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here we go:
http://www.discoverseaz.com/Wildlife/Tumbleweed.html
"However, anyone who is fond of birds, small mammals, and deer owes a debt of gratitude to the tumbleweed, which provides sustenance for many such animals. Among the desert dwellers who eat tumbleweed seeds, foliage, and stems are Gambel's quail, ground squirrels, pocket and white-footed mice, prairie dogs, kangaroo rats, and mule deer. "
and
http://cals.arizona.edu/mohave/master_gardeners/kingman/arti...
"The main reason the tumbleweed survived is agriculture. In the American mid-west, the tall prairie grasses would have made it impossible for the tumbleweed to roll any distance. As time passed, the grasses were replaced by ploughed fields. "
Well, now we sure the killer fungi will be the right solution we've been waiting for.
This method of fighting one invasive species by introducing a new species always makes me worry a bit. I can't comment on this particular case but I would like to point out that there are sometimes ways of eliminating a species without risk of spreading another species. One that I can think of is the sterile insect technique. [0] Overwhelming number of insects that have been rendered sterile by irradiation are released into the wild. They compete with fertile wild insects during the mating season. Release enough sterile insects and the population will be decimated.
> This method of fighting one invasive species by introducing a new species always makes me worry a bit.
Reminds me of an old 1998 Simpsons episode:
SKINNER: Well, I was wrong. The lizards are a godsend.
LISA: But isn't that a bit short-sighted? What happens when we're overrun by lizards?
SKINNER: No problem. We simply unleash wave after wave of Chinese needle snakes. They'll wipe out the lizards.
LISA: But aren't the snakes even worse?
SKINNER: Yes, but we're prepared for that. We've lined up a fabulous type of gorilla that thrives on snake meat.
LISA: But then we're stuck with gorillas!
SKINNER: No, that's the beautiful part. When wintertime rolls around, the gorillas simply freeze to death.
And I don't know why she swallowed the fly.
Perhaps she'll die.
Dear Liza, Dear Liza...
I can see how it could be worrysome. Playing around with a food network could result in unintended consequences. A couple of searches:
"Glomerella cingulata (sexual version of the fungi they want to spread) (...) causes disease on many different hosts including quince and apple..." [2]
"The United States is the second-leading producer (of apples), with more than 6% of world production. " [3]
Link to article [1]
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glomerella_cingulata
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple
[1] http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10526-011-9399-x#p...
They want to release Colletotrichum salsolae. Glomerella cingulata's teleomorph is Colletotrichum gloeosporioides - different species. Since it's the Ag. Research Service that's interested, the first thing they'd test on are Ag. species.
Also, hopefully the dual-naming of fungi by anamorph/teleomorph will go away some day. It's really weird to refer to a species by two separate taxonomical names.
> Playing around with a food network could result in unintended consequences.
Yeah, just look what happened when they let Guy Fieri on there!
> This method of fighting one invasive species by introducing a new species always makes me worry a bit.
I can't see why, the introduction of the Cane Toad into Australia worked just fine.
For those not aware, cane toads were introduced to Australia to tackle a native beetle which was feasting on sugar cane crops. The cane toads are somewhat poisonous and have spread aggressively. You can read more and see an animated map of their progress across Australia here: