Changing climate, changing landscape: monitoring the vast wilderness of interior Alaska

Broadleaf trees and tamarack burn gold with fall color against the ever-green of conifers on the Teklanika River in the northeast corner of Denali National Park & Preserve.

First ten-years of data from an ongoing monitoring effort sets a baseline for modeling and forestry management in Denali National Park and Preserve — listen to the Field Talk podcast with park service ecologist Carl Roland. Continue reading

Where the ecologists are: a Field Talk podcast with Erle Ellis

Erle C Ellis, and Navin Ramankutty. 2008. Putting people in the map: anthropogenic biomes of the world. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment 6: 439–447. http://dx.doi.org/10.1890/070062

The UM-Baltimore County ecologist talks about geographical context in field research and why he thinks the value of nature is more than the sum of it’s services. by Liza Lester, ESA communications officer Listen to the podcast on the Field Continue reading

Tallgrass prairie: the invasion of the woody shrubs

Jesse Nippert in the tall grass at Konza Prairie Biological Station

As a Kansas boy, Jesse Nippert spent his youth wanting to escape the state, but found himself drawn inexorably back. Underlying the sea of grass is an interplay of water, fire, competition and consumption as enchanting as any ecosystem—and the balance of forces is shifting. Continue reading