From Rosemary Woodel:To study a rare butterfly, this scientist had to get vertical. (link)

Need some magic in your life? Here’s the answer: Eric Chien, based in Beijing and raised in the US, has won an International Federation of Magic Societies’ world championship title. (link)

Back by poopular demand: How do wombats poop cubes? Scientists get to the bottom of the mystery (link)

Breathing Life Into the Corpse Flower. In botanic gardens, the lineage of a famously smelly plant is threatened. Can a new collaborative program save it? (link)
 

You should be excited that scientists are releasing 750 million genetically modified mosquitoes this year. Texas and the Florida Keys will see the release of GM insects in a plan to reduce disease transmission, (link)

Emily & Linda recommend Drew Lanham in “On Being”: “I worship every bird that I see.” (link)

Most of you have heard of Potassium, but what is it? And where does it come from? What is it used for? Derek Miller, of Veritasium, has the answers and more. (link)

From Rosemary Woodel: I made this movie about a wildflower walk in Inisheer, one of the Aran Islands.  I had given my i.d. book of Irish wildflowers to Linda so I did the naming using two websites.  Might be wrong on some of them. It’s 11 min long.   I posted it for Karen Hunter’s birthday. (link)

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From Linda: Stickiness is a weapon some plants use to fend off hungry
insects. (link)

How plants influence the honeybee caste system: workers and queens. (link)

It could be controversial, so I hesitated to post this link. “Plantwatch: weeds – appreciating the wild things on our streets. Lockdown may have given us more respect for the wild plants, and the work they do, in our urban areas.” (link)

“Absolutely Barking”; Nearly everything you need to know about bark. (link)

If you’ve ever been hiking in the higher elevations of the Rocky Mountains or the Sierra Nevadas you may have heard a high-pitched whistle. The sound was produced by a Pika, a fluffy ball of fur about the size of a hamster, but related to a rabbit. Pikas are adapting to climate change remarkably well, contrary to many predictions. (link)

Catherine Chastain submitted this one: Ice pancakes swirl on river. (link)

Both Linda and I recommend this: Milkweed Pollination: A
Series of Fortunate Events. (link)

 Jan Coyne recommended this one: Beetle parents manipulate
information broadcast from bacteria in a rotting corpse. (link)

These Mites Rain Down To Save Your
Strawberries | Deep Look (link)

These Face Mites Really Grow on You | Deep Look (link)

It’s not nature, except in the sense that it exploits the
laws of physics. I think you’ll enjoy it. 
(link)

The Contradictory Plant Known as Beefsteak Plant, Shiso,
and Perilla Mint, Perilla frutescens. (link)

Emily recommended the next two:

We’ve waited for years on this news from down under and the
nerds of Georgia Tech shaped the solution. Warning! Pun alert! “Box seat:
scientists solve the mystery of why wombats have cube-shaped poo. Unique
physiology allows the Australian marsupial to produce square-shaped feces that
may aid communication.” (link)

Moths to monkeys: 503 new species identified by UK scientists. (link)

Coastal job: sand artist. Must see sand sculptures. (link)

A new study finds global ice loss is now in line with the worst-case 
scenarios of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate 
Change, with ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica melting the fastest. (link)

At least 14 new North Atlantic Right whale calves have been seen
 off south-eastern US this season. (link)

The Ocean's Mysterious Vitamin Deficiency. 
A puzzling lack of thiamine is disrupting some marine ecosystems. (link)

Natural history museums could/should play a role in
pandemic surveillance. Preserving specimens or tissues from species known to
harbor infectious diseases can be used to help determine a pathogen’s source. (link) 

Monarch butterflies in the western United States migrate
too, but to the southern California-Baja California coast, not to the mountains
of central Mexico. There were 1.2 million butterflies in this western
overwintering population when they were first counted in 1997. This year there
were 1914. (link)

Why cats are crazy about catnip. (link to video) (Link to Article)

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Piedmont forest floor, winter 2021. Linda Chafin graphite and colored pencil. Can you identify these trees? (Answers at end of this post.)

Eight simple actions that individuals can take to save insects from global declines. (link)

These FINE Things were suggested by Nature Ramblers Eugenia Thompson, Tom Shelton, Jan Coyne and Emily Carr:

A 99-million-year-old beetle shines light on the evolution of glowing insects. (link)

How dung beetles roll their food in a straight line. As they craft their humble lives from piles of manure, the insects look to the skies for direction.(link)

Figs show that nonnative species can invade ecosystems by forming unexpected partnerships. (link)

Biden’s Covid-19 Plan Is Maddeningly Obvious. (link)

Conspiracy theories seem to meet psychological needs and can be almost impossible to eradicate. One remedy: Keep them from taking root in the first place. (link)

Slippery flowers help deter nectar-stealing ants. (link)

It’s tough to drive a spade through compacted soil, and plant roots seem to have the same problem when growing in compacted ground. But plants are smart enough to stop pushing. How do they know when to quit? (link)

Answers to tree quiz:

Scarlet Oak leaf and acorn, Southern Red Oak leaf, Beech leaf,
Pignut Hickory nut and husk.

Cranberries. An interesting account about Cranberries and other Vaccinium species. (I know – I should have included this before the holidays.) Lots of interesting information about the fruit, its history, uses and related species. (link)

The Curious Strength of a Sea Sponge’s Glass Skeleton. 

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The Georgia Museum of Natural History has been sponsoring a monthly series of “Turtle Pond Talks” on the first Monday of each month. These are aimed at a general audience and are now being offered as live Zoom virtual meetings. The next talk is Monday, January 11 at 10am. The Zoom information to participate is available here. The speaker this month is Dr. Jim Hamrick, professor emeritus at UGA (Plant Biology). His talk is “What Makes a Tree a Tree.” His research has been on southeastern as well as tropical plants. This is a chance to hear the real deal!!

DNA “barcoding” reveals more hidden species, sometimes a lot more.

The evolution of sleep: 700 million years of melatonin.

Few of us have been to New Zealand, but, if you manage to visit, here is a sight you might want to see. These “glowworms” hang from the ceiling of caves and attract their prey with blue light.
A little closer to home, in northwest Alabama, there is a similar light display by relatives of the New Zealand insects. It’s in Dismals Canyon. More information about the insects and tours is available here.

Jellyfish swim by creating an invisible “wall” of water and then pushing against it.

Will global warming make animals darker-or lighter?

Dismay greets end of U.S. effort to curb devastating forest pest.

Unexpected gorilla snacking behaviors make scientists question what we know about early humans. Gorillas’ eating habits don’t match their tooth specializations, raising questions about determining early human diets from fossil records. 

Rising temperatures are altering the sex ratio of sea turtles. Researchers are exploring one possible fix.

I do a lot of random browsing on the internet – it’s fun to suddenly stumble across something that is totally unknown (to me, anyway). This blog post is one such example. It has two terms that were new to me: xerochastic and hygrochastic. Are you curious? Go ahead. One click will satisfy your quest for knowledge.

“Murder Hornets” were in the news this year and people were anxious about them becoming the next terror insect. Here’s a video showing one approach to dealing with unwanted hornet nests.

That’s all for this week.

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What I’ve read: 

WORLD OF WONDERS: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments, by Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Milkweed Books, 2020.
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With the arrival of winter weather roosting cavities become important for bird survival. Find out more about the birds that use them in this article by Terry Johnson.

Martha Walker, a Nature Rambler from the very beginning, but now a vicarious Rambler,  recommended this article:

The Serviceberry: An Economy of Abundance by Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass and Gathering Moss, books you should read if you haven’t already.

The  Problem With Honey Bees.

Glacier mice revisited! An earlier post in this Nature Rambling blog introduced you to the mystery of these mossy formations. Now the New Scientist has more details about them, plus, their associated glacier fauna: glacier “fleas”, glacier worms, and other animals associated with glaciers, including a glacier finch.  

Hakai Magazine weekly contents.

Bioluminescence! Two videos of “sea sparkle.” I’ve only seen sea sparkle once. It was on a small, outboard powered boat going to an island off the coast of El Salvador. As the sun set and the sky darkened the wake of the boat came alive with light. I dipped my hand into the ocean and a similar, smaller wake appeared.
This video shows you the organism that causes sea sparkle and this video shows you what Sea Sparkle is like.
Seeing these videos, I’m reminded of a passage from Dylan Thomas’ A Child’s Christmas in Wales:
“And books which told me everything about the wasp, except why.”

My holiday gift to you is magic by British magician Michael Vincent performing at the Magic Castle. Be amazed!

The Werewolf Plant: “It’s a warm, moonlit night in the Balkans. The landscape is crisp and dry, the rocks underneath sinuous and jumbled, the product of the ancient Himalayan Orogen and millions of subsequent years of erosion and tectonic activity. The Mediterranean breeze permeates the air, and the sky is a cobalt blue, framing the opalescent corona of the moon. But the moonlight is strangely refracted from a million crystal spheres hidden among the rocks, each visited in turn by moths, expertly navigating the night sky using the azimuth of the moon. This was the scene recently faced by a team of researchers studying the pollination mechanisms of the genus Ephedra, a type of Gymnosperm common in arid environments.”

The Ugliest Orchid in the World, plus other new and unusual plants discovered in 2020. Kew Gardens reports on more species described by Kew scientists.

These lizards lost their legs, but don’t call them snakes.

The Botanist in The Kitchen: Favorite Christmas Posts from the Past. (If you haven’t seen this blog before, you’re in for a treat. It deals with edible plants or plant parts and presents the botanical background behind the usage and preparation of food from the plant. Recipes sometimes included.) This is a really cool blog! 

I hope each and everyone of you have a wonderful holiday!

See you next year,

Dale    

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I’ve missed the weekly readings we used to have at the start of each Ramble. You may not have had a reading since early March, either, so I’m happy that Jan Coyne sent me this link to a poem by Robyn Schiff titled: Oak Gall Wasp. (There is also a link on that page to the author reading the poem herself.) While you’re there you could explore a little and find some other, worthy, nature-related poems and send the link to me.

Dan Williams is back! Many of you will remember Dan. For several years before he retired he conducted free tree identification classes at the Oconee forest (Lake Herrick) on the UGA campus. He also presented geology courses for OLLI and the State Botanical Garden. Now he is back with a You Tube series: “The Geologic History of Georgia.” This is a series of short (~15 min) videos that, in Dan’s own words: “Begins with Rodinia’s rifting and will cover all 3 major mountain building events affecting Ga. and the eastern U. S. Brevard fault zone mystery is explained and the diagnostic stages of mountain building. It’s quite informal, with a few old man burps, but should be informative to rock fans.” 

“A World of Plants” symposium sponsored by the National Geographic Society is now available in a special issue of Plants, People, Planet journal from New Phytologist Foundation. You can find the full special issue, at this link.

How You Can Help Count and Conserve Native Bees. Honeybees and their problems get the most attention, but scientists are using tactics learned from bird conservation to protect American bees.

Many good stories are to be found in this week’s Hakai Magazine; the highlights are:
1)      On the Trail of the Giant Squid. Advances in genetic research are creating new ways to hunt for this most mysterious of creatures. 950 words / 4 mins
2)      Gods of the Storm  Two books offer perspectives on how humans shape the fate of whales and influence the weather. 1,300 words / 6 mins
3)      Who Will Save the Slender Yoke-Moss? In the crush of conservation priorities, scientists grapple with how to help an endangered species with no obvious value. 1,000 words / 5 mins
4)      The Military Wants to Hide Covert Messages in Marine Mammal Sounds. The human fascination with hiding military messages in whale and dolphin sounds has led to US military Cold War experiments and modern Chinese research. 1,200 words / 6 mins
5)      Sunflower Stars Now Critically Endangered. Though sunflower star numbers have plummeted, scientists are holding out hope for these once-common denizens of the Pacific.  2 min 40 sec
6)      Plus six more links to articles from The Conversation, Washington Post, National Observer, The Intercept and New York Times .

Video: Fire and the Future of Pinyon-Juniper Woodlands; presentation by Dr. Lisa Floyd-Hanna. Dr. Floyd-Hanna has done extensive research on the impact of fire in the Mesa Verde region of SW Colorado. Presentation begins at 9:44; duration 1:13:44, including Question & Answer at end.

By
now almost everyone has heard of the wildfires that have swept across
California this year, threatening beloved ecosystems like the redwood
and giant sequoia forests. Other, less iconic, areas in the arid
southwest are also threatened by fire. This video
discusses the effect of fire and its frequency on the widespread
pinyon-juniper woodlands. (The P-J woodland covers much of the 4 corners
states: Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah, as well as Nevada and
Oregon.)

How Non-Native Plants Are Contributing to a Global Insect Decline.
The impact of introduced plants on native biodiversity has emerged as a hot-button issue in ecology. But recent research provides new evidence that the displacement of native plant communities is a key cause of a collapse in insect populations and is affecting birds as well.

Natural Debate: Do Forests Grow Better With Our Help or Without?
Nations around the world are pledging to plant billions of trees to grow new forests. But a new study shows that the potential for natural forest regrowth to absorb carbon from the atmosphere and fight climate change is far greater than has previously been estimated.

The Missouri Prairie Foundation has recorded 3 webinars that may be of interest to Nature Ramblers. This link will take you to their You Tube channel where you can view all their webinars. The most recent are on Growing native plants, Gardening for beneficial insects, and Identifying winter sparrows.

The biggest environmental news is about the Pebble Mine in Alaska. 

Many people are interested in raising solitary bees and wasps, not for the honey, but to enhance the pollination of native plants. Early winter is a good time to start learning how to attract solitary bees and this website is a good place to start. It has great basic and practical information on both honey bees and cavity-nesting (solitary) bees. I’ve included three links to help you get started so you’ll be prepared when spring arrives.

It’s time to collect stems for bees.
The best mason bee straws ever!
An emergence box for your over-wintering bees.

Surplus and stress control autumn timing of leaf drop.
Increased growing-season productivity drives earlier autumn leaf senescence in temperate trees

Is it a bird? Is it a bee? No, it’s a lizard pollinating South Africa’s ‘hidden flower’. How a chance encounter with a ‘weird plant’ in the Drakensberg mountains led to a startling discovery
Video and Article.

Can’t hurry love: slow worms embrace marathon sessions of lockdown loving. In the UK “Slow worm” is the common name for a legless lizard.  Georgia has several species of legless lizards.

Los Angeles is abuzz with insect discoveries – in pictures.
Since 2014, entomologists have sampled millions of insects around the city, identifying 800 species, including 47 new to science. The most striking miniature inhabitants are showcased in photographs taken using a special digital microscope in an online exhibition called Spiky, Hairy, Shiny: Insects of LA.

Look up, look down: experts urge us to take a closer look at the concrete jungle. Plants, birds, moths and bugs are all waiting to be noticed and appreciated – and photographed

The Guardian has as series of posts in their “Wild Cities” subject, some of which I’ve linked to above. Here’s the subject link.
Here’s the link to the “Age of Extinction” series from the Guardian.

Super rare deep sea squid spotted in Australian waters for the first time. The Bigfin squid is the size of a hotdog bun, but with tentacles up to 7 meters long.

When Rubber Hits the Road-and Washes Away; A stealthy source of pollution leaves the highway in astonishing amounts and heads to sea, toxic chemicals and all.

The story of Snowball Earth. Ancient rocks suggest that ice entirely covered our planet on at least two occasions. This theory may help explain the rise of complex life that followed.

The origin of mud. For most of Earth’s history, hardly any of the mucky stuff existed on land. It finally started piling up around 458 million years ago, changing life on the planet forever.

Bent into shape: The rules of tree form.
How do trees find their sense of direction as they grow? Researchers are getting to the root – and the branches – of how the grandest of plants develop.

The silence of the owls. No one knows exactly how the nocturnal hunters manage their whisper-soft flight, yet it is inspiring the design of quieter airplanes, fans and wind turbines

The life that springs from dead leaves in streams.
A crunchy brown leaf may seem like an ending. But the food webs it supplies can be far more expansive than the ones it nourished when it was young, green and in its prime.

How snowflakes grow. The cold, finicky science of ice crystal formation

The following links are from the Mushroom Club of Georgia:
For your Reading enjoyment:
Forest fungi survive wildfires by hiding inside plants.
Vegan leather made from mushrooms.
Why the 2020 foraging season was a bust.

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