COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Professionals who manage parks, farms, trees, wildlife, landscape plants and more can get a detailed look at Ohio’s invasive species -- both what has arrived and what may be coming -- at a workshop May 17.
Called “Ohio’s Non-native Invasives,” the event goes from 8:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Founder’s Auditorium in Ovalwood Hall on Ohio State University’s Mansfield campus, 1760 University Drive.
The program features 14 sessions on topics such as feral pigs; emerald ash borer; Asian longhorned beetle; white-nose syndrome in bats; new Asian carp species, especially the silver carp and the bighead carp; and new threats to hemlocks, walnuts and viburnums.
Mississippi State University forester Andy Londo will give the keynote talk on the fast-...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Your Apple mobile devices can now fight invasive species.
Ohio State University Extension, the outreach arm of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences, has released an iPhone and iPad version of its Great Lakes Early Detection Network (GLEDN) app, which was previously available only for Android devices.
The free app is aimed at citizen scientists, say its developers. By using it, a person who sees a suspected invasive species can take a picture of the specimen, record its location, upload the information to an invasive-species mapping website called EDDMapS, and e-mail the data to scientists for verification.
Reports can be filed, for instance, while out fishing, hiking, walking, kayaking or birdwatching.
“By reporting...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- There’s a new book available for Midwestern mushroom hunters, whose season starts in earnest in spring.
Mushrooms and Macrofungi of Ohio and the Midwestern States describes more than 140 mushrooms, including both edible and poisonous types, that a person may find in woods and fields. It features high-resolution color photographs and 23 color-coded groups for identification.
Macrofungi are fungi that can be seen with the unaided eye. They include mushrooms, stinkhorns, polypores and slime molds.
The book’s authors are a virtual who’s who of regional mushroom experts:
Landon Rhodes, associate professor emeritus in Ohio State University’s Department of Plant Pathology.
Britt Bunyard, publisher and editor-in-chief of Fungi Magazine...
Editor: National Invasive Species Awareness Week is March 3-8.
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Kathy Smith says not every bush, beetle, fish or fungus that lives in Ohio belongs there. And she wants you to know it. And pitch in. And give them the boot.
As forestry program director for Ohio State University Extension, the statewide outreach arm of Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), she’s part of a statewide coalition recognizing National Invasive Species Awareness Week from March 3 to 8.
“We’re trying to open people’s eyes to what’s going on in the environment around them so hopefully they’ll take action, whether by removing invasive species on their own land, reporting a sighting, joining a volunteer group or just...
Editor: National Invasive Species Awareness Week is March 3-8.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — As part of National Invasive Species Awareness Week March 3-8, here are some facts and figures on the Asian longhorned beetle, one of Ohio’s newest invasive species:
What it is: Big, shiny-black beetle with white spots. Has very long antennae, hence its name, which are black with white stripes. Its body is about the size of an almond. Total length, with antennae extended, can be nearly as long as a finger.
Where it’s from: Japan, Korea, southern China.
What it does: Adult females lay their eggs in the bark of many kinds of hardwood trees, including maple, horsechestnut, buckeye, poplar, willow, elm, birch, London plane tree, sycamore and others. (Both healthy and stressed trees may...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A statewide coalition of natural resource-related groups is recognizing National Invasive Species Awareness Week from March 3 to 8.
The National Invasive Species Council, which is sponsoring the week, said invasive species “cause a multibillion-dollar annual drain on our nation’s economy.”
The Convention on Biological Diversity calls invasive species the second biggest threat to the world’s biodiversity after habitat loss.
“A lot of (the week) is about early detection,” said Avraham Eitam, pest survey specialist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), one of the sponsors of the week’s observance in Ohio. “If we can get people to be more aware of invasive species...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Two Ohio State University programs will host an Organic Animal Health Symposium on March 18 in Columbus.
The event’s focus will be on the health of livestock in organic farming systems. Included will be discussions of practices and of needs in future research and education.
Among the speakers will be university faculty and experts from the organic industry.
The event takes place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Blackwell Inn and Conference Center, 2110 Tuttle Park Place, on Ohio State’s campus in Columbus.
Admission is free and open to anyone interested in organic farming and livestock health, including scientists, Extension professionals, veterinary practitioners, farmers and consumers. Lunch is included. But advance registration is required by March 11 due...
WOOSTER, Ohio -- The Ohio Compost Operator Education Course will take place March 26-27 at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) in Wooster. Participants will gain an in-depth understanding of the composting process and the means to address operational issues at large-scale compost facilities.
The instructors will be facility design engineers, compost industry regulatory personnel, commercial compost facility operators, marketing experts, and scientists from OARDC, which is the research arm of Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences.
Hours are 8:15 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. March 26 and 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 27 in OARDC’s Shisler Conference Center, 1680 Madison Ave., Wooster.
Registration is $175 for members of...
WOOSTER, Ohio -- An Ohio State University scientist says an abundant byproduct from coal-burning power plants, if spread on farmers’ fields, could help control Lake Erie’s harmful algal blooms.
Warren Dick, a soil biochemist in the university’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), said applying fluidized gas desulfurization (FGD) gypsum to crop fields can keep soluble phosphorus, the main nutrient feeding the algae, from getting washed from the soil by heavy rains, then running off into streams and rivers and eventually into the lake.
“Not only that, but FGD gypsum, which is a synthetic form of gypsum, can improve both the soil and the crops,” he said. “Naturally occurring, mined gypsum has...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The following experts in Ohio State University’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences are available to speak with reporters about the first discovery in Ohio of the walnut twig beetle. The insect is known to carry the fungus that causes deadly Thousand Cankers Disease (TCD) in walnut trees.
The disease itself hasn’t been found at this time, only the insect that can carry it, and only at a single wood-processing business in Butler County in the southwest part of the state, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and the Ohio Department of Agriculture, which announced the discovery on Monday (12/10). Read the agencies’ press release at http://go.osu.edu/QrY.
Nancy Taylor is program director of the C. Wayne...
WOOSTER, Ohio -- The Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) now has four environmentally friendly bi-fuel vehicles on the road as part of a new demonstration project.
Using $46,000 in grant funding from the nonprofit group Clean Fuels Ohio, the center recently had four of its fleet vehicles -- three Ford Fusion sedans and a GMC Sierra pickup truck -- converted to run on either gasoline or compressed natural gas (CNG), which is a less-polluting fuel that’s also cheaper.
Furthermore, OARDC officials expect most of the CNG burned in the vehicles to come from renewable biogas produced locally by one of the center’s industry partners, Cleveland-based quasar energy group.
The company operates a biogas-producing waste digester and CNG...
WOOSTER, Ohio -- The Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) will host a workshop on compost bedded pack dairy barns on Dec. 5. The same program will be offered in Tennessee on Dec. 12 and in Kentucky on Dec. 13.
A compost bedded pack dairy barn is an alternative dairy system with solid manure handling options, said Lingying Zhao, an associate professor of food, agricultural and biological engineering at Ohio State University and one of the event’s organizers and speakers.
“There’s increased interest in the compost bedded pack system because of its potential for positive impacts on milk production and cow health and its ability to handle manure as a dry material,” Zhao said.
Possible benefits of the system also include less...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State University’s renowned Schiermeier Olentangy River Wetland Research Park, which opened its doors 20 years ago, is now in the process of opening them wider.
The 52-acre Columbus facility is undergoing $75,000 in renovations to its main teaching and research building as part of a broader effort to increase the park’s access, use and impact.
Programs in the park focus on how wetlands function, how to create and restore them, and how they benefit the environment and people. Water from the adjacent Olentangy River fills two main experimental wetlands at the site, which are each about the size of two football fields. Ohio State officials call it the only facility like it on a university campus.
“The Schiermeier is uniquely positioned to...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio State University Extension has announced its annual schedule of OSU Income Tax Schools, which last year drew more than 800 participants.
The schools are offered at eight locations around Ohio, are designed for people who prepare income tax returns, and cost $335.
The teaching team for the schools includes three OSU Extension faculty and two current and two retired employees of the Internal Revenue Service. Three of the seven will be at each location.
“We’re in our 49th year of offering these schools,” said OSU Extension’s David Marrison, the interim director and one of the instructors for the schools. “Our blend of Ohio State faculty and IRS professionals allows us to offer one of the highest-rated income tax continuing education...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Now there’s a new tool for fighting alien invasions.
Your smart phone.
Ohio State University Extension has released a new app for spotting and tracking invasive species -- non-native organisms such as Asian carps, purple loosestrife and Asian longhorned beetle -- to try to keep them from setting up beachheads and hurting the economy and environment.
By using the free Great Lakes Early Detection Network app, a person can take pictures of suspected invasive species -- whether of farm, forest or water -- and upload the pictures and locations for verification.
Based on this early warning, scientists can send out alerts, map the spread and figure out a battle plan.
Early detection gives us a greater chance of being able to handle infestations before they become...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- “At this point, we have just one planet to share.”
So said David Hanselmann, a lecturer in Ohio State University’s School of Environment and Natural Resources, in announcing a new Ohio-based professional network for people whose work helps keep the planet green.
The Environmental Professionals Network, which launched on Aug. 7, “is for a broad range of people who are professionally engaged in managing, protecting and using our environment and natural resources -- people who really should be connected but often are not, and sometimes are even at odds,” said Hanselmann, who is the network’s coordinator.
Participants will be better able to serve clients, community and society. -- David Hanselmann, Coordinator, Environmental...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Coyotes living in cities don’t ever stray from their mates, and stay with each other till death do them part, according to a new study.
The finding sheds light on why the North American cousin of the dog and wolf, which is originally native to deserts and plains, is thriving today in urban areas.
Scientists with Ohio State University who genetically sampled 236 coyotes in the Chicago area over a six-year period found no evidence of polygamy -- of the animals having more than one mate -- nor of one mate ever leaving another while the other was still alive.
This was even though the coyotes exist in high population densities and have plenty of food to eat, which are conditions that often lead other dog family members, such as some fox species, to stray from their...
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Now you can get a free wallet-size ID card for spotting thousand cankers disease, which is a new, deadly walnut tree illness. It’s close to but not in Ohio yet.
And while state officials hope it never gets here, they want to find it quickly if it does. At risk: $1.2 billion -- the estimated value of lumber from Ohio’s black walnuts -- and tons of edible nuts.
By using the new card, “Landowners can help us find infestations early,” said Kathy Smith, forestry program director for Ohio State University Extension.
“Early detection hopefully means that an infestation would be found inhabiting a smaller area and would be easier to eradicate.”
OSU Extension co-produced the card with the Ohio Division of Forestry and Ohio Department...
WOOSTER, Ohio -- Jack pines, which are common in parts of the northern Great Lakes, need fire to thrive.
So does the rare and endangered Kirtland’s warbler, which nests only in burned or otherwise disturbed young jack pine stands in a handful of locations in Michigan, Wisconsin and Ontario -- and nowhere else on Earth.
Both are part of the same “fire-dependent ecosystem,” a type of biological community that needs occasional fires in order to persist.
And both and more should benefit from a new federal project based at Ohio State University in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Forest Service’s Northern Research Station.
The Lake States Fire Science Consortium, a knowledge exchange network, has been started to connect scientists who...
WOOSTER, Ohio -- Even a garden in the middle of a parking lot can have a problem with rabbits.
“They were coming through part of the gate,” said a rather amazed Joe Kovach, an Ohio State University scientist who has set up a lushly growing and ostensibly fenced-off fruit and vegetable test garden on an old asphalt parking lot in Wooster in northeast Ohio.
“I actually saw one leave (the garden),” Kovach said. “It pushed its way right out. They were using the wire on the gate as a trap door.”
He fixed the hole with some Plexiglass. The rest of the fence, meantime, is working, he said. Deer and woodchucks, too, have lately been spotted around but not inside the garden.
As Kovach talks, a wren sings from a tree nearby. A robin chirps in apparent alarm...
