scholarly journals Foeniculum vulgare (fennel).

Author(s):  
Marianne Jennifer Datiles ◽  
Ian Popay

Abstract Foeniculum vulgare, also known as sweet fennel, is a common kitchen herb used around the world - but it is also a highly invasive weed that can severely damage ecosystems. A risk assessment prepared for Hawaii gave the species a high risk score of 19 (PIER, 2015). F. vulgare is known to alter fire regimes and create dense stands, outcompeting native flora for nutrients and space (DiTomaso et al., 2013; Cal-IPC, 2015). It was listed in the Global Compendium of Weeds as an "agricultural weed, casual alien, cultivation escape, environmental weed, garden thug, naturalised, noxious weed, weed" (Randall, 2012), and is known to be invasive (mostly in natural habitats rather than agricultural land) in California, New Zealand, significant parts of Australia and a number of locations in the Pacific. (PIER, 2015). The species is a principal weed in Mexico and New Zealand, a common weed in Argentina, Australia, Hawaii, and Spain, weedy in Chile, Morocco, Uruguay, the USA, and Venezuela, and it is known to be adventive in China, Colombia (Holm et al., 1979; Flora of China Editorial Committee, 2015; PIER, 2015; Vascular Plants of Antioquia, 2015). It is also reported as invasive in Ethiopia and Kenya. It can regenerate by both seeds and roots, which often makes physical control methods ineffective and chemical control necessary once a population is established.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julissa Rojas-Sandoval ◽  
Andrew Praciak

Abstract M. zapota, commonly known as sapodilla, is an evergreen tree, 5-20 m tall, with a round, dense crown. Its native range encompasses Central America, Mexico and the West Indies, but it is now widely cultivated for its fruit to a greater or lesser extent in tropical and subtropical lowlands worldwide. It is an important fruit tree all over South-East Asia, grown in home gardens, orchards and plantations. The largest producers of sapodilla fruit are India, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia, but it is also grown commercially elsewhere in Asia, South and Central America, and Florida in the USA. Escapes from plantations have caused the species to be classed as a moderately invasive weed in the tropics (Binggeli et al., 1998), although in the USA it is of particular concern in southern and central Florida, where it is classed as a Category I invasive displacing the native flora (Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council, 2001). It is also listed as invasive in Trinidad and Tobago (Trinidad and Tobago Biodiversity, 2017). Trees cast dense shade, making it difficult for other plants to survive in the understorey. Seedlings also grow very densely, inhibiting the establishment of native plant species.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shruti Dube

Abstract Helenium amarum is an annual herbaceous plant native to North America. It is native to some states in America, but introduced in California, Connecticut, Maryland and Massachusetts. It has also been introduced in Queensland, Australia. H. amarum is potentially weedy in many of the areas in which it grows. It is an opportunistic colonizer that will quickly spread into areas when taller vegetation is removed, and has the potential to become abundant in open fields, roadsides and wastelands. It is poisonous to most mammals, and if eaten by cows will cause their milk to become bitter and unusable. Helenium amarum is classed as an invasive weed in the USA, where it has spread widely in its native range and now covers a substantial portion of the grazing land in Texas. In Queensland, Australia is is considered an environmental weed and subject to control efforts. It was reported as eradicated in 2002 but has since been identified as present in low numbers.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caryn Rickel ◽  
Julissa Rojas-Sandoval

Abstract P. aurea is a highly invasive running bamboo native to Southeast China that is now widespread globally and especially problematic in Australia and North America. This woody, rhizomatous perennial grass rapidly forms a dense monoculture, suffocating other native plants and altering the entire ecosystem. As well as having detrimental effects on the environment this bamboo may also damage property and poses a potential threat to human health as it harbours a fungus responsible for the disease Histoplasmosis. Invasive bamboos are among the fastest growing plants on Earth and one infestation of P. aurea can spread as far as 9.3 miles. The spread is rapid in all directions, increasing each successive year. It is listed as invasive in Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, Reunion, Brazil, Costa Rica, Cuba, USA, Mexico, Spain and France. In the United States, it is listed as naturalized or invasive in 273 counties including the mid-Atlantic region of the USA, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, and Georgia. It is reported as fully naturalizing in New Zealand, with infestations forming dense stands, and some invading national parks. In Australia, this species is regarded as an environmental weed in Queensland and New South Wales.


Author(s):  
Alistair Fox

By comparing Sam Pillsbury’s cinematic adaptation of Ronald Hugh Morrieson’s The Scarecrow (1963) with the original, this chapter shows how the filmmaker, who was raised in the USA and immigrated to New Zealand in his teens, empties the source novel of the moral ambiguities and transgressive elements that had made the original a genuinely New Zealand work, in so far as it reflected puritan guilt over transgressive impulses in the face of repression, and thus turned the story into a genre film that that is much more anodyne in its vision.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine M. Febria ◽  
Maggie Bayfield ◽  
Kathryn E. Collins ◽  
Hayley S. Devlin ◽  
Brandon C. Goeller ◽  
...  

In Aotearoa New Zealand, agricultural land-use intensification and decline in freshwater ecosystem integrity pose complex challenges for science and society. Despite riparian management programmes across the country, there is frustration over a lack in widespread uptake, upfront financial costs, possible loss in income, obstructive legislation and delays in ecological recovery. Thus, social, economic and institutional barriers exist when implementing and assessing agricultural freshwater restoration. Partnerships are essential to overcome such barriers by identifying and promoting co-benefits that result in amplifying individual efforts among stakeholder groups into coordinated, large-scale change. Here, we describe how initial progress by a sole farming family at the Silverstream in the Canterbury region, South Island, New Zealand, was used as a catalyst for change by the Canterbury Waterway Rehabilitation Experiment, a university-led restoration research project. Partners included farmers, researchers, government, industry, treaty partners (Indigenous rights-holders) and practitioners. Local capacity and capability was strengthened with practitioner groups, schools and the wider community. With partnerships in place, co-benefits included lowered costs involved with large-scale actions (e.g., earth moving), reduced pressure on individual farmers to undertake large-scale change (e.g., increased participation and engagement), while also legitimising the social contracts for farmers, scientists, government and industry to engage in farming and freshwater management. We describe contributions and benefits generated from the project and describe iterative actions that together built trust, leveraged and aligned opportunities. These actions were scaled from a single farm to multiple catchments nationally.


Author(s):  
Rosser Johnson

New Zealand television networks introduced infomercials (30 minute advertisements designed to appear as if they are programmes) in late 1993. Although infomercials date from the 1950s in the USA, they were unknown in this country and quickly came to be seen as a peculiarly “intense” form of hyper-commercial broadcasting. This article aims to sketch out the cultural importance of the infomercial by analysing historical published primary sources (from the specialist and general press) as they reflect the views and opinions that resulted from the introduction of the infomercial. Specifically, it outlines the three main areas where that cultural importance was located. It concludes by analysing the significance of the cultural impact of the infomercial, both within broadcasting and within wider society.


Insects ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 353
Author(s):  
Rassim Khelifa ◽  
Hayat Mahdjoub ◽  
Affef Baaloudj ◽  
Robert A. Cannings ◽  
Michael J. Samways

Agriculture can be pervasive in its effect on wild nature, affecting various types of natural habitats, including lotic ecosystems. Here, we assess the extent of agricultural expansion on lotic systems in Northern Africa (Algeria, Tunisia, and Morocco) and document its overlap with the distribution of an endemic damselfly, Platycnemis subdilatata Selys, using species distribution modeling. We found that agricultural land cover increased by 321% in the region between 1992 and 2005, and, in particular, the main watercourses experienced an increase in agricultural land cover from 21.4% in 1992 to 78.1% in 2005, together with an increase in the intensity of 226% in agricultural practices. We used capture–mark–recapture (CMR) surveys in terrestrial habitats surrounding a stream bordered by grassland and cropland in northeastern Algeria to determine demographic parameters and population size, as well as cropland occupancy. CMR modeling showed that the recapture and survival probabilities had an average of 0.14 (95%CI: 0.14–0.17) and 0.86 (0.85–0.87), respectively. We estimated a relatively large population of P. subdilatata (~1750 individuals) in terrestrial habitats. The occupancy of terrestrial habitats by adults was spatially structured by age. Our data suggest that P. subdilatata has survived agricultural expansion and intensification better than other local odonate species, mainly because it can occupy transformed landscapes, such as croplands and grasslands.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 2002
Author(s):  
Ke Huang ◽  
Martin Dallimer ◽  
Lindsay C. Stringer ◽  
Anlu Zhang ◽  
Ting Zhang

Urbanization involves expansion of the amount of land covered by urban uses. Rural to urban land conversion (RULC) can satisfy demand for the additional space that growing cities require. However, there can be negative consequences, such as the loss of productive agricultural land and/or the destruction of natural habitats. Considerable interest therefore exists among policy makers and researchers regarding how the efficiency of RULC can be maximized. We used the Gini index and a data envelopment analysis to quantify the relationship between RULC and economic development for 17 metropolitan areas in China. We did this from two perspectives: (i) coordination; and (ii) efficiency. We found that economic agglomeration fosters the coordination of the amount of rural land that is allocated to be converted to urban uses. Similarly, economic agglomeration increases the efficiency of RULC in terms of the processes of socio-economic production. Through production technology innovation and readjustment in the scale of input factors, the productive efficiency of RULC can be promoted. Our findings suggest a need to strictly limit the amount of RULC, design differential land management policies according to location and development level, and adjust RULC allocation between different cities. Further, in harnessing the potential of intensive urban land use and restructuring, production factors, including land, can be enhanced through technological innovation. Research presented in this paper provides insights for areas of the world which are yet to undergo the rapid urbanization that China has experienced, but where it is projected to occur over the coming decades.


2010 ◽  
Vol 139 (8) ◽  
pp. 1262-1271 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. PRICE-CARTER ◽  
P. ROY-CHOWDHURY ◽  
C. E. POPE ◽  
S. PAINE ◽  
G. W. DE LISLE ◽  
...  

SUMMARYSalmonellosis is an internationally important disease of mammals and birds. Unique epidemics in New Zealand in the recent past include two Salmonella serovars: Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium definitive type (DT) 160 (S. Typhimurium DT160) and S. Brandenburg. Although not a major threat internationally, in New Zealand S. Typhimurium DT160 has been the most common serovar isolated from humans, and continues to cause significant losses in wildlife. We have identified DNA differences between the first New Zealand isolate of S. Typhimurium DT160 and the genome-sequenced strain, S. Typhimurium LT2. All the differences could be accounted for in one cryptic phage ST64B, and one novel P22-like phage, ST160. The majority of the ST160 genome is almost identical to phage SE1 but has two regions not found in SE1 which are identical to the P22-like phage ST64T, suggesting that ST160 evolved from SE1 via two recombination events with ST64T. All of the New Zealand isolates of DT160 were identical indicating the clonal spread of this particular Salmonella. Some overseas isolates of S. Typhimurium DT160 differed from the New Zealand strain and contained SE1 phage rather than ST160. ST160 was also identified in New Zealand isolates of S. Typhimurium DT74 and S. Typhimurium RDNC-April06 and in S. Typhimurium DT160 isolates from the USA. The emergence of S. Typhimurium DT160 as a significant pathogen in New Zealand is postulated to have occurred due to the sensitivity of the Salmonella strains to the ST160 phage when S. Typhimurium DT160 first arrived.


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