Saturday, May 11, 2002

A Smut Fungus Among Us?

The people at Grist Magazine, who are light years ahead of me in the art of corny headline design, have an article on their website called "More Internet Smut." No, not that kind of smut. It's about a smut fungus, and a team of researchers at the USDA Forest Service Shrub Lab that are trying to develop it as a biocontrol for cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum). Cheatgrass has caused major problems, both economically and ecologically, since it began its invasion of the west coast. Robert S. Devine's book, Alien Invasion: America�s Battle with Non-Native Animals and Plants has an excellent chapter on cheatgrass invasion in the U.S.

(Note: this article was posted over 2 years ago, not sure why the Grist included it in their newsletter Friday. If this work is still going on, there's no information about it on the internet.)

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