Cheating cheatgrass

Western environmental publication High Desert News published an article about local scientists’ work to combat cheatgrass, an invasive species susceptible to wildfires. In the article, University of Nevada, Reno professor Beth Leger and graduate student Owen Baughman were profiled. Leger and Baughman are part of a team of scientists studying the plant species of the Great Basin, and have been researching the growth potential for native Nevada plants such as Poa secunda, a type of grass that grows in tufts. Along with this research, scientists are investigating the impact of a fungus dubbed the Black Fingers of Death on cheatgrass. The scientists are manipulating the fungus to reproduce differently in order to make it as potent as possible on cheatgrass seeds, and are also testing its effect on native plants.

Read the full article at http://bit.ly/S3AsQx.