Why Are Vines Overtaking the American Tropics?

Science Daily ^ | 02-17-2011 | Staff

[C210N]

Well, we made it thru global cooling scare, the global warming craziness, the AGW climate change might be diminishing... so how many $trillions and inalienable rights will the attack of the vines cost us?

[Graybeard58]

Where are these “American tropics”?

America is a very big place.

[Reagan69]

Yea, that Kudzu is taking over all the beautiful scenery in Tenn. It’s scarey.

[Red Badger]

FDR .........

From Wiki:

Kudzu was introduced from Japan into the United States in 1876 at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition, where it was promoted as a forage crop and an ornamental plant. From 1935 to the early 1950s, the Soil Conservation Service encouraged farmers in the southeastern United States to plant kudzu to reduce soil erosion. The Civilian Conservation Corps planted it widely for many years.

Another Democratic screw-up...........

[Red Badger]

It has now spread to Canada...............

[Red Badger]

Canada

Kudzu was discovered July 2009 in a small patch, 110 metres wide and 30 metres deep, on a south-facing slope on the shore of Lake Erie near Leamington, Ontario, about 50 kilometres southeast of Windsor.[24]

Ecologist Gerald Waldron made the Leamington find while walking along the beach. He spotted the kudzu instantly, having read about its destructive expansion in the southeastern United States.

Other countries

During World War II, kudzu was introduced to Vanuatu and Fiji by United States armed forces to serve as camouflage for equipment.[citation needed] It is now a major weed.

Kudzu is also becoming a problem in northeastern Australia, and has been seen in isolated spots in Northern Italy (Lago Maggiore).

[layman]

Maybe they can figure out how to make ethanol out of it.

[Red Badger]

Biomass and ethanol both can be made from kudzu and other invasive species instead of corn..............

[John Galt's cousin]

LOL

[PJ-Comix]

Biomass and ethanol both can be made from kudzu and other invasive species instead of corn..............

Yeah but without the benefit of driving food prices up. When you use corn for fuel, all meats from corn eating animals such as hogs go up in price. Without using corn as fuel we wouldn't have those much higher prices on meats such as bacon.

[Red Badger]

And all those “farmers” wouldn’t get their $ub$idie$............

[wbill]

The horses in my area LOVE kudzu. Can't eat enough of it. Frequently, I'll see them hanging over their pasture fences, just to get at it.

No idea hw much nutritional value there is to it, though.

[Red Badger]

http://geography.about.com/library/misc/uckudzu.htm

[Red Badger]

http://www.grandpappy.info/rkudzu.htm

[Red Badger]

Nutritional Information
Fresh Kudzu Leaves
8 Ounces (net weight)

Category Amount % RDV
Calories 258 12 %
Total Fat 0.1 g 0.2 %
Dietary Fiber 10.3 g 45.7 %
Protein 2.1 g 4.8 %
Calcium 34.3 mg 3.4 %
Phosphorous 41.1 mg 4.3 %
Iron 1.4 mg 7 %

[Buckeye McFrog]

“We are witnessing a fundamental structural change in the physical make-up of forests that will have a profound impact on the animals, human communities and businesses that depend on them for their livelihoods,”

and there is absolutely NOTHING we mere mortals can do about it.

[Red Badger]

But we were told change is good...............

[zeugma]

I sure hope they burned that patch out with flamethrowers. It’s the only way to get rid of kunzu. You have to stop it before it gets a toehold. Cutting it back just pisses it off.
Apparently, kudzu can be used successfully to make alcohol. Problem is, when you attempt to ‘harvest’ kudu, it releases chemicals that work as well as round-up on the plants below it. This is nasty stuff.

[Red Badger]

A well established kudzu root can be as big as a tree trunk and weigh as much as 200 pounds. But it is a starchy root and as such its interior is edible..........

[Liberty Valance]

One of my son's friends did a 6 month research stretch at this Smithsonion project in Panama last year. Quite a learning experience. He didn't make any money at this and in fact had to pay about $5,000 for the privilege. A pretty amazing place for a student to go.

Just one of hundreds of photos