We Are the World

    ‘’One of the penalties of an ecological education is that

one lives alone in a world of wounds’’   

-Aldo Leopold, American conservationist 

Born on this day in 1887, Aldo Leopold is considered by many to be the most influential conservationist of the 20^th century. His research demonstrates highly advanced thinking and the most innovative practice across virtually the entire spectrum of natural resource conservation, policy and management in the first half of the twentieth century.

Educated at Yale,  he went on to become a professor at the University of Wisconsin and published more than 500 scientific works and essays. Also a forester, philosopher, educator,  outdoor enthusiast and writer, he is best known for his work, A Sand County Almanac.

Leopold maintained that we need to think of the environment in terms of a community that includes us as human beings. His innovative concept of the “Land Ethic” broadened the idea of community to include “soils, waters, plants, and animals, or collectively.’’

Wild Thing !

Highland Wildcat (Felis silvestris grampia) 

 

The Scottish or Highland wildcat (Felis sylvestris grampia)  is one of Britain’s most endangered species and only remaining native feline! Part of Scottish history and heritage, the wildcat has populated Britain for over 9000 years and long been admired by the folk of the Scottish Highlands.

One of the main threats to the species is hybridization, as Highland wildcats often breed with domestic cats.  Not only does is it damaging to the genetic integrity of the species, it can seriously compromise the physiology of the animal, causing pain and suffering throughout its life. A progressive neutering program is underway, as is a conservation program sponsored by the RZSS (Royal Zoological Society of Scotland).

   T.S. Eliot  Naming Cats

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXkLgtusza4

 

 

Tuxedo Junction

The whole pageantry

Gentoo Penguin           (Pygoscelis papua)

Good Vibrations: http://bit.ly/1SqHLeU

 

of the year was

awake tingling

near 

the edge of the sea                                                            

            W. Carlos Williams

Who Will Buy ?

Des Glaneuses   JF Millet 1857

Payment for Ecosystem Services

Nature provides us with more than just food, water, & some great views. Every organism on earth serves a purpose & plays a unique role within its ecosystem. These various roles are known as ecosystem services (ESS) and defined  as those goods and services derived from the functions of ecosystems and utilized by humanity.

Aside from furnishing us with things obvious things such as food & water (provisional services), ecosystem services provide us with:

•  Regulating services – filtration of pollutants by wetlands, climate mitigation through carbon  storage and water cycling, pollination. Protection  from flooding

•  Supporting services – soil formation, photosynthesis and nutrient cycling

·     Cultural services – indigenous wisdom/ knowledge, spiritual and aesthetic value & recreation                                                                                                 (Millenium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005)

                                                                                       

A highly effective  scheme to preserve ecosystem services is payment for ecosystem services (PES). Land owners (especially in forested areas) are paid to keep their land intact and cultivate it, rather than degrade it.  They are compensated via a plan certified by an appropriate organisation. The org acquires funding from companies who desire to offset their carbon footprint. So, it’s a win-win for all involved. Local people gain livelihoods & enjoy improved health & wellbeing. Damage from greenhouse gases is mitigated, & ecosystems remain intact.

The Name Game

The Mock Turtle’s Story

"Very true", said the Duchess:                         

"Flamingos and mustard both bite.”

And the moral of that is – 
“Birds of a feather flock together."                       
"Only, mustard isn’t a bird", Alice remarked. 

"Right as usual,” said the Duchess: 
"what a clear way you have of putting things!"                    "It’s a mineral, I think," said Alice. 
"Of course it is" said the Duchess,      
 who seemed ready to agree to everything

                                                       

  Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, 1865                                                 Lewis Carroll 

Since we share our planet with anywhere from 1.5 million-30 million species of organisms, there is a need to 1) identify them; 2) name them; 3) organize these species into categories which reflect their characteristics & evolutionary relationships.  Such is the science of taxonomy. 

Binomial nomenclature (remember high school biology?) refers to the  scientific name (not Latin name- this is a misnomer-as many names have Greek origins) of an organism. Black mustard, for example, Brassica nigra, belongs to the genus, Brassica and the species, nigra.  This precise way of naming things (thanks to Carl Linnaeus ) not only provides us with evolutionary information about the organism, it also allows us to unambiguously refer to and communicate internationally about a particular species.

Do You Believe in Magic?

Brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)

A wonderful bird is the pelican.
His beak can hold more than his belly can. 

He can hold in his beak
enough food for a week.
But I'll be darned if I know 

how the hellican!

              - Dixon Lanier Merritt

Fossil records indicate that pelicans have changed little over the last 30 million years. They are found on all continents except Antarctica and are often persecuted by fishermen who perceive them as competition, although scientific evidence proves otherwise.

Quite iconic, the pelican has long been a symbol in mythology, magic, & religion; the Egyptians considered it a goddess as did early Peruvian cultures. Pelicans frequently peck at their breasts whilst preening, and in Medieval Europe it was thought that these avian mothers were so caring of their young that they wounded their breasts to nurse them with their own blood.  This myth of self-sacrifice launched the pelican into Christian symbolism. Elizabeth I of England wore the symbol on her chest, and the pelican feeding her young appeared in the first edition of the King James Bible in 1611.

Can't Find my Way Home...

Sycamore (Acer Pseudoplatanus)

When we are stricken and cannot bear our lives any longer, then a tree 

has something to say to us: Be still ! Be still ! Look at me! 

              Life is not easy, life is not difficult. Those are childish thoughts. . . .

 Home is neither here nor there. Home is within you, or home is nowhere at all. 

 

                                    Herman Hesse, Trees: Reflections and Poems

                                                                                           Published 1984