FarmForest Research

I am not sure what you mean by ground truthing? I also think you sound like a troll for a creationist belief? No one uses truth in biology we use observations. And the Janus effect I think you pulled out of thin very thin air.

This should answer your question.. J

Beavers don't always need to build a dam. Some live in the banks of rivers or lakes. In areas where they do dam streams, they create wetlands which are extremely important in dynamics of forests and the ecosystem in general. These increase diversity and create habitats for many species. They are part of the biodynamic of North American forests especially has they have been mostly exterminated in Europe. Scotland has just successfully reintroduced them which has had mixed feelings by the inhabitants of that country. There has been a continuos battle between beaver lovers and beaver haters in my area of Canada due to flooding of agricultural land.

It may not be a crisis to the folks reading the papers in their airconditioned apartments but it certainly is to the Inuit in the Arctic and the poor polar bears which are hunting for seals on non-existent ice. For the poor insects that are out of kilter with emerging food plants and the birds that arrive to find no insects to feed on. The whole argument is being settled in your garden if you care to look outside.

It is quite common for dolphins ( a smaller member of the same family) to immobilise and kill sharks (tiger and white tip). In areas of Mexico people wait for dolphins to appear as they know that sharks are either not present or are not a danger due to the activities of dophins. Orcas would have no problem with a great white on a face to face confrontation.

Go back to bed and sleep this one off. Ants and there hymenoptera brethren are all sisters. So as good girls they have pillow fights and keep care of themselves. Males are transient and just hang around for a little time..like normal. J

As a biologist I never understood why P is at 0.05 what makes the 5 percent percentile so good or for 95% percent for the purists. I like fuzzy statistics..where 50% is good enough for me. I observe nature and I am usually correct. like looking for neutrinos in a salt mine for proof is like looking at a dragonflies wings.

A bean its grows fast and he can eat it and fart.

You can do a belt transect in a defined area. However to reduce the possibility of psuedoreplication you need to do an outlier. So you take an area and if you have not marked the species..I am not sure whether its trees or mammals..you need to mark them. Not wure what your working on..

Ecology is the science of natural systems..how they relate to each other and how they interact. A television is as natural as a tree..because we are part of nature and we are a major driver of ecosystems..look at your living room and the refrigerator. Having the ability to manipulate our environment has made us the "gardeners' of this world. So we have to step up to the plate and garden and maintain this world. Its ours and everything in it is our kids. So look at it like you own it but must maintain it.

If you want to see Global Warming which is a terrible term..go to the Arctic. The Inuit know whats happening as it affects them every day. Its not tomorrow its today and I am tired of the oil argument and all the other carbon based industries confusing the truth. Its boring and really stupid. The carbon feedback from the permafrost and tundra of Russia and Canada will basically stick you to your leather seat as you watch CSI.

The problem with extinction rates as we have not discovered many species so we really don't know what is going the way of the dodo. I worked on island biology and we do know the rate of extinctions on those places and they were rapid and final. If we look at large landmasses we have an inkling of where were going..as when we make national parks "Islands" within our land use. So we are probably correct in extinction rates..but when South Africa made corridors between parks as has Canada is some systems we allow a larger geographic and perhaps ecogenetic allowance.

Its a decorator crab its been in the littoral system for a long time..so the growth of algae on its back. Lucky guy. J

Most trees that grow near rivers have there life cycle based on rivers..willows and alder are very common..when you visit the river next..you will see on alders..small dots on the bark. These are used to breathe as the roots cannot..willows which are a terrible weed in riverine systems and most aquatic systems drain water from river systems and are a major weed in Australia and other water deficit countries. There is a major program on eradication on water weed trees in Texas..but there is a kickback as some birds nest in them. The riverine system is very interesting but very fragile. J

The soils in tropical regions have always been depauperate. Most of the carbon have been bound in the biomass above. Laterite soils are always like that..thats why there formed. We have biodiversity because they have too.

There are a huge number of species of wasps that prey on spiders. Pompilidae. They are usually called Tarantula killing wasps. They can pick them up and bury them after..laying an egg in there head. The larvae avoids killing the body until the end. Rather gruesome but thats the way of nature.

There are no Weeds per se. They are very nutritious..like Lambs Lettuce etc..A weed is a flower in a different ecosystem. J