Lead Article
The Buzz on Pollination
Plant life is an essential foundation of wildlife habitat. Whether in a northern hardwood forest or an agricultural landscape, plants form the base of the food chain, the structure of the habitat, and the cover necessary for many species of wildlife. Birds, mammals, and other animals rely on these plants, while most plants, in turn, rely on animal pollinators for their own reproduction. The role played by bees, flies, beetles, moths, butterflies, and other animals in moving pollen from one flower to the next is critically important, and the most important pollinators – by far – are bees.
Photo at right: A female earth bumblebee (Bombus terricola) visits purple-flowering raspberry in Hinesburg, Vermont. Once common throughout eastern North America, populations of the earth bumblebee have mysteriously crashed in recent years. Complete photo essay appears at end of …
Feature Articles
Avoiding Rash Decisions: A Guide to Plants You Shouldn’t Touch
Plants are in the business of making themselves inedible,” says Tom Vogelmann, a plant biologist at the University of Vermont. Being unable to run and hide from predators, they’ve spent millions of years figuring out other ways to fight back. Some have developed armor – tree bark, for instance, or …
Certification Comes to Family Forests
John Sullivan didn’t set out to have his forest certified. He just wanted to take good care of the woods. His 300 acres near Chestertown, New York, have been in the family since 1875, when his great-grandfather bought the land …
The Outside Story
Nature’s Dramas Play Out on a Backyard Stage
June 29, 2009
The early light of dawn was filtering into the bedroom, when I heard that faint but distinctive pounding, as though someone were pounding with a tiny ball peen hammer. Ratta tatta tat-tat-tat. I knew immediately who it was.
“He’s baaaack…” I said softly to my …
Editor's Blog
Vermont’s Current Use Program
by Dave Mance III
June 26, 2009
Why Hire a Forester?
by Dave Mance III
June 19, 2009
Sinkhole Mystery
by Dave Mance III
June 12, 2009
From the Archive
Tale of the Tick: How Lyme Disease is Expanding Northward
With early reports of active tick encounters, we have chosen this Spring 2008 story for the From the Archive Feature. "As the world changes, and ticks continue to propagate and spread north, it’s worth refreshing your memory about Lyme disease, and a tick’s lifecycle." Dave Mance III, Editor’s Blog, April 3, 2009.It’s only natural to take a human-centered view of the world. Through this lens, Lyme disease is …
