Banking on Seeds for Our Future
The USDA’s National Plant Germplasm System is arguably the most important seed bank for our food supply. An agroecologist explains why it is in desperate need of attention.
Tagged: Ecology
Should We Empathize with Poachers?
Globalization makes animals more vulnerable to illegal trafficking, even as regulations restricting poaching have increased. An ecologist reviews Rachel Nuwer’s new book and asks what role empathy should play in addressing animal trafficking.
The Science of Seasons on an Out-of-Sync Planet
Phenology, tracking the comings and goings of species each season, provides insight into the disruptions caused by human-induced climate change.
Ecological Homes: Making Women, Men, and Nature
At the New Alchemy Institute’s bioshelters, green technologies promised social revolution. But women still found themselves stuck with the dishes.
The American Recycling Myth
Why do we recycle? American consumers have learned to think of recycling as a local activity, but a recent Chinese ban on imported solid waste may force us to see the ways that recycling is a global industry.
From TNT to Tallgrass: Prairie Restoration at a Munitions Plant Turned National Grassland
It was the world’s largest munitions plant. Now it’s a rich grassland teeming with wildflowers, hikers, and even a bison herd. Illinois’s Midewin National Tallgrass Prairie offers an environmental success story for our time.
Knowing Prairies: An Essay in Comic Form
What can the world’s first restored prairie tell us about living with the land? The University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum inspires one artist to reflect on ecological restoration and what we call nature.
Remembering Lost Landscapes in Cambodia
Nearly forty years after the Pol Pot time, Cambodia’s landscape testifies to a tumultuous past and hints at an uncertain environmental future.
Crying Dugongs and Ocean Encounters in Southeast Asia
Stories of the dugong, a cousin of the manatee, offer important insight into human-nature encounters in the waters of Southeast Asia.
The Itchy Ecology of Segregation: A Conversation with Dawn Biehler
For many of us, mosquitos are an annoying fact of life in the summer. But for Dawn Biehler, they are also a symptom of social inequality.
