I found a website that has looked at the bird migration in each region of the United States and is tracking their movements. For each region, they have multiple charts with specific birds to see which ones have been moving more in the past week, and which ones have been moving less in the past week. It would be cool to go on this website for a whole year and see what birds migrate at different times, and how consistent this timing is over the years. There is also an animation that basically shows bird migration over the past few months.

Within this website, there is an interesting link that further expand upon bird migration. This link defines each region (i.e., what states are in each region), and then talks about when they would expect bird migration. It talks about when you would expect the species to arrive first, then when the number of birds arriving would begin to increase rapidly, when the number would peak, when they would start to leave, and when the final bird would leave. This website is relatively new (created in 2015), so I’m not entirely sure how accurate these predictions would be, but nonetheless it is still interesting.

link: http://birdcast.info/forecast/regional-migration-analysis-10-17-november-2017/#MidwestNortheast

A view of the Chihuahuan Desert, situated in parts of western Texas and Mexico. Three biosphere reserves are located in this desert.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), famously known for their World Heritage Sites, also has an extensive biosphere reserves program, established under the umbrella of their Ecological Sciences for Sustainable Development department. These biosphere reserves are internationally recognized conservation zones found all over the world, incorporating marine, coastal, and terrestrial ecosystems. In addition to functioning as conservation zones that preserve biodiversity, these biosphere reserves also serve as areas for scientific study, particularly in the fields of sustainability, ecology, and human development. To ensure that these biosphere reserves are properly functioning and effectively managed, UNESCO conducts a periodic review process every ten years to ensure that each reserve measures up to the international standards.

Biosphere reserve in Cuba.

This website provides an overview of biosphere reserves and their mission and lists each of the 669 biosphere reserves around the world, first by region and then by country. Here is the list for Europe and North America, and here is the list specifically for the United States. UNESCO’s biosphere reserves website relates to our class discussion of the biosphere and the importance of biodiversity in maintaining healthy ecosystems. As climate change intensifies, we see a greater need for the creation and maintenance of conservation zones like UNESCO’s biosphere reserves. However, this website also reveals that this needed maintenance is in fact not occurring. Unfortunately, in 2017, twenty biosphere reserves were withdrawn from the global list, seventeen of which were in the United States alone, and all of which were withdrawn because of their poor performance in UNESCO’s periodic review. This raises important questions about our national and global priorities for the future of such important biosphere reserves. Will we make preserving biodiversity through biosphere reserves and other forms of conservation a priority? Or will we continue to let vital ecosystems in our biosphere flounder and disappear?

There’s a section https://www.nps.gov/seki/learn/historyculture/gfmain.htm on the National Park Service’s website that discusses the restoration of Sequoia National Park’s “Giant Forest,” which contains one of the largest groves of the “[a]we-inspiring” sequoia trees that are found only on moist areas along the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. This site gives a brief overview of “giants'” decision to commence the Giant Forest restoration project and of the goals of the project, then gives, at the end of the page, links to pages with before-and-after photos, descriptions of visitors’ experiences, information regarding the impact of human development on the area, and information regarding the natural ecosystem of the Great Forest and the successful restoration of the area’s soil and vegetation. I thought the before-and-after photos were particularly interesting because they illustrated just how much has changed since the commencement of the project in the late 1990s. The site said that since the project began, 231 acres of land have been restored and 282 buildings have been demolished (and the few visitor facilities that remain have been converted into buildings that can only be accessed/used during the daytime), but a picture is worth a thousand words. The before-and-after pictures illustrate just how much natural beauty human encroachment/development/influence robbed the forest of.

While the Giant Forest was saved from the devastating effects of logging when it was designated part of Sequoia National Park, the effects of human encroachment were still seen in the changed drainage patterns, the clearing of trees, and the depletion of topsoil organic matter. The Giant Forest was in desperate need of restoration, and thankfully, the restoration project started in the late 1990s was a resounding success in that it both achieved its original goal — to restore the natural landscape — and it demonstrated just how large an impact a group of dedicated conservationists can have.

The website ThoughtCo. offers various articles on multiple subjects, including physical geography, political geography, urban geography, climate, etc.  Their goal is to provide resources for students and teachers of geography through articles, images, maps, etc. that explore these various topics within geography.  One article within the category of physical geography explains oxbow lakes.

https://www.thoughtco.com/physical-geography-4133032

Oxbow Lake beside the Amazon River

Water in rivers flows faster on the outside of its curve than it does on the inside.  This creates erosion and decay that does not happen on the inside, creating the final curved shape.  The neck of the loop eventually erodes to the point of cutting itself off from the main river, creating the separate body of water known as the oxbow lake.  Oxbow lakes can also be initiated by humans in order to meet navigational needs.

Oxbow lakes are bodies of water that are cut off from the river in which it began.  They are unconnected but still close by since they were originally part of the river.  Oxbows get their name from the bow-like appearance of them, due to the nature of rivers’ curvature.  The water in these lakes no longer flows, but relies on precipitation, sometimes just becoming swamps.  Due to lack of outside water, these oxbow lakes often evaporate entirely within a few years of breaking off from the river.  As climate change continues to rise, these lakes will evaporate at faster rates.  This reinforces the rising issue of water scarcity and the impact that humans have on it.  In the United States, Oxbow lakes can be found along the Mississippi River and in Crater Lake, Iowa.