But what has changed too in the past 14 years is our common understanding of insects. Yes, there are still too many people who reduce the insect universe to one of “bugs” that must be annihilated. But gardeners have never been more ecologically minded, and the idea that we must shelter pollinators is now instilled in every grade-schooler, which is all to the good.
The lack of snow and cold temperatures in the Sierra this winter is allowing a creature of the summer to live during a time when it should be dying.
The Bark Beetle has made a home in California the last several years due to the drought and a dry winter is only making the problem worse.
Underpinning the book is the idea that to know an enemy or friend, you must first be able to identify it. Most of us know that ladybird beetles — ladybugs — devour aphids; perhaps not so many of us realize it's the ugly larvae that do most of the hunting.
https://www.news-journal.com/news/2018/feb/04/shifting-toward-a-greater-understanding-of-bugs-md/
From 2006 through 2016, more than 100 million trees died in California due to the combined impacts of drought and bark beetles. Although tree mortality is part of a natural life cycle, at a massive level it can lead to adverse economic and social effects. So many dead and dying trees increase the risk of wildfire and threaten lives and property.
Naturalist, Biologist, Environmentist, Citizen-scientist,
re-new your vision and enthusiasm for the organisms you see and seek the reason . . . it is the most noble quest to contact other beings from your home planet, your backyard, your park or natural reserve. Your pictures give them a voice in a world where they are increasingly voiceless. Your insistance that that they exist gives their lives a resistance to the asphalt and concrete of our urban world, our insistance to change the atmosphere, you proved the persistence that they too, are here. Keep on keepin' on.
A number of biologists have recently made the argument that extinction is part of evolution and that saving species need not be a conservation priority. But this revisionist thinking shows a lack of understanding of evolution and an ignorance of the natural world.
http://e360.yale.edu/features/in-defense-of-biodiversity-why-protecting-species-from-extinction-matters
“[The beetles] don’t just make holes in the trees, they deliberately bring in these fungal spores and cultivate the fungus in the tree, so it’s really insidious,” North said.
From @kestrel
Hi everyone,
It's back! The City Nature Challenge is on again, this year from April 27-30. It started off in 2016 as San Francisco vs. Los Angeles, last year it was between 16 cities in the US, and this year there are over 50 cities around the world competing! You can see who's participating this year & read more about the challenge at the City Nature Challenge website.
The timeline for the City Nature Challenge is:
April 27-30: Making observations. The project won't accept any observations made before 12:00am on April 27 or made after 11:59pm on April 30.
May 1-3: Getting everything uploaded and identified! As long as the observations were made in the April 27-30 time frame, you can still upload them afterward. Also, the more observations we get identified to species, the higher our species count will be!
May 4: Results announced!
The "big 3" stats that we look at for the City Nature Challenge are (1) number of observations, (2) number of species, and (3) number of people who participated. This year we'll also be putting more emphasis on those numbers with verifiable (not captive/cultivated, and has media) observations.
http://citynaturechallenge.org
http://www.sdnhm.org/calendar/the-2018-city-nature-challenge/
