Ecology

Nature Diary — 27th May 2023 — Mottisfont National Trust House and Garden — The UK has been enjoying some rare sunshine in the last week, so we made the most of it to make a visit to Mottisfont which is a National Trust house and garden near Romsey (UK). Since many of Medium’s readers are from outside the UK, it is worth explaining…

All species interact with the planet in a gazillion ways. Obviously. Except that us humans, over millennia, have created layers of physical and conceptual/mythical abstractions atop the planet. Today we’re at a juncture where we interact only with these layers, by and large, and hardly with the planet. This is…

20 years ago, when I wrote an article in Asian Water Magazine on the invasive organisms that are spreading havoc around the world via the ballast water carried by ships, it won me an award at the World Water Forum held in Tokyo. But, I had never actually seen for…

Individual superb fairy-wrens help their families and friends before helping strangers, suggesting these songbirds recognize which social tier individual birds belong to © by GrrlScientist for Forbes Socials: Mastodon | Spoutible | CounterSocial | Post.News | Tribel | Bluesky | LinkedIn | Twitter What do people and fairy-wrens have in…

The woes of the cost of materials in an affluent society As a maker, I sometimes wish for the good old days. Not because they were necessarily better, mostly they weren’t. Not because I am now old, though by some calendars I guess that I am. Let me start by…

CT scans reveal unique asymmetrical cranial anatomy, similar to an owl, may be key to the survival of Australia’s critically endangered night parrot © by GrrlScientist for Forbes Socials: Mastodon | Spoutible | CounterSocial | Post.News | Tribel | Bluesky | LinkedIn A couple years ago, I shared with you…

Nature isn’t a single system; We shouldn’t personify the Earth; It will only mislead us — This article is a rebuttal I’m triggered right now by Umair Haque’s article “Why the Economics of Our Civilization Point to Collapse.” Here are the salient points edited for length: “Orthodox economics tells us that the most productive things on planet earth are…us. We make computers and cars and rockets and so forth. . …

Monday, May 22, 2023 — The dictionary definition of Biodiversity is: noun 1. the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem. There’s a simple thing you can do at your own home to help your local biodiversity thrive: introduce native plants and flowers to your yard and let them…

Nature Diary 24th May — Cute Cygnets At Caen Hill — Back at Caen Hill Locks near Devizes (UK) and all six cygnets have survived and thrived since we last saw them. The busy parents have done their job well in the face of all the threats. The parent swans can be aggressive at this time of year in defence of…