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June’s Spotlight on Butterfly Milkweed

By Anjanette Vaidya On June 26, 2012 · Add Comment · In Botany & Horticulture, Gardening, Spotlight
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June has ushered in a new season. Summer spells longer, brighter days, with equally bright wildflowers abloom. Butterfly Milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa, L.) burns a fiery orange among them, making it a stand-out amidst meadows, roadside foliage, or perhaps your own garden. Its large, flat-topped flower clusters also make it easy to locate for the bees [...]
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Catastrophic CO2: New milestone reached

By Anjanette Vaidya On June 6, 2012 · Add Comment · In Conservation, Uncategorized
On Thursday of last week the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced that CO2 levels at monitoring stations in the Arctic have reached a record 400ppm. Scientists warn that levels of the greenhouse gas may soon reach this same milestone globally. “The northern sites in our monitoring network tell us what is coming soon to the [...]
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Volunteer work days at the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge

By Anjanette Vaidya On May 30, 2012 · 3 Comments · In Conservation, Volunteer
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The weather forecast for Thursday, May 24th predicted precipitation, but that didn’t stop students from New Providence High School as they trudged through three inch mud to remove invasive plants from the Great Swamp. The 22 students are seniors in an AP biology class that has a hands-on approach to learning. Part of their coursework was [...]
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“If you can’t beat ‘em, eat ‘em”: Invasive cuisine invades America

By Anjanette Vaidya On May 25, 2012 · 4 Comments · In Conservation, Conservation tools
A recent article has linked flooding and the resulting clean-up to the spread of invasive species such as purple loosestrife and Japanese knotweed. We have already explored how invasive species benefit from urbanization and warming conditions, and now it looks as though we can add rising waters to that list. While these contributing factors rise as well, it almost seems as [...]
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May’s Spotlight on Trumpet Honeysuckle

By Anjanette Vaidya On May 21, 2012 · 1 Comment · In Botany & Horticulture, Spotlight
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You may have seen it snaking up a fencepost or host tree, or trailing along a trellis well above your head. With bright clusters of trumpet-like flowers complimenting the blue-green of its paired leaves, this vine is as easy on the eyes as it is to grow. Call it coral honeysuckle, trumpet honeysuckle, or woodbine, its [...]
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The Chrysler Herbarium

By Anjanette Vaidya On May 17, 2012 · Add Comment · In Botany & Horticulture, Conservation, Conservation tools, Uncategorized
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The Chrysler Herbarium is housed within the Biological Sciences building at Rutgers. Descending a back staircase, you begin to feel as though you are seeking plants at their source, at the root. Once at your destination, the unassuming door could be any classroom door–or, it could be the gateway to a wealth of knowledge amassed [...]
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GDP plus, a true measure of wealth?

By Anjanette Vaidya On May 13, 2012 · Add Comment · In Conservation, Uncategorized
According to a recent article in the Guardian, the World Bank is now calling on countries to report their natural resources as capital. Soon the estimated value of a nation’s natural assets may be included in its GDP, as a kind of resource-revised “GDP plus”. Environmental economists have long argued that GDP is an imperfect measure, [...]
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Native Plants in the Landscape Conference

By Anjanette Vaidya On May 9, 2012 · Add Comment · In Botany & Horticulture, Gardening
The 22nd annual Native Plants in the Landscape conference will be held at Millersville University in Lancaster County on June 7th-9th, 2012, and registration is open online. The conference spans three days and offers workshops, field trips, and presentations on a variety of topics relating to native plants from pollinators to the Pine Barrens. One compelling [...]
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Negri-Nepote Native Grassland Preserve

By Anjanette Vaidya On May 5, 2012 · Add Comment · In Conservation, Gardening, Volunteer
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Cruising past farmland just off of Rt. 27 in Franklin Township, an elbow-bend in the road signals that Negri-Nepote is just ahead. On this particular morning, around 20 volunteers have gathered all for one purpose: to plant. Ranging in age from the very young to those who have acquired a lifetime of wisdom, each volunteer [...]
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Natives in the News : Predictions on the effects of climate change are wrong

By Anjanette Vaidya On May 3, 2012 · Add Comment · In Botany & Horticulture, Natives in the News, Scientific Studies
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If you thought that the predictions on the effects of climate change were off-base, it turns out you were right. Only not in the way you may have hoped. A new study calls into question current understanding of the effects of climate change on plant species. Scientists assert that experimental models may need to be [...]
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