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This op-ed appeared Nov. 20, 2008 in The Miami Herald.

By: Jack Putz
Francis E. ”Jack” Putz is a professor of botany at the University of Florida in Gainesville.

If you look out your window right now, chances are you’ll spot a Sabal palmetto, the scientific name of the cabbage palm, the state tree of Florida and South Carolina. Now imagine the landscape without these icons of the tropics.

Unfortunately, that possibility is very real. A bacterial disease that experts are calling ”Texas Phoenix Palm Decline” is chomping its way through cabbage palms out in the woods and in manicured landscapes in at least Hillsborough, Polk, Desoto, Pinellas, Sarasota and Manatee counties. If you want to see what this tiny monster can do, feast your eyes at the devastation along Interstate 75 around Tampa.

I’m too young to remember when the American chestnut succumbed to a Chinese fungus, but I do remember losing American elms to another exotic insect. Last year I saw the pitiful remains of what I remember as cool shady hemlock groves in Connecticut, prey to an introduced insect called the hemlock wooly adelgid. Right now in North Florida and South Georgia, you can see dead redbay trees, killed by an exotic fungus carried by an exotic ambrosia beetle.

I do not want cabbage palms to suffer the same fate.

The ”emerging pathogen” — a generic term for any introduced insect, fungus or other pest — wreaking havoc among cabbage palms in Central Florida is a fascinating creature. It is a phytoplasma related to the one that caused lethal yellowing of coconuts and other palms in South Florida. Because these phytoplasmas cannot yet be cultured, identification involves sequencing their DNA using polymerase chain reaction or PCR techniques, which is not cheap.

Given that it may take an infected palm a year or more to show symptoms and that few palms have been tested, it is hard to gauge the gravity of the problem, but hundreds of trees have already died.

Researchers from the University of Florida and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services are busily trying to discover the vector for this disease. They suspect an insect called a plant hopper, but are not sure which. But one indisputable vector is the trucks that carry diseased palms at 70 miles per hour north on I-75.

To avoid the grim scenario of cabbage palm annihilation, if the authorities discover an infected palm in a nursery, the site is quarantined for six weeks. Much harder to control are the palm diggers out in the woods, yanking palms and trucking them around the state and beyond.

We are not certain that our cabbage palms are in jeopardy, but this seems like a clear case in which the ”precautionary principle” should be invoked. If the threat is real, the cost of doing little or nothing is just too large to consider. Perhaps I am just another shrill environmentalist spouting gloom-and-doom, but it seems reasonable to wonder, what can be done? Short of quarantining the entire six-county area where the Texas Phoenix Palm Disease is already taking its toll, vigilance is our best defense.

If you are purchasing palms, be sure you know the source and avoid buying plants from infected areas. If the leaves of your palms turn yellow and then the spear leaf dies, call the FDACS Division of Plant Industry (352-372-3505) as quickly as possible. If the palm is determined to be infected, have it destroyed straightaway, lest it infect its neighbors.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Plants that range northward because of climate change may be better at defending themselves against local enemies than native plants.

So concludes a team of scientists including a University of Florida geneticist. The team’s findings, reported in today’s online edition of Nature, suggest that certain plants could become invasive if they spread to places that were previously too cold for them.

“This paper is the first to suggest that the mechanisms that aid invasive species when they move from one continent to the next may actually work within continents when climate change gradually extends the distributional range of a species,” said Koen J.F. Verhoeven, an evolutionary biologist at The Netherlands Institute of Ecology. “Plants may be able to outrun, so to speak, their enemies from the southern range.”

Often, exotic plants and animals are introduced to new continents or geographic regions by travelers and commerce. Separation from their natural enemies can drive their invasive success in the new range. But, increasingly, the distribution of many species is shifting because of climate change and changes in land use.

Led by scientists Tim Engelkes, Elly Morriën and Wim van der Putten of The Netherlands Institute of Ecology, with collaborators from the University of Florida, Wageningen University and Leiden University, the researchers compared exotic plant species that had recently established in Millingerwaard, a nature preserve in The Netherlands, with related native plant species from the same area.

“We set out to see whether the native and exotics responded differently to natural enemies such as herbivores or microorganisms in the soil,” said Lauren McIntyre, an associate professor of molecular genetics and microbiology in UF’s College of Medicine and a member of the UF Genetics Institute. “UF helped develop a statistical model that took into account the experimental design and had good power to detect the effects of herbivory.”

Scientists grew six exotic and nine native plant species in pots with field-collected soil from the Millingerwaard area, allowing natural soil pathogenic microbes to accumulate in the pots. Then they removed the plants and replanted the soils with the same plant species.

The growth of native plants was reduced far more than the growth of exotic species, indicating natives were more vulnerable to natural soil-borne microbes.

In addition, all plant species were exposed to North African locusts and a widespread species of aphid. These herbivores were not expected to show a preference for either the native or the exotic species. But they preferred the native plants and left the exotic ones relatively alone.

Researchers say the findings help to better assess the ecological consequences of climate change. The success of exotic plants expanding their range in response to warmer climates may be comparable to invasive exotic plant species that arrive from other continents, representing an additional threat to biodiversity.

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GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Tough economic times are forcing Florida consumers to drastically cut plans for holiday spending, leaving retailers with what may be their worst season in decades, according to telephone surveys of more than 500 state residents.

The University of Florida’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research conducted the survey, designed and analyzed by the David F. Miller Center for Retailing Education and Research at UF, in September and October. The bad news for retailers: expectations fell as the season grew closer. The September survey showed a 38 percent decrease from last year — from $1,324 per resident to $828 — and the average dropped to $802 in the October survey.

Barton Weitz, executive director of the Miller Center, said, “The 2008 holiday season will be one of the worst for retailers in decades. In sharp contrast to previous years, decreased spending intentions were reported across all income brackets.”

Just over 50 percent of consumers in the lowest income bracket (those earning less than $30,000 per household annually) intend to spend less, compared with 37 percent of middle-income households (less than $60,000) and about 19 percent of upper-middle-income households (below $100,000). For the first time, even high-income households (more than $100,000), which have typically been immune to economic slowdowns in recent years, are expecting to decrease spending, with more than a third of these more affluent consumers reporting a dramatic reduction in spending intentions.

Expectedly, the lowest income group planned to spend the least — only about $195. But, surprisingly, the surveys showed the biggest drop to be among the highest income households. According to Weitz, that dramatic drop spells trouble for luxury retailers.

“Retailers selling luxury products will suffer,” Weitz said. “They haven’t adequately planned for this tough year — in contrast to other general retailers — who have been preparing with better merchandising decisions, slimmer inventory and cautious operational spending.”

Department and specialty stores will also be vulnerable to a downfall in sales, as consumers will withhold their discretionary spending until the economy turns around. But discounters such as Wal-Mart, Save-A-Lot, and Target may have opportunities to lure more middle- and high-income consumers into their stores.

Weitz said that with all the challenges that retailers face for the coming holiday season, they must be innovative in order to survive. Targeting their core customers, while maintaining a slim inventory, may help retailers save on operating costs and survive this tough year.

Overall, holiday spending intentions unveiled a growing lack of consumer confidence. While 63 percent of Floridians surveyed in September believed their holiday spending would remain the same or increase, just over half of consumers expressed similar intentions in October. As a result, while Florida has been a relatively healthy retail market in comparison with the national average and other states, Florida’s sales may dip below other states during this holiday season, Weitz said.

In other trends, gift cards continue to appeal to consumers, with nearly 60 percent indicating they will spend the same or more for them than in 2007. But shopping malls will be less crowded, with 15 percent fewer consumers expecting to shop there, according to the September and October surveys. Instead, online shopping is predicted to fare much better this year (with just under a 1 percent decrease), as gift givers actively seek deal- and value-driven products. Additionally, they may search for ways to pare their spending further by finding a “family gift” instead of multiple individual gifts.

The survey of 517 Florida residents in September and 504 residents in October was conducted by the David F. Miller Center for Retailing and Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the University of Florida. The margin of error is 3 percent.

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If you didn’t make it to Beijing for the Olympics, you could one day experience China here at home.

University of Florida engineers have designed a virtual reality system that replicates China, right down to streets and businesses. If you’re planning a trip there for business or pleasure, engineer Paul Fishwick says you can practice the experience.

Fishwick: “If we don’t know another culture, we often make mistakes. We make mistakes in communication, we make mistakes with things that we do, our actions. So to try and mitigate those mistakes, we need some sort of training or learning tool.”

The program’s based on the popular “Second Life” online virtual world launched back in 2003. UF researchers call their Chinese version “Second China.”

Fishwick: “I think it makes sense to imagine that before we go to a place, we will be using these types of systems where we feel more immersed. Because one of the things technology such as Second Life gives you is the feeling of being there.”

Researchers say there’s enormous potential with this approach. Engineers could design realistic virtual environments of various locales around the world.

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If you didn’t make it to Beijing for the Olympics, you could one day experience China here at home.

University of Florida engineers have designed a virtual reality system that replicates China, right down to streets and businesses. If you’re planning a trip there for business or pleasure, engineer Paul Fishwick says you can practice the experience.

Fishwick: “If we don’t know another culture, we often make mistakes. We make mistakes in communication, we make mistakes with things that we do, our actions. So to try and mitigate those mistakes, we need some sort of training or learning tool.”

The program’s based on the popular “Second Life” online virtual world launched back in 2003. UF researchers call their Chinese version “Second China.”

Fishwick: “I think it makes sense to imagine that before we go to a place, we will be using these types of systems where we feel more immersed. Because one of the things technology such as Second Life gives you is the feeling of being there.”

Researchers say there’s enormous potential with this approach. Engineers could design realistic virtual environments of various locales around the world.

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US Supreme Court Associate Justice John Paul Stevens paid a visit to the UF campus for a special conversation with students and faculty. He discussed issues ranging from how politics affects the court, to how he hopes to be remembered.

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WHAT: The University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions will host the Darrel J. Mase Leadership Award lecture, featuring award recipient Alan M. Jette, Ph.D., a professor of health policy and management at Boston University’s School of Public Health and the director of Boston University’s Health and Disability Research Institute. Jette’s talk is titled “The Future of Disability in America.” The lecture is free and open to the public.

WHO: Jette is an internationally recognized expert in the measurement and epidemiology of functional limitations and disability. He has developed several instruments that assess function and disability and has published numerous articles on these topics in the rehabilitation, geriatrics and public health literature. Jette chaired the Institute of Medicine’s 2007 study, “The Future of Disability in America.”

WHEN: 2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 21

WHERE: Health Professions/Nursing/Pharmacy Complex Auditorium, 101 S. Newell Drive, UF Health Science Center

WHY: Jette is the recipient of one of the College of Public Health and Health Professions’ highest awards, the Darrel J. Mase Leadership Award, established in 1985 to honor the college’s founding dean. The award is given to individuals who have made substantial contributions to health care through their professional accomplishments, leadership and personal experience.

CONTACT: Jill Pease at 352-273-5816 or jpease@phhp.ufl.edu.

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Advertising professor John Sutherland was quoted in a Nov. 1 Dallas Morning News story about the types of campaign ads done close to the actual election.

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Norbert Dunkel, director of housing, was quoted in a Nov. 2 Business Week story about the declining investment value for parents who want to buy condos for their college-age children.

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Economist David Denslow was quoted in a Nov. 6 Associated Press story about the impact of Florida’s foreclosure rate on the losing candidacy of John McCain.

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