Kent H. Redford and William M. Adams explain why synthetic biology and nature-based solutions are important for the discussions arising from COP26. Biodiversity and Climate Change The effects of climate change impact all aspects of life on Earth, and greater changes are anticipated. The evolution of species is being affected,
Sumana Roy— In How I Became a Tree, I was looking for people who had wanted to become or live like a tree. Since then, I’ve been trying to speculate in the opposite direction – what might it mean for plant life to live in the human social world? How I Became
Michael A. Soukup and Gary E. Machlis— President Biden’s recent proclamation for National Park Week and the annual observance of National Park Week itself testify to the value of national parks to our nation. Our natural heritage has shaped us as a nation, a culture, and as individuals. That legacy
John M. Marzluff— I’ve been birding daily since entering quarantine at my home in western Washington. My bird feeder is full-frame from my office window, my wooded backyard offers a bit of solace and place to stretch out, and my deck commands a view of the open sky. From these
Spring is here, and just because we can’t leave our houses doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy the beauty around us. Here are some books to get you back to nature from home. A visually stunning celebration of bird migration—one of the great marvels of the natural world. The vast transcontinental
John M. Marzluff— When I see fences, I immediately wonder what is being kept out. As a wildlife scientist traveling through agricultural lands, I have usually figured fences were keeping cows from trampling sensitive areas, such as stream banks, steep slopes, or seeps. But to my surprise, after traveling over Red Rock
R. Stephen Berry— Thermodynamics is a beautiful illustration of how needs of very practical applications can lead to very basic, general concepts and relations, very much in contrast to the view that the practical and applied facets of a science are consequences of prior basic studies. Thermodynamics teaches us that
Sonja Dümpelmann— Multitasking Trees Since their systematic planting throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, street trees have fulfilled various purposes in our cities. They have been considered variously as aesthetic make-up and creators of space; as territorial markers and instruments of defense, emancipation, and empowerment; as sanitizers and air conditioners;
Leslie Anthony— Life on our planet is changing, of that there can be no doubt. That alien invasive species are a measurable component of this is also clear. The questions raised, then, are simple, and essentially those we began with: do we care about this? And if so, what are
Fiona Stafford— In spring, you can feel life stirring in the barest twigs and the silhouetted catkins look as if a diminutive duck has run across the sky. One day the twigs are just beginning to thicken and brighten and bulge; by the next they are covered in pincer-paired leaves