By Natasha Loder, Elizabeth Finkel, Craig Meisner, and Pamela Ronald
July-September 2008 / Vol. 9 No. 3
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Discussion Questions
What are some of society’s typical conceptions about the local food movement, organic agriculture, nitrogen fertilizers, and genetically modified organisms? How does this article challenge these assumptions?
Loder argues that buying locally […] Read More »
By Jonah Lehrer
July-September 2008 / Vol. 9 No. 3
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Discussion Questions
The author describes Lui’s research on the Wolong Nature Reserve as focusing on the influence of social factors on conservation, and named “income of the local villagers” and “demographic changes in the labor force” as examples. Can you think […] Read More »
By Jeffrey A. Lockwood & Alexandre V. Lachininsky
July-September 2008 / Vol. 9 No. 3
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Discussion Questions
What ecological arguments do the authors give for removing the gray bird grasshopper from Nihoa? What ecological arguments do they give for not removing it? Ultimately, they were unable to remove this insect because […] Read More »
By Trevor Corson
July-September 2008 (Vol. 9, No. 3)
Imagine sitting down at your favorite sushi bar. The chef reaches across the fish case and serves you three pieces of sushi. “Bluefin tuna,” he says with a grin. The pink flesh of bluefin, marbled with fat, is considered by many connoisseurs to be the […] Read More »
Most books reviewed in our book review section are available through Amazon.com. To make your purchase easier we have included a link when available. When you purchase a book through this service on our website Conservation receives a portion of the purchase price.
July-September 2008 (Vol. 9, No. 3)
REVIEWS
Amazon Expeditions: My Quest for […] Read More »
Photo courtesy of Franz
July-September 2008 (Vol. 9, No. 3)
For years ecologists have planted garden plots with different numbers and combinations of species, while holding other factors constant, and then watched to see what happens. After much seeding and weeding, these experiments have generally shown that plant communities with more species are more […] Read More »
Photo courtesy of Richard Flanders
By Scott Norris
July-September 2008 (Vol. 9, No. 3)
In Arctic tundra ecosystems today, fires are relatively rare. For instance, only three percent of Alaskan tundra burned between 1950 and 2005, a far lower percentage than what is seen in most boreal forests. But when conditions are right, tundra […] Read More »
Photo courtesy of Paul Halloran, University of Oxford
By Scott Norris
July-September 2008 (Vol. 9, No. 3)
The consequences of an atmosphere loaded with carbon dioxide go well beyond global warming. One of the most alarming predictions is a dramatic rise in the acidity of seawater as the oceans absorb atmospheric CO2. Multiple experiments […] Read More »
©Steffen Foerster/iStock.com
By Scott Norris
July-September 2008 (Vol. 9, No. 3)
Air pollution can make roses smell less sweet, at least to pollinating insects. A new study finds that ozone and other airborne pollutants bind with the molecules plants release to attract pollinators, diminishing their aroma. And the more the aroma degrades, the harder […] Read More »
©Steffen Foerster/iStock.com
By Nick Atkinson
July-September 2008 (Vol. 9, No. 3)
We all know sloths love their shuteye. But that should be captive sloths, as a study published this week in Biology Letters makes crystal clear. Niels Rattenborg, a sleep specialist at the Max Planck Institute for Ornithology and the paper’s lead author, attached […] Read More »
©Alexander Hafemann/iStock.com
July-September 2008 (Vol. 9, No. 3)
With the earth’s physical and biological systems undergoing significant changes, NASA scientist Cynthia Rosenzweig and her colleagues investigated whether humans are truly to blame. In a paper published in Nature, Rosenzweig’s team sifted through 35 years of research, looking for connections between human-induced climate change and […] Read More »
Photo Courtesy of Rodrigo Perez Grijalvo
By Eric Wagner
July-September 2008 (Vol. 9, No. 3)
With more than 500 species of songbirds threatened with extinction, scientists are constantly hunting for new ways to figure out which other populations are in trouble. Now, a team of Spanish researchers has deduced that a key indicator of […] Read More »
Photo courtesy of Guy-Philippe Songuet
By John Weier
July-September 2008 (Vol. 9, No. 3)
When Smithsonian biologist Bill Laurance traveled to Gabon to investigate the impact of logging on the rainforest, he was taken aback by how deforestation had altered not only the forest, but also the coast of the small central African country. […] Read More »
Photo courtesy of Simon Fraser University
By Justin Matlick
July-September 2008 (Vol. 9, No. 3)
Researchers from Cornell University and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute have developed a high-tech method for preventing deadly collisions between whales and ships: buoys that listen for endangered right whales and alert vessels when the animals are nearby. The […] Read More »
©Sandsun/iStock.com
By Justin Matlick
July-September 2008 (Vol. 9, No. 3)
If you’re looking for an excuse to drink beer instead of milk, try this: it’s better for the environment. Factoring in the water used at each step in the production process, it takes 1,000 liters of water to make a liter of milk, but […] Read More »
