The extinct Toolache Wallaby, as painted by John Gould. Source: Wikipedia.
It’s easy to argue that history has a bigger influence on why we restore ecosystems than on how we restore them. As climate change intensifies, that distinction can only grow. Continue reading
This workshop is great but how do we get more information out of you scientists when we get back home? Continue reading
On a bed of moss on a large rock on a high knoll, below the summit of a steep, forested ridge, lies – prostrate and exposed – a slab of wood. Continue reading
Take a close look at the coppicing trees in the old photo above. Notice anything unusual?
Perhaps it looks like any other stand of burnt mallee? Perhaps it does. But most of the trees aren’t resprouting after a fire. They aren’t recovering from drought, insect attack or damage by humans either. What could have caused the damage? Continue reading
When you gaze to the heavens, do you see a flying fish, a winged horse, a sea monster, water carrier, or perhaps a heavenly air pump? Or, like me, do you see a beautiful scatter of unconnected, blinking lights?
Now lower your gaze and join the dots between your favourite ecology blogs. How many tiny constellations do you see? Would anybody else draw a star chart quite like yours? Continue reading
I didn’t intend to write this blog. I started to write another post on patch mosaic burning. But I got stumped by a simple question. I realized that the blog I intended to write would founder if everyone answered that question differently. So this week’s blog contains a quiz, a poll, to see how everybody interprets my puzzling question.
We all know the phrase ‘patch mosaic burning promotes diversity’. It’s a simple phrase but it leaves a lot unsaid. The comparison is hidden. If patch mosaic burning promotes diversity, then it must create more diversity than some other kind of fire regime.
My puzzling question is – what comparison do you have in mind when you say ‘patch mosaic burning promotes diversity’? What is it that you compare patch mosaic burning against?
