When hiking through your local forest, you’ve no doubt come across a dead tree every now and then. But have you ever thought about the ecology of dead trees and the roles they play in a forest ecosystem? In this article, I want to share some of those roles and by the end you will…
Category: Birds
Life and Death by the Roadside: Wildlife and Roads
UPPER PENINSULA, MICHIGAN – Driving out to the forest this morning, I came across a rare sight: a small fox trotting along the roadside. I was driving westward while the fox was coming east on the opposite side of the road. There was no other traffic and I was able to stop and snap a…
Noise Pollution in National Forests
Most national forests in the US are located in rural parts of the country. Parts of these forests can be difficult to access and therefore far from the noise of the city. For this reason, they offer a kind of sanctuary for the urbanite to temporarily escape the noise pollution of urbanization and development. However,…
Case Study in Conservation: Kittatinny Ridge Conservation Corridor
From southeastern Pennsylvania, the 185-mile-long Kittatinny Ridge is one of the most prominent features in the landscape. Rising to about 1800 feet above sea level at its highest point, it forms an ever-present wall above the Great Valley to the southeast. What’s more, it has high value as a conservation corridor due to its biodiversity…
Bald Eagle Nesting Sites on the Rise in the East
I recently read that bald eagle nesting sites have been spreading in the eastern US as the population continues to recover from a history of pollution exposure and indirect poisoning. It made me think of the first time I recall coming across an eagle nest in the wild. Back in early spring of 2018, I…