Category: Conservation
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How Diverse Canopies Absorb More Carbon
As the climate crisis becomes more dire, planting trees and turning green space into forest is no longer enough to balance carbon emissions. Negative emissions technologies need to be implemented, but also, existing forests and other ecosystems need to be optimized for maximum productivity. Managing forests and other ecosystems will allow them to perform photosynthesis […]
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Sapelo Island Week Three
Sea oats have everything you are looking for looking for in a plant: shade tolerance, perenniality, general hardiness. They provide food for small mammals and birds, can be used for bird nesting material, and host Skipper butterfly caterpillars. Gardeners and home decorators are encouraged to purchase sea oat seeds from nurseries rather than pick their […]
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Mother Russia, Father Oil
A reindeer herder stares in dismay at the slick rainbow liquid suffocating the grass. It signifies another unreported spill by the oil and gas company that infiltrated the land some years back. The community has something of a partnership with the oil and gas company, despite the unfortunate outcomes for the local environment. Executives receive […]
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Tap Tap Tap In
It’s the time of year that little green buds start appearing on trees, demanding sugars from the system at large to help them grow. As a result, sap starts to flow through the xylem from the roots to the leaves. Although it may be hard for some to believe that tapping trees can be sustainable, […]
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Water Buffalo For Coastal Conservation
Reactive nitrogen in the atmosphere lasts approximately 110 years and has an impact on ozone production, acid rain, particle formation and growth, and deposition to soil and water which can damage agricultural productivity and harm ecosystem balances. While research on wet and dry deposition of nitrate (NO3) from fossil fuel combustion emissions of nitrous oxides […]
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Swampland
Today marks the SIXTH YEAR ANNIVERSARY of definearth! Thank you so much for reading and participating in my posts about science in the world around us. In honor of the blog’s birthday, today I am posting a short review of a study on two Kenyan communities that came together to improve their local swamps. Manguo […]
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Maybe All Invasive Species Aren’t Terrible?
I explore the idea that perhaps non-native plants are chaotic neutral.
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Mkuze Wetland: The True Story
Cattle graze the reeds that stand along the water’s edge of South Africa’s Mkuze wetland. The same collection of reeds will be used by local people to make roofing, mats, and baskets. Parts of other plants will become poles or firewood. Many families, including the growing amount of poverty-stricken female-lead households, depend on resources offered […]
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In the Name of Earth Day
Today was an Earth Day unlike all the rest. Not that the environmental movement has ever lost its gusto in our hearts, but this year in particular everyone seemed to band together with the proposition that we need to do more for Earth. It was also a different day because I didn’t spend it picking […]
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Journey to the Central Sands and Beyond
Beautiful vistas clog up my phone memory at the moment. I don’t want them to clutter up this post, so I’m only sharing the best from my orientation trip for grad school. We visited many agricultural sites including a potato farm, cranberry bog, dairy farm and free range cattle operation. We also stopped at Frank’s […]
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