From: Claire Gilbert <cgilbert@igc.org>
Newsgroups: sci.environment
Date: 20 Jul 92 20:10 PDT
Subject: Further to:  "Why is the Florida S
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1466601722:000:4101
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!cgilbert    Jul 20 20:10:00 1992


                      Material herein from
         _Blazing Tattles_, Vol. 1, Issue 12, July 1992.
                 Published by Claire W. Gilbert

       FURTHER TO:  "WHY IS THE FLORIDA STATE TREE DYING?"

     In the previous issue of Blazing Tattles, in the above
referenced article, the author strongly suggested that the entire
landscape of Southern Florida was in jeopardy, for a variety of
reasons, which can be subsumed under "pollution-induced climate
change."  I had written the following (about which I now have more
information):
     "I did drive through the orange groves and the trees had lots
of fruit, but these trees are irrigated heavily....but frankly I
don't know what they usually look like.  (I do know that) the
citrus growing in my neighborhood (Deerfield Beach, Florida) are
not faring well."
     Subsequently, data from several sources support the idea that
*I* don't know what citrus groves usually look like:  Florida
growers are noting aberrations, a watchdog group talks about the
largest agricultural failure in Florida history, and, not the
least, my granddaughter's pet tangerine tree, in Tampa, continues
to develop mold on the leaves no matter what she does.
     Mary A. Firestone, of Boston, after seeing the last issue of
BT, sent me an article which clearly indicates that, in fact,
something is wrong with citrus.  It appeared in the Florida
Extension Beekeeping Newsletter, APIS, May 1992 ("Air Pollution and
Citrus Nectar").  While citrus "flow" varies yearly:
     "Some honey out of the groves this season is reported to be
very low moisture (15%) for Florida and almost water white in
color.  The spotty production has few causes to correlate with.
...According to an article in the March Florida Grower and Rancher,
a concern of citrus growers in northern Manatee and southern
Hillsborough Counties is damage to trees by air pollution. The
article concludes, 'Leaves begin to curl, so they increase 
irrigation.  No change. They decrease irrigation.  Still no 
change.  Leaf yellowing indicates a nutritional problem and they
apply more fertilizer.  No change.  They order a leaf tissue
analysis, and the report states the nutritional levels are normal. 
They spray for one pest after another and still the grove "looks
wrong."'"  
     Malcolm T. Sanford adds:  "Two growers who can be contacted
for information on the subject are Blake Whisenant, ph.
813/776-1110, and Mike Houghtaling, ph. 813/645-3256.  If a grove
'looks wrong' for citrus production, there's a good chance this
will affect nectar secretion as well."  Sanford can be found at  
Entomology-Nematology, Bldg. 970, University of Florida,
Gainesville, FL 32611-0620, Phone (904) 392-1801, Ext. 143.
     Florida was the worst-hit state in the U.S. from Du Pont's
Benlate fungicide, which destroyed crops across the U.S. and
elsewhere.  Losses in Florida were estimated to reach $1 billion,
"making it the worst agriculture disaster in Florida's history." 
This report appeared in the Pesticide Action Network North America
Update, on May 8, 1992.  While I assume Benlate destroyed crops as
charged, I suggest there is an interaction affect between the
reduced amount of the sun's spectrum hitting the crops (from haze)
and/or pollution and the Benlate effect.  There is probably a
greater need for fungicide as fungus grows more readily in an
atmosphere disturbed by haze and other climate changes; and it also
may actually act differently in the presence of haze and other air
pollution.
     My granddaughter's tangerine tree is set in a landscape
described in the last BT which include among other affects color
distortions in normally brightly hued plants and dying of the sabal
palms.
     It is my opinion, after just traveling 6,000 miles from the
south of Florida to New England and criss-crossing the Eastern
corridor, then driving cross country through Pennsylvania, Ohio,
Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and
California, that this year's climate effects are not limited to the
south of Florida.  See article within, "The 'Bay Fog' Blankets
World."

Xref: sparky sci.environment:9660 sci.energy:3460 sci.physics:11234