http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/10/redwoods/redwoods-interactive

Ever wonder all of  the history and important dates and events the giant redwoods have been alive to witness, well on the National Geographic Interactive website you can do just that.   This website created a time line of one redwood tree using its tree rings and shows the huge length of time these trees have been alive, the tree they focus on has been alive  since around 1180!    These trees have been alive throughout major points in history like the Magna Carta being signed in 1215, Christopher Columbus’ journey to the Caribbean in 1492, the American revolution of the 1770’s, the founding of the national parks in 1872, and natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina in 2005.    This website also maps these huge giants along California’s coast and shows  two National Geographic employees journey through the forests, which lasted a year.    The final part of the website, and one of the most interesting pats, is the the focus on the canopy ecosystem of these giants, which is rarely accessed and studied.    Hundreds of feet up in the air on the branches of the giant redwoods, thrives an usually unseen ecosystem, full of plants and animals, including berry bushes and ferns as well as the Marbled Murrelet an endangered bird, salamanders, and chipmunks.   Over the years soil has formed on these huge redwood branches, and in some cases this soil is up to three feet deep, which allows for the thriving ecosystem up in the trees.   This National Geographic Interactive web site is a great tool to learn about the giant redwood forests, see all of the history these trees have witnessed, and get a glimpse at an ecosystem that few see and study.

As we are moving into the topic of biosphere, we have been discussing factors that influence the growth of trees: temperature, rain, soil, sunlight, etc. We see a clear connection between physical geography and biomes i.e. how one affects the other. In addition, most of our NPS presentations touched on the effects of physical changes – atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere – on a local species.

It is, however, very interesting to read about the indoor farming. This idea has been created and experimented by a Dutch bioengineer, Gertjan Meeuws, in Den Bosche, the Netherlands. What he is doing does not support what we learn from class, but is very thought-provoking: what kind of conditions can we control to be able to grow plants indoor?

Certainly, this method requires good combinations of light, soil, humidity, and temperature. This is different from the greenhouse conditions because natural sunlight is excluded. However, Meeuws claimed that the growth rate from this method is three times faster than under greenhouse conditions. This method requires LED bulbs which can be expensive, but the cost is getting lower nowadays. Moreover, the indoor farming does not need pesticides, and requires about 90 percent less water than outdoor agriculture.

Other benefits from this way of farming is that it may be one of the answers to the world’s food problems. Food prices are unstable because the climate conditions are uncontrollable i.e. floods, droughts, etc. Not only do we face the price problems, but the limited resources are also challenged by the growth of population. The United Nations predicts that, by mid-century, the world population will increase from 6.8 billion to 9 billion. To feed so many people we expand farmlands at the expense of forests and the wilderness, we also increase crop yields in artificial and radical ways. But, indoor farming is a great alternative to respond to more food demand. It is even possible where farmland is scarce like in a city. Since half the people on Earth lives in cities, it would be a good idea to grow some plants in cities to reduce the transportation cost, especially when the oil price is rising steadily.

source: http://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Future-farm-a-sunless-rainless-room-indoors-1331582.php

This semester we’ve come in contact a few times with wildlife corridors, including one of our guest lectures and the Y2Y corridor. We talked about the importance of them and the importance of conserving areas for wildlife in a rapidly changing landscape. This website, Serengeti Watch, provides insight to a threatened wildlife corridor that could have a huge impact on the livelihoods of many and the success of Tanzania as a country. The government of Tanzania is acting on a highway plan that will cut straight through Serengeti National Park, one of the largest wildlife corridors in the world and a home to the largest migration route for countless species including the wildebeest and zebra. As we know, the disruption of habitats through land use change can lead to extinction, island bio-geography, and edge effects among many other detrimental issues. This website provides a way to learn about the vast impacts of the highway and advocates for the “alternate route” to the south. While President  Kikwete argues that the highway will provide economic success on a local and national level by connecting rural villages and allowing for more goods and services to pass through the area, the Serengeti draws in millions of tourists which greatly add to the national income. This website provides many news articles both for and against the highway and provides links for users to take action. It keeps up to date news stories and developments on the issues and is a great educational resource for the highway debate. It looks at the challenges and impacts of the near future as well as the far off future, as well as addressing the impacts through many scopes. The loss of this corridor could mean the deaths of several thousand wildebeest alone. Save the Serengeti provides a current example of the threats to wildlife and wildlife corridors because of human impacts. Its definitely an interesting topic and debate as to whether the needs of humans and wildlife can/must be compromised, definitely an interesting topic!

http://www.savetheserengeti.org/issues/stop-the-serengeti-highway/#axzz1Jo2KvJCI

The National Geographic website has a new interactive feature on life in the Gulf after the oil spill.  The graphic first allows users to select a layer of life that includes: the coastal ecosystems, bright surface, twilight zone, and dark and teeming.  Once a user selects the layer they prefer, the site opens up a new picture depicting the different forms of life found in this layer.  The user can then select the different plants and animals that live in the chosen layer, causing a description to pop up about its impact on the region and general information on the species. The site allows the user to learn about the different plants and animals that live in the gulf–many of which the average person is not familiar with.

The neat aspect of this interactive map is that it not only gives the user an in depth look at each layer of life, but it also shows how different specifies continue to be affected by the oil spill.  The site states that the golf oil spill has, “tested nature's resilience at every layer.”

While the disaster occurred many months ago, the impact on the biodiversity of the region continues to be seriously harmed.  It was the largest marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry and plants and life forms are still recovering even almost a year later.  Many people in the region rely on the productive biodiversity for economic reasons, as thousands of fisheries going out of business.  The Gulf Oil spill was something we should never forget, and this interactive map reminds us of how diverse the region is, hopefully leading us to find other places for deep water drilling.

Enjoy the link below to explore life in the Gulf!

Gulf life Interactive Graphic