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What lies beneath: Roots as drivers of South Afric..

Photo: The endemic species Cyrtanthus ventricosus emerges after fire in the highly nutrient-starved soils of the Fynbos biome (Jonkershoek Nature Reserve). (Photo: Mingzhen Lu) We typically think of plants strutting their best stuff aboveground: showy flowers, fragrant blossoms, and unique… read more

Early human impact on global atmosphere

New study links an increase in black carbon in Antarctic ice cores to Māori burning practices in New Zealand more than 700 years ago Several years ago, while analysing ice core samples from Antarctica’s James Ross Island, scientists Joe McConnell,… read more

Stinkweed could make a cleaner bio-jet fuel

A common farm weed could make a “greener” jet fuel with fewer production-related environmental impacts than other biofuels, a new study indicates. Growing the weed, pennycress – often called stinkweed – as a crop requires less fertilizer and fewer pesticides… read more

Greening Landscape helps

For at least a century, air, ocean, and land temperatures on Earth have been steadily rising. For at least the past forty years, the planet has been growing a bit greener. Now researchers have found that the greening of the… read more

Cactus pear as drought-tolerant crop for sustainab..

Cactus crops remove carbon from the atmosphere, provide biofuel, food and livestock feed Among three cactus varieties researched by the University as drought-tolerant crops for biofuel, Opuntia ficus-indica produced the most fruit while using up to 80% less water than… read more