A little off topic, I know, but I thought it was funny.
How *Not* to Use a Field Guide, Part II. Yip yips still can’t get it right.
I just thought it looked cool. Make your own at wordle.net.
Here is a great 3-part series from Terra about agriculture, aquaculture, land development and sustainability in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
Disappearing Catch
Farming Forward
Chesapeake Gold
Another article about the Slow Food movement in Detroit and elsewhere. Having lived in Michigan for a long time, I think this has exciting promise for revitalizing the state’s hurting urban areas. As a wildlife biologist, I can’t help thinking about the potential for urban farming for conserving wildlife diversity. Can it alleviate the pressure to convert natural habitats to farmland? Can it help support biodiveristy in urban areas? Pollinators? Birds even? My research (and lifestyle) are outside the urban farming realm, but I hope someone answers these questions.
Here is another link to Vertical Farming. Below is a video from Urban Farming about this phenomenon.
Premonition of the Farm Bill’s conservation programs ?
“Most of what needs doing must be done by the farmer himself. There is no conceivable way by which the general public can legislate crabapples, or grape tangles, or plum thickets to grow up on these barren fencerows, roadsides, and slopes, nor will the resolutions or prayers of a city change the depth of next winter’s snow nor cause cornshocks to be left in the fields to feed the birds. All the non-farming public can do is to provide information and build incentives on which farmers may act. “
- Aldo Leopold, 1993 as cited by C. Meine in The Farmer as Conservationist: Leopold on Agriculture.
June 22-27, 2009 is National Pollinator Week to recognize the importance of pollinators to our food system. The Pollinator Partnership and US Fish & Wildlife Service both have lots of resources about pollinators in recognition of this week.
Here are two videos for this week.
One about the problems pollinators face:
And one about what NRCS is doing and can do to help:
USDA’s Conservation Assessment Effects Project has just released two extensive reviews of the effects of agricultural conservation practices – like those used in CRP and other conservation programs (public announcement here). Part A addresses terrestrial habitats and Part B addresses aquatic habitats. Even better is the dynamic bibliography.
I have added the following updates to the Grassland Management Manuals page:
Converting Common Bermudagrass to NWSG. (Barnes and Washburn) from www.wildlifemanagement.info.
Handling the Tall Fescue Problem from the Southeast Quail Study group via www.wildlifemanagement.info.
Fescue Eradication by the Indiana Division of Fish and Wildlife via www.wildlifemanagement.info.
Native Warm-season Perennial Grasses for Forage in Kentucky by the UK Cooperative Extension Service via www.wildlifemanagement.info.
Establishing Native Warm Season Grasses via www.wildlifemanagement.info.
Native Warm Season Grasses for Wildlife via www.wildlifemanagement.info.
Warm Season Grasses from Penn State Univeristy via www.wildlifemanagement.info.
Warm Season Grasses and Wildlife from Penn State Univeristy via www.wildlifemanagement.info.
Restoring Native Grasslands by Texas Cooperative Extension via www.wildlifemanagement.info.
More pollinator resources from the Xerces Society have been added to the Pollinator Manuals page. The updates are listed below.
Pollinators in Natural Areas: A Primer on Habitat Management.
Pollinator-friendly Parks. How to enhance parks, gardens and other greenspaces for native pollinator insects.
Making Room for Native Pollinators: How to Create Habitat for Pollinator Insects on Golf Courses.
Here is a good summary about the effects of European conservation programs on mammals. The applications to North American programs are easy to see. Good thing, too, because N. American research on mammals in CRP and other programs is sorely lacking.
McDonald, D.W., F.H. Tattersall, K.M. Service, L.G.Firbank, and R. E. Feber. 2007. Mammals, agric-environment schemes and set-aside – what are the putative benefits. Mammal Review 37:259-277.
