In Defense of Plants Podcast

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...

Whether you call them alumroots or coral bells, there is no denying the genus Heuchera is both beloved by gardeners and those who know where to find them in the wild. The closer you look at this genus, the more interesting things you will uncover. Just ask Dr. Ryan Folk who is very interested in what these plants can teach us about hybridization and plant evolution. Join us for a wonderfully deep...

Climate refugia can provide unique opportunities for plants (and more) to persist for long periods of time in otherwise inhospitable areas. They have and will continue to shape biodiversity across the globe but understanding them isn't easy. Join me and Dr. Ashley Hillman as we look at how one of the greatest lakes of them all - Lake Superior - has shaped the distribution of Arctic plant species s...

What makes an invasive plant species invasive? A lot of effort goes in to trying to understand the ecological and evolutionary underpinnings of invasive species. Multiple hypotheses have been put forward such as the novel weapons hypothesis and allelopathy, but what do the data tell us about these concepts? The answer is as nuanced as it is interesting. Join me and Dr. Robert Colautti as we explor...

So many of us garden to attract wildlife. Adding native plants to support bees, butterflies, birds, and beyond is a fulfilling and noble cause but how can we be sure we aren't bringing unwanted pesticides home with us from plant nurseries? This can be a challenge considering the role pesticides play in so many nursery and agricultural settings. We don't have to despair though! People like Sharon S...

Successful forest regeneration projects require lots of different skill sets. This is especially true when trying to finance operations that work for local communities. Luckily people like Jonathan Kim of Terraformation are up for the challenge. Join us as we learn how skills outside of the biological sciences are helping make native forest regeneration successful. This episode was produced i...

What does it take to regenerate a native forest, especially in highly degraded landscapes? A lot, to put it mildly. Forest regeneration is an important endeavor but figuring out how to do it right is the job of Terraformation's Restoration Manager Michael Sthreshley. Join is for a deep dive on how Terraformation is making native forest regeneration possible in Hawai'i and beyond. This episode...

Understanding forest health requires looking across scales and gradients. How individual trees respond to stresses can tell us a lot about how forests will respond to stresses over the long term. These are the kinds of ideas that motivate Dr. Sara Germain in her quest to understand the life and death of trees such as the whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) and its neighbors. Join us for a fascinatin...

Overlooking mosses is overlooking so many important aspects of ecosystem function. From nutrient cycles and seed banks to erosion control and atmospheric composition, mosses can play important roles. But how do we go about understand moss ecology in this way? Dr. Mandy Slate starts with their traits. How do you scale from moss adaptations for dehydration to things like carbon and nitrogen cycles?...

Bryophytes, AKA mosses, liverworts, and hornworts, are ubiquitous components of ecosystems around the world yet they are all too often underappreciated. Luckily, people like Brittney Miller are doing everything in their power to change that. What started with immense frustration turned into a life-long love affair with all things bryophyte. Join us for a wonderful deep dive into the secret world o...

Botanizing is a skill set that, like muscles, must be exercised regularly. Whether just starting out or a seasoned specialist, botanical ID takes repetition. That doesn't mean it has to be dry or boring! My guests today are Dr.'s Ben Goulet-Scott and Jacob Suissa of Let's Botanize. When they aren't teaching about and researching plants, they are producing lots of great videos helping to connect pe...

Journey back in time some 60 million years to the Cenozoic with Dr. Ellen Currano by looking at fossil leaves. Aside from just being cool, leaf fossils can tell us a lot about the ecology of long extinct ecosystems. For instance, leaf margins can tell you about things like temperature while leaf size can tell you about precipitation. Also, looking at fossilized insect damage can reveal important i...

Mosquito sprays and fogs only kill mosquitos, right? Wrong! The kinds of pesticides used to control mosquito populations are lethal to all manner of insects and other invertebrates. The use of these chemicals can have serious impacts on biodiversity and their marketing doesn't tell this side of the story. Join me and Dr. Aaron Anderson of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation as we look...

Plant poaching is a multi-billion dollar industry worldwide and it doesn't get the attention it deserves. While the act of poaching plants from the wild ravages species and ecosystems alike, what happens to plants after the poachers have been caught? That is exactly what we are talking about in this episode. Director of Horticulture for the San Diego Zoo Safari Park Raj Brown joins us to explore h...

What is the soil seed bank and how does it influence the outcomes of restoration ecology? Seeds of various species can remain in the soil over a range of time periods and when and why they emerge has the potential to improve restoration outcomes. Join me and Dr. Akasha Faist as we examine the influence soil seed banks can have on habitat restoration. This episode was produced in part by Neil, Matt...