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American Bird watchers coast to coast are invited to take part in the 13th annual Great Backyard Bird Count, Friday, February 12, through Monday, February 15, 2010.  Participants in the free event will join tens of thousands of volunteers counting birds in their own backyards, local parks or wildlife refuges. 

Each checklist submitted by these "citizen scientists" helps researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology,the National Audubon Society , and Bird Studies Canada learn more about how the birds are doing--and how to protect them. Last year, participants turned in more than 93,600 checklists online, creating the continent's largest instantaneous snapshot of bird populations ever recorded. 

"Taking part in the Great Backyard Bird Count is a great way to get outside with family and friends, have fun, and help birds--all at the same time," said Audubon Education Vice President, Judy Braus. "Even if you can only identify a few species you can provide important information that enables scientists to learn more about how the environment is changing and how that affects our conservation priorities."

Anyone can take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count,
from novice bird watchers to experts.

Participants count birds for as little as 15 minutes (or as long as they wish) on one or more days of the event and report their sightings online at www.birdcount.org. One 2009 participant said, "Thank you for the opportunity to participate in citizen science. I have had my eyes opened to a whole new interest and I love it!"

"The GBBC is a perfect first step towards the sort of intensive monitoring needed to discover how birds are responding to environmental change," said Janis Dickinson, the director of Citizen Science at the Cornell Lab.

Winter is such a vulnerable period for birds, so winter bird distributions are likely to be very sensitive to change.

There is only one way--citizen science--to gather data on private lands where people live and GBBC has been doing this across the continent for many years.

GBBC has enormous potential both as an early warning system and in capturing and engaging people in more intensive sampling of birds across the landscape."

Bird populations are always shifting and changing.

For example, 2009 GBBC data highlighted a huge southern invasion of Pine Siskins across much of the eastern United States. Participants counted 279,469 Pine Siskins on 18,528 checklists, as compared to the previous high of 38,977 birds on 4,069 checklists in 2005. Failure of seed crops farther north caused the siskins to move south to find their favorite food.

Bird Count Website

On the www.birdcount.org website, participants can explore real-time maps and charts that show what others are reporting during the count. The site has tips to help identify birds and special materials for educators. Participants may also enter the GBBC photo contest by uploading images taken during the count. Many images will be featured in the GBBC website's photo gallery. All participants are entered in a drawing for prizes that include bird feeders, binoculars, books, CDs, and many other great birding products.

Canadian Bird Studies Birdcount

In 2010, Bird Studies Canada (BSC) joins the GBBC as the program's Canadian partner. "Bird Studies Canada is delighted to be the Canadian partner for this extremely valuable program," said George Finney, President of BSC. "Participating in the GBBC is an excellent way for Canadians to reconnect with their love of nature and birds."

For more information about the GBBC, visit the website at www.birdcount.org.

Contact the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at (800) 843-2473, gbbc@cornell.edu,

Audubon at (202) 861-2242 ext 3050, citizenscience@audubon.org.

In Canada, participants may contact Bird Studies Canada at 1- (888)- 448-2473 ext. 134 or gbbc@birdscanada.org.  

The Great Backyard Bird Count is made possible, in part, by support from Wild Birds Unlimited.  

Restoring devastated rainforest is a noble goal...but is it possible? 

Yes, says ZERI founder, Gunter Pauli.  Their organization turned waste into a productive, living, sustainable community.  It's a demonstration of natural systems-based environmental and economic development.

The Las Gaviotas reforestation project is not only about planting trees for climate stabilization; it is, primarily, about catalyzing a development program that will pave the way for creating a sustainable future for our children where society is able to provide for the basic needs of all in terms of water, food, health care, shelter, energy, jobs and education with local resources. Las Gaviotas is poised to do nothing less than reshape the face of sustainable development and, consequently, the world.

Aerial view of the 8,000 hectares, replanted with Caribbean Pine.

Imagine miles and miles of desolate savannah in Eastern Colombia, without a tree or bird or child in sight, a veritable no-man's land. For Paolo Lugari this was the perfect place to implement a vision: if a sustainable community could be created in such adverse environmental, social and political conditions, it could be done anywhere on the planet. Las Gaviotas has done just that, and much more.

In 1992, in conjunction with the Kyoto Protocol and the Japanese government, the Environmental Research Center at Las Gaviotas began substantiating the concept of carbon sinks to sequester carbon dioxide and stabilize the climate. Based on the cash generated by its renewable energy project, complemented with funding secured through the Japanese government, Las Gaviotas, founded and directed by Paolo Lugari, planted 8,000 HA of Caribbean pine trees in a savannah that had been unproductive for centuries. It was considered impossible to plant trees in such acidic, inhospitable soil (pH 4) but thanks to the innovative use of mycorrhizal fungi which acts as the saliva for the tree, the forestation was successful. More than just successful, this initiative to initiate economic activities and to validate carbon sinks unleashed a chain reaction of positive effects that surprised even the initiators of the program...

Today, more than a decade later, the forestation of 8,000 HA has resulted in 10 percent more precipitation (some 110,000 m³ per day), converting Las Gaviotas into a net supplier of drinking water, a crystalline water of superior quality. With the cost of drinking water exceeding the cost of petroleum, Las Gaviotas demonstrated that reforestation allows us to address one of the most critical issues the world is facing: access to natural potable water!

For a case study, visit the article "The Renaissance of the Rainforest" by Gunter Pauli.

Christmas trees are big business in the United States.  Here are a couple slideshows that can help you make sustainable choices regarding your holiday use of real and artificial Christmas trees.
 


If you do indulge in harvested Christmas trees, here are some tips to prevent Christmas Tree Fires:

Protection of our natural resources in becoming increasingly dependent on careful monitoring, data collection and interpretation of these observations of how our world works.  The AmeriFlux network provides scientific development of methods as well as gathering and analysis of ecosystem data. These scientists quantify and advance understanding of processes regulating carbon assimilation, respiration, and storage, and linkages between carbon, water, energy and nitrogen through measurements and modeling.

The AmeriFlux network includes more than 120 independently funded sites operating across North, Central, and South America. AmeriFlux sites include tundra, grassland, agricultural crops, tropical forests and temperate coniferous and deciduous forests.

Nations of the world face challenges in developing sound policies and directions for addressing global change. The scientific community has the responsibility to provide the scientific basis for those policies.

This includes developing the understanding of the influence of land, ocean and atmospheric processes in climate change.

The goal of AmeriFlux is to develop a coordinated research network of long-term flux sites in the Americas for quantifying and understanding the role of the terrestrial biosphere in global climate change. Specifically, Ameriflux aims to provide reliable estimates of carbon storage, carbon dioxide and water vapor exchange, and improve our description and understanding of variation, and its causes at relevant temporal and spatial scales. We expect to provide the quantitative information to adequately predict large-scale long-term responses to changing environmental conditions.

This will be accomplished using micrometeorological and biological measurements at the intensive flux sites coupled with extensive measurements (e.g. surveys and remote sensing) and modeling.

The AmeriFlux network was established in 1996. The network provides continuous observations of ecosystem level exchanges of CO₂, water, energy and momentum spanning diurnal, synoptic, seasonal, and interannual time scales and is currently composed of sites from North America, Central America, and South America.

AmeriFlux is part of a "network of regional networks" (FLUXNET) which coordinates regional and global analysis of observations from micrometeorological tower sites. Learn more about FLUXNET and other regional carbon flux networks.

The network role is to address the scientific uncertainties associated with global change. AmeriFlux' focus is to address these scientific questions:

1. What are the magnitudes of carbon storage and the exchanges of energy, CO₂ and water vapor in terrestrial systems? What is the spatial and temporal variability?


2. How is this variability influenced by vegetation type, phenology, changes in land use, management, and disturbance history, and what is the relative effect of these factors?


3. What is the causal link between climate and the exchanges of energy, CO₂ and water vapor for major vegetation types, and how does seasonal and inter-annual climate variability and anomalies influence fluxes?


4. What is the spatial and temporal variation of boundary layer CO₂ concentrations, and how does this vary with topography, climatic zone and vegetation?

Recommendations for enhanced instrumentation at research sites

• Aspirated temperature. The AmeriFlux network needs to ensure temperature measurements are unbiased and stable with time
• Net Radiation. All sites should consistently use aspirators and account for any wind-speed corrections in their radiation measurements.
• Photosynthetic Photon Flux Density (PPFD) and incident radiation.
• Sonic Anemometry. There is no model of sonic anemometer-thermometers (SATs) that is ideal for all situations. Model type should be chosen by the site PI to best suit the site conditions and overall research questions.Scalar density measurements for CO2 and H2O. Precise scalar concentrations are needed to quantify the high frequency turbulent fluctuations of scalar density in making flux measurementsProfile systems. Because any 30-min scalar flux is the sum of both turbulent exchange and the vertical integrated rate of change of the scalar, it is important to have a CO2 profile system particularly at sites that have a developed canopy > 1 m in height.
• Soil respiration. Automated continuous measurements of soil respiration, and accompanying spatial representation with portable chambers, plus soil temperature and moisture profiles should be added to Tier 1 sites, and possibly some Tier 2 sites. We have found that automated chamber measurements of soil respiration (hourly)Water budget components. One key AmeriFlux objective is to explain the processes that control the fluxes of water vapor, and to determine how water vapor flux temporally and spatially affect the exchange of carbon (AmeriFlux Science Plan).
• Reporting calibration records (metadata) and data quality flags (for each 30-min period) in a centralized data repository (i.e., CDIAC) should also be explored to enhance overall network data quality
  

Trees provide many benefits, some of which can be quantified, such as

• reduced energy costs
• oxygen generation
  
• stormwater runoff reduction
• air quality improvement
• carbon sequestration
• food production: fruit and nuts
• species habitat for native biodiversity
  
• soil conditioning with natural compost and root incursion
• urban heat island reduction with shade
  

and others that can be described qualitatively, such as

• conservation education
• improved human health
• neighborhood revitalization
• stress reduction
• hammock infrastructure!
  
• climbing courses and virtual playgrounds for kids!
  
• job training and green jobs
• recycling green waste
• tourism appeal
• natural landmarks and heritage
  
• natural beauty!
  

The award-winning show was based on Common Vision's  DVD "Planting the Vision." The special episode of "Natural Heroes" aired on PBS across the nation. This award is a huge tribute to programs like Natural Heroes and the featured groups that are working for positive change. We hope many more people will see the show and be inspired to plant a tree in their community!

Watch a 6-minute trailer for the DVD "Planting the Vision" below.

> Watch the Natural Heroes Fruit Tree Tour Promo on the Natural Heroes site

Occasionally, I get into a poetic mood.  Today's one of those days.  Slightly sentimental.  Slightly 40,000 foot view on the world.  Slightly beauty obcessed.

A couple elegant, tall, stately trees are my constant companions as I type to you.  When my eyes need a break from the computer screen, they turn to these two friends. I watch their leaves dance in the wind.  And turn a million shades of green as the seasons give them new life, abundant growth and then sap their maturity and cause them to flutter to the ground in the late summer and autumn breezes.

Yes, I love trees.  Not just because of their beauty...but because the more I learn about trees, the more I admire their everyday work, their community spirit and their productivity.  They take sunshine and rain from the sky and turn it into food for butterflies and birds and mammals and yes, us.

They crack rocks open with their delicate new  roots.  They create pathways for water and nutrients to filter down into deeper and deeper layers of soil.  And then they shed their leaves annually to create compost and new soil. 

Trees give shade.  They give fruit and nuts.  They give twigs to the birds to build nests.  They give deer scratching posts.  They cradle homes in their branches for birds and beetles and spiders and lizards... and some even grow in swamps and lakes and give homes to fish and frogs and snakes.

Tall trees like redwoods pump moisture up to the tipty tops of their branches further than engineers have been able to duplicate with our high tech pumps.

... have you caught the tree fever yet?   Do you have a favorite friend outside your windows that gives you graceful, gentle respite?  I hope you do...and if you don't, I hope you will plant one and watch it grow into a stately young adult...rejoicing with it every season  and dancing with it on every breeze!

"Non-native plants cost the US about $200 billion each year to monitor, contain and control," says Jack Pizzo, andscape architect and president of Pizzo & Associates, Leland, IL.

Non-native invasive plants are species whose introduction outside their ecological homes causes economic or environmental harm.  They quickly establish themselves in a new habitat that has favorable conditions  and no natural predators to balance their growth and spread.  They can also threaten or eliminate the ability for native species to thrive because they DO have natural predators and have evolved to  live with moderate growth in a robust community of competitive species.


That number keeps climbing with international trade, travel and shipping that move plants, animals and disease organisms with globalization. 

Native plants contribute to natural systems, but invasive species can upset delicately balanced systems of water availability, sunlight, and soil quality.   Many natives have adapted over time to tolerate local weather conditions and often feature deep root systems which can find water during drought conditions.

Invasive trees, shrubs and vines can spread not only their  own species, but enable diseases to spread more rapidly and impact blight, rot and insect damage, as well as impact water supplies, pollinator migrations and native wildlife species habitat.

There are many local, regional and national conservation organizations that work to preserve native plants and species, as well as eradicate invasive populations.  Nature is a very "localized" natural system -- and local action and vigilence are required to monitor and reclaim degraded land systems. 

The Conservation Foundation - Illinois

The Conservation Foundation is a nonprofit land and watershed protection organization established in 1972 by business and community leaders, The Conservation Foundation is a not-for-profit land and watershed protection organization. Our headquarters are located in Naperville, Illinois, on a 60-acre working farm, and a program office is located in Montgomery, Illinois.

The mission of the Foundation is to preserve open space and natural lands, protect rivers and watersheds, and promote stewardship of the environment in Illinois.

The Conservation Foundation protects and enhances rivers and watersheds by improving water quality and stream ecosystems, preserving stream corridors, and increasing citizen awareness. This is accomplished through watershed planning, management and restoration.

The Conservation Foundation
Dickson-Murst Farm
2550 Dickson Road
Montgomery, IL 60538
Phone: (630) 553-0687
http://www.theconservationfoundation.org/

We can learn a lot from nature's systems.  Human systems such as the economy (eco-nomy) are much like their natural systems counterparts...ie, the ecosystem (eco-system).  Here's one example how someone figured out the connection:

"Listening to the commentaries on financial institutions that are too big to be allowed to fail and the frantic efforts to preserve the status quo reminded me of a century of national forest mismanagement. Fires were vigorously suppressed, resulting in a build-up of fuel until there came an uncontrollable inferno. Will the same thing happen to our financial systems? Should we break up enormous institutions and permit small fires to periodically clear away the deadwood? I'm not sure how this would be accomplished at this late date with so much fuel on the forest floor, but I can tell you that the longer we wait and prop up failing systems, the worse the conflagration will be."

The rainforests are certainly the natural systems that we identified as "too big to be allowed to fail" in nature.  But we're letting them fail anyway.  And  the fresh water system of aquifers, lakes, streams and even the ocean are too big to let fail.  But?

The deserts are also too big to exploit.  I read somewhere recently that deserts are seen as "inert" by the waste management industry.  I must admit that you can drive through a desert and see little life.  A few cacti.  Maybe a vulture. But looks are deceiving.  Unless we slow down and use additional tools to augment our limited vision, hearing and smell...we miss the intricacies of natural systems.  And just because we can't see it...doesn't mean it doesn't exist -- or that it isn't important! 

The earth (and the universe) have run efficiently for the ages based on complex natural systems.  We tamper with them...we lose redundancy and communities of mutually supportive relationships.  No where is that more visible and within human experience than in a forest.  We can see the systems of plant communities, decay and fertility, moisture and seasons, habitat and fresh water systems...and on and on.

Take a busy executive on a forest adventure.  The impact will be a gut level connection.  That is the best form of learning.  It's something both of you can enjoy.  Do you have a relative or friend who has been spending way too much time indoors? 

Make it your mission to reconnect them with the wonder of the woods!  You'll both enjoy the learning experience and you don't have to preach.  Nature will do it for you.