

Unleashing an Epidemic to Kill Tumbleweeds - benbreen
http://www.popsci.com/article/science/unleashing-epidemic-kill-tumbleweeds

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trhway
here we go:

[http://www.discoverseaz.com/Wildlife/Tumbleweed.html](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...](http://cals.arizona.edu/mohave/master_gardeners/kingman/articles/tumbleweed.pdf)

"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.

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jevinskie
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.

[0]:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterile_insect_technique](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterile_insect_technique)

~~~
vinchuco
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](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glomerella_cingulata)

[3] [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple)

[1]
[http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10526-011-9399-x#p...](http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10526-011-9399-x#page-1)

~~~
nemo
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.

