voltagegate | March 25, 2007The folks at Blog Carnival have chosen Oekologie to be their featured carnival today! It will also be added to the list of 40 or so staff favorites out of over 1,300 on the site.
I'm honored by their choice and I'm sure Jen is as well.
Have you sent in your submission yet for next month's edition, hosted at Behavioral Ecology Blog?
voltagegate | March 24, 2007From a human perspective, deserts, like tundras, seem barren and desolate, inhabited by organismal oddities, pressed into their respective niches by patch of bad luck, or a salt flat, as it were. But thinking beyond our prejudice, seeing through the eyes of a camel or transpiring through the stomata of a saguaro cactus, some conception of deserts as biologically viable and diverse regions of the planet can be gained. Life may not be particularly abundant in most of these areas, but it is varied, unique and beautiful.
For the most part, deserts occur in a consistent band at 30 degrees north…
voltagegate | March 24, 2007"I do not yet want to form a hypothesis to test, because as soon as you make a hypothesis, you become prejudiced. Your mind slides into a groove, and once it is in that groove, has difficulty noticing anything outside of it. During this time, my sense must be sharp; that is the main thing... to be sharp, yet open."
-Bernd Heinrich
voltagegate | March 23, 2007A little arboreal humor to start the weekend, via Invasive Species Weblog.
voltagegate | March 23, 2007The National Wildlife Federation is starting to sound like my mother. "Stop staring at that screen and go get some fresh air. And when are you going to clean up your apartment?"
They want everyone outside during the week of April 21, challenging participants to a neighborhood bioblitz-off during that week. You can download a checklist of animals from their website, find what you can, and then share your discoveries on their website. More info from NWF below the fold.
Get outdoors, enjoy the sights and smells of spring and celebrate National Wildlife Week, April 21-29! Whatever your age or…
voltagegate | March 23, 2007In Kaziranga National Park in India, four endangered one-horned rhinos (Rhinceros unicornis) have been found dead in the past few weeks, while our own legislators battle over measures to curb the spread of brucellosis from bison to cattle.
In Indian myth, the one- horned rhino is a divine beast, often depicted carrying the universe on its back in the form of the preserver god, Vishnu. Many historians believe that it was also responsible for the ancient fairy tales of the unicorn. So why were the rhinos shot? Mysticism, ironically, under the guise of "traditional medicine."
Their horns -- made…
voltagegate | March 23, 2007European researchers at several institutions have found evidence that supports another one of Darwin's speculations: A male roe deer's antlers are representative of the individual's attributes, and thus play a central role in sexual selection.
Jean-Michel Gaillard comments, "Our results provide evidence that antler size of male roe deer mainly reflects their age and body mass, and is more resilient to variation in environmental conditions such as climate, food resources, and density."
"Body mass and age are both reliable descriptors of individual quality in most vertebrates and have been…
voltagegate | March 22, 2007According to a recent international assessment, overfishing has brought 20 of the world's 162 species of grouper - a culinary delight around the world - to close to extinction for comfort:
Eight species previously were listed by the World Conservation Union (IUCN) as under extinction threat, and the new assessment proposes adding 12 more.
A panel of 20 experts from 10 nations determined the extinction threat facing groupers, which are the basis of the multimillion-dollar live reef food fish trade based in Hong Kong and comprise one of the most valuable groups of commercial fishes in chilled…
voltagegate | March 22, 2007"Modern Society will find no solution to the ecological problem unless it takes a serious look at its lifestyles."
-Pope John Paul II
voltagegate | March 22, 2007The other day I made a passing comment about the issue of using celebrity as a face for conservation:
I have a few tough questions for the organizers of the event, mostly about the questionable choice of using celebrity to promote and give a face to conservation. It has worked for promoting purely humanitarian causes in the past, but is this movement different and should it be addressed in a different manner? Furthermore, where are the young Goodalls and Attenboroughs of the world? Surely they would be glad to step up and reach out to people instead of a polarizing, disconnected celebrity.…
voltagegate | March 21, 2007Here's what other folks are saying about the rally:
A faith based review from BPT
A nice photo essay and review from JohnKerry.com
A review from the Daily Kos
Some bland irreverence from a bland dissenter (C'mon, man. I know you can do better than that!)
What Sour N Sweet learned at Action Day
Sylvia's experience at the rally and her thoughts on Barbara Boxer
Zandria really meant to go, but the DC metropolitan area can be a bit confusing
If you've written a post reviewing the event (or plan on it) leave a comment on this post or e-mail me; I'll add your link to the post.
voltagegate | March 21, 2007It was a beautiful day for a rally yesterday, and the turnout was pretty good. One article claimed 1,500 attendees, but that number seems a bit high.
This was the latest rally sponsored in part by the Alaska Wilderness League, the last one held at the Capitol in 2005 focusing on ANWR and the plight of native wildlife and indigenous peoples in the area. The focus this year was much the same, with more emphasis on global warming than oil procurement. Speakers ranged from John Kerry to Alaskan leaders and villagers to the legendary DC DJ "The Weasel", promoting 94.7 The Globe, the area's first "…
voltagegate | March 20, 2007Researchers from the University of Montana are using bee hives as a sort of early warning system for chemicals and pathogens by analyzing the change in frequency of "collective buzzing" when exposed to contaminants:
"We found bees respond within 30 seconds or less to the presence of a toxic chemical," said Research Professor Jerry Bromenshenk. "The military is interested in that for countering terrorism. But the real surprise was that the sounds bees produce can actually tell what chemical is hitting them."
The insects also make different sounds when attacked by honeybee maladies such as…
voltagegate | March 19, 2007I have been waiting about six months to see this. Here's just a sample:
Planet Earth starts this coming Sunday, March 25 at 8 p.m. on Discovery (if you hadn't seen the huge ad at the top of the page).
voltagegate | March 19, 2007
Well, tomorrow is the big day. In 24 hours I'll be riding the Metro into DC to join thousands of others in support of Climate Crisis Action Day. It starts at 11 a.m. EST with a rally on the west lawn of the Capitol (facing the mall), where several unnamed speakers will address global warming, ANWR and legislation issues regarding both. Supposedly, several "celebrities" will also be in tow, providing their "expertise" on climate change.
I hope we are given the chance to speak to the speakers (so to speak) tomorrow morning; I have a few tough questions for the organizers of the event, mostly…
voltagegate | March 18, 2007Hello and welcome (or welcome back) to the reincarnation of The Voltage Gate here at ScienceBlogs. I'm excited to be a part of such a diverse community.
For those of you that are familiar with the old site, business will be as usual; for those unfamiliar, I blog mostly about ecology, evolution and conservation, but occasionally chatter on about culture and religion.
I've included a few samples of material from the old site below, just to get a head start. Also, the banner is due for a change; I will begin rotating monthly biome illustrations to highlight the growing list of ecology basics…
voltagegate | March 18, 2007A cheetah crouches, shoulders hunched, barely visible through golden stems. The antelope on the edge of the herd has stopped chewing, and scans the horizon with a nervous eye. As it takes a step forward to rejoin the safety of the group, the cheetah makes her move, bounding with impossibly huge leaps towards her prey. The entire herd is on the move with her first step, but the stray is dangerously lagging behind. It flies only for a few seconds before the cheetah leaps one final time, clinging to the young antelope's rump with all her strength, pulling the animal to the ground for the coup de…
voltagegate | March 18, 2007"Everybody knows that the autumn landscape in the north woods is the land, plus a red maple, plus ruffed grouse. In terms of conventional physics, the grouse represents only a millionth of either the mass or the energy of an acre. Yet subtract the grouse and the whole thing is dead."
-Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac