Tumbleweeds have taken over the High Plains. The plant thrives so well in the western part of Kansas that sometimes they can shut down entire neighborhoods or highways. Plus: An inconspicuous insect is changing what survival looks like as climate change remains a threat.

In old western movies, a lonely tumbleweed will often roll across the screen in the midst of the gunslinging. But today, if you drive across western Kansas on a windy day, you will often see not a lonely tumbleweed, but a swarm of them. This ample supply of blowing weeds can hurt farm yields, wreak havoc on neighborhoods and cause fire dangers. Calen Moore of the Kansas News Service reports on how this pervasive weed made itself part of the culture on the Plains.

A new St. Louis University study examines how rising heat is boosting fertility for treehoppers, a thorn-like insect half the size of a single pea. Researchers found that even as rising temperatures decreased the survival of the juvenile insects, it also unexpectedly boosted fertility in the adults. St. Louis Public Radio’s Marissanne Lewis-Thompson spoke with SLU biology professor and study co-author Kasey Fowler-Finn about how these critters are adapting to the heat.

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Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Jacob Smollen and KCUR Studios, and edited by Gabe Rosenberg, Madeline Fox and Emily Younker.

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