Ecoviews Too: Ecology for All Seasons
224
Ecoviews Too: Ecology for All Seasons
224eBook
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Overview
Whit Gibbons and Anne R. Gibbons’s Ecoviews Too: Ecology for All Seasons is based on the popular weekly column “Ecoviews,” published by numerous newspapers for more than thirty years. A follow-up to Ecoviews: Snakes, Snails and Environmental Tales, this lively and entertaining book provides a fascinating and thought-provoking look at the ecology of animals, plants, and their habitats, and promotes awareness of pressing environmental issues.
Because nature, in all its myriad and amazing manifestations, can be enjoyed all year round, this collection is conveniently divided into four sections paralleling the seasons and tracking the adaptations and responses of wildlife to the relentless changes that occur at any location over time. The ecological vignettes focus on seasonal happenings in the cycle of life. The authors not only draw parallels between the natural world and human activities but also highlight unique behaviors of various plant and animal species. They often use humor to get across their message regarding the need to protect our native species and the habitats they depend on for survival.
An intriguing and captivating publication, Ecoviews Too is comprised of fifty informative essays that address ecological topics such as camouflage and mimicry, hibernation and estivation, the human need to encounter scary animals, the mysteries of plant dormancy in winter, the comeback of the wild turkey coinciding with the decline of bobwhites, the chemistry behind the color change in fall leaves, and the top ten environmental problems facing the world today. Educating, entertaining, and delighting a general audience, especially those with an interest in nature, Ecoviews Too provides a useful resource for students and scientists alike.
Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780817390839 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | University of Alabama Press |
| Publication date: | 03/28/2017 |
| Sold by: | Barnes & Noble |
| Format: | eBook |
| Pages: | 224 |
| File size: | 6 MB |
About the Author
Anne R. Gibbons was a freelance editor and indexer until her retirement in 2014. She has worked for Columbia University Press, Johns Hopkins University Press, the University of New Mexico Press, and the University of Alabama Press, among others. She is the coauthor of Ecoviews: Snakes, Snails, and Environmental Tales.
Read an Excerpt
Ecoviews Too
Ecology for All Seasons
By Whit Gibbons, Anne R. Gibbons
The University of Alabama Press
Copyright © 2017 University of Alabama PressAll rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8173-5875-4
CHAPTER 1
Every Day Is April Fool's for Some Species
A fish spies a wiggling worm under the riverbank. Free meal? Yes, but not for the fish. April Fool's. The would-be worm was actually the tongue of an alligator snapping turtle, and the giant jaws slammed shut when the fish went after the bait. For almost any identifiable human behavior, including playing jokes on April 1, an equivalent or near-equivalent can be found somewhere in the plant and animal kingdoms. For many species, playing tricks is a daily routine. But doing so is definitely no joke; it's a matter of life or death.
Successful predators that rely on capturing living prey must have effective strategies for doing so, and subterfuge is one such technique. A strategy as basic as a bobcat's use of camouflage while stalking a rabbit in a field of brown vegetation is clearly meant to deceive and catch the unwitting prey off guard. Likewise, a tiny deer fawn's response to potential danger is to lie motionless on the forest floor, where the white spots on its brown coat blend with the ground speckling of sunlight through the leaves, perfect camouflage to trick a would-be predator.
Luring prey to its death is a scam used by many predators. Baby copperheads, cottonmouths, and pigmy rattlesnakes wiggle their bright yellow tails to attract small frogs or lizards. Some tropical lightning bugs flash the mating signal of other species to attract males that think they are headed toward a romantic encounter only to become a meal for the deceiver. Lights are also used as lures by deep-sea angler fish. These big-mouthed creatures, which live in virtually total darkness at ocean depths greater than a mile, have a fleshy structure that functions like a fishing pole with bait at the end. The lure is a luminous bulb containing bacteria that emit a greenish light to attract other fish, which are fooled into thinking they will be getting a meal instead of becoming one.
Some plants rival animals in their use of chicanery to capture prey. Well-known carnivorous plants include pitcher plants with their sweet-smelling but deadly pitfall traps. Plants that eat animals typically live in highly acidic wetland habitats that are low in soil nutrients. Their captured prey, mostly insects and spiders, provide some needed nutrients. Among carnivorous plants, the showy Venus flytrap has an impressive April Fool's surprise for visiting insects. The two halves of an open flytrap leaf look innocuous enough but have long spinelike structures extending out from the edges. Nectar glands on the inside of the leaf signal a tasty meal for flies and other insects. When a bug alights and its legs begin to hit hair triggers, the trap slams shut so fast even a fly cannot escape. Over the next several hours the flytrap secretes digestive juices that absorb the prey.
To eat or to avoid being eaten are not the only reasons to engage in trickery. Strategies used to acquire mates involve some of the most duplicitous behavior found in nature. A predaceous insect known as the scorpionfly definitely ranks high on the deceit-o-meter for its mate-luring behavior. Male scorpionflies impress females by presenting them with a blowfly acquired at great personal risk from a spider's web. The female's acceptance of the blowfly dinner assures the male of a mating opportunity. But some male scorpionflies do not capture their own blowflies. Instead they pose as females in order to fool another male scorpionfly into handing over his hard-earned gift. Once the male with a blowfly offers his tasty treat to the male poseur, the deceiver accepts the gift and flies away to use the pilfered blowfly to attract a female for mating.
From simple to complex, the diverse tactics used by wildlife to get food, protect themselves, or acquire a mate provide endless reasons to marvel at the natural world. For these deceivers, life or death matters hang in the balance and they do not wait for the first day of April to play their tricks.
CHAPTER 2Tips for Earth Day and Proper Environmental Etiquette
I have two environmental suggestions for Earth Day. As almost everyone who likes to breathe clean air knows, Earth Day falls on April 22. But one day is not enough. We should celebrate Earth Day year-round, from the time we wake up until we go to sleep, all day, every day. After all, we want a clean, healthy, and enjoyable environment all the time, not just one day a year. So my first suggestion is that we start celebrating Earth Year and make Earth Day something we did last century.
Many people already have the Earth Year attitude and contribute to making our environment safe, healthy, and pleasant in myriad ways. One of my favorite activities, which I hope is a contribution, is to answer questions that help people become familiar with the intriguing array of life forms and ecological interactions that exist in the world. The complexity of both exotic and everyday plants and animals is fascinating, and I applaud everyone who wants to learn more about the natural world. So my contribution to Earth Year is to answer questions and respond to opinions related to environmental awareness and appreciation. Which brings me to my second suggestion: people who have environmental queries should exercise at least minimal email etiquette.
I am not able to check my email account every day but I do try to respond to all queries eventually. Of course, if your question is like this one — "I have a copperhead coiled up on my front porch. Should I let the dog and children play in the yard?" — my answer may be too late to help you. Sorry. But the timeliness of my responses is not the issue. My point is that the basic elements of any email from a polite and reasonably intelligent person should include who you are and where you are.
I like to be responsive to the people who write me. But how much time should I invest in an email that says, in its entirety, "I would like to know how to raise catfish. Please respond as soon as possible." I did send the anonymous writer from an anonymous place the link to a website on catfish. Should I have done even that? Another one that is more frequent than I care to remember runs something like this: "I am doing a report for class and would like for you to send everything you can about ecology and the environment. My report is due tomorrow. Sparky." These are the kinds of emails I like to open a day late.
And how should I respond to "I saw a black snake crossing the street. What is it?" No herpetologist could give a definitive answer without knowing — at the very least — what continent you saw the snake on. The list of problematic emails I have received goes on and on. But it's time to bring this rant to a close and offer four simple rules for composing an email in which you are asking someone for information or advice.
1. Give your name and, if appropriate, your affiliation with a school or organization.
2. Indicate where you live. Remember that with most emails someone only knows what planet you live on. An important clue for identifying some plants and animals is specific location. If you are requesting information about a topic for an academic project, identify the course you are taking and where you go to school.
Q: What is a normal day like in the field for an ecologist?
A: There is no "normal" day in ecology. Environments change continually, so each day can present a new adventure. In field ecology programs, most ecologists are impressed at how many new discoveries continue to be made about what animals and plants do.
3. Plan for the possibility that you may have to wait a few days for a response.
4. Write your message in English, not text and online chat abbreviations. And take time to proofread it before you press Send.
So, those are my two suggestions: First, one day is not enough to honor Earth and all its glories. Let's celebrate Earth Year, each day, all day long. Second, I commend everyone who wants to learn about animals, plants, and ecology. Just remember to follow the simple rules of email etiquette outlined above to ensure that you get a helpful answer in a timely fashion.
CHAPTER 3Easter Is Associated with Many Plants
Easter sends various messages to people throughout the world. Of particular interest from an ecological standpoint are the many trees and flowers that are associated with that time of year. Flowering dogwoods, redbuds, palm trees, lilies, and many other plants have connections with Easter, some well known, others less so.
One of the best-known stories involves the flowering dogwood tree. According to legend, dogwoods once grew to be the size of oaks and were used to make the cross on which Jesus was crucified. One version claims that Jesus saw the dogwood as suffering because of its having been used for such a purpose and avowed that the tree would never again grow to a size that would allow it to be used to make a cross, hence the small, crooked branches. Other symbolic features of the dogwood tree are white "flowers" that form the shape of a cross, with a brownish red spot in the center of each, signifying Jesus's blood. The cluster of tiny flowers in the center resembles a crown of thorns.
In the preceding paragraph, "flowers" is in quotes because, as botany students are fond of pointing out, the true flowers of a dogwood are the tiny ones in the middle. The more obvious "petals" that have earned the tree the name "flowering dogwood" are actually bracts. In most plants, bracts are small leaves from which the flowers arise. In the dogwood they have taken on a more prominent appearance. Incidentally, the popular dogwood familiar to everyone from New England to Florida is one of ten species in this country. Ironically, as far as I am aware, dogwood is not one of the more than eighty kinds of plants mentioned in the Bible.
One type of tree mentioned prominently in many parts of the Old and New Testaments is the palm. Preceding Easter is Palm Sunday, which refers to the fronds of date palms that were placed in front of Jesus's donkey when he entered Jerusalem, as was done for a victorious ruler. I do not know of any other special significance to palms, other than that some churches pass palm fronds out to members of the congregation on Palm Sunday. Although native to the Mediterranean region, date palms made their way to Mexico via Spanish explorers and eventually arrived in California in the 1700s. Today more than a quarter of a million date palm trees bear fruit in California and Arizona. Like many trees, date palms are unisexual, which means an individual tree is either male or female. Since only the females bear fruit, people who plant palm trees as a commercial product want mostly females, with only a few males for fertilization. The sex of a tree can be assured by planting small shoots that grow from the base of the palm trees.
The crown of thorns placed on the head of Jesus is assumed to have been a particular type of shrub, a member of the rose family called thorny burnet. The plant is and was abundant around Jerusalem and other parts of the Mediterranean. The wooden branches are flexible enough to bend, and the thorns at the end also branch. Other types of plants with briars and spines are found in the region, but the thorny burnet is most likely the one that was used for the crown of thorns.
One plant associated with Easter is purely a commercial venture, albeit an agreeable one. The original species of Easter lily is native to the Ryukyu Islands, halfway between Japan and Taiwan, and had nothing to do with the Middle East. Today, the vast majority of Easter lilies come from agricultural lands from Oregon to California and show up in churches across the nation. They may be symbolic of the season in people's minds, but I know of no biblical connection.
Finally, another tree not mentioned in the Bible is the redbud tree, also called the Judas tree. The Mediterranean species of redbud tree is said to be the one on which Judas Iscariot hanged himself. According to legend, redbud trees turn red in the spring, either from blushing for shame at the crucifixion of Christ or from weeping tears of blood at the fate of Judas.
CHAPTER 4Mothers of Many Animals Are Worthy of Recognition
Cowbirds, starfish, and turtles do not give or receive Mother's Day gifts. One reason is that offspring of these animals do not know their mothers. Cowbirds deposit their eggs in the nests of other birds, and unknowing foster parents raise baby cowbirds along with their own young. Turtles lay their eggs in dirt or sand and never look back. And a detached starfish arm can grow into a complete starfish that cannot claim to have had even a neglectful mother.
Nonetheless, humans do not have a monopoly on maternal devotion. The ancestors of many animal species here on Earth today successfully jumped the high hurdles of evolution simply because they had good mothers. Although young alligators do not bring their mothers flowers or candy, alligators join humans and many other mammals in representing the kind of maternal care that warrants recognition on Mother's Day. These mothers are attentive to their offspring before birth and long after. All will do what they can to protect their eggs or babies from harm. At the other extreme are the mothers of most amphibians, reptiles, insects, and fish, which lay eggs in carefully chosen spots but then disappear. The eggs and young are on their own for the rest of their lives.
But even these species still deserve a Mother's Day card for their front-end investment in their offspring. For example, a female slider turtle develops large follicles, which are equivalent to the yolk of a bird egg, months before laying eggs. When the eggs are fertilized by a male slider during the spring mating period, the developing embryos have enough yolk to nourish the baby turtle for an entire year. The mother lays the eggs in what she intends as a safe, underground nest. So, although she drops the eggs, covers the nest, and never looks back, she has done her motherly duty before the baby ever reaches the water.
And exceptions exist even among these groups. Burmese pythons, the giant constrictors that have become established in southern Florida, are noted for unusual maternal behavior. The female not only coils her body around the eggs but also warms herself up by shivering, thus enhancing the incubation of the eggs. Female king cobras, the largest venomous snakes in the world, reaching lengths of eighteen feet, are reported to stand guard until their eggs are safely hatched. A predator considering eating the eggs of either pythons or cobras might well become a meal itself. The newborn young of diamondback rattlesnakes have been reported to remain with their mothers for up to two weeks, surefire protection from most predators.
Mother blue-tailed skinks, common lizards in the eastern United States, stay with their clutch of eggs until they hatch. If a baby dies in the egg before hatching, the dutiful mother will pick the egg up in her mouth and remove it from the nest. In the social insects such as wasps and ants, the entire colony works to protect the young.
Certain species of frogs are contenders for the best-mother award among cold-blooded animals. Full-grown adult female Jamaican frogs are tiny, less than two inches in length. The mother lays her eggs, about fifty of them, up to 250 feet deep inside a cave and stays with the developing eggs. After about a month they hatch, and the baby frogs crawl up on their mother's back for the trip out of the cave. The mother can jump more than three feet without losing any of the babies! Hopping through a dark cave with babies clinging to your back is a clear demonstration of maternal devotion.
Most female birds exhibit parental care by at least incubating the eggs. In some cases both parents provide care even after the babies hatch, but the mother gets credit for laying the eggs and always being around till the young are ready to fledge. Anyone who spends much time watching backyard birds around bird feeders has seen female cardinals or house finches feed sunflower seeds to obvious juveniles. The baby, about equivalent in age to a human teenager, flies over with its mouth open and wings aflutter, still looking for a handout, which the mother provides. Readers may draw their own parallels with the behavior of human teenagers.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Ecoviews Too by Whit Gibbons, Anne R. Gibbons. Copyright © 2017 University of Alabama Press. Excerpted by permission of The University of Alabama Press.
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