Wildlife and Habitat
What is a woodland pool?
While walking through the forest in early spring, you might hear a raucous quacking off in the distance. Make your way toward the sound, and you’ll likely find a small pool of water bustling with activities. [Read more…] about What is a woodland pool?
Tuning in to the soundscape
The last time you took a walk through the woods or a meadow, you may have admired the towering trees, a boldly patterned butterfly, or a beautifully plumaged bird. But were you aware of the sounds around you—from both wildlife and human sources? [Read more…] about Tuning in to the soundscape
The sound of spring
In the Northeast, one of the first signs of spring is the unmistakable calling of the spring peeper. While this small frog weighs only a few grams, its mating call is louder than that of many songbirds ten times its size. [Read more…] about The sound of spring
A tale of birds and buildings
The average bird can cruise between three-inch openings in dense woodlands at upwards of 20-30 mph—so it may seem safe to assume they can easily maneuver around giant city buildings. Unfortunately for our feathered friends, that’s just not the case. [Read more…] about A tale of birds and buildings
All about hibernation
We know that certain mammals hibernate in the winter. But it turns out, there are a couple of different approaches to hibernation. [Read more…] about All about hibernation
Who shares the planet with us?
Today conservation biologists, much like the early explorers of North America, strive to describe the variety of life living on Earth, from plants and animals to microbes. [Read more…] about Who shares the planet with us?
How mammals survive the winter
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I go birdwatching at least once a week, even in the winter. When I’m walking on unplowed roads or trails, I see lots of animal tracks. It seems that our northeastern forests are lively places even in the winter. [Read more…] about How mammals survive the winter
Reconciling the needs of humans and animals
We’ve talked a lot on this program about the importance of biodiversity. Diverse populations of birds, animals, and insects provide important services to people, including pollination, pest control, and nutrient cycling. [Read more…] about Reconciling the needs of humans and animals
The history and future of mass extinctions
Speciation and extinction are ordinary processes in the natural world. In speciation, new species evolve that are adapted to a particular ecological niche. In extinction, species are lost for good, often because changes in the environment deprive them of the food or habitat to which they are adapted. [Read more…] about The history and future of mass extinctions
Frankenbugs?
There are few creatures more deadly than the tiny Aedes aegypti mosquito, which transmits malaria, dengue fever and other infectious diseases. Malaria is one of the world’s great killers, claiming about 800,000 lives each year. [Read more…] about Frankenbugs?
Pharmaceutical pollution leads to fearless fish
Researchers in Sweden have found that when wild perch are exposed to Oxazepam, a common anti-anxiety medication, they undergo surprising changes in their behavior and feeding rate. [Read more…] about Pharmaceutical pollution leads to fearless fish
Acid rain: Progress but not triumph
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Though not in the news as much as it once was, acid rain remains a problem. Most of our energy needs are derived from burning fossil fuels, such as coal and gasoline. Power plants, factories, and vehicles give off sulfur and nitrogen oxide emissions, which react in the atmosphere to form sulfuric and nitric acids. These acids are then deposited back onto the landscape in rain, snow, fog, or particles. [Read more…] about Acid rain: Progress but not triumph
An Oregon Mountain high
More than 50 years ago, an ecologist, Robert Whittaker, studied the distribution and abundance of plants at high elevations in the Siskiyou Mountains of Oregon. Like many early ecologists, he was interested in what grew where, and what controlled the distribution of plants. Mountains were a convenient natural laboratory because many different natural habitats occurred in close proximity. Whittaker’s field notes were left in an archive at Cornell University, when he died in 1980. [Read more…] about An Oregon Mountain high
Loss of Arctic ice claims two more victims
Polar bears were the first animals to gain Endangered Species Act protection as a result of climate change. At a press conference announcing their listing some five years ago, then Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne acknowledged that warming was shrinking the sea ice essential to the bear’s survival. [Read more…] about Loss of Arctic ice claims two more victims
Collective action on invasive species
Recently, two Cary Institute scientists spoke out about what citizens can do to prevent the spread of invasive species. Forest ecologist Gary Lovett and freshwater ecologist David Strayer had a number of practical recommendations. [Read more…] about Collective action on invasive species
Are falconers more effective than scarecrows?
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Falconry is an ancient sport, believed to have originated in the Mongolian steppes some 3,500 years ago. Before the days of firearms, the art of training bird of prey to hunt in the wild – and submit to a human – was a prized skill. It’s often associated with nobility; France’s Louis the XIII is said to have kept some 300 falcons. [Read more…] about Are falconers more effective than scarecrows?
Fish have to eat
My colleague Emma Rosi-Marshall is an aquatic ecologist at the Cary Institute. One of her research projects involves an endangered fish called the humpback chub. She and her team spend a lot of time counting insects in the Colorado River downstream of the Glen Canyon Dam. You might think her time would be better spent counting the actual fish, but her approach will provide us with a lot more information. [Read more…] about Fish have to eat
When the cure is worse than the disease
The explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil well caused nearly 5 million barrels of oil to spew into the Gulf of Mexico. Countermeasures included physical barriers such as booms and the use of chemical dispersants to break up the oil slicks. [Read more…] about When the cure is worse than the disease
Saving species isn’t cheap, but it's sure worth it
