Director of Science Communications
Page 53
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Bison Bellows and Bones: Student-Scientists on the Prairie
Bison fighting and urinating on themselves? It's just another day at the office for student researchers on TNC's Ordway Prairie.
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The Traveling Naturalist: Solid Gold in the Rockies
<i>Introducing The Traveling Naturalist, a new series featuring natural wonders and biological curiosities for the science-inclined wanderer.</i> The Rocky Mountains in the spring are a <b>botanist’s delight</b>, with many hills, mountain meadows and buttes awash in color. Wildflowers – many of them with interesting natural and human histories – can be easily found on your public lands. Some exist in bright but tiny cluster on alpine peaks while others cover meadows in a palette of seemingly solid color. <b>My favorite</b>: the flower that paints many foothills bright gold throughout the West, <a href="http://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/plant-of-the-week/balsamorhiza_sagittata.shtml"><b>arrowleaf balsamroot</b></a> (<i>Balsamorhiza sagittata). </i>
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A Lock Holds the Key to Restoring Migratory Fish
Take PVC pipe. Attach to a home water pump. Add water. It’s a simple recipe, but one that might be enough to help move millions of the migratory fish.
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The Monarch Butterfly Decline, and What You Can Do About It
A recent report shows monarch butterflies have declined 59 percent in the past year. The reasons may surprise you. And you can help.
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Everyday Nature: Cartoonish Coot Chicks
<b>Most baby birds, cute though they may be, are not exactly colorful</b>. This makes good evolutionary sense: Baby birds, unable to fly, make easy meals for predators. They thus must blend into their surroundings. A drake mallard or canvasback is a colorful, striking water bird, but baby ducks are nondescript. They disappear into the marshy reeds, making it harder for a hungry raccoon or mink to find them. <b>Not so the <a href="http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/american_coot/lifehistory">American coot</a></b>. Adult coots are fairly drab birds. But their babies? <b>They look like they were designed by a deranged tattoo artist.</b> The front half of the coot’s body is covered in orange-tipped plumes, giving them a jarring appearance. We’re not used to seeing baby birds covered bright feathers. <b>While this orange fades rather quickly</b>—in about six days—it still leaves them conspicuous when they are at the most vulnerable stage of their lives. This coloration makes them more susceptible to predation. <b>What advantage would such feathers possibly confer?</b>
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Big Fish: Roadside Pike
Where could the pike possibly be? It turns out: In a roadside ditch.
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Big Fish: Rodent-Eating Trout
Key up the Jaws soundtrack. For years, anglers have claimed Silver Creek's brown trout feed on rodents. Does the science back them up?
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A Bull Fight for Conservation
Studying bison interactions may help managers make better decisions on fenced preserves and ranches -- where most bison roam today.
