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News, July 27, 2006: Male Mantids Say, “Love Me, Don’t Eat Me!”

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Favorite quote: “The act of sexual cannibalism in praying mantids is an example of extreme conflict between the sexes”:

In a paper in the August issue of The American Naturalist, Jonathan Lelito and William Brown (SUNY-Fredonia), study male risk-taking behavior in a praying mantis by altering the risk of cannibalism and observing changes in male behavior. They find that the males are able to assess the risk of cannibalism and become more cautious in the presence of particularly hungry females.

“We know that hungry females are more likely to cannibalize and a head-on orientation makes it easier for her to attack the male with her predatory front legs,” says Brown.

Lelito and Brown thus varied female hunger and physical orientation in order to assess how male mantids respond to variation in the risk of cannibalism. They found that males responded to greater risk by slowing their approach, increasing courtship behavior, and mounting from a greater – and possibly safer – distance.

“This shows that male mantids actively assess variation in risk and change their behavior to reduce the chance of being cannibalized,” explains Brown. “Males are clearly not complicit, and the act of sexual cannibalism in praying mantids is an example of extreme conflict between the sexes.”

Citation: Jonathan P. Lelito and William D. Brown, “Complicity or conflict over sexual cannibalism? Male risk taking in the praying mantis Tenodera aridifolia sinensis.” The American Naturalist 167:263

I learned of this from SEED Magazine’s “I Can’t Believe It’s Science” feature.

Links:

Biodiversity News, August 2, 2006: NASA, Lasers, and Woodpeckers

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1826 watercolor by John James Audubon

Lasers, dark mysterious wilderness, extinct species … almost sounds like a sequel in a well-known series of movies in which dinosaurs eat people. But no, this is real science!

In June a research aircraft flew over delta regions of the lower Mississippi River to track possible areas of habitat suitable for the ivory-billed woodpecker [Campephilus principalis], one of the largest and most regal members of the woodpecker family. The project is supported by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Geological Survey.

Scientists from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., and the University of Maryland used NASA’s Laser Vegetation Imaging Sensor (LVIS) onboard the aircraft. The instrument uses lasers that send pulses of energy to the Earth’s surface. Photons of light from the lasers bounce off leaves, branches and the ground and reflect back to the instrument. By analyzing these returned signals, scientists receive a direct measurement of the height of the forest’s leaf covered tree tops, the ground level below and everything in between.

…

LVIS project researcher Ralph Dubayah, a professor in the University of Maryland’s Department of Geography [said]. “Lidar technology like LVIS measures the vertical structure of the trees and ground, setting it apart from other remote-sensing systems that provide detailed horizontal information that tells us little about whether a green patch of forest is short or tall, for example. When identifying habitats, the vertical structure of the vegetation is of paramount importance to many species, including a bird like the ivory-bill.”

Thematic map showing the survey area in the White River Wildlife Reserve.
Credit: NASA.

Satellite image of the Cache River National Wildlife Refuge in Arkansas. The White River, the focus of this summer’s survey, is at the left of the image.
Credit: NASA image by Robert Simmon, based on Landsat 7 data provided by the Global Land Cover Facility.
Image acquired December 23, 2001 from NASA’s Landsat 7 satellite

Links:

I picked up this story through the Birding News Feed. It was variously reported by

Sidebar: Why I hate ads on the Web. The following were all ads displayed on the various story items:

  • Woodpecker Control: Helpful links for woodpecker control.
  • Woodpecker Deterrent: The Attack Spider scares them away. Sound-activated, fast. It works!
  • Get Rid of Woodpeckers: Wide Variety Woodpecker Deterrents Affordable Woodpecker Repellents

This is why there are no Ivory-Billed Woodpeckers, people: You’re scaring them all away!

On a more positive note, it seems that, after I’ve scared them all off, I could still buy one of my very own:

  • Ivory Billed Woodpecker: Browse a huge selection now. Find exactly what you want today. [I just want one standard plumage male Ivory-Billed Woodpecker, please. Gift-wrapped.]

Meta: Categories in Sidebar

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I’ve just reorganized the sidebar to this blog:
– Separated blog tools and links to their own section.
– Added ALL-CAPS headers to each section: EXPLORE (this blog), LINKS (resources) and NETWORK (Blog Rolls, back-links, and so on)
– Moved EXPLORE (this blog) to the top, just under the profile, followed by LINKS (resources).
– Added a del.icio.us tag “cloud” labelled Categories to the top of the EXPLORE section.
– Labelled the Technorati splot as “Search”.

Please let me know what you think of the new tools and organization. In particular, let me know of any categories you would find useful. I’ve only just started tagging the entries, so it’s going to take me a while to catch up. Trying to find an entry you read on this blog? What keywords would you search by? Those would make good categories for me to add to the “cloud”.

Other Gardens: South Midwood Garden Tour, Sunday, July 30, 2006

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[2006.08.03-11:40am EDT: See bottom of entry for link to article describing history of the Avenue H Station House.]

This post is rather lengthy. I’m hoping to make up for my numerous small and seemingly scattered, though all intricately interwoven in my mind, posts.

Google Map image of South Midwood area of Victorian Flatbush in Brooklyn. North is to the left in this image. The neighborhood is bounded by Foster Avenue (diagonal road) on the north (left), Brooklyn College (large ballfield) on the south (right), East 21st Street on the west, and Bedford Avenue on the east. South Midwood is one of about a dozen distinct neighborhoods of Victorian Flatbush.

On Sunday, July 30, I attended the South Midwood Garden Tour. I was invited by a fellow gardener from that neighborhood whose husband I had met at a “new neighbors” event last year, after we bought our house. We invited them to our house opening party last fall, and I got to sketch out the “garden in my mind” which was forming out of the weeds and dust which came with the house.

Avenue H Subway Station

The Avenue H Subway Station, just a few blocks from the start of the tour at the community garden. This station was recently granted landmark status. At the turn of the last century, it was a real estate office for the new developments arising along the old Coney Island RR line, now the B/Q lines. It’s the only wood-frame station house in the subway system, and the only one which was not originally built for a railroad purpose.

My journey began by taking the Q train from my local station a couple of stops south to Avenue H. The tour began at 11am at a community garden, the Campus Road Garden at Brooklyn College. This is located at the western end of the Brooklyn College campus, near the ball fields.

The light towers surrounding the playing fields have large nests of Monk Parakeets. Their calls were constant. Dragonflies were swarming over and around the gardens. Butterflies were everywhere.

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Campus Road Garden, looking north.

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Campus Road Garden, looking west back toward Avenue H.

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The house of the first garden on the tour. The garden in the backyard was lovely, but I really liked the look of these vines embracing the turret.

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The backyard garden of the same house. The gardener was not available for interrogation, but the tour guide told us that everything had been designed and built over several years by the owner.

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Second garden on the tour. The cool shade and sound of the waterfall was a welcome relief from the oppressive heat that day. The owner is standing with her back to the camera. This garden was just built in June of this year.

The next four photos are all from the same house and gardens. It’s on a double lot, 100ft x 100ft, a rarity in Brooklyn, but South Midwood has several of them. This garden was one of the highlights of the tour for me.
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Skipping ahead a few gardens, these next two photos are different views of a well-designed and inviting accessible garden. The raised beds were customed designed and built for the gardener, whose mobility had become restricted over time. The integral seating is a terrific feature, providing both a place to sit and work the beds, and inviting visitors to get up close and personal with the plantings. This was another garden at the top of my list of favorites. I have so many ideas for my own gardens from this one.
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Another backyard garden.
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At this stop it was the house, and not the gardens, which was featured on the tour. But the gardens make their own statement, which I would not want you to do without.
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A couple of flower portraits from two other gardens.
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I have a special fondness for large, red Hibiscus. It takes me back to my childhood in space-age Florida. I picked flowers just like this from the monstrous, garage-sized shrubs outside our house to dissect, study, and learn all the parts of the flower. I even put together a presentation on flowers and pollination for my grade school classmates and school. Yes, I was a curious child, in all the meanings of the word.

At the penultimate stop, the gardener invites his guests to enjoy the sensual pleasures of his herb garden.
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The last, but not least, stop on the tour, home of the tour guide. The food and refreshments were raved over. And the gardens were nothing to sneeze at, either.
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Links:

Event, September 9, 2006: 2nd Annual World Naked Gardening Day (WNGD)

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[Viewer discretion is advised before following the link from the title of this blog entry.]

Okay, I could have held this for Friday, but it’s hot, and two circuit breakers have tripped already this evening, requiring me to get dressed again, grab the flashlight and keys, and go down two or three stories to the basement to reset them, and I’m down to crashing in the last room in the house with air conditioning, so running around naked in the outdoors almost sounds attractive … almost. If it weren’t for the mosquitoes, and the heat stroke, and the … well, ummm, other things.

Gardening has a timeless quality, and anyone can do it: young and old, singles or groups, the fit and infirm, urban and rural. An elderly lady in a Manhattan apartment can plant new annuals in her window box. Families can rake leaves in their back yard. Freehikers can pull invasive weeds along their favorite stretch of trail. More daring groups can make rapid clothes-free sorties into public parks to do community-friendly stealth cleanups.

Why garden naked? [My question, exactly. They need a FAQ page.] First of all, it’s fun! Second only to swimming, gardening is at the top of the list of family-friendly activities people are most ready to consider doing nude. [Ummm, what’s number three?] Moreover, our culture needs to move toward a healthy sense of both body acceptance and our relation to the natural environment. Gardening naked is not only a simple joy, it reminds us–even if only for those few sunkissed minutes–that we can be honest with who we are as humans and as part of this planet.

All that’s involved is getting naked and making the world’s gardens–whatever their size, public or private–healthier and more attractive. WNGD has no political agenda, nor is it owned or organized by any one particular group. Naked individuals and groups are encouraged to adopt the day for themselves.

Now, aside from all the naked bits (sorry) they also have some info and links regarding organic gardening, permaculture, and that sort of thing. Some helpful gardening tips (really sorry) for the naturists who find their way to their site.

So, this is not an endorsement, nor a recommendation. The neighbor’s security searchlights will not find me cavorting in the backyard with the raccoons and opposa. But I know some of you out there have rather large tracts of land … distant neighbors …

Just think about it. That’s all I ask.

Props to Improbable Research for bringing this to my attention.

News, August 1, 2006: NASA Earth Observatory Maps NYC’s Heat Island, Block by Block

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Timely enough, given the record temperatures we’re experiencing this week. Tomorrow’s forecast has been “upgraded” from what I reported yesterday: the THI may reach 117F tomorrow.

Temperatures in New York City as measured by Landsat on August 14, 2002, at 10:30am, during a heat wave. Cooler temperatures are blue, hotter are yellow.
Source: NASA Earth Observatory. Map by Robert Simmon, using data from the Landsat Program.
NASA Map of Surface Temperatures in New York City, 2002-08-14

Temperatures in New York City as measured by Landsat on August 14, 2002, at 10:30am, during a heat wave. Cooler temperatures are blue, hotter are yellow.
Source: NASA Earth Observatory. Map by Robert Simmon, using data from the Landsat Program.
NASA Map of Surface Vegetation in New York City

The ability of vegetation to moderate urban temperatures is graphically demonstrated in these paired images from NASA’s Earth Observatory. The spatial resolution of these images is 60 meters per pixel. At that scale, I can just about make out the block where I garden:

Closeup of the vegetation map, centered on central Brooklyn. The green area at the left is Greenwood Cemetery. Prospect Park is the dark green area at the top; the white area within it is Prospect Lake.

Below the park, to the south, Victorian Flatbush, with its tree-lined streets, detached wood frame houses, and front lawns, spreads out as a series of olive green areas. The beige areas in-between the olive are rowhouses and apartment buildings. You can even make out a curving green line across the southern end of this area: That’s the old LIRR right-of-way, long abandoned, and overgrown with trees.

NASA has just published a report on urban heat islands highlighting the research of Stuart Gaffin, an associate research scientist with the Earth Institute at Columbia University in New York City, and his colleagues:

In the summer of 2002, Gaffin and his colleagues used satellite temperature data, city-wide land cover maps, and weather data, along with a regional climate model to identify the best strategies for cooling the city. The team estimated how much cooling the city could achieve by planting trees, replacing dark surfaces with lighter ones, and installing vegetation-covered “green roofs.”
The team studied the city as a whole, as well as six “hotspot” areas—including parts of Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn—where air temperatures near the ground were higher than the city-wide average. Each area was serviced by Con Edison, the local power company, so the scientists could compare electricity use. Each area also had available space so that the mitigation strategies the team considered could be modeled in the study and potentially implemented later on.
August 14 fell on one of the hottest heat wave days in New York’s summer of 2002, making it a good day to take the city’s temperature. Measuring the temperature of every last sidewalk, street, parking lot, roof, garden, and grassy area in an entire city isn’t easily done from the ground, so the researchers relied on NASA to take the city’s temperature from the sky. NASA’s Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper collected thermal infrared satellite data. …
– Beating the Heat in the World’s Big Cities

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Urban Forestry

Heat Emergency Declared for New York City

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We’re prepping for record heat this week. Wednesday, our local forecast is for the actual temperature to hit 102F. The apparent temperature – the temperature humidity index, or THI – will reach 114F. No chance of rain until Thursday, and then, only minimal unless we’re lucky enough to catch a thunderstorm. No real relief until Friday, when the high is predicted to be back in the 80s.

For the next two days, at least, I’ll be packing a water bottle in my bag and leaving early and coming home late from my air-conditioned office in Manhattan. Today, I’m waiting for it to cool down this evening before I go out and water the garden. Beyond that, the garden will have to fend for itself. It will be too hot to water.

Midnight Photo Blogging: Raccoons in Brooklyn

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Oh, yeah. They’re here.

I happened to go into the kitchen and heard noise out in the garden. I went out into the tree fort and heard lots of rustling around, sounding like it was along the back fence. I went back inside and got a flashlight to shine down in the yard.

The first one I saw running along the bottom of the reed screen I put up along the back fence. It was so fast, it could have been a cat. I kept hearing noise, so I kept looking. That’s when I saw something on the reed screen. With the flashlight, it was clearly a small raccoon.

Now I know why my screen keeps falling down. It’s a raccoon ride.

By this time a light was on from our tenants downstairs, and I saw a flash of light from a camera. Grabbed my camera, keys, flashlight and went outside to the backyard. One of our tenants was in the backyard with a camera, and I joined in, using the flashlight to spot them – in the trees, along the phone lines, behind the fence – and take pictures. I only have the flash in my camera, which isn’t very powerful. The shot above is the only one in which I got all three of them. [2006.07.31-16:28 EDT: Replaced with photo adjused for brightness.]

They’re clearly young, they seem well-fed, and they were having a lot of fun with each other. They didn’t seem interested in my compost bins at all. They did seem to like rustling around in the leaves. I know there’s lots of earthworms in there, and probably other good eats. Gnawing on phone junction boxes also seems to be a pastime, not one of which I approve.

They were back the following night. There were three, again, but one of them seemed larger than the other two and stayed on the ground. The three photographed above were all about the same size, and all up and down the threes, along, behind, and on the fence and screen, and so on. That time my partner got to see them, which was great fun.

It’s been too hot since then to keep a raccoon vigil.

Related posts

Raccoons

Invasive Species News, July 20, 2006, Brooklyn, NY: “Brooklyn” Parrots Taken from the Wild

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Monk Parakeet Munching on Young Apples

On his Web site, Brooklyn Parrots, Steve Baldwin reports that Brooklyn’s most charismatic potentially invasive species, Myiopsitta monachus, Monk Parakeets, have been poached from at least one, possibly two, locations:

Several residents of Marine Park [a neighborhood in southeastern Brooklyn, adjacent to JFK Airport] have approached me recently, asking what happened to their once-thriving colony of wild parrots. I have been able to verify through a source that these parrots have been stolen by thieves. According to this source, two men, one with a long pole, have been taking live parrots from the pole nests in Marine Park. They work at night, and have been seen by residents. If this is the same operation that has stolen parrots in Midwood [a neighborhood south of me], their MO is to sell the parrots to local pet stores for $25 a piece, where they have value not as pets, but as breeding pairs.

Baldwin goes on to urge people to report suspicious activity to the police, and to ConEd, the power provider for New York City, since the birds commonly nest around transformers.
He continues:

The Monk Parrots of Brooklyn enjoy no special protections under New York State Law. They are classified, along with pigeons and starlings, as birds that can be “taken” at any time, unlike protected species. They are vulnerable to poaching, and because Quakers are legal in New York, there is a ready market for captured birds.

There’s a good reason Monk Parakeets are not “protected”: they’re not native to the United States, let alone Brooklyn. They were introduced, accidentally or deliberately, a few decades ago.

This is an emotional issue. Monk Parakeets are attractive, gregarious (with each other, at least), big, loud birds commonly sold as pets. They’ve appeared in my backyard, and whenever I see them, I find myself crying out “Parrots!” But make no mistake: Monk Parakeets are a potentially, at least, invasive species. They are reproducing, and spreading, in the wild. Not just in Brooklyn, or the NYC Metropolitan Area, but in over a dozen states.

To get a taste of how emotional this is going to get, read on:

They are considered unworthy [of] protection because they are classified as “introduced.” This stigma is equivalent to “illegal alien” in the human world – “introduced” species don’t have the same rights, protections, and privileges. When bad things happens to them, society feels free to turn its back. Do the wild parrots of Brooklyn, which have been in the borough for 40 years, have a right not to be captured and sold into captivity? I think so.

Sturnus vulgaris, the European Starling mentioned earlier, was deliberately introduced to this continent by Eugene Schiefflin in the 19th century. His “acclimitization” society wanted to introduce all the birds mentioned in the works of Shakespeare. The epicenter for this invasion was in New York City’s Central Park. You probably know the rest. They compete with native species for nesting cavities, and have been known to displace the residents of active nests.

Before we get all teary-eyed about the plight of the parrots, we need to understand the impact they’ve already had, and what will happen as they continue to expand their range. What native species have the parrots already displaced? What species might be able to get re-established, if the parrots were not already here? What ecological niches are they occupying?

I’ve seen the parrots mobbing and driving off crows, which are twice their size, so I know they can be aggressive towards other birds. I’ve observed them eating apples from our neighbors’ tree, which reaches into our yard. Are there no native fruit-eating birds which could be supported by such bounty? I’ve never seen them here, but Orioles come to mind. I’d rather see Orioles eating the apples. But that will never happen as long as the parrots are around.

Baldwin also announced that he will be campaigining for protective legislation for the parrots. As much as I am also fond of the little darlings, I will oppose such legislation.

Links:

Other’s People’s Gardens: Greenwich Village, Manhattan, NYC, July 25, 2006

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Yesterday afternoon and evening I was in the East and West Village in Manhattan. I was having some fun with my camera phone (phone camera? floor wax? dessert topping? dating myself?).

On East 11th Street (I think) in the West Village (Greenwich Village) was this lush and perfect container garden on the front steps of a townhouse. The photo cannot do it justice. I would have to do some major retouching to recreate the total effect and the subtely of the colors and shades. To get an idea, the steps were not in the sun when I took this picture. The chartreuse sweet potato vine is washed out because my phonecam (ah, that’s it!) can’t capture the full dynamic range from dark to light. I hope I can get back with my real camera to share it with all of you.