Hedysarum scoparium is an important, fast-growing and drought-resistant shrub that has been extensively used for grassland restoration and preventing desertification in semiarid regions of northwestern China. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the diurnal and seasonal variations in stem sap flow (Js) and its relation to environmental factors. The stem heat balance method was...

The relationships among the members of a population can be visualized using individual networks, where each individual is a node connected to each other by means of links describing the interactions. The centrality of a given node captures its importance within the network. We hypothesize that in mutualistic networks, the centrality of a node should benefit its fitness. We test this idea studyi...

Although pharmacological industries have produced a number of new antibiotics, resistance of microorganisms to these drugs has increased. Some antibiotics have become almost obsolete because of drug resistance. In the course of our research program on medicinal plants, we investigated Haloxylon scoparium a species in Moroccan Sahara. In the present study, five crude extracts, including methanol...

Natural herbicides approved in organic agriculture are primarily nonselective burn-down essential oils applied POST. Multiple applications are often required due to their low efficacy. To address this problem, the in vivo herbicidal activity of manuka oil, the essential oil distilled from manuka tree (Leptospermum scoparium J.R. and G. Forst), was tested on selected broadleaf and grass weeds. W...

This study characterized the response to thermal stress in 3 kelp species to contribute to the understanding of the role of the heat shock response in species distributions and in native–invasive species interactions. We sampled the invasive kelp Undaria pinnatifida in its native range in Japan and its introduced range in California, USA, to investigate smalland large-scale differences in its r...

Thirty-two weeds commonly found in the organic soils of southwestern Quebec were evaluated for host suitability to a local isolate of the northern root-knot nematode Meloidogyne hapla under greenhouse conditions. Galls were observed on the roots of 21 species. Sixteen of the 21 had a reproduction factor (Pf/Pi = final number of M. hapla eggs and juveniles per initial number of M. hapla juvenile...

PREMISE OF THE STUDY Self incompatibility (SI) in rare plants presents a unique challenge-SI protects plants from inbreeding depression, but requires a sufficient number of mates and xenogamous pollination. Does SI persist in an endangered polyploid? Is pollinator visitation sufficient to ensure reproductive success? Is there evidence of inbreeding/outbreeding depression? We characterized the m...