http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/plants_animals/drought/ Drought Research. Read where droughts are predicted, and what can be done about them. en-us Fri, 16 May 2008 17:05:01 EDT Fri, 16 May 2008 17:05:01 EDT 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/plants_animals/drought/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507133259.htm The Amazon rainforest, so crucial to the Earth's climate system, is coming under threat from cleaner air say prominent climate scientists. The new study identifies a link between reducing sulphur dioxide emissions from burning coal and increasing sea surface temperatures in the tropical north Atlantic, resulting in a heightened risk of drought in the Amazon rainforest. Thu, 08 May 2008 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080507133259.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080430103117.htm Hot and barren, Kenya's dry lands have long been unfit for agriculture, at best merely a grazing area for wild animals and livestock. Today, the landscape is more picturesque and productive, lined with golden stalks of wheat yielding precious grain for Kenya´s farms and families. The wheat is a new variety, one that is high yielding and resistant to drought. As a result, small farming families are realizing harvests on farmlands once considered too poor to cultivate, to the country´s social and economic benefit. Wed, 07 May 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080430103117.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502171010.htm Beginning this crop season, farmers will be able to receive text messages on their cell phones from their plants saying whether they are thirsty or not. Accent Engineering, Inc., of Lubbock, Tex., developed the SmartCropTM automated drought monitoring system based on a patent held by the Agricultural Research Service. They are offering it for sale in time for this growing season. Mon, 05 May 2008 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502171010.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502171324.htm Nitric oxide has emerged as an important signaling molecule in plants as in mammals, including people. In studies of a tropical medicinal herb as a model plant, researchers have found that nitric oxide targets a number of proteins and enzymes in plants. Mon, 05 May 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080502171324.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080427194945.htm Nitric oxide has emerged as an important signaling molecule in plants -- as in mammals, including people. In studies of a tropical medicinal herb as a model plant, researchers have found that nitric oxide targets a number of proteins and enzymes in plants. Tue, 29 Apr 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080427194945.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080420111817.htm A system that turns irrigation water on and off automatically based on leaf temperature is being developed by Agricultural Research Service soil scientists. They are developing time-temperature threshold technology that is based in part on the discovery that plants grow best at certain narrow temperature ranges that vary by crop species. Thu, 24 Apr 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080420111817.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080408175312.htm The spiraling use of corn for food and fuel is creating heightened concerns about contamination of this staple crop with deadly aflatoxin. Produced by certain fungi that grow on corn, this contaminant is a known human carcinogen that especially threatens food safety in the developing world and can potentially cause the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in the United States each year. Mon, 14 Apr 2008 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080408175312.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080326081114.htm A six-year study of Amazonian small farmers and their responses to climate change shows the farmers are vulnerable to natural catastrophes and risky land use practices. Thu, 27 Mar 2008 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080326081114.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080227142653.htm An ability to avoid the plant equivalent of vapor lock and a favorable evolutionary history may explain the unusual drought resistance of junipers, some varieties of which are now spreading rapidly in water-starved regions of the western United States, a new study has found. Sun, 02 Mar 2008 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080227142653.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080227102848.htm Biologists have elucidated the mechanism of a plant gene that controls the amount of atmospheric ozone entering a plant's leaves. This finding helps explain why rising concentrations of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere may not necessarily lead to greater photosynthetic activity and carbon sequestration by plants as atmospheric ozone pollutants increase. And it provides a new tool for geneticists to design plants with an ability to resist droughts by regulating the opening and closing of their stomata --- the tiny breathing pores in leaves through which gases and water vapor flow during photosynthesis and respiration. Fri, 29 Feb 2008 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080227102848.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080220130511.htm They may be considered pests, but beavers can help mitigate the effects of drought. Climate models predict the incidence of drought in parts of North America will increase in frequency and length over the next 100 years, and beaver will likely play an important role in maintaining open water and mitigating the impact. Tue, 26 Feb 2008 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080220130511.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080123085302.htm The regulation of the biological fixation of nitrogen in hydric stress conditions varies with the different species of legume plants studied. Nitrogen is the most abundant element in the terrestrial atmosphere but that it is a very poor source of nutrition for plants. Fri, 25 Jan 2008 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080123085302.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071213152550.htm Scientists have sequenced the genome for moss (Physcomitrella) -- the first nonflowering or "lower" plant to be sequenced. Now that they have sequenced the moss's DNA, scientists will be able to identify which genes control moss' survival tactics and adapt food crops to do the same. Fri, 14 Dec 2007 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071213152550.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071126152058.htm Dry common beans--favorites like pinto, kidney, navy, red, black and snap--are grown mostly in the north-central and western regions of the United States. With looming climate change breeding heat-tolerant varieties is important for our future. Fri, 30 Nov 2007 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071126152058.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071107100929.htm Working to create a new drought-resistant and water-saving wildflower, scientists at have introduced 'Raider Amethyst,' a new cultivar of common prairie verbena. Mon, 12 Nov 2007 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071107100929.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071108102246.htm The ongoing drought in Australia is having at least one positive spin-off -- fewer carp are being distributed through inland waterways. Biologists are now identifying carp 'hot spots.' Known as the vermin of inland waterways, carp became a major pest in Australia in the 1970s and now make up 80 to 90 percent of the fish in inland NSW. Sat, 10 Nov 2007 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071108102246.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071027180556.htm The clearing of native vegetation has made recent Australian droughts hotter. Scientists applied the CSIRO Mark 3 climate model, satellite data and a supercomputer, and showed that 150 years of land clearing added significantly to the warming and drying of eastern Australia. Wed, 31 Oct 2007 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071027180556.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071024103856.htm The catastrophic fires that are sweeping Southern California are consistent with what climate change models have been predicting for years, experts say, and they may be just a prelude to many more such events in the future -- as vegetation grows heavier than usual and then ignites during prolonged drought periods. Wed, 24 Oct 2007 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071024103856.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071015193426.htm An ecologist has discovered that after ponds dry up through drought in a region, when they revive, the community of species in each pond tends to be very similar to one another, like so many suburban houses made of ticky tacky. Wed, 17 Oct 2007 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071015193426.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070923193644.htm Drought-stricken regions of the Amazon forest grew particularly vigorously during the 2005 drought, according to new research. The counterintuitive finding contradicts a prominent global climate model that predicts the Amazon forest would begin to 'brown down' after just a month of drought and eventually collapse as the drought progressed. Wed, 26 Sep 2007 17:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070923193644.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070910173802.htm Scientists have produced a new type of rice that grows better and uses water more efficiently than other rice crops. Rice is a water guzzler when compared to other crops. It typically uses up to three times more water than other food crops such as maize or wheat and consumes around 30 percent of the fresh water used for crops worldwide. In conditions where water is scarce, it is important to have crops that can efficiently generate biomass (plant tissue) using limited amounts of water. Tue, 11 Sep 2007 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070910173802.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070815085441.htm Researchers are studying the impacts of natural and human-induced changes on groundwater in the central Pacific nation of Kiribati. According to their work, Pacific island nations face some of the most critical freshwater supply and sanitation problems in the world. Thu, 16 Aug 2007 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070815085441.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070727185610.htm Scientists are evaluating certain type of proteins and the molecular mechanisms that trigger rice's response to stressful conditions, such as drought, high salinity or a biological disease called rice blast. Understanding how plants respond to these stressors will help scientists and farmers develop better ways to grow rice in less than optimal conditions. Wed, 01 Aug 2007 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070727185610.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070719111414.htm Scientists have developed a new method to anticipate food shortages brought on by drought. They created a model using data from satellite remote sensing of crop growth and food prices. Supply and demand largely dictate food prices, with greater supply leading to lower prices and less supply leading to higher prices. During a food crisis in semi-arid regions like Niger, food shortages are often brought on when lack of rainfall significantly reduces the amount of grain farmers are able to grow. Thu, 19 Jul 2007 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070719111414.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070708075149.htm Scientists have developed a transgenic maize variety resistant to maize streak virus. The transmission of MSV by a leafhopper is exacerbated during drought conditions, resulting in devastated crops over large areas. The technology can potentially be adapted to other crops that are also infected by geminiviruses like MSV. Mon, 09 Jul 2007 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/07/070708075149.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070627102731.htm A £9.2 million research center at the University of Nottingham will break new ground in our understanding of plant growth, and could lead to the development of drought-resistant crops for developing countries. Wed, 27 Jun 2007 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070627102731.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070619180431.htm Desertification puts the health and well-being of more than 1.2 billion people in more than 100 countries at risk, according to the United Nations. Because dryland desertification can be remedied or even reversed by using appropriate land management techniques, monitoring and forecasting areas most at risk are essential. The view from space can support authorities in getting an overall picture of key pressures on land, such as burned land due to forest fires, erosion processes and their trends over time. Wed, 20 Jun 2007 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070619180431.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070611122243.htm While much of the Midwest has recovered from the drought that parched the area last year, horses are continuing to experience effects from the hot dry summer of 2006. Due to a bad hay crop, University of Missouri-Columbia veterinarians are reporting an increased number of horses with chronic selenosis and vitamin E deficiency, problems that can be fatal. Wed, 13 Jun 2007 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070611122243.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070517152428.htm An epic drought during the mid-1100s dwarfs any drought previously documented for a region that includes areas of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. The six-decade-long drought was marked by the absence of very wet years and a 25-year period when Colorado River flow averaged 15 percent below normal. The new tree-ring-based reconstruction documents the year-by-year natural variability of streamflows in the upper Colorado River basin back to A. D. 762. Fri, 18 May 2007 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070517152428.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070510163235.htm Drylands, where 38 percent of the world's population lives, can be protected from the irreversible damage of desertification if local residents and managers at all levels would follow basic sustainability principles according to an article in Science. Fri, 11 May 2007 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070510163235.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070502161338.htm A new project to turn beer wastewater into electricity has won $140,000 from the Queensland Government's Sustainable Energy Innovation Fund in Australia. Thu, 03 May 2007 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070502161338.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070502143743.htm Drought tolerance is a critical determinant of tropical plant distributions, scientists report. In a novel coupling of experimental measurements and observed plant distributions across a tropical landscape, drought tolerance predicted plant distributions at both local and regional scales. This mechanism to explain a common observation will contribute significantly to models of land use and climate change. Thu, 03 May 2007 05:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/05/070502143743.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070423100922.htm Livestock are often a crucial livelihoods asset for communities in Africa, but livestock are vulnerable to drought. Researchers report that counterintuitive measures -- selling livestock -- tested in Ethiopia during droughts supported communities and sustained the livelihoods of livestock farmers. Fri, 27 Apr 2007 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070423100922.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070410182848.htm Coral reefs, like tree rings, are natural archives of climate change. But oceanic corals also provide a faithful account of how people make use of land through history, says Stanford University scientist Robert B. Dunbar. In a recent study, Dunbar and his colleagues used coral samples from the Indian Ocean to create a 300-year record of soil erosion in Kenya. Fri, 13 Apr 2007 14:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070410182848.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070403143622.htm Scientists showed key research of a profound impact of global warming. Although intact forests are fairly resistant to climate change, with partial deforestation the entire landscape could become drier and a domino effect could occur producing a 'tipping point' affecting the whole forest. Wed, 04 Apr 2007 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070403143622.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070402153143.htm In a study published in Science this week, Nevada scientists explain the process behind a revolutionary discovery in how signals are exchanged between the chloroplast and nucleus of plants. Wed, 04 Apr 2007 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070402153143.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070319091015.htm With critical water shortages looming in some parts of the world, scientists in Italy are reporting that diluted seawater can be used to grow tomatoes and actually results in fruit with significantly higher levels of healthful antioxidant compounds. Tue, 20 Mar 2007 08:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070319091015.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070218140443.htm The western United States has experienced increasing drought conditions in recent years -- and conditions may worsen if global climate change models are accurate -- yet the country is doing little to prepare for potential catastrophe, say a group of scientists. The U.S. should consider a national drought policy to help achieve sustainable water for drinking, agriculture and fisheries, said the scientists at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Thu, 01 Mar 2007 11:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070218140443.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070207185737.htm Vast flocks of water birds from across Australia will soon start gathering for a long-awaited feeding and breeding frenzy sparked by flooding in western Queensland. The floods will produce a bird bonanza lasting six to nine months, says UNSW Professor of Environmental Science, Richard Kingsford. Thu, 08 Feb 2007 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070207185737.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070129140317.htm A vital research program that has already had significant impact on the lives of African farmers will accelerate its work for their benefit through the development and deployment of better drought tolerant maize. Tue, 30 Jan 2007 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070129140317.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070103201401.htm Mountain-top forests in Arizona have survived a three-year period of extreme drought. These conifers have evolved the ability to "turn themselves on" whenever water is available, both in winter when such trees elsewhere are dormant and in summer when sudden heavy rains must be exploited quickly. When water is scarce, the trees greatly reduce their activity. Tue, 09 Jan 2007 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070103201401.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070108191544.htm Countering Charles Darwin's view that evolution occurs gradually, UC-Irvine scientists have discovered that plants with short life cycles can evolutionally adapt in just a few years to climate change. Mon, 08 Jan 2007 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/01/070108191544.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061226134700.htm Western U.S. wildfires are likely to increase in the coming decades, according to a new tree-ring study led by the University of Comahue in Argentina and involving the University of Colorado at Boulder that links episodic fire outbreaks in the past five centuries with periods of warming sea surface temperatures in the North Atlantic. Sat, 30 Dec 2006 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061226134700.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/11/061127210446.htm Perennial wheat? The possibility is being looked at by a Texas Agricultural Experiment Station researcher. Annual wheat, which is traditionally grown in the Great Plains, is planted in the fall and dies after harvest in mid-summer. But Dr. Charlie Rush, Experiment Station plant pathologist, is testing some perennial lines of wheat bred in Washington state. These perennial lines regrow after harvest and may survive for up to five years, Rush said. And eastern Washington is climatically similar to the Texas Panhandle, except it has harsher winters. Fri, 01 Dec 2006 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/11/061127210446.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/11/061128093019.htm Drought-stricken Australia should heed a warning from a new study that shows a series of massive droughts killed giant kangaroos and other "megafauna" in south-east Queensland 40,000 years ago, according to researchers from the Queensland University of Technology. Wed, 29 Nov 2006 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/11/061128093019.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/11/061107082615.htm Current climate change impact models that consider only one weather variable, such as increasing temperature, sometimes spawn unsubstantiated doomsday predictions, according to researchers at Purdue and North Carolina universities. Tue, 07 Nov 2006 17:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/11/061107082615.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/10/061024214642.htm Elevated levels of bacteria in streams can affect water quality, the health of the aquatic ecosystem and activities such as fishing, swimming and wading, a Texas Agricultural Experiment Station researcher said. Dr. John Sij, Experiment Station agronomist in Vernon, and his team are working on what might possibly be a showcase study for Texas. He and his team are measuring water quality of a rangeland watershed. Thu, 26 Oct 2006 02:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/10/061024214642.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/10/061007111336.htm Montana State University entomologists seek ways to rear parasitic wasps, the natural enemies of the wheat stem sawfly. Sawfly larva tunnel the interior of developing wheat plants. Mon, 09 Oct 2006 11:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/10/061007111336.htm