MetaFilter posts tagged with ecosystem

The unexpected nature reserve

Chrysostom — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 07:55:19 -0800

Twenty miles or so east of Amsterdam, set between the new towns of Almere and Lelystad, and lying five metres below sea-level, is the youngest wilderness I have ever seen. The Oostvaardersplassen is now a vast region of grassland, reed-bed, shallow lake and ragged forest, over 6,000 hectares in extent. Sea eagles and marsh harriers hunt its wide skies, spoonbills and avocets stalk its marshes, and vast herds of red deer, wild ponies and Heck cattle graze its savannah. But 40 years ago, the Oostvaardersplassen was underwater.

The Longest Time (Coral Triangle Edition)

Blasdelb — Wed, 18 Jul 2012 00:14:08 -0800

Billy Joel has now officially endorsed - The Longest Time (Coral Triangle Edition), by the Barber Lab Quartet The Coral Triangle is one of the most threatened, yet understudied, ecosystems in the world. We are working to understand the processes creating and maintaining biological diversity in this region, while building the capacity of researchers and students to contribute to local conservation efforts. Terima kasih Pak Ngurah Mahardika dan Indonesia untuk menyambut kami! Their blog here

Eyeless Shrimp in the Gulf of Mexico

parudox — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 07:03:29 -0800

In the wake of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Al Jazeera reports on large-scale deformities and mutations in the Gulf of Mexico seafood catch.

In a sympathetic biochemical photo-reactive process, the Biosphere has altered the litho-sphere into the pedosphere, the cryo-sphere, the hydrosphere and the atmosphere*

infinite intimation — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 13:10:17 -0800

The Loess Plateau in China’s Northwest is home to more than 50 million people. Centuries of overuse led to one of the highest erosion rates in the world and widespread poverty. Two projects (results) set out to restore the Loess Plateau. This documentary suggests that it is possible to rehabilitate large-scale damaged ecosystems, to restore ecosystem functions in areas where they have been lost, to fundamentally improve the lives of people who have been trapped in poverty for generations and to sequester carbon naturally. Here speaking at the 20th Richard Jones Memorial Lecture 2011, John D. Liu compares ecosystem function with economic production of wealth 'generated' by production and consumption of goods and services, suggesting a fundamental rethinking of the human economy, he looks back on his career, and discusses his involvement with various environmental restoration projects seeking to return power to the hands of people locally, empowerment which facilitates changes that have global impacts.

Death of Wangari Maathai announced.

maiamaia — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 16:21:09 -0800

I am sorry that Wangari Maathai, inspiring Nobel Peace Prize winner famous for tree-planting programme, has died.

How a river works

Potomac Avenue — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 09:49:43 -0800

What We've done to the Mississippi River: An Explainer The lower reaches of the Mississippi River are being hit by record floods, as detailed on our In Focus photography blog. While there are thousands of news stories about what's happening, I found myself wanting basic knowledge about how the Mississippi works now. It's such a complex hybrid human-natural system with a deep and complex history that it's hard to know where to start. While Humans vs. The Mississippi was most elegantly laid out in John McPhee's stunning story "Atchafalaya," we found ourselves wishing for a simpler tech explainer (or companion piece). How is a levee built? What's a revetment? What does the crucial Old River Control Structure look like? This explainer is intended to delve into these issues. Also: Restoring America's Delta a film by Cornell University. Previously on Mississippi Flooding

Defining Wealth

zarq — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 14:17:15 -0800

SEED Magazine: Wealth of Nations: "Shared natural resources underpin the global economy, but our current economic system does not acknowledge their worth. Can a major new effort to assess the costs of biodiversity loss force a paradigm shift in what we value?" Mentioned in the article: The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) study, "a major international initiative to draw attention to the global economic benefits of biodiversity, to highlight the growing costs of biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation, and to draw together expertise from the fields of science, economics and policy to enable practical actions moving forward." TEEB Reports.

Life, rekindled.

zarq — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 17:10:51 -0800

How does an ecosystem rebound from catastrophe? Thirty years after the blast, Mount St. Helens is reborn again. Interactive Graphic: Blast Zone. Also see National Geographic's feature article from 1981, chronicling that year's eruption. Previously on MeFi The Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument includes a Photo Gallery collection with 109 photographs of "scientific and recreational viewpoints from around the Monument." They even have a high-def volcano cam. Before and After: Photo Gallery Wired: Mount St. Helens Then and Now (From 2009) Mount St. Helens.com also includes a volcano cam. The volcano's page and photo gallery at the USGS Mt. St. Helens Eruptions, a Photo Gallery

Grand Canyon Blow Out.

gman — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 16:26:45 -0800

The U.S. government flooded the Grand Canyon yesterday in the hopes of restoring the ecosystem. Some environmentalists disagree.

Humans vs The Sea

dhruva — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 17:15:00 -0800

A Global Map of Human Impacts to Marine Ecosystems "What happens in the vast stretches of the world's oceans - both wondrous and worrisome - has too often been out of sight, out of mind. The goal of the research presented here is to estimate and visualize, for the first time, the global impact humans are having on the ocean's ecosystems."

Tidal Attraction

Irontom — Wed, 09 Jun 2004 10:50:10 -0800

Tidal Attraction
Strange, delicate, and sometimes delicious, tidepool creatures never cease to fascinate – until they’re gone. Steinbeck knew all about this enchanting world.

The State of the Nation's Ecosystems -

dejah420 — Wed, 25 Sep 2002 01:13:45 -0800

The State of the Nation's Ecosystems - According to a report commissioned five years ago by President Clinton and finally completed and released, the United States may have no streams left that are free from chemical contamination, and about one-fifth of animal species and one-sixth of plant types are at risk of extinction.