Hunger ‘more widespread than many realize’

PovertyIn a season of plenty, in a land of plenty, many people still go hungry. CFAES’s Martha Filipic reports, “According to the Children’s Hunger Alliance, more than 630,000 children across Ohio live in food-insecure households — enough children to fill Ohio Stadium six times. As many as 1 in 4 Ohio children are unsure of where their next meal is coming from.” But there are ways to help. Read her story.

8 tiny facts about reindeer: No. 5, reindeer vocalize. Which doesn’t count shouting with glee …

… nor singing encouraging songs to each other. Reindeer cows grunt to their calves. Calves bleat and bawl to their mothers. Males snort, hoot, bellow and rattle hoarsely when trying to attract a mate. A special inflatable laryngeal air sac gives the calls of the males extra oomph. More to sing about.

8 tiny facts about reindeer: No. 4, reindeer DO go click, click, click

Reindeers in natural environment, Tromso region, Northern Norway.

Reindeer make a clicking sound when they walk, and not just when up on a housetop. Tendons snap over sesamoid bones in their feet, and that’s what makes the click. Experts think the sound helps the members of a herd stay in touch when they can’t see each other well, such as, say, when it’s foggy. Hear what it sounds like here (turn your sound up). (Photo: iStock.)

Replacing your ash trees in spring?

Image of ash guidePlanning what you’d like to do in the coming year on your land? If the emerald ash borer has wiped out your ash trees, you can see your best choices for replacing them — whether in town or country — in a CFAES-published bulletin. And to boot, it’s now being offered at a sale price.

This Christmas tree has CFAES roots, has helped sustain state’s industry

Canaan FirIf you decorate your home with a live Christmas tree, and that tree is a Canaan fir (pictured here in close-up), thank Jim Brown, a now-retired forestry professor with CFAES’s research arm, OARDC in Wooster. You can unwrap the details here. (Photo: Ken Chamberlain, CFAES.)

8 tiny facts about reindeer: No. 2, reindeer are the same things as caribou …

Red DNA Double Helix Isolated on Black Background… in general. But maybe, somewhat not.

Reindeer and caribou belong to the same species, which is Rangifer tarandus. In general, people use “caribou” in North America, “reindeer” in Europe and Asia.

“Caribou” also tends to refer to the larger, wild R. tarandus types, like the ones in Canada and Alaska, while “reindeer” often, but not always, means the slightly smaller, domesticated kinds, like many of the ones in Scandinavia.

Scientists say in all, there are 14 R. tarandus subspecies and at least four domesticated breeds.

But a 2013 study complicates matters. Continue reading

8 tiny facts about reindeer: No. 1, reindeer used to be Buckeyes

Image of Ohio State hat 2Once upon a time, about, hmmm, at least 10,000 years ago — until the end of the Pleistocene Ice Age — reindeer (aka caribou, Rangifer tarandus) lived in the area that became Ohio. Paleontologists have found reindeer fossils in the Buckeye State and Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee, among others. (Photo: Not Coach Comet’s hat by University Communications.)

Reduce Lake Erie’s phosphorus load by 40 percent? Yes, we can. This could be a big part of it

Injecting farm fertilizer below the ground instead of spreading it on the surface could help achieve most of Lake Erie’s 40 percent phosphorus reduction goal, said CFAES scientist Margaret Kalcic in a Dec. 3 story in the Toledo Blade. The practice also would allow farmers to maintain their productivity, she said.

The reduction goal is aimed at preventing the harmful algal blooms plaguing the lake. Agricultural phosphorus runoff is considered the blooms’ main cause.

Kalcic joined the Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering this summer as an assistant professor. Her research area is watershed hydrology, especially water quality in agricultural regions.