Cicute: Most poisonous in North America

Hemlock trees are of great importance to wildlife, water and air quality. The hemlock tree is keystone species. That means is that if it is removed from the environment, than a domino effect will follow. The hemlocks demise would affect other species such as trout, native birds, salamanders and countless other species necessary to a heathy forest ecosystem.

I think the best way to link the U.S with the biopiracy of the Cinchona tree is to look back at the events that occured during WW II. The U.S. relied heavily on the allied production of the bark for the production of the quinine drugs. Once those plantations were taken over by Axis countries, the Allies pursued production in Africa. Africa is now considered the top producer of the Cinchona tree bark to produce the quinidine directly as well as other food additives. As well as helping with this new area of cultivation, it was the American scientists that produced the method of synthesization of the quinine alkaloid for production. These factors I feel are ways that the U.S. has taken profits from the South American countries where the tree grows natively. (Rain Tree,

     Heavy metals, such as copper, lead, mercury, and selenium are another group of toxins that pollute the water as well as the rest of the environment. The source of many of these pollutants are industries, automobile exhaust, mines, and even natural soil.

What has been brought to light in recent years is the effects of these chemicals on the body’s immune response. By introducing these toxic chemicals into the body, the potency of the immune system is compromised. More commonly than not, the body’s magnificent defense system will kick in and destroy foreign invaders but all it can take is an overwhelming amount of chemicals to slow or even shut down the body’s response systems. A large amount of these types of chemicals introduced into the body at one time would be considered acute toxicity and could even cause death. Additionally, a small amount of these poisonous substances brought into the body over a long period would be considered chronic toxicity and can have detrimental effects on the body’s natural response (Hoernschemeyer 55-57). This information is startling enough to want to make a change from conventionally grown food to pesticide-free organic

Chemicals harm the growth of plants and animals, chemicals can lead animals to death. Many of the water animals

What is your favorite NFL team? The Denver Broncos are located in Denver, Colorado, U.S.A. The Denver Broncos recently, were not expected to win against the South Carolina Panthers in the Super Bowl of 2015. They surprised everyone and took the win. The Broncos average score is about 44.8 points per game. The Denver Broncos are an interesting team, because, they have had some great plays and players, unique mascots, and had an amazing comeback over the years.

The ancient forests of the Northeast aren’t the only aspect of the bioregion that’s fate have been at perpetual risk since the early settlement of Europeans. There is no question that forests still dominate the landscape of Northeastern region accounting for “60% of the total land area, and in New England alone, the coverage is 80%”. Still the species that exist within the understory of the forests have undergone an equally dramatic transformation because of human interaction with the land and the harvest of its resources. Some species in the understory of the mixed forests of the Northeast have been driven out of the region, are under intense ecological pressure, are on the brink of extinction, or have already gone extinct in the region. Perhaps one of the most harmful and impactful effects colonization of the Northeast has had on the resources of the land is the introduction of non-native species and diseases into the region. Over time the overall makeup of the forests have changed drastically as an example, “…the American chestnut once made up as much as 25% of the trees in some areas and was economically the most important hardwood in the Eastern forests”. The introduction of chestnut blight at the turn of the century accounts for

The purpose of this course is to provide the fundamental knowledge of the effects of environmental chemicals on living systems, and the toxic responses of the human and plant systems. Students will discuss risk, ethics, and social responsibility with regard to environmental toxicology.

Significance: The question of whether or not invasive species impact the environment is an important one. The answer affects everyone. In today’s world, we take the outdoors for granted. People don’t realize how much it does for us. It provides economical resources, areas to relax, and oxygen for us to breathe. Without these simple things our lives would change drastically. Life as we

For example, the wild berries can be a source of toxicity, accordingly to the facts within real berries, a total of fifty thousand people have been reported from exposure to toxic plants, many of which were wild berries. Additionally, many of the outcomes reported were either minor or moderate effects, few of which results in major effects or death while most of which resulted in unknown outcomes within the year of 2010. These statistics have

Oxygen depletion will create stress which can take years to recover. These HABs can also suppress mammalian immune functions which results in mass mortalities of dolphins and manatees. This can be seen by a significant reduction in manatee lymphocytes in cell culture that are exposed to these toxins. With all of this evidence of the negative impacts of these toxins, it shows the need to recognize these biotoxins as significant stressors within south-west Florida coastal ecosystems.

The Eastern Hemlock is being attacked by the Hemlock Wooly Adelgid. This invasive aphid-like insect kills Hemlock by feeding on their starch reserves and injecting a toxin into them that causes their needles to drop more quickly. According to the article “Rehabilitation Guidelines for Hemlock Stands,” “Adelgids cause damage by depleting the Hemlock’s starch reserves.” When the starch reserves are depleted, the tree doesn't have enough energy to grow. The Hemlock Wooly Adelgid’s toxin causes needles to fall off the tree faster, as shown in the article “Forest Health Fact Sheet”. With less needles to perform photosynthesis in and not enough energy reserves to grow new ones, the tree is unable to store enough energy to live well through the dark winters, and it dies within a few years.

Some tree species were only prevalent at the perennial site compared to the non-perennial site. Higher abundance on cottonwoods could reflect their deeper rooting systems and thus more reliable water resources. A study conducted on Pacific Northwest Trees showed that the larger trees were reliant on greater amounts of stored water for higher levels of photosynthesis, furthermore there were different percentages of water use per tree species (Phillips, 2003). This supports our findings as some tree species were host to more mistletoe than others. This may due to the different amount of water the trees absorb and use. Larger trees such as Populus fremontii. Tree specific factors may affect susceptibility as well. Sycamores are proposed to have defenses that form physical/chemical barriers prevent colonization parasites, this may explain why we saw little to no mistletoe on Planatus wrightii’s at either site (Grime and Pearce 1995). Furthermore alders have an important symbiotic relationship with Frankia alni, a nitrogen fixing bacteria that receives sugar from the tree in return for the nitrogen it supplies (Porter 2013). This explains why we saw the most even mistletoe distribution over our two sites on Alnus

Alcohol is one of the most toxic drugs ("Marijuana Is Safer Than Alcohol: It's Time To Treat It That Way"). Alcohol is generally classified with similar drugs such as barbiturates, minor tranquilizers and general anesthetics (Uschah). Alcohol is linked to more than 37,000 annual U.S. deaths("Marijuana Is Safer Than Alcohol: It's Time To Treat It That Way"). Alcohol can harm the heart, brain and nervous system. Within minutes of having a drink alcohol has reached the brain, muscles, nerves, and other parts of the body. Five to ten percent of alcohol is transferred to the bloodstream directly through the lining of the mouth; this affects the brain because the heart pumps blood directly to the brain (Uschah). This information helps understand how badly alcohol can

Pringsheimii Urb.), and a shrubby Lobelia measuring one or two meters, the Lobelia assurgens L., which is found but rarely in Cuba and in Jamaica were blooming. The plant in Haiti closely resembles the Cuban’s (var. santa-clarae McVaugh) than the Jamaican’s (var. jamaicensis Urb.). Their stem leaves are large and membranous… The flowers are dark red and flat (fig. 10).