Ecology and the Environment

Hi all for Ecologist in the house, what is the systematic position of "Digitalis", i know is a plant specie, its subdivision Any information about geographical forms, subspecies, different races, breeds and populations held in captivity, genetic differences. Its biological description, Any relevant information about geographical origin, current distribution in the wild, areas of domestication, anatomical, morphological and biochemical characteristics, life cycle, population dynamics, food sources and habitat requirements etc Benefits and use in a biodiversity context according to CDB Any relevant information about current status for nature conservation, or function…

Ok, so before you guys look at me crazy, this is research for some leisure sci-fi writing... Where do we get our microbiota from? Like, obviously test tube babies have microbiota too, how do they get them? Do people with relatively large genetic variation exhibit noticeable differences in their microbiota composition? Do people that live in different geographic areas exhibit noticeable differences in their microbiota? If you swapped all my microbiota with someone else's, whom is vastly different from myself (but same sex), would we live?

In spite of the classical notion that interspecific competition constrains niche width it is possible to envision circumstances under which it could cause niche width to increase. For example, reducing the availability of a valuable resource forces an animal to compensate in some fashion: through increased exploitation of the other resources it currently consumes (as classical theory would dictate), or potentially, through exploiting new resources which can mitigate the loss. If more than one alternative resource is incorporated, an animal will have widened their niche as a direct result of interspecific competition. Does anyone know of any studies which have show…

Hi, I have an exam in Ecology on Tuesday morning. But I have dificulties with the null model. For example, how can I make up a null model to see if birds forage at different heights in a wood habitat by chance or by competition. What observations should I make ? Which values should I nullify? Does anybody has an example or an explanation? Thanks in advance

What do u mean by organic? Any food has to be organic. And what do u mean by bio?any vegetable has to be of biological origin. Some foods are labelled bio-organic; but bio already implies it is organic or vice-versa right?

I was thinking of cycles in the environment and how argiculture and civilisation has caused imbalances with the natural cycles. Humanity in particular has outstripped the natural replenishment of nutrients in the soil. Intensive agriculture removes the organic matter locally and moves it as a food source to be consumed by people, who then flush what isn't digested down the toilet and out to sea. Pre-agriculture hunter gatherers would have removed far less from any particular spot, and subsequently redeposited the waste back onto the land. Modern agriculture compensates for this net loss of nutrients, by resupplying the land via synthesised, or mined and imported fertilise…

I'm being lazy and don't want to do any research, but it occurred to me while thinking of possible long term consequences of Round up ready monocultures, that the type and ratios of organic matter, which would normally be left on a field after harvest and dug back in before replanting would vary significantly from the traditional farming practices, which use less efficient methods of removing weeds. Let's take Maize as an example, it obviously has its own nutrient profile, carbon and nitrogen ratios are very important when determining efficiency of composting and returning usable nutrients to the soil. Keeping the amount of carbon down and the amount of nitrogen up is im…

Hi, How did grasslands evolve? When/Where did they come from?. And just like grasslands evolved (example: lets say from barren land to green grass,etc.) , is it possible that nature could create something else?. What I mean by that question is, could nature produce something else? Any idea or along those lines?.

Who knows what? Obviously taking salt out of water costs energy so it is possible to get energy from adding salts(ions) to this water. Or not. If not, why not, and is it worth commercial interest and development? Looking forwards to various opinions facts figures from all sides.

Various sources and map of animal historic ranges Ive read say that red wolves inhabited the Northeast (the sources mention mainly NY and Pennslyvyania, but some also mention Maine), but other sources mention that gray wolves (specifically Lyacon-the eastern subspecies that lives in Canada today) lived in those regions. Its possible they both lived in the same area, but I dont see enough evidence to support that. I believe gray wolves, and some other extinct undocumented subspecies, inhabited the northeast. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_wolf A scientist pointed out that Pennslyvanias wolves looked different from the wolves of the southeast, and looked more li…

Quiz lets discuss what this phenomena indicates....

For all the public commotion over genetically modified plants, invasive plants seem of little public interest. Granted GM plants have the potential to wreak havoc with agriculture and ecosystems, but invasive plants have already been at it for years. Where's the anger? The suspicion? The hue and the cry? Do you know what is and is not invasive where you live? Do you or do you not do anything about it? Do you think it's a non-problem? If you think it's a problem is it the other person's? The goverments' problem(s)? Who should do what, when, where, and for how much expense to thwart the invasive plant onslaught? I never paid much attention until I got on a jag hiking arou…

Who was more successful? If you put both dinosaurs and modern animals in the same word, assuming the could both survive, who would take the upper hand and dominate?

People, Say, you have clover in a pot with a small tree. Now, Clover is supposed to fixate N from the air, and release it into the "dirt". But, IF you add N fertilizer, will the clover "turn it down", and leave the N for the tree to take up, or will it hog some of the N for itself, even if it fixates it from the air? Thaks

In my capacity as PLANETARY ADVOCATE AND SAVIOR(what, you thought only rich guys like Al Gore and Maurice Strong could declare themselves to be such?), I was taking inventory of the global chlorophyll, distribution circa 1998 to 2006. I noticed a distinct deficiency of this very important molecule in the open oceans principally between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. If as some propose there is a current and problematic surplus of carbon dioxide, why not fertilize these waters and encourage pelagic photosynthesis and thereby extract this allegedly injurious molecule from the atmosphere? Many varieties of seaweed are edible or otherwise useful or we could stash a bit …

I congratulate everyone on the forum with this painting - a contribution to environmental protection! I really hope you like it and I share it with love! http://nikibo.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/Z-Ek_www-200-10-10-3.jpg Please leave some comment if you like this artwork!

What determines the theoretical maximum height of a tree ? Some trees are tall but there appears to be a cap on this. How does mass distribution and gravity play a role in this ? Please advise.

As we enter a period of time where predicted changes regarding global climate patterns are huge and many ecosystems are expected to fail to adapt to their new environment, should we be assisting our plants and animals into new locations where they are better equipped to handle the climatic conditions? Changes in the distribution of plants and animals have already been observed in a number of ecosystems. Many plants are predicted not to be able to disperse into new areas fast enough to survive the predicted climatic changes over the coming century. The loss of habitat will undoubtedly have significant ramifications for native wildlife around the world. The idea o…

Rep 1 crop 1 crop 4 crop 3 crop 2 crop 1 crop 5 crop 3 crop 7 crop 1 crop 5 crop 2 crop 3 crop 6 crop 1 crop 3 crop 2 crop 6 crop 1 crop 2 crop 1 crop 1 crop 3 crop 5 crop 2) that represent one rep of rotation trial. four crops are rotated together to represent one farm. all crops are grown every season for 5 seasons. how do i analyse the data?

Vote now. I think that religious people are more likely to believe the whole world is for humans. That human life is good and the more people, the better. But I think that is a very anthropocentric position. I believe the world is very much overpopulated with people. If you fly over the northeastern US, from Boston to New York and beyond you see dense cities that then give way to suburbs but no wilderness, then more dense cities. Flying over the Midwest you see a grid-like pattern of farmlands. All the fertile land is used to feed humans. In the west there is more rocky terrain that can't be farmed. While we can't farm mountainous, rocky terrain we can farm dry area…

Are there ways to reduce Acid Rain? Yes, in fact there were many programs initiated to reduce Acid Rain. One of them being Title IV. This program was passed to reduce emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) from power plants that are fossil fuel-fired. With the implementation of Title IV, there was a significant decline of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions. It is a great way to prevent acid rain. It reduces the emission of SO2 and NOx and PM2.5, which would benefit our health. It also costs less than half of the estimated cost in 1990, which portrays that they are becoming more efficient. While researching this topi…

When it comes to losing weight, and by weight I'm talking like 5 - 10 lbs of abdominal fat is it more beneficial to eat grass fed meat/milk vs. corn fed. I tried looking this up, but could only find non scientific articles on the subject. I shop for food based on cost, so I don't want to spend an extra 100 - 200 dollars a month on grass fed products that have no or little benefit to losing weight and fitness altogether. Thanks!

Hi all, I'm trying to build a list of conservationist strategies and action groups. I think I might list the groups under different strategies. What's your favourite environmental organisations? What do they do, and what strategies do they use? 1. PARKS Do you have a favourite National Park? How can people support it? What groups help create new parks? What's the best way to organise a new park? 2. ARKS What about 'arks', or special zoo's and breeding programs for threatened species? (I'm thinking of the Tasmanian Devil breeding programs, but what animals and support organisations are you passionate about?) 3. BOYCOTTS? What about boycotts? What products do you ref…

A couple years ago 6 goldfish were born from the same batch of eggs and from the same female in my outdoor pond. 4 are black, 2 are orange, and one is yellow. They are all the same size. As they swim, the four black ones always stick together (usually touching or no more than a couple inches apart)—same for the 2 orange. The yellow one is usually by itself. My question is, how does a goldfish know what color it is? I couldn't find a quick answer online.

I know this is a weird question but I can't seem to find any information on the subject?