The Siberian Traps represent one of the most voluminous flood basalt provinces on Earth. Laser-heating (40)Ar/(39)Ar data indicate that the bulk of these basalts was erupted over an extremely short time interval (900,000 +/- 800,000 years) beginning at about 248 million years ago at mean eruption rates of greater than 1.3 cubic kilometers per year. Such rates are consistent with a mantle plume ...

The flowers, roots and stems of Cirsium species are used as a folk remedy in Anatolia. In order to evaluate antioxidant activity of Cirsium hypoleucum which is an endemic plant, superoxide radical (hypoxanthine-xanthine oxidase system) and free radical scavenging activities (DPPH) using in vitro electron spin resonance (ESR) spectrometry of the different extracts, fractions and compounds obtain...

The effect of different amounts of rainfall on the below-ground plant biomass was studied in three grassland ecosystems. Responses of the lowland (dry Festuca grassland), highland (wet Cirsium grassland), and mountain (Nardus grassland) grasslands were studied during five years (2006-2010). A field experiment based on rainout shelters and gravity irrigation simulated three climate scenarios: ra...

An existing method to induce systemic rust infections in creeping thistles (Cirsium arvense) using an insect vector, the weevil Ceratapion onopordi, was successfully applied in the field. Urediniospores of Puccinia punctiformis were experimentally transmitted to naturally grown thistles, to our knowledge for the first time resulting in systemically infected shoots in an established thistle popu...

Throughout Europe, Cirsium arvense is the most problematic perennial weed in arable crops, whether managed under organic or conventional agriculture. Non-chemical control methods are limited with partial efficacy. Knowledge missing on their effect across a wide gradient of cropping systems and pedoclimates. To achieve effective management ensuring crop productivity while limiting reliance herbi...