In Defense of Plants Podcast

Plants don't have ears, a nervous system, or any sort of brain-like organ, yet they have the capacity to detect and respond to sounds. Moreover, the vibrations they are exposed to, AKA their 'vibroscape,' is highly complex and we are only beginning to understand this on a deeper level. Joining us to discuss this topic is grad student Luke Bowles who is using borage ( Borago officinalis ) and bumbl...

Bee cognition is an important topic in the world of plants and pollination. How various bumblebees learn and remember to visit various flowers influences how plants reproduce and evolve. Plants also have a major role to play in the form of floral traits as well as nectar and pollen chemistry and nutrition. As you can imagine, teasing apart these interactions is complex process but that is exactly...

How do individual trees acclimate to changes in their environment over time? This can be a tricky question to answer, especially in remote parts of the Amazon. Luckily, with a bit of creativity and some interesting applications of technology, people like Dr. Riley Fortier are hard at work with this question and so much more. Join us for a fun look at how leaf traits, herbarium specimens, and plent...

Wouldn't it be cool to explore a Carboniferous forest on foot? Alas, until we invent time travel technology, we can't do that in person. However, my guest today is working on making it a real possibility digitally! Joining us is Paleontologist and co-host of the Weird & Dead Podcast Dr. Meaghan Wetherell who has embarked on a glorious project to create a Carboniferous video game of sorts. From...

What happens when you disrupts plants? You disrupt ecosystems! Paleobotany provides us with multiple case studies on how change plant communities affects all walks of life and can lead to mass extinctions across the globe. Joining us to talk about this is the Assistant Curator for La Brea Tar Pits & Museum Dr. Regan Dunn. Dr. Dunn's work is uncovering sobering insights into how climate and pla...

What do the white fringeless orchid ( Platanthera integrilabia ) and the red-cockaded woodpecker ( Leuconotopicus borealis ) have in common? Habitat preferences! This is becoming increasingly apparent on the Cumberland Plateau of southern Tennessee. Natural Areas Program Manager for the Tennessee Department of Environment & Conservation Sam King joins us for a story about how a chanc...

Orchids are the botanical poster children for plant-fungi interactions. Every orchid has a close relationship with at least one species of orchid. Understanding how these relationships play out from orchid roots and across ecosystems is key to orchid understanding and conservation. Joining us to talk about the complexity of understanding these relationships is Dr. Melissa McCormick of the Smithson...

The genus Prunus gives us apricots, plums, cherries, and almonds, but also a ton of under appreciated plant diversity. Prunus around the world have managed to adapt to a surprising variety of environmental conditions and have a lot to teach us about plant evolution as a result. That is why they are the focus of Dr. Richie Hodel's lab. Join us for a wonderfully deep dive into how he and his colleag...

Habitats face pressures from all sorts of threats. Illegal logging, mining, and poaching are driving extinctions, accelerating climate change, and hurting communities everywhere. How can we use laws to change this? That is what Senior Lecturer at Lancaster University and Executive Director of Conservation Litigation Dr. Jacob Phelps is here to talk about. Conservation Litigation is a wonderful org...

Puerto Rico may not be a very large island but its forests certainly are complex. Historically, Puerto Rico lost nearly 95% of its forest cover due to human activities but humans are also playing an important role in how they grow back. Understanding how historical land use and human management have influenced the regrowth of Puerto Rico's forests has been a major part of Dr. Ariel Lugo's scientif...

Epiphytes of one kind or another are ubiquitous components of ecosystems around the globe, but we still know little about what they are doing up in the forest canopy. For instance, how do epiphytes influence the water cycle of various ecosystems? Figuring out how epiphytes interact with the water cycle can help us refine models of drought, climate change, and so much more. Joining us to talk about...

Rare plants aren't rare for the same reasons. They aren't even rare at different points in time. Figuring out the causes and consequences of plant rarity on a species by species basis is both very hard and very important. Ecologists have to get creative with time, money, and other resources. Join me and Dr. Varina Crisfield as we explore the topic of plant rarity in Canada's boreal forests. This e...

Cloning may seem like a futuristic topic largely reserved for science fiction but plants are doing it all the time. Clonality is one of the many aspects that can make plant species successful across the landscape. It can also greatly impact the way we approach plant conservation efforts. Despite the importance of cloning in plants, we still know very little about how its influences plant populatio...

Daisy trees, petrels, and pink iguanas... The Galápagos Islands are home to unique endemic species found nowhere else in the world. Sadly, the ecosystems that support them are under threat from invasive species and outright destruction. If something isn't done to turn the tide, species will be lost forever. Luckily, organizations such as Jocotoco Conservation Foundation are hard at work slowing an...

Dragonflies and damselflies are voracious aerial predators that help keep populations of other insects like mosquitoes in check. These amazing insects also require aquatic habitats to complete their life cycles. Simply put, without wetlands we don't have dragonflies and damselflies. However, not all wetlands will do. My guest Dr. Mary Ann Perron is here to discuss why native aquatic plants are abs...

Disturbances from fire and wind to insects and humans play a huge role in forest dynamics through time. Throw in the impacts of climate change, and these dynamics only get more complicated. Understanding how disturbances interact and influence how forests change through time is of great interest to people from all walks of life and that is why people like Dr. Kenneth Anyomi are hard at work studyi...

How common or rare are species in an ecosystem? The answer to this might seem simple, but as with everything in nature, it is not. This question can even complicate how we think of habitat conservation and restoration. When we refine and implement scientific tools like species diversity indices, we need to make sure we are applying them correctly. Join me and Dr. Robert Warren as we explore measur...

When you start studying a group of plants, you never know what you are going to find. Sometimes it's important insights into pollination and seed dispersal. Other times it's how the uplift of mountain chains shapes wetlands and rivers. These are the kinds of discoveries that drive Dr. Ana Bedoya to study the riverweeds of the family Podostemaceae. These extreme aquatic plants are fascinating in th...

Plants are habitat. Heck, even a single leaf is habitat. Same goes for plant roots. This is especially true when we consider insects and fungi. But how do these organisms interact? How do they change over gradients of moisture, temperature, space, and time? Why do we consider some parasitic while others are mutualists? The world of ecological interactions is extremely complex but people like Dr. C...

What could be better than a tiny plant with an outsized impact on the world around it? Hornleaf riverweed AKA Podostemum ceratophyllum is one such plant. This tiny aquatic plant has so many mysterious surrounding it but what we do know is that it is foundational to the aquatic ecosystems in which it is found. Join me and Dr. James Wood as we take a deep dive on this unique aquatic plant and learn...

Seed storage is one of the most important tools in plant conservation, but did you know you can also store pollen? We still have a lot to learn about storing both pollen and seeds for most species, and people like Dr. Dustin Wolkis of the Center for Plant Conservation are hard at work doing just that. Join us for an interesting look at what he and his colleagues are doing to prevent plant extincti...

Long lived organisms like trees face a lot of challenges throughout their lifetime. Disturbances big and small coupled with climate change are going to continue to stress trees wherever they grow. Which trees have the highest capacity to deal with said stresses? We don't know until we go looking. That is what drives scientists like Dr. Jill Hamilton. Join us as we look at how she is using poplars,...

What can investigating the genes in flower development teach us about plant evolution? A lot! What started as a simple question about the quirky nature of flower development in the order of plants collectively referred to as "the gingers" turned into multiple threads related to plant evolution and diversity. Join me and Dr. Chelsea Specht as we take a deep dive into the wild world of Zingiberales....

Micro moths are a wonderfully diverse group of underappreciated insects living all around us. How they interact with their environment, particularly with the native plants the need to survive, is both fascinating and mysterious. Join me and Dr. Jason Dombroskie as we explore the tiny world of micro moths, their host plants, and all the natural history mysteries in between. This episode was produce...

The Gulf Coast of southeastern North America is a biodiversity hotspot brimming with cool plants. Everywhere you look, there are plants that grow nowhere else in the world. Why is this region so diverse? How do we try and understand the origins of endemic plants? These are the kind of questions that drive Dr. Elizabeth White. Join us as we explore what it takes to understand plant endemism in a tr...