt very Disney Princess!

Keeping in the Disney mindset, for every princess there is a nemesis. And, we learned the DBG and the Sonoran Desert have an insidious enemy, one that hundreds of volunteers combat on a regular basis - the enemy is buffelgrass. A native of South Africa, buffelgrass was brought to the US in the 1940’s to combat the ravages of the Dustbowl. At the time it was a godsend, it held the ground together and provided food for cattle.  Unfortunately, good has turned to bad. With its ability to thrive on very little water, easy germination and a thick highly developed root system this highly invasive weed threatens the ecology of the Sonoran Desert including (my favorite) the mighty saguaro cactus. The DBG organizes volunteers to pull buffelgrass both on the DBG grounds and along Galvin Parkway. I would encourage all of us to put in some time on this worthy project, just make sure you bring your sunscreen!

Dr. Schampel also asked us to blog about our favorite plant, and its most prominent adaptations to desert living.  My favorite, as you already know, is the saguaro cactus. As a native Arizonan the saguaro has always intrigued and delighted me. But, my admiration of this mighty cactus has grown even more this semester. One of the reasons for my growing respect is the saguaro is the only seed that I am working with in my allelopathy project that germinates and does NOT mold! Yes, I adore my little saguaro seedlings and in 20, or so, years I invite you all to come to my house and see how they have grown.

By then, because of the exceptional care they will have been given by me, they may reach as much as eight feet in height. Their wild cousins of the same age might have only reached one foot in height in the same amount of time. But, even in the wild the saguaro can live two hundred years and grow to heights of 50 feet. With a smooth almost waxy skin they are covered in two inch spines, both of these adaptations allow very little precious moisture to escape. Water collection and storage is vital for the saguaro. As such they have developed a broad shallow root system that allows for maximum water collection as well as a pleated rib system that allows the saguaro to expand as it absorbs water. In this manner the saguaro can store as much as a ton of water and then wait patiently for the next rain.

More GMO

Last week, I asked if you knew which of the foods you eat contain or are genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The answer, as I explained, was probably 'no.' However, after doing a bit more research, I would bet money that even the producers of the food you're eating couldn't answer that question for sure. What is the reason for all this uncertainty?

GMO Cross Pollination

What does this term mean, and why does it matter? Essentially, if cross pollination between a GMO plant, and a non-GMO plant occurs, the resulting plants contain GMO properties. It is also possible for pollinating elements from fields of GMO crops to end up - by being blown in the wind, for example - in fields with non-GMO crops of the same kind. GMO crops are then harvested, packaged, and sold admits non-GMO organisms.

This occurrence is a very big concern for farmers of both GMO and non-GMO crops, and some safeties have been installed to prevent cross pollination. There are, for instance, some GMO crops that have been engineered so as to be incapable of cross-pollinating with non-GMO crops of the same species (Sakko, 2002).

Sadly, these safeguards are likely not enough. As David Biello (2010) reports, ecologists in North Dakota found GMO genes in a canola plant growing near a parking lot. This plant was not on a farm, it was not merely mixed up with normal canola plants - it was growing in the wild, and it was a trasngenic organism! Personally, I find it mind-boggling that something created in a laboratory using incredibly delicate and modern technology could be found growing in a parking lot. More than mind-boggling, I find it a little alarming.

As I mentioned in my last post, there is very little known about the actual dangers of human consumption of GMOs. However, I did learn in my recent research that there is definite danger in human consumption of GMOs intended for animal consumption (Sakko, 2002). This makes sense, of course: Cows and other livestock are now often fed GMO crops designed to increase that animals productivity, and if a human eats something that contains elements designed to help a cow get bigger faster, problems can arise. Personally, I am wondering where the danger of cross pollination fits into all this.

To find out Ainsley and I have begun testing corn products that claim to be GMO free in the lab. I’ll let you know next week what our findings reveal.

Finally, I think that the dangers of cross pollination should be considered in relation to the farmers they potentially impact. To see what I mean by this, please see the short video below.

References

Biello, D. (2010, August 6). Genetically modified crop on the loose and evolving in the U.S.
Midwest. Retrieved from http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=genetically-
modified-crop

Sakko, K. (2002). The debate over genetically modified foods. Retrieved from http://
www.actionbioscience.org/biotech/sakko.html

GMO Yes or No?

In a bit of a branch off from our allelopathy project, this week Ainsley and I are delving into the subject of genetically engineered seeds.

Genetically Modified Organisms

Genetically modified organisms or GMOs, also known as genetically engineered (GE) foods, have taken the agriculture industry by storm in the short two decades since their introduction. Depending on the source, genetic manipulation is cast as both the brightest accomplishment of science and the wave of the future, or as the single darkest and most malicious scientific tampering of nature yet.

Most consumers don’t know what to think. A survey performed by the Pew Initiative on Food and Biotechnology in 2010 found that 46% of respondents had no idea what to think about the safety of genetically engineered foods. Of those who did have an opinion, about half thought they were safe the other half thought they were unsafe!

I, myself, have little understanding of the intricacies of biotechnology. What I have learned is that genetically modified organisms are those that are produced when, in the lab, a copy of a gene is removed from one organism and relocated in a different organism. In the new organism this newly added gene will - hopefully if all goes well – begin producing a new protein that results in a new beneficial trait which is then integrated into every cell of the newly modified organism. In agriculture this has resulted in crops that are immune to specific herbicides or resistant to devastating viral attack.

Do you know which of the foods you eat are genetically modified?

Actually, probably not! The Food and Drug administration has no disclosure laws that mandate identification of GMO foods. The only exception to this is foods sold as ‘organic’ which are prohibited under federal regulations from being GMO.

At the top of the ‘most likely’ to be a GMO is corn. Corn is the number one crop grown in the United States and about 88% of it is Monsanto genetically engineered. GMO corn is used as both human and animal food. With 93% of U.S. soybeans being genetically engineered this crop is still behind cottonseed with a staggering 94%. Have any of you noticed that papaya has become more common in recent years? This is a direct result of the GMO ability to thwart the dreaded ringspot virus, which had almost destroyed papaya in the past.

Are GMO’s safe?

The truth is at this point it looks like there is no conclusive evidence. GE food producers have not found any evidence of harm as a result of the consumption of modified foods. However, in September of 2012 Russia suspended import of U.S. GMO corn citing a French study linking GMO corn with breast cancer and organ damage (Poulter, 2012). 

Poulter, S. (2012, September 25). Russia suspends import and use of american gm corn after study revealed cancer risk read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2208452/russi. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2208452/Russia-suspends-import-use-American-GM-corn-study-revealed-cancer-risk.html