Crossing Boundaries

A lot of free resources from federal agencies for all subjects. The science section is particularly rich.

Political ecologist Susanna Hecht has incurred the wrath of some conservationists by arguing that the notion of the primeval forest is largely a myth and that disturbed forests play a vital ecological function. In an interview with Yale Environment 360, she makes the case for a "new rurality" that places less emphasis on protected forests and more on the areas where people live.

Beautiful satellite images from around the world

Our conservation scientist, Taza Schaming, is profiled on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Round Robin blog.

New EPA website for students includes learning about climate change as well as how students can become involved in solutions. The presentation of material is at a student-friendly level. The site also has an "educator resources" section.

A new study published in Nature reveals how biodiversity helps remove excess levels of nutrients that commonly degrade water quality in streams. As the # of species of algae in a stream increases, their greater their geographical distribution and water cleaning capacity.

An article about GIS career pathways featuring one of our Crossing Boundaries advisory board members, Joseph Kerski.

Satellite imagery matching game for middle and high school students.

"We are the world's first web channel dedicated entirely to discussions of global climate change effects, causes and the future of the climate change treaty. A team of UK web editors and international journalists and cameramen follow the negotiations on the Kyoto Protocol throughout the year and around the world. We provide commentary and context from key players from all the major international climate change meetings. Content includes exclusive interviews with world leaders, expert observers, decision-makers, activists, and many of the most important and influential figures involved in the debate."

A training manual to use a free open-source GIS to do spatial analysis with plant biodiversity and distribution

The Russian-English Agricultural Atlas is the world's most comprehensive source of information on the geographic distribution of plant-based agriculture in Russia and neighboring countries. The Atlas contains 1500 maps that illustrate the distribution of 100 crops, 560 wild crop relatives, 640 diseases, pests and weeds, and 200 environmental parameters. Additionally, the Atlas provides detailed biological descriptions, illustrations, metadata and reference lists. Currently, individual maps can be downloaded and viewed using freely available AgroAtlas GIS Utility software, which can also be downloaded at this site.

Butterflies and Moths of North America is an ambitious effort to collect, store, and share species information and occurrence data. Access species profiles, interactive distribution maps, and photographs by browsing checklists or taxonomy pages, or by searching for a species of interest.

"With the steep decline in populations of many animal species, scientists have warned that Earth is on the brink of a mass extinction like those that have occurred just five times during the past 540 million years."

Articles on innovative efforts by Quaker schools to meet environmental challenges. Topics: Teaching, Green Practices, Food, Green Buildings and Spaces, and Service and Action. b

Created by Missouri Botanical Garden, describes biomes of the world.

New aerial photos show an uncontacted tribe on the border of Brazil and Peru in detail. According to a press release by Survival International, the photos "reveal a thriving, healthy community with baskets full of manioc and papaya fresh from their gardens", but a community that is also threatened by illegal loggers from Peru."

Can 'water footprinting' help cut the 500 liters of H2O needed to produce a carton of OJ? Carbon trading promotes good behavior by creating a standardized currency representing a verifiable environmental benefit. Payments for watershed services do the same for cutbacks in water pollution, albeit on a smaller scale. Now, the Nature Conservancy and the Coca-Cola Company are experimenting with a new method of "water footprinting" that could do the same for total water use - a key component in the development of a market-based scheme that would promote responsible water usage.

Live footage showing the nest of a Channel Island Allen hummingbird in Orange County, California. She has been laying 4 to 5 clutches each year for several years.

The Land Use Calculator is a tool for rapid scenario analysis of land-use implications, useful for decision-makers to address real-world challenges and for classroom teaching of conservation biology, sustainable development, environmental economics and global change biology. It is a decision-support tool targeted at land-use decision-makers in the tropic, allowing users to evaluate the implications and tradeoffs of pursuing alternative development scenarios by simultaneously accounting for the societal priorities of agricultural production, economic development, carbon conservation and biodiversity protection. Users specify a few environmental and socioeconomic parameters describing a landscape scenario, and the tool determines the implications of that scenario in terms of biodiversity, carbon stocks, greenhouse-gas emissions, financial returns of the land and employment opportunities.