Bill Graham's Blog, page 27

Patterns In Nature: My Latest Musings 8 February 2014

Trophy hunting of grizzly bears in Canada results in an overkill    The Caribou’s struggle for survival in Northern Idaho while the deer thrives. Mankind in the middle once more   Bison Good, Cattle Bad? A Prairie Ecologist’s Perspective from Nature Conservancy A fresh perspective on grazing that seems to counter many research projects. The […]

Patterns In Nature: Her Tangled Web

In 1924, the last wild wolves in Yellowstone National Park were deliberately killed by the US federal government. In carrying out this program of predator eradication, the government unknowingly destroyed a network of Nature’s energy conduits that included important food chains and the course of running streams. The result was major changes in the energy […]

Patterns In Nature: My Latest Musings – 24 January 2014

This series of blog postings contains the most recent Internet articles that interest me. They are sources for my musings and my research which I am happy to share with you. If you find any of the articles interesting, I hope that you will offer your comments at the end of the list.

Patterns In Nature: Is Isle Royale A Case For Ecological Intervention ?

You would be totally forgiven if you had never heard of Isle Royale National Park. It is an island that is located in Lake Superior in the USA. The park is a designated wilderness site. No vehicles are allowed and only primitive camping is permitted. There is no land bridge but there was an ice […]

Patterns In Nature: Some Thoughts On Invasive Species

Best wishes to all of you for a wonderful 2014. Throughout my adventures in Nature, I’ve heard the words “invasive species” used extensively by environmentally conscious individuals and organizations as well as those government agencies who oversee public lands. The context in which “invasive species” is used is typically with a connotation of being bad […]

Patterns In Nature: More Great Conservation Heroes

As I do research for my blog posts, it is becoming increasingly clear to me that all is not gloom and doom in the world of conservation.  In between the wolf killings and the ATVs, there are many silent heroes who are making a difference and setting examples for the rest of us. I’ve already […]

Patterns In Nature: Biofuels and Biofeed – The Great Land Grab

  Recently, my eye caught an Associated Press article entitled “Prairies Vanish In The US Push For Green Energy“ . The sub-title under the lead photo of a farmer inspecting an ear of corn stated that: “Robert Malsam nearly went broke in the 1980s when corn was cheap. So now that prices are high and […]

Patterns In Nature: Saving The Great Sand Dunes

It seems like most conservation stories these days portray opposing sides battling it out in the public media and in the courts. We hear more about the battles than we do about Nature. While these issues are usually very important, I also like to read happy stories about successes in conservation. It is hard to […]

Patterns In Nature: A Bioinspired Alternative To Welfare Ranching

The numbers speak for themselves. The two most popular recent subjects that I’ve written about in my blog have been the ecological issues associated with cattle and sheep grazing and the negative impact of lethal predator eradication.  I’ve now decided to explore sound ecological answers to these two issues that might make sense to everyone. […]

Patterns In Nature: Shifting Sands

“…the observer never fails to be amazed at a simplicity of form, an exactitude of repetition and a geometric order unknown in nature on a scale larger than that of crystalline structure. In places vast accumulations of sand weighing millions of tons move inexorably in regular formation, over the surface of the country, growing, retaining […]