agriculture Archives

Endangered Primates: Researcher Gonedele Sere (left) holds a cocoa plant found at an illegal farm in the Dassioko Forest Reserve in Ivory Coast (Photo by W. Scott McGraw, Courtesy of Ohio State University)

Illegal Cocoa Farms Threaten Primates

April 2, 2015April 4, 2021 Science Connectedagriculture, anthropology, biology, farming

When a team of researchers set out to count the endangered primates in Ivory Coast national parks and forest reserves, they expected to find monkeys. Instead they found that most of the protected areas had been deforested and turned into illegal cocoa farms. The team surveyed 23 protected areas in West Africa and found about three-quarters of the land in each area was being used for cocoa production. Most of the trees and the monkeys that lived in them were gone. Bitter Chocolate: Illegal Cocoa Farms “The world’s demand for…

Medicine for sick bees: A bumble bee collects nectar containing iridoid glycoside secondary metabolites from a turtlehead flower. (Leif Richardson)

Biology Environment

Nature’s Medicine Cabinet for Sick Bees

February 18, 2015September 4, 2015 Science Connectedagriculture, bees, biology, ecology, environment

By Kate Stone Around the world, honey bees are in decline and under constant threat from parasites. This ongoing problem threatens fruits, vegetables and other crops that make up much of the food supply for people. However, naturally occurring chemicals found in flowers of certain plants could be just the right prescription for sick bees, according to new research from Dartmouth College. The chemicals that occur naturally in floral nectar “may play a vital role in reducing bee-parasite interactions,” according to researcher Rebecca Irwin. The study found that chemicals in…