News Articles

Stay updated with the latest developments and discoveries in the world of plants and horticulture with our News Articles category. Here, you’ll find timely updates on conservation efforts, botanical breakthroughs, gardening trends, and industry news. Whether it’s a new species discovery, tips for sustainable gardening, or global botanical initiatives, this section keeps you informed and connected to the ever-evolving plant world. Perfect for enthusiasts, researchers, and nature lovers looking to stay in the know.

Fruit fly maggots in animal poo

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I put pomegranates stung by Queensland fruit fly into my biogas digestor that produces my cooking gas and loads of liquid fertiliser.

I was flabbergasted to see fruit fly maggots in the liquid fertiliser output. They have now pupated on the sides of the liquid fertiliser drum.

It seems they have skins that are resistant to bacterial digestive enzymes and can survive the low oxygen environment in the digestion process. On thinking about it, it would be a survival advantage to be able to survive the transit of an animals digestive system.

The digester replicates a cow’s stomach with the same bacteria.

We are told that getting animals to eat fallen fruit is a means of fruit fly control. It now seems that is an incorrect assumption, at least for Queensland fruit fly. So if you have animals eating fallen fruit fly infested fruit, have a look through their fresh dung for maggots.

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Sea Scient Group: Driving innovation in aquaculture

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March 19, 2025 – In recent decades, global consumption of aquatic animal-based foods has grown significantly, surpassing the rate of population growth. In South America, Brazil is the third-largest producer, with shrimp farming – particularly Penaeus vannamei – being a high-value and high-demand sector. However, the industry faces complex challenges, including disease management, sustainable feed formulation and technological advancements for efficient and sustainable production.

Contract Research Organisations (CROs) are essential to overcoming these challenges, offering specialised research services that enable innovation, validate new products and improve farming techniques. Despite the increasing demand for high-quality research, few companies in South America (even fewer in Brazil) have the infrastructure and expertise to conduct in-depth studies on shrimp health, nutrition and farming systems.

The Sea Scient Group is a strategic research company in applied aquaculture science, combining research with practical solutions for producers, feed manufacturers and biotechnology companies. Recently founded by two internationally experienced researchers, the company is rooted in Brazil but operates with a global vision, conducting studies that contribute to the sustainability and advancement of the industry.

Specialising in applied microbiology, immunology, aquatic animal health and nutrition, Sea Scient conducts in vivo trials with Pacific white shrimp in both clear water and biofloc systems. Additionally, the company carries out experimental challenges with viral and bacterial pathogens and simulates abiotic environmental challenges (such as salinity and temperature challenges) to assess the efficacy of products, feeds and management strategies.

“At the moment, our work is focused solely on shrimp, but we aim to expand to tilapia within the next year.” – says the co-founder and CEO, Dr Gabriella do Vale Pereira.

The Sea Scient Group is also strengthening its presence through strategic collaborations with leading academic institutions. The company is actively working with the Fish Health and Nutrition Research group at the University of Plymouth in the UK, and Leiber GmbH, on a shrimp research project using Brewers’ yeast-derived additives to improve health and immune functions of Pacific white shrimp.

“Healthy shrimp start with a healthy gut,” said Dr Daniel Merrifield, who leads the University of Plymouth’s Fish Health and Nutrition Research Group. “Through this exciting collaboration with the Sea Scient Group and Leiber GmbH, we’re exploring how natural feed additives can enhance immunity and support a healthy microbiome – ultimately leading to stronger and more resilient shrimp.”

Sea Scient has also established a partnership with the Federal University of Santa Catarina (Brazil), a renowned institution in shrimp farming and multitrophic aquaculture research, further reinforcing its scientific capabilities and industry relevance.

In recognition of its innovative approach, Sea Scient recently secured a FAPESC (Santa Catarina State Research Support Foundation) grant to develop a solid-state fermentation soy meal as a sustainable ingredient for shrimp nutrition. The project aims to improve feed efficiency and shrimp performance while reducing dependence on traditional marine-derived ingredients, aligning with global sustainability goals in aquaculture. The project has yielded promising results with the partial replacement of fish meal by fermented soy meal supporting good growth performance and FCR.

“Our goal is to bridge industry and academia, turning contract research in Brazil into a reality without its famous bureaucratic barriers. We aim to collaborate nationally and internationally to build a more resilient and efficient industry.” says Norah Bolivar, co-founder of Sea Scient Group. 

For more information, visit HERE.

The Aquaculturists

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There are 130 acres, so what haven’t I seen?

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That’s the question I asked myself when I booked our tickets to visit the Huntington Gardens mid-November 2024. It goes without saying the Desert Garden is always my primary destination, but even I can only spend so much time there, what haven’t I seen in those 130 acres? I’ve visited the Palm Garden, the Jungle Garden, the Lily Ponds and the Subtropical Garden, the Australian Garden and the Cycad Garden*. Heck on one visit with Andrew’s family I even visited the Children’s Garden. But looking at the map and searching through the different gardens I discovered a conservatory that didn’t remember ever setting foot in!** New territory to discover, I was off…

In route there were a surprising number of ferns.
Sometimes fronted by rather formal furniture.
Sometimes with odd fasciation.
I think they were Woodwardia unigemmata.

It was interesting to see so many of them in Sothern California, and with huge fronds even. 
I was headed to the conservatory (aka the The Rose Hills Foundation Conservatory for Botanical Science) but en route my eyes were drawn to a building in the distance with a nice selection of trunking Yucca rostrata out front, the MaryLou and George Boone Gallery.
Naturally I had to walk over and check things out. 
The building below, in the distance, is the conservatory.
Another angle, with a aeonium filled urn in the foreground.
The urn.
Damn, those are some happy cycads!

Inside now and the first plant I’m drawn to is an aristolochia, A. arborea, which has tiny mushroom shapes inside its blooms (thought to attract pollinators).

Anthurium vittariifolium
Pinguicula, aka butterworts, carnivorous plants.
Platycerium andinum
I couldn’t find a name on this little epiphyte, orchids of some sort I believe…
Or these next few…

More platycerium/staghorn ferns…

Another NoID epiphyte.
Oh wow…
These are always fun to see, and I love being invited to touch the plants!

Angiopteris evecta
From the signage at the Huntington: “This enormous fern has naturalized in some areas of the tropics, including Hawaii. Species of Angiopteris are the only ferns known to disperse their spores explosively.” From the Wiki: “The arching, glossy green fronds, which emerge from the tip of the rhizome, may reach up to 9 m (30 ft) long and 2.5 m (8 ft 2 in) wide”…

One last cool fern I photographed on my way out, Elaphoglossum paleaceum. Not because I was done looking around, but because I was being told to “get out now!” you see the fire alarm was going off, loudly…

There was still a lot to see, but the fire department had arrived and there was no more ignoring the alarm. I did find it quite surreal. I’d been wandering the extremely parched landscape all day, but here I was, finally in an area with humidity so high the plants were practically dripping, and now the fire department was on the scene. A reminder, I was there in November, several weeks before the tragic fires that would decimate the nearby community of Altadena.
*I didn’t mention the Chinese Garden or the Japanese Garden. I’ve never been to either because I can’t imagine spending my precious time at the Huntington visiting them when we have award winning gardens of these types up here in the PNW.

**I was wrong about that, turns out on the same visit where I spent time in the Children’s Garden I also walked through the conservatory. That was back in 2012 though, and since we enroute to meet up with others I wasn’t focused on the plants, much.
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All material © 2009-2025 by Loree L Bohl. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

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Albanese to rush through new laws to protect Tasmania’s salmon industry from legal challenge

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Labor will push the contentious bill through parliament next week despite concerns about the extinction of the Maugean skate

Anthony Albanese plans to rush through contentious legislation next week to protect Tasmania’s salmon industry from a legal challenge over the industry’s impact on an endangered fish species.

The future of the salmon industry on the state’s west coast has become a sharp political issue centred on whether it can coexist with the Maugean skate, a ray-like species found only in Macquarie Harbour’s brackish estuarine waters.

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Made a Handy Tool for People To Use. A Massive Database that lets you view loads of different perennial plants, sort by food forest layer and view their USDA zones.

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Here’s the Link to the Google Sheets.

The Idea is pretty simple, I put in a load of different perennial plants all organized by the 9 different food forest layers. For each layer sheet there’s the name of the plant, it’s scientific name to avoid confusion, a link to how to grow it and most importantly a chart showing all the different usda zones the plant will grow in.

Feel free to save a copy, or comment if you find something inaccurate / want to add something.

I hope this helps a few people out with their projects. Since researching it I’ve found loads of things I want to add to my own community gardens.

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Made a Handy Tool for People To Use. A Massive Database that lets you view loads of different perennial plants, sort by food forest layer and view their USDA zones. Read More »

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