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Share Your Knowledge

8/29/2023

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Many of you are passionate about native plants and insects and enjoy sharing your knowledge with others. There’s a way you can do that AND benefit Mother Nature both at the same time – Citizen Science.

Facebook has its problems, but it has some good points as well. For instance, where else can you find countless pages and groups catering to a mixed plethora of interests?

Over the past 15+ years, I’ve encountered and befriended wonderful folks who share my same autoimmune disorder (ITP), who are fellow authors and writers, as well as those who are just as passionate about nature and conservation as I am. 

A positive side effect of belonging to various Facebook groups is learning new stuff. I can’t begin to list all the things I’ve picked up over the past decade and a half dealing with my weird blood disorder, as well as writing and publishing books and articles.

A few years ago, I added conservation-related groups to my line-up. I’d discovered that pollinator populations and their native habitats were declining at an alarming rate, and I wanted to do more than just write articles about it. I wanted to actively restore nature to where it needed to be.

I knew the fundamental theory – the what – yet was absolutely clueless about the how – identifying the native plants in my region. However, that was not an impossible task. I love researching new and interesting topics, and learning about the indigenous flora and fauna was absolutely fascinating. In addition to talking with conservationists, I also joined some Facebook groups. Scrolling through the lovely photographs of native plants and insects, reading fact sheets, and learning about others’ experiences has helped me tremendously.

One of the things that intrigued me the most was how science ties in with conservation. The reason we know so much about the symbiotic relationship between native vegetation and wildlife is because of controlled experiments and scientific studies. Even before pesticides, habitat loss, and climate change began impacting the natural world, scientists were observing and learning about the other types of life we share this planet with.

They still are, but it’s no longer just scientists doing all the work. Now ordinary people like you and I can participate.

Share Your Knowledge
Many people I’ve met in Facebook groups have years of experience working with native plants and insects and gladly share their knowledge with the rest of us. None of them claim to know it all, though, and are open to new ideas. Others, like myself, soak up the information and use it to learn as much as possible about this topic. The thing we all have in common is that we never stop learning.

Many other people outside of Facebook would love to be a part of the exchange, and the best way to do this is through citizen science. Just imagine the beneficial impact our combined input could have on both humanity and the environment!

As citizen scientists, we have an opportunity to participate in crucial research dedicated to providing a better understanding of environmental issues. Our experience and knowledge will prove beneficial as we research, collect, and analyze data.

The best part about it is there are no restrictions. It’s open to professionals and amateurs alike. No experience is required, so you can participate in as many or as few projects as you want. If your secret desire is to explore outerspace, then go for it!

 On SciStarter, Science Near Me, or iNaturalist, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of citizen science projects ranging from archaeology and astronomy to insects and pollinators to physics and social sciences. You can spend one evening counting fireflies and the next listening to sounds from a galaxy far, far away.

The term citizen science only dates back to the 1990s. Still, the role played by residents in recording scientific data can be traced to ancient times when the early Egyptians kept careful records of nearly everything, including the annual flooding of the Nile River and the resulting variations in harvests. Likewise, Chinese farmers have kept track of the destructive migratory locusts for the past 2000 years and will continue as long as necessary.

Benefits of Participating in Citizen Science
So the concept isn’t new, but the scale and worldwide impact of the scientific research has reached phenomenal proportions, creating benefits on many levels
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For the scientific community:
  • Having a diverse group of participants conducting research in differing regions and conditions makes the results more representative of the whole picture.
  • Plus, having many people working on the project concurrently shortens the time needed to complete the study.

For the participants:
  • Data suggests that participating in scientific research helps improve literacy and understanding in both adults and children.
  • It helps develop critical thinking skills applied to daily activities and broadens interests in new subjects people would have never considered investigating before.
  • It’s also a fantastic way to spend time with your family doing something you can all enjoy and learn something new at the same time.

So give citizen science a try, and in all probability, you’ll be hooked!

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Check These Out to Start
  • What is in my Backyard? encourages people to explore the wildlife, flora, and fauna in their backyard and discover the diversity of plants and animals right outside their door. Take a picture and add a common name. Then try to learn more and add its scientific name.
  • The Great Sunflower Project has three programs. (1) The Safe Gardens for Pollinators program uses data collected on Lemon Queen sunflowers to examine the effects of pesticides on pollinators. (2) The Pollinator Friendly Plants program is designed to identify the key plants to support healthy pollinator communities. (3) The Great Pollinator Habitat Challenge allows citizen scientists to evaluate and improve gardens, parks, and other green spaces for pollinators.
  • You can take a Cicada Safari where you search for cicadas, photograph them with your phone, and submit the data for verification.
  • Relive your childhood memories of chasing fireflies and combine them with scientific research by spending 15 minutes per night counting the male/female fireflies in your yard. Firefly Watch is another fun project for the family to do together.
  • I See Change is interested in what you see change in your backyard, neighborhood, and city. It is essential to our understanding of how climate change and weather affect our communities. Your observations and insights can help scientists, engineers, and local organizations advocate for and create solutions to climate challenges.
  • Bumble Bee Watch is a collaborative effort to track and conserve North America’s bumble bees. Photographing and providing details of where the bumble bee was found helps researchers determine the status and conservation needs of bumble bees.

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Black-And-White Ruffed Lemurs: The Ghosts Of The Forest

8/15/2023

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​Not all pollinators are insects. Of course, animal pollinators are not as industrious perhaps as our insect pollinators, but they play an important role, nonetheless. A particularly striking animal pollinator is the black-and-white ruffed lemur. There are many species of lemurs, but the black-and-white ruffed lemur (varecia variegate) is an endangered species.

These lemurs exist only in Madagascar’s declining eastern tropical rainforests. The main threat to their survival is humans. Because they are large compared to other lemur species, poachers and village men hunt them as bushmeat. In addition, slash-and-burn agriculture, logging, and mining threaten their habitat. In the last thirty years, their population has decreased by 80%.

Although classified as frugivores, feeding on fruits, they also eat a variety of seeds, leaves and nectar. These lemurs are arboreal, living in trees. They eat and sleep in trees. They are quite the acrobats, leaping from branch to branch and hanging by their feet.

Two Reasons They’re Classified As Pollinators.
First, they are seed dispersers. With all the fruit they eat, they excrete the seeds later onto the forest floor, which makes them especially important in the regeneration of trees.

Second, they are unique in their relationship with the traveler’s tree or palm. The tree itself is interesting. The paddle-shaped leaves are in a fan-shape. When it rains, the water flows down these leaves into the base of the tree, which is hollow. Interestingly, the leaves of this tree are used to treat diabetes, stomach aches, and dizziness.
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For two to three months of the year while the Traveler’s Palms are in flower, lemurs will travel between plants and stick their long snout into the flower to feed and cost their nose with pollen. The lemurs have the strength to open the flower heads to access the nectar, which has a sucrose content twice as high as honey. The seeds of the Traveler’s Palm are a bright Lapis Lazuli blue.

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​Social Life
Black-and-white lemurs have the second loudest call of all primates! From barks to howls, they have 12 different calls. It seems the howls are in defense of territory, and the barks are alarms.

Females are dominant. They can give birth to up to six infants in nests in trees and can nurse them all simultaneously. The infants are left in the nest while the female forages. Since the infants are incapable of clinging to the backs of the mother, she must move them one at a time when they are young. Although 65% of infants fail to reach three months of age, they become independent at four months and are mature at 20 months.

Interesting Facts
  • Groups of lemurs have been called a congress of lemurs and a conspiracy of lemurs.
  • A lemur was an ancient Roman ghost, thought to be a wandering spirit. The animal lemurs were mistaken for specters because of their nocturnal, stealth habits. When people first heard their loud calls, they thought they came from ghosts in the forest.
  • Ruffed lemurs are quadrupedal, using all their limbs for locomotion. Their long tails allow for even better stability in the trees. In fact, most hang upside down, holding on by their feet, when feeding!
  • This species of lemur are the only primates to make a nest for their offspring.
  • Lemurs have special scent glands on their wrists and bottoms that leave scent trails on branches to mark their territories.
  • These lemurs use their bottom teeth, their "toothcomb," for social bonding through grooming.
  • Once there were lemurs as large as a female gorilla.
  • Black-and-white ruffed lemurs are the only primates which have true litters of young.
  • They love to sunbathe while lying on their backs, their arms outstretched.

​Conclusion
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Although they have found that the lemurs thrive in captivity, they do not adapt well into the wild. Therefore, it is important that the threats to their existence be addressed. They are an important contributor to the maintenance of one of the world’s rainforests. 

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Who’s Working the Pollinator Night Shift?

8/1/2023

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Pollinators of any kind are important, but they mostly work the day shift. Moths are the major exception. These insects prefer the night shift. It’s said that some people prefer working the night shift because it’s often quieter, less stressful, and having fewer interruptions increases their productivity. It could be true for moths as well.

There is certainly less competition from other pollinators for the moths at night, which could increase their productivity as well. It seems scientists have discovered that moths not only visit the same range of plant species as the day shift does, but far more species of moth are involved in the effort, and they interact more often with certain flowers.

Dr. Callum MacGregor, who led a 2018 study as part of his Ph.D. research funded by the British Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and Butterfly Conservation, said, “Over half of the plant species we detected were not previously known to be visited by moths. It was particularly interesting that moths were carrying pollen from many of the same plant species that are visited by bees, hoverflies, and butterflies.”

Scientists have known for a long time about certain moths that pollinate flowers. Most research has focused on the European Hawk Moth. It is known for its ability to fly long distances and its incredibly long proboscis, which can range from an average of 9 inches up to as long as 14 inches! Because the proboscis picks up pollen, the Hawk Moth can spread pollen as far away as eighteen miles. Hawk Moths don’t pollinate food crops. Consequently, there wasn’t as much research on them in the past as there was on insects that do.
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In recent years, research has uncovered a lot more details about this night shift worker. We now know the moth is particularly drawn to pale-colored flowers with an open cup or a tubular-shape, which emit a strong fragrance at night. Honeysuckle is a favorite. Other such flowers are evening primrose, brunsfelsia, heliotrope, four-o’clock, and nicotiana (a nightshade). 


PictureYucca Moth on a Yucca plant.
Why Are Moths Important Pollinators?
Dr. Richard Walton (University College London, UCL), the lead author in a study published May 13, 2020, in the journal Biology Letters, said: “Nocturnal moths have an important but overlooked ecological role. They complement the work of daytime pollinators, helping to keep plant populations diverse and abundant. They also provide natural biodiversity backup, and without them many more plant species and animals, such as birds and bats that rely on them for food, would be at risk.”

As a backup to the food webs of daytime pollinators, moths could very well fill in that pollination gap if some daytime species die out, according to Walton. However, the severe declines in the moth population worldwide makes the decline of daytime pollinators even more serious.

Moths At Risk
A recent study in Britain has brought attention to dramatic declines in the larger moth populations over the last 50 years. Two common causes given for the decline of moths are agricultural intensification and light pollution in urban areas.

The industrialization of agriculture over the last seventy years has resulted in expanding areas for farming, growing the same crop year after year, and applying increasing amounts of pesticides and fertilizers. Additionally, the elimination of hedgerows and other wildlife habitat have been destructive to insect and other biodiversity in and near the fields. The resulting death toll includes pollinators, including moths, as well as predators of crop pests.

We’re all familiar with the sight of moths flying toward lights so it might not seem so weird to consider light pollution as a cause of moth deaths. However, a 2016 study also published in Biology Letters “tentatively suggests that moth behavior may adjust over time due to light pollution. On one hand, this means that they might not die at as high rates as expected given the threats posed by light pollution: decreased flight-to-light behavior means that moths might have a lowered chance of being attacked by predators or flying into light traps.” The other side of this is that their change in behavior may cause physiological changes, which could make it harder to pollinate as many plants or to adjust to habitat destruction.

Regardless, allowing light pollution to continue unabated could lead to changes in physiology that could make it harder for moths to pollinate plants widely or adjust to habitat destruction.

And Here at Home
The studies mentioned above were conducted in Britain, yet the same applies to moths here at home. No matter where they live though, these creatures excel in their nocturnal tasks by taking advantage of the reduced competition and their convenient hairy underbellies.

Another plus for the night shift: they transport pollen from vegetation never visited during the daylight hours. Namely, the plants that only open after dark. 

As with the daytime crew, most moths are generalists and visit a variety of flowers for nectar and in return, spread the accumulated pollen far and wide. Also, as with other pollinator species, some moths co-evolved with and specialize in visiting only one plant. For instance, Yucca is totally dependent on… you guessed it, the Yucca moth, and visa versa. Female moths lay their eggs on the plant and rely on the Yucca seeds to feed their caterpillars.

Unfortunately, moths worldwide face the same predicaments stated above – habitat loss, exposure to toxic pesticides, disease, and light pollution. Another factor, air pollution also affects them. Vehicle and industrial emissions interfere with their scent-based navigation and communication.

So, please remember the hard-working moths working the night shift as you plan your pollinator habitat. Be sure to include night-blooming plants and turn off the porch light.


Interesting Facts About Moths
Houdini-like: Moths love camouflage. Some moths are known for their ability to impersonate other animals. To avoid being eaten, some moths have evolved to look like less palatable insects, such as wasps, and tarantulas as well as leaves. Some moths even mimic bird droppings.

Forced abstinence: The adult Luna moth doesn’t eat. It doesn’t even have a mouth. After it emerges from its cocoon, it lives for about a week. Its sole mission in life? To mate and lay eggs. Others without mouth parts include Polyphemus, Atlas, and Promethea.
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Crazy for love: A male moth can smell a female many miles away. They detect odor molecules using their antennae instead of nostrils. Willing to fly upwind or down, the male doesn’t give up following the female’s seductive musk, even though he’s not the only suitor! Male giant silkworm moths have elaborate, feather-shaped antennae with hair-like scent receptors that allow them to detect a single molecule of a female moth's sex hormone from 7 miles away.

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    Greta Burroughs

    I am passionate about cleaning up our environment and restoring the habitats/ecosystems necessary for pollinators and wildlife to flourish.
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    Yet, Pollinator Conservation and Environmental Restoration involve more than just planting trees, flowers, and shrubs. In order to regain the balance Mother Nature intended, we need to also counter pollution, global warming, overuse of pesticides, and destruction of ecosystems.

    ​By publishing articles, essays, and resources on this blog, I hope to Educate, Encourage, and Empower others to find a niche where they can make a difference in this world.

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I will read forever because it lets me visit in my mind the worlds that I will never be able to see; it helps me put away the stresses of the day and relax into the rhythm of the story before me; it lets me bring to the surface and experience without regrets those feelings I hide away; it lets me re-experience the thrill of first love through someone else's eyes; it keeps my mind juiced so that it will never desert me; it is always there for me even when there's no one else. I will read forever no matter whether it is print or digital because the words will always call to me. ~ A Sassy Scribbler