Food and Agricultural Sciences News and Research

Latest Food and Agricultural Sciences News and Research

Unraveling Brood Parasitism in Predatory Mites

Many animal species add their eggs to the brood of other species to benefit from the latter’s brood care. This is called brood parasitism. Researchers recently studied brood parasitism in two predatory mite species and found that the parasite mite adds its eggs to the host eggs only under the threat of egg predators but not otherwise.

7 Jun 2023

Microbes Play Most Important Role in Soil Carbon Sequestration

Microbes are by far the most important factor in determining how much carbon is stored in the soil, according to a new study with implications for mitigating climate change and improving soil health for agriculture and food production.

6 Jun 2023

Nitrogen Uptake by Corn From Fertilizer is Less Than What Farmers Think

Corn growers seeking to increase the amount of nitrogen taken up by their crop can adjust many aspects of fertilizer application, but recent studies from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign show those tweaks don’t do much to improve uptake efficiency from fertilizer.

6 Jun 2023

Mycorrhizal Fungi Crucial to Storing Carbon and Essential to Global Biodiversity

The vast underground network of fungi beneath our feet stores over 13 gigatons of carbon around the world, roughly equivalent to 36 per cent of yearly global fossil fuel emissions, according to new research.

6 Jun 2023

Innovative Web App can Quickly, Accurately Analyze Vast Genomic Data for Cereal Crops

Agricultural Research Service and Washington State University scientists have developed an innovative web app called BRIDGEcereal [https://bridgecereal.scinet.usda.gov/] that can quickly and accurately analyze the vast amount of genomic data now available for cereal crops and organize the material into intuitive charts that identify patterns locating genes of interest.

6 Jun 2023

Contribution Made by Mycorrhizal Associations to Global Carbon Dynamics

Mycorrhizal fungi have indeed been supporting terrestrial life for at least 450 million years by providing plants with soil nutrients necessary for growth. Scientists have discovered that, in addition to creating symbiotic connections with nearly all land plants, these fungi are key carbon transporters into soil ecosystems.

6 Jun 2023

Evaluating the Impacts of Environmental Change on Mixotrophic Dynamics and Carbon Flux

New research finds that a warming climate could flip globally abundant microbial communities from carbon sinks to carbon emitters, potentially triggering climate change tipping points. The findings are published in the British Ecological Society journal Functional Ecology.

2 Jun 2023