Copper beard orchids (Calochilus campestris) near Mallacoota, VIC - colourful heathland plants with wider beards + longer dark hairs than other forms of this variable orchid growing nearby (and flowering earlier) in roadside gravel.
Interesting beard orchid (Calochilus sp.) near Narrabarba, NSW. Probably C. campestris but some similarities to C. saprophyticus which has been recorded near this location. Very shy to flower - usually only opens for a day or two.
Late Leopard Orchid (Diuris semilunulata) near Square Rock, Namadgi NP, ACT. Another orchid out a little earlier than usual in the mountains this year - grows alongside Diuris sulphurea in places (with some possible hybrids of the two).
Copper beard orchid (Calochilus campestris) variations at Genoa (left) and Mallacoota (right). Both forms were growing on roadside verges and wide open on a coolish, cloudy day.
Many plants at Mallacoota are very similar to the Genoa form with impressive 'moustaches' while the plants with longer/bushier beards probably have the best 'eyes' and most aggressive/annoyed facial expressions ;)
Black Mountain (ACT) orchids - Dusky Fingers, Waxlips and Brown Caps out in one spot, but not much out at all in others (although I only had a quick look!) Canberra has had pretty much exactly the average rainfall for this calendar year so far - but local bush land and forests still felt a little drier than most really good orchid seasons. Might have to wait until the montane species start to flower later in spring / early summer now to put a lot of time into looking for Canberra orchids.
"Living landscapes are a form of infrastructure in the sense that forests, for example, clean our water and our air."
"...It is not enough simply to restore natural systems to their former condition. “There is no ‘pure nature’ that’s outside of us, untouched up there in the foothills somewhere...We’ve ‘made’ the world what it is already, so now we need to take a very, very strong hand in the remaking. … A big part of climate adaptation may simply be unbuilding what we’ve already built.”
"A big part of climate adaptation may simply be unbuilding what we’ve already built. Rather than thinking of design as something merely additive or “beautifying,” we need to think about undoing our environmental mistakes, like damming rivers, bulkheading our shorelines, and concretizing streams. We need to start making room for rivers and floods."
We’re super excited to announce the addition of 2 new Penguins to our (very local, plush) Penguin Colony: 2 Gentoo penguins (far right in photo) named GenOne & GenTwo. 😉 We now have 5 Emperor + 2 Gentoo Penguins! 😍 It’s probably the only penguin colony in Tucson, AZ, USA! 🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧🐧
Slender sun orchids (Thelymitra pauciflora), Gipsy Point, VIC. With this variable orchid there is always a good chance that larger populations include plants that are either a) hybrids or b) similar species that are hard to tell apart from T. pauciflora ;)
Quick summary:
• Earth is exceeding its "safe operating space for humanity" in six out of nine key measurements, including #climate, #biodiversity, and land health.
• The oceans' acidity, #airquality, and ozone layer health are the only factors within safe boundaries, but #pollution levels for both air and water are increasing.
• Cleaning up land and saving forests could be one of the most effective ways to combat #climatechange, according to computer simulations.
Europe’s insect apocalypse may mostly be driven by changing weather, not habitat loss or pesticides. This is a surprising finding from a new study analysing 50 years of data on more than 12,000 insect species across 81 countries. This worries the future of biodiversity and ecosystem services, as climate change is expected to worsen and bring more extreme weather events. #insects#climatechange#biodiversity
🌌 This PBS Terra #video discusses the importance of darkness in maintaining healthy #ecosystems.
🌃 Artificial lighting disrupts #sleep, wastes #energy, diminishes our connection to the #universe, and harms #wildlife and #biodiversity. Encouraging responsible use of lighting and promoting #education can help achieve a balance between human needs and preserving the natural darkness of the night.
Intro post! Hi all, my name is Janne, I'm an evolution and biodiversity researcher and first year PhD student in #brisbane#australia on split duties between the QLD Museum and Griffith University. I'm interested in the environmental drivers of biodiversity and niche evolution, and their interaction with climate.
Really important #paper in @Nature which includes @envagency#invertebrate monitoring data along with European datasets showing that recovery of #freshwater invertebrates has come to a halt since 2010
Niue has nearly exhausted its climate mitigation options and its focus now is on adaptation, the island's Premier Dalton Tagelagi says. Tagelagi told RNZ Pacific that Niue's contribution to global warming is one-thousandth of a percentage point (0.0001%) and they are already halfway to achieving their renewable energy target of...
Silencing biodiversity
Biophony is the collective sound produced by all living organisms that reside in a particular biome. It is not about a 'decontextualized single-species recording model'. Bernie Krause is recording "the “Great Animal Orchestra,” a constantly shapeshifting constellation of individual voices in motion, and he termed their symphonic soundscape a ‘biophony’ — all of the “sounds originating from nonhuman, nondomestic biological sources.”
In 1988 he recorded the so-called selective logging of a timber company:
"The outcome was a spectrogram with a remarkable density throughout all frequency bands, as could be expected for a habitat replete with the most diverse animal life. In 1989, he returned to the meadow after the operation had been completed for a second session under the exact same conditions and at the exact same time. In keeping with what had been promised by the logging company, the place still looked as though it was teeming with life — “I was delighted to see that little seemed to have changed,” as Krause remarked. Back in the studio and after a look at his spectrogram, he had to revise that impression: “Gone was the thriving density and diversity of birds. Gone, too, was the overall richness that had been present the year before. The only prominent sounds were the stream and hammering of a Williamson’s sapsucker.” The ear, then, turned out to be capable of detecting the true state of the habitat much more precisely and truthfully than the eye ever could."
‘What is your backup?’: Niue's premier says complete phase out of fossil fuels 'very hard' (www.rnz.co.nz)
Niue has nearly exhausted its climate mitigation options and its focus now is on adaptation, the island's Premier Dalton Tagelagi says. Tagelagi told RNZ Pacific that Niue's contribution to global warming is one-thousandth of a percentage point (0.0001%) and they are already halfway to achieving their renewable energy target of...