Ed Sikora

1/2 So this new report presents this photo (from a review by Gerhart and Ward 2010) as evidence that more CO2 is good for plants.

Butterfly

Butterflies-R-Free Saturday: Butterfly #Insect #Lepidoptera #NaturePhotography #Nature #Saturday 🧪

6-8 inches.

Great question. I will leave it up to the scientific community to answer your question. The ring round the stem makes me nervous, but that’s just me. 🧪

Now the challenge is to ensure that these findings on #UPFs inform policies while acknowledging the complexities of cooking and its relationship to gender, socioeconomic status, and individual choices.

A ‘tropical’ disease is spreading in American wildlife This neglected tropical disease is no longer confined to the tropics. It’s here, in the United States, spreading silently in wildlife.

“In the heart of Illinois, while researching wildlife disease, I made a discovery that stunned me: More than half of the raccoons I sampled were infected with Trypanosoma cruzi, the parasite that causes Chagas’ disease… It’s here, in the United States, spreading silently in wildlife.”

Mushroom

Mushroom

At the edge of a soybean field in Alabama ##Mushroom 🧪

No ear develops

Crazy top of corn

Crazy top of corn

More CRAZY TOP in corn. An Oomycete pathogen. Symptoms of the disease include tillering & twisting of the upper leaves. The tassel resembles a mass of leafy structures giving it a bushy appearance. Crazy top is more common in fields that are flooded early in the season ⁦‪@CropNetwork‬⁩ #Corn 🧪

Now that’s a plan!!

Tomato fruit cracking

TOMATO TUESDAY: Growth cracks on tomato can be caused by dry weather followed by excessive watering or a significant period of rainfall. Basically, plants get too much water too fast and the skin can’t stretch to take on the extra fluid resulting in fruit cracking to alleviate pressure #Tomato 🧪

Butterfly

Butterflies-R-Free Saturday: Butterfly #Insect #Lepidoptera #NaturePhotography #Nature #Saturday 🧪 🦋

Southern blight on tomato

Southern blight on tomato

Southern blight on tomato

TOMATO TUESDAY on Thursday: Southern blight (Athelia rolfsii) on tomato can cause wilting & death of infected plants, typically with a brown sunken canker on stem near the soil line. The fungal pathogen produces white mycelium & seed-like white-tan-brown sclerotia #Fungi #Tomato #Disease 🧪

Bacterial spot on peach

Bacterial spot on peach

Bacterial spot on peach

Bacterial spot on peach is caused by the bacterium Xanthomonas campestris pv. pruni. The disease appears as small lesions that turn reddish-brown or black leading to shot holes as the leaf tissue dries & drops out. Severe infections can cause defoliation, weakening the tree #Bacteria 🧪

You gotta get it right; keep me straight!!

I deleted and reposted. Thanks again a

Blue Jay in birdbath in Alabama

Monday morning Blue jay stopped by for a bath 🦉

Yep. My bad.

Bacterial leaf spot of English Ivy

Bacterial leaf spot of English Ivy

Bacterial leaf spot on English ivy is a disease caused by the bacterium Xanthomonas hortorum. Symptoms include brown to black water-soaked spots on leaves that can turn dark, often w/t a yellow halo. Infected stems may develop cankers and die back. The disease is favored by wet conditions 🧪

Antarctic phytoplankton communities restructure under shifting sea-ice regimes - Nature Climate Change The authors use a machine learning approach and in situ pigment samples to identify summer shifts (1997–2023) in the abundance and composition of Antarctic phytoplankton. While smaller phytoplankton g...

🧊 Antarctic sea-ice shifts are reshaping life in the ocean

A 25-year study shows major changes in phytoplankton: fewer diatoms, more cryptophytes and haptophytes. This could weaken the krill food web and carbon storage in the deep ocean.

🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#SciComm 🧪

Malachite; Siproeta stelenes - Butterfly

Butterflies-R-Free Saturday: Malachite; Siproeta stelenes #Butterfly #Insect #Lepidoptera #NaturePhotography #Nature #Saturday #SaturdayVibes 🧪

Drone

Drone

Farmer field day

Who doesn’t love a good drone picture? I am still fascinated by the little winged. Part of the 46th East Alabama Crops tour held this week sponsored by the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. Cotton, peanuts, corn and soybean issues were discussed w/t farmers ag industry representatives 🧪

Extension specialist discussing cotton

Farmers gathering in a cotton field

Peanut variety trial in Alabama

The 46th annual East Alabama Crops tour took place of July 22. Over 55 participants viewed peanut & cotton variety trials as well as corn & soybean fields at local farms. Topics discussed by Extension Specialists included insect and plant disease management, weed control, & soil fertility 🧪

Hummingbird

Hummingbirds active this week in Alabama 🦉

Avoid planting low wet areas. Dont over water. Avoid area with a history of the disease. Nothing you can spray for this bacterial disorder. Programs are underway to develop resistant varieties.

Nice capture

Bacterial wilt of tomato

Bacterial wilt of tomato

TOMATO TUESDAY Bacterial wilt of tomato caused by Ralstonia solanacearum. Disease favored by hot temperatures & wet soils. Bacterium clog the vascular tissue causing wilt/death of plants. A cut stem shows a brown discoloration of vascular system. This was observed in a campus garden #Bacteria 🧪

Vera Rubin Observatory Reveals Telescope’s First Images of Galaxies, Nebulas and Asteroids Scenes of nebulas in the Milky Way, a cluster of galaxies and thousands of new asteroids are a teaser of how the U.S.-funded observatory on a mountain in Chile will transform astronomy.

Scientists revealed deep space images made by the Vera Rubin Observatory, a telescope that will transform astronomy.

Edward Sikora with his famous wall of plant diseases at Auburn University

Next time you are visiting the Auburn University campus, stop by the ALFA building to visit my Plant Disease Wall! 30 pictures of common plant diseases in Alabama include Fire blight, corn smut & gray mold of strawberry, among others. Makes for a good learning tool for students; they LOVE 💗 it 🤣 🧪

Butterfly

Butterflies-R-Free Saturday: Butterfly #Insect #Lepidoptera #NaturePhotography #Nature #Saturday 🧪

EPA eliminates its scientific research arm The move to dismantle the Office of Research and Development comes as Trump officials cut the agency’s total staff by 23 percent.

Waking up to learn that the EPA office of Research and Development, which supports environmental science and informs environmental policymaking has been eliminated.
#NoWords
www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...