Agriculture

Three Illinois scientists rank among world’s most influential

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Three faculty members at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have been named to the 2020 Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researchers list. The list recognizes leading researchers in the sciences and social sciences from around the world. It is based on an analysis of journal article publication and citation data, an objective […]

Life sciences Photo of banyan fig tree with large roots connecting upper branches to the ground. The aerial roots look like mini tree trunks.

Genomic study reveals evolutionary secrets of banyan tree

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The banyan fig tree Ficus microcarpa is famous for its aerial roots, which sprout from branches and eventually reach the soil. The tree also has a unique relationship with a wasp that has coevolved with it and is the only insect that can pollinate it. In a new study, researchers identify regions […]

Physical sciences Aerial view of the U. of I. campus.

U of I to lead two of seven new national artificial intelligence institutes

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture are announcing an investment of more than $140 million to establish seven artificial intelligence institutes in the U.S. Two of the seven will be led by teams at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. They will support […]

Agriculture Image shows a few Africanized honey bees in a hive.

Group genomics drive aggression in honey bees

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Researchers often study the genomes of individual organisms to try to tease out the relationship between genes and behavior. A new study of Africanized honey bees reveals, however, that the genetic inheritance of individual bees has little influence on their propensity for aggression. Instead, the genomic traits of the hive as a […]

Physical sciences Professor Jim Best led a review of the health and resiliency of the world’s largest river systems and calls for multinational governance and scientific collaboration to confront the mounting effects of human activity and climate change faced by rivers.

Professor Jim Best led a review of the health and resiliency of the world’s largest river systems and calls for multinational governance and scientific collaboration to confront the mounting effects of human activity and climate change faced by rivers.

Human activity on rivers outpaces, compounds effects of climate change

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The livelihoods of millions of people living along the world’s biggest river systems are under threat by a range of stressors caused by the daily economic, societal and political activity of humans – in addition to the long-term effects of climate change, researchers report. A new paper by University of Illinois at […]

Physical sciences Atul Jain led a study that used a combination of satellite and census data to identify deforestation and expanding saltwater farming as the key physical and socioeconomic drivers of climate change in Bangladesh.

Atul Jain led a study that used a combination of satellite and census data to identify deforestation and expanding saltwater farming as the key physical and socioeconomic drivers of climate change in Bangladesh.

Study: Integrating satellite and socioeconomic data to improve climate change policy

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Bangladesh is on track to lose all of its forestland in the next 35-40 years, leading to a rise in CO2 emissions and subsequent climate change, researchers said. However, that is just one of the significant land-use changes that the country is experiencing. A new study uses satellite and census data to […]

Life sciences Esther Ngumbi, a U. of I. professor of entomology and of African American studies, speaks and writes about global food security.

How do we combat global food insecurity during pandemics?

Editor’s note: The World Food Programme recently warned that the COVID-19 pandemic could double the number of people facing extreme food shortages, bringing the number of those in crisis to about 265 million worldwide. Esther Ngumbi, a professor of entomology and of African American studies at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who writes and […]

Physical sciences Researchers Bin Peng, left, and Kaiyu Guan led a large, multi-institutional study that calls for a better representation of plant genetics data in the models used to understand crop adaptation and food security during climate change.

Researchers Bin Peng, left, and Kaiyu Guan led a large, multi-institutional study that calls for a better representation of plant genetics data in the models used to understand crop adaptation and food security during climate change.

Study: Multiscale crop modeling effort required to assess climate change adaptation

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Crop modeling is essential for understanding how to secure the food supply as the planet adapts to climate change. Many current crop models focus on simulating crop growth and yield at the field scale, but lack genetic and physiological data, which may hamper accurate production and environmental impact assessment at larger scales. […]

Life sciences Two Indian corn plants standing in the sun.

Cahokia’s rise parallels onset of corn agriculture

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Corn cultivation spread from Mesoamerica to what is now the American Southwest by about 4000 B.C., but how and when the crop made it to other parts of North America is still a subject of debate. In a new study, scientists report that corn was not grown in the ancient metropolis of […]

Agriculture Entomology professor Adam Dolezal and his colleagues found that infection with the Israeli acute paralysis virus increases the likelihood that infected bees are accepted by foreign colonies

Entomology professor Adam Dolezal and his colleagues found that infection with the Israeli acute paralysis virus increases the likelihood that infected bees are accepted by foreign colonies

Virus-infected honey bees more likely to gain entrance to healthy hives

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Honey bees that guard hive entrances are twice as likely to allow in trespassers from other hives if the intruders are infected with the Israeli acute paralysis virus, a deadly pathogen of bees, researchers report. Their new study, reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, strongly suggests that IAPV […]

Agriculture The soybean cyst nematode is a major pathogen of soybeans. A juvenile nematode is pictured here with an egg.

Fungus application thwarts major soybean pest, study finds

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The soybean cyst nematode sucks the nutrients out of soybean roots, causing more than $1 billion in soybean yield losses in the U.S. each year. A new study finds that one type of fungi can cut the nematodes’ reproductive success by more than half. The researchers report their findings in the journal […]

Agriculture Photo of Yilan Xu, a professor of agricultural and consumer economics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Paper: Disposal of wastewater from hydraulic fracturing poses dangers to drivers

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Environmental concerns about hydraulic fracturing – aka “fracking,” the process by which oil and gas are extracted from rock by injecting high-pressure mixtures of water and chemicals – are well documented, but according to a paper co-written by a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign environmental economics expert, the technique also poses a […]

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