[BSW] February 7 meeting + Misc.

[KATHY BILTON]

Next BSW meeting will be on Tuesday, February 7 at 7pm.
Doors opening by 6:45pm.

Speaker: Dr. Emily Bruns, Department of Biology, University of Maryland

Topic: Evolution of Disease Resistance in Wild Plant Populations

Here is an overview of her talk:

Disease is a natural part of the ecology of wild plants. Strong disease 
pressure in nature can drive the evolution of plant resistance traits. 
However, the expression of resistance is not constant over a plant's 
life-history.  Instead, a frequently observed pattern in crops and wild 
plants is that seedlings and young plants are much more susceptible to 
disease than older, mature plants. But why? Getting infected as a seedling 
prior to reproduction is often far worse for an individual plant's fitness 
than getting infected as an adult after having a chance at flowering. In 
the talk I will explore several hypotheses concerning the evolution of 
age-specific disease resistance in wild carnations (Dianthus pavonius) and 
campions (Silene latifolia) to a sterilizing fungal pathogen 
(Microbotryum, the causal agent of 'anther-smut disease'). The talk will 
draw on observations of disease dynamics in wild populations in the alps, 
as well as greenhouse studies of susceptibility and tradeoffs. 

Zoom link will be provided in a later email.
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News involving one of our past speakers, Nathan Harrington of the Ward 8 
Conservancy.  National Park Service cleaning up mountain of tires 
illegally dumped in Anacostia Park
https://www.wusa9.com/article/tech/science/environment/volunteers-national-park-service-clean-up-tires-illegally-dumped-anacostia-park-dc/65-934f6f91-c3c3-4bcd-bb8a-e6355d737f9b
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New Book: A Northern Gardener’s Guide to Native Plants and Pollinators
https://islandpress.org/books/northern-gardeners-guide-native-plants-and-pollinators
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Pollinators of the sea: A discovery of animal-mediated fertilization in 
seaweed
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abo6661
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Podcast: Botanists are disappearing at a critical time
https://news.mongabay.com/2023/01/podcast-botanists-are-disappearing-at-a-critical-time/
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Saving Florida’s only population of rare, endangered orchid from 
extinction
https://news.fiu.edu/2023/saving-mule-ear-orchids
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Botany: Chloroplast from the father
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/01/230124101541.htm
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Carnivorous Plants have Turned to Capturing Mammal Droppings
https://phys.org/news/2023-01-carnivorous-capturing-mammal.html
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Six Finalists for the Richard Jefferies Award for the Best Nature-Writing 
Published and Nominated in  2022
https://twitter.com/RJefferiesSoc/status/1617492089163374595
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Consider the Burying Beetle.(Or Else.)
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/06/podcasts/the-daily/biodiversity-cop15-montreal.html
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Magical Forest: Okinawa's Natural World Heritage Site - on NHK
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/tv/hometown/20230122/5003218/