Restoration ecology versus conservation biology

Writing in the journal Biological Conservation, Truman Young wrote:
The conservation mind set is one of more or less permanent loss; the implicit assumption is that all trends are down, and that our goal is to slow or stop degradation (declining population paradigm) or to maintain the remnants as small fragments of the original (small population [...]

Oekologie #16

I should have mentioned this a couple days ago: Oekologie #16 is online at the Evangelical Ecologist.

Rethinking the way we study ecological succession

Succession is one of the first things that students learn about in ecology. Each intervening stage modifies the environment in such a way that lays the groundwork for the next stage, while making the environment less hospitable to its own offspring. Only the final stage is self-perpetuating and stable. Frederic Clements, one [...]

Disturbance and recovery in tropical dry forests

When people think about the destruction and degradation of tropical forests, they tend to focus on rainforests. Tropical dry forests tend to get overlooked. They aren’t as striking - no cathedral-like understorey, no mind-boggling biodiversity. But more importantly, they often just aren’t there. Over much of their potential range they have [...]

An end to Federal protection of wolves

The New York Times is reporting that wolves in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming have lost federal protection.
“Wolves are back,” said Lynn Scarlett, the deputy secretary of the Department of the Interior, in a telephone conference call with reporters. “Gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains are thriving and no longer need protection.”
The 66 wolves that [...]

Oekologie #14

The 14th installment of the Oekologie blog carnival is up at A DC Birding Blog

Do red leaves photosynthesise?

In Temperate regions, two distinct processes are involved when leaves change colour in the Fall. Yellow and orange colours reflect carotenoid pigments that are already present in the leaves. Reds reflect something different - anthocyanins that are produced as part of the process of senescence.
The red colours produced by pointsettias represent something different. [...]

Predicting plant invasions

Invasive species are a global problem. Managing them once they have become established is extremely costly and usually only marginally successful. But most introduced species never become established in their new homes, and only a small proportion of those that become established ever become troublemakers. The best way to manage invasive species [...]

Ecological Dimensions of Biofuels Conference

The Ecological Society of America is sponsoring a conference on the Ecological Dimensions of Biofuels in Washington DC on March 10. Registration for the conference closes February 21. The conference website frames the issue:
Production of fuels from plants and agricultural and forestry wastes can reduce both society’s dependence on fossil fuels and net [...]

Understorey herbs in riparian tropical forests

In tropical forest ecology, it is common to recognise broad ecological zones, but few people look at specialisation along more narrow ecological gradients within these zones. It’s usually easy enough to distinguish between forests and open areas, or between evergreen and (semi-)deciduous forests, but finer subdivisions are uncommon. Most plant ecologists focus on [...]