university of florida

Climate-smart coffee

August 30, 2024 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Do you crave that morning cup of coffee? You’re not alone, and not by a long shot. In fact, more than 2.2 billion cups of coffee are consumed globally every day.

The existing coffee market is dominated by two species: Coffea arabica and Coffea canephora (the latter commonly called robusta). Historically, coffee drinkers have preferred Arabica beans for their specific flavor and aroma.

But climate change is threatening many crops around the world, and maybe none more so than coffee. In fact, an alarming 50% of suitable coffee-growing land is projected to be lost by 2050. As a result, scientists see two alternatives to supplement Arabica: either adapt coffee farming practices to new environments, or focus on coffee species that are more resilient.

According to a new study led by researchers from the University of Florida, Robusta coffee might be a good candidate to augment Arabica. The researchers evaluated Robusta and Arabica for multiple traits in three high-altitude locations in Brazil over five years.

The study, which was recently published in the journal Crop Science, found that Robusta is highly adaptable and grows in high-altitude regions, which means it combines good production and flavor scores. According to the researchers, Robusta can combine the following three elements for coffee cultivars: Sustainability (produce more with fewer inputs), quality (good flavor to meet consumer demand), and plasticity (capacity to adapt to new production systems).

Following these favorable findings with Robusta in Brazil, the scientists will test whether the species can grow in Florida.

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Robust and smart: Inference on phenotypic plasticity of Coffea canephora reveals adaptation to alternative environments

UF scientists study how to bring you ‘climate-smart coffee’

Photo, posted May 23, 2013, courtesy of McKay Savage via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Vanishing Arctic Lakes | Earth Wise

September 28, 2022 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

In recent decades, the warming in the Arctic has been much faster than in the rest of the world. The phenomenon is known as Arctic amplification. A study by the Finnish Meteorological Institute published in August in Communications Earth & Environment determined that during the past 43 years, the Arctic has been warming nearly four times faster than the rest of the globe. The result of this amplified warming has been that glaciers are collapsing, wildlife is struggling, and habitats continue to disappear at a record pace.

Research published by the University of Florida has identified a new threat associated with Arctic amplification: lakes in the Arctic are drying up.

Over the past 20 years, many Arctic lakes have shrunk or dried up completely across the entire pan-Arctic region, which spans the northern parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, Scandinavia, and Alaska.

Arctic lakes are essential elements of the Arctic ecosystem and for the indigenous communities that live in the region. They provide a critical source of fresh water for those communities and local industries.

The rapid decline of Arctic lakes is unexpected. Earlier predictions were that climate change would first actually expand lakes in the region as ground ice melted. Lakes drying out was not expected until much later in this century or even in the 22^nd century. Instead, it appears that thawing permafrost may drain lakes and overwhelm the expansion effect caused by melting ice. The theory is that thawing permafrost decreases lake area by creating drainage channels and increasing soil erosion.

The finding suggest that permafrost thawing is occurring faster than anticipated, which presents many additional problems.

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As the climate crisis intensifies, lakes across the Arctic are vanishing

Photo, posted June 20, 2014, courtesy of Bob Wick / Bureau of Land Management via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

Fighting Mildew With Robots | Earth Wise

July 10, 2020 By EarthWise Leave a Comment

Cornell Researchers have partnered with Norwegian company SAGA Robotics to develop autonomous robots that can roam vineyards at night armed with ultraviolet lamps that can kill powdery mildew, which is a pathogen that devastates many crops, including grapes.

The robots are being field tested on Chardonnay grapes at two sites: Cornell AgriTech’s research vineyards in Geneva, New York, and at Anthony Road Wine Co. in Penn Yan, New York.

Cornell has been researching the use of UV light to kill grapevine powdery mildew for nearly 30 years. They have also worked with the University of Florida on using it to control powdery mildew in strawberries.

The UV treatment has been shown to suppress powdery mildew over a period of two years with the application of treatments once a week. The technique represents a breakthrough because the mildew can adapt to chemical anti-fungal sprays in a single season, making them ineffective. UV light damages DNA, but mildews have natural biochemical defenses that are triggered by the blue light present in sunlight. By applying the UV at night, when there is no blue light from the sun, the defenses of the mildew are defeated.

In earlier trials, the researchers used UV lamps mounted on a tractor wagon, but this required all-night labor to treat an entire vineyard. That has now been replaced with autonomous vehicles that can work seven nights a week, all night long.

The next development will be imaging technology that will detect and quantify mildew on grape leaves. With this, the dose of UV light applied to a particular vine will depend on whether it is sick or healthy.

A high-tech solution to a problem that plagues vineyards.

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Robots armed with UV light fight grape mildew

Photo courtesy of Rodrigo Onofre/Twitter.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

Breeding Dory

September 2, 2016 By WAMC WEB

The regal blue tang is one of the most common and most popular marine aquarium fish in the world. In the U.S., they have been ranked as high as the 10th most imported fish species out of over 2,000 that enter the country. Apart from aquarium hobbyists, millions of people now associate blue tangs with the character Dory in a couple of popular animated films.

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