we made an efficient crew, with four licensed bird banders and a number of experienced and less-experienced volunteers. once nets were assembled, we met up at the banding table to discuss each person’s role as a bander, extractor, or transporter for the birds that would start stirring at any moment. just before sunrise, the first songbirds began flying into the mist nets. the designated extractors meticulously and safely untangled the birds from the nets and placed them into cotton bags to keep them calm, then the transporters carried them to the banding table. the banders carefully removed each bird from its pouch, checking their legs for a band and adding bands to those birds without one. each bird was checked and measured, then the bander’s hand opened to send it gently flying back into the field.

charlie muse, the federally-licensed master bird bander who has held the permit to band birds at panola for the past 13 years, took time while managing the morning’s operation to answer questions about his work and its impact. fascinated with reptiles and amphibians from an early age, muse discovered birding in college. he recalled spending the summer of 1992 on an island off coastal maine. “i came across these people with nets hanging out in the scrub catching birds, and i thought that was just the neatest thing in the world. i started hanging out with them in between my classes…and the next year they invited me back for a class to learn how to band birds. i’ve been banding ever since.”

we banded over 20 birds that icy morning. the first bird was a sparrow so cold that mr. muse slipped it inside the pocket of his insulated hunting overalls with a hand warmer. we also captured a northern mockingbird that complained loudly and a fluffy eastern phoebe that sported head feathers ruffled like bed-head. we netted two charismatic eastern bluebirds and a streaky vesper sparrow, which is less commonly seen in that area and required more extensive identification verification. the bander gave each bandless bird a little numbered metal band, like a personalized bird anklet. some species, like eastern bluebirds and field sparrows, received two extra colored bands to provide additional tracking information for different scientific studies. for every bird brought to the banding table, the bander made a series of measurements, such as wing and tail feather lengths, belly fat content, and body weight, as well as sex and age. another volunteer tediously recorded all of this information on a clipboard of data collection sheets, as well as the identification number on the bird’s new or existing band.

data collected from bird banding assists scientists with avian conservation. “if you want to conserve something, you need to understand it. you need to understand its needs, you need to understand its phenology, and what its population is doing. you need to understand its dynamics,” said muse. “there’s some knowledge you can only get from handling birds, from marking them, from being able to recognize individuals…there’s a lot of information you can get from banding that you can’t get from other means.” with 13 years of banding data, muse’s intent with the panola banding station’s location is to “[collect] data to monitor the changes in bird populations over time as the department of natural resources restores the land to native warm season grasses.”

scientists at the odum school of ecology at the university of georgia use banding data in avian disease research. bird banding can be used to identify the bird if it is caught again, according to dr. sonia altizer, a professor at the odum school of ecology. “banding added to early knowledge of bird survival, migration, and reproductive success,” noted dr. altizer, adding that newer “tracking technology usually goes hand in hand with bird banding [in recent years] and has added enormously to knowledge of bird behavior and movement.” geolocators and gps transmitters are examples of these newer technologies which can track precise location, often even if the bird is not recaptured.

extensive banding databases like the north american bird banding program, which has records for over 38 million migratory songbirds banded since 1960, allow scientists to analyze bird migration relative to environmental data. a recent survey shows that almost 30 percent of north america’s bird species have disappeared over the past half-century.

“[bird banding] had been a standard practice in traditional ornithology in the last 50 years,” said dr. andy davis, a research scientist at the odum school of ecology and master bander. “even today, there are still researchers who are analyzing the banding data and making new discoveries from it.” according to dr. davis, “more technological approaches for tracking birds have been developed,” and scientists are even able to “take a feather from a bird and use sophisticated chemical analyses of the feather tissue and figure out where the bird came from.”

as bird populations shift migration patterns and species diminish, bird banding provides longitudinal monitoring and critical data needed to understand the adverse effects of accelerating climate change on global bird species. recent advances in technology will provide additional insight into avian location and population dynamics. capturing sparrows and banding data with today’s mist nets will inform research to forestall tomorrow’s threats of species extinctions.

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around 60 million years ago, a large asteroid called chicxulub made impact with the earth along the coast of the yucatán peninsula of present-day mexico. the asteroid’s impact resulted in dissemination of geologically young, thin soil across the peninsula and formation of a massive underground system of freshwater cenotes, which are natural sinkholes exposing groundwater. over a thousand years ago, the maya built their main ceremonial city, chichén itzá, along the edge of chicxulub’s crater. the soil was thin, but freshwater was plentiful. to sustain chichén itzá’s large population, the maya cultivated crops through an agricultural method known as milpa.

milpa is a type of sustainable farming historically practiced by the maya in the yucatán and other parts of mesoamerica. the polyculture milpas are planted with numerous crops, such as beans, corn, peppers, and gourds, for local community consumption rather than supporting a single crop for economic value like modern monoculture commercial farms. milpa agriculture requires no agrochemicals, thus keeping groundwater clean. the ancient maya empire survived on milpa farming. some 60% of the population on the yucatán peninsula today are of maya descent, and numerous modern mayan communities practice milpa.

adolfo rodriguez, a professor at the autonomous university of chapingo, is a milpa farmer in the maya community of maxcanú. dressed in a traditional straw hat and white, long-sleeved guayabera, rodriguez proudly recounted the history of his farm. back in the 1800s, the farm was a large plantation growing henequen, an agave plant used to make twine and ropes for ships and other fiber-based products. most of the global supply of henequen, also known as yucatán sisal, came from the yucatán peninsula. demand for henequen eventually decreased due to the rise of synthetic fiber, thus the plantation converted to milpa farming.  

rodriguez walked past bright magenta pitaya, or dragonfruit, growing on small cactus-like trees between rows of short, spiky agave plants. in typical milpa formation, there were rows of different crops interspersed within rows of other crops, with ramón trees sprinkled throughout the landscape. ramón trees, whose use dates back to the beginning of the maya empire, are well adapted to the climate and distributed throughout the yucatán. rodriguez explained the strong link between the maya religion and milpa farming, which “has been the base of the culture of the maya, of the religion of the maya, of the (preservation) of the maya. (to work) in the forest, you need to ask for permission (of) the owners of the forest. you need to ask to the gods for the rain, and when the people harvest, they need to say thank you with the special rituals to the gods.”

modern maya face challenges to their milpa system. irregular weather patterns due to accelerated climate change have made predicting rainfall prior to the planting season increasingly difficult. seasonal changes to rain cycles affect crop choices and planting schedules. “the maya have different strategies to these changes,” rodriguez said. “they have different species, different seeds, for the different seasons.” however, this adapted methodology might not succeed in modern polyculture milpas. farmers determine when to plant one variety of corn based on the date of the first summer rain, and then plant other crops accordingly. delays in the initial planting due to late seasonal rains result in changes to the rest of the crops for that season.

more problematic for 21st century maya is generational loss of knowledge of milpa farming. “now the youngest people are not working in the milpa, (and) there are generational breaks in which the parents don’t want to know about the milpa,” rodriguez said. “the (grandchildren) want to know it but the parents don’t know how to manage the land, so all of this knowledge is (being lost) and the people nowadays cannot manage the land (the) way that the old people (did).” a new program teaches younger maya about milpa farming techniques and continues to pass down generational knowledge.

farmers are taking actions to make milpa farming more sustainable for the future. in traditional milpa farming, an area of forest is cleared, planted for two years, then allowed to lie fallow for eight years as secondary-growth vegetation before being replanted. by repeating this process continuously, land can be used for crops almost indefinitely. some maya farmers no longer clear new land and let their land recover for 10 to 15 years instead of eight to increase the fertility of the land for the next crop cycles. “i’m working with another 15 farmers and i am trying to figure out better ways to cultivate my crops, but (it is) very difficult because we are many farmers and not all of us want to conserve this jungle,” said don francisco puuc, a farmer and leader in his maya community of yaxunah. his goal is to adopt more organic methods and cut as little of the forest as he can.

modern milpa farmers plant domesticated varieties of native jungle species. the germplasm bank is a seed bank in the mexican state of mérida that stores massive collections of seeds and other viable plant samples, including historical collections of seeds of crops the maya have planted for generations. “if you can’t preserve the whole areas with the forest, you can preserve the seeds,” said dr. maria pulido-salas, co-director of the germplasm bank at the yucatecan scientific investigation center. the seed bank created a partnership between local farmers and the scientific team to give seeds of certain species to local farmers for planting to keep those species resilient and adapted to current climatic conditions in the yucatán. if seeds cannot be saved from harvests due to drought or other conditions, then the seed bank stock can be used for crop restoration.

milpa farming sustained the ancient maya for centuries. as modern maya adapt their ancestral farming practices to counter accelerating effects of climate change, they seek not only to preserve their traditional farms and crops, but to maintain their way of life and culture for generations to come.

many of the slaves were originally brought to the island by thomas spalding, who purchased the south end of sapelo in 1802. after the end of the civil war, the freed slaves stayed, purchasing land and establishing thriving settlements on various parts of the island, then eventually consolidating the communities to hog hammock. covering 427 acres, hog hammock is now home to the remaining descendants of the original slaves and is the heart of sapelo’s gullah geechee community.

the fields around hog hammock are being returned to their agricultural roots. the gullah geechee brought seeds of several african crops, such as red cow peas and okra, with them to the new world. the “geechee red pea,” which has its origins in sierra leone, is grown as a heritage crop for the hog hammock community, meaning the plants are original varieties that were grown by historic populations and not cultivated for large-scale agriculture. hog hammock residents grow these crops to sell and sustain the community and to motivate residents to invest in their own land. the sale of red pea harvests is key to increasing economic development for the island and its remaining residents, helping to preserve their lands and culture.

another heritage crop the community is trying to reestablish is purple ribbon sugar cane, which was native to java and brought to the west indies by dutch traders in the 1800s and then to the georgia coast. the sugar cane was grown on sapelo as a plantation crop and processed in a mill on the island. researchers are now helping the community replant purple ribbon sugar cane in fields in hog hammock, and the sugar cane is pressed for its purple syrup and bottled. both purple ribbon sugar cane syrup and sapelo island red peas are sold on the mainland and prized by restaurateurs for their unique flavors.

in 2017 during hurricane irma, which directly hit sapelo island, island flooding covered the majority of hog hammock and wiped out the sugar cane and other crops. changes in weather and climate such as increased frequency of tropical storms and hurricanes are increasingly affecting the island and its residents. hog hammock is at a lower elevation than other parts of the island, leaving the community more susceptible to flooding and causing enormous consequences for its burgeoning agricultural industry. with more frequent inundation of seawater, the soil and fields are becoming less yielding for farming.

sapelo island is low enough to become a massive floodplain when the high tide line exceeds the shell-banked and salt marsh edges of the island. with increasing frequency, the high tides on sapelo island significantly exceed typical high tide marks, breaching roadways, filling marshy fields, and causing flooding overall. the salt marshes can quickly become saturated with the seawater, overriding their potential to serve as flood buffers for the inner island. beyond agriculture, the inundation of saltwater into the water table and other potable water sources means residents must find new water sources.

with rising sea levels and increased flooding risks, the hog hammock community faces an uncertain future. displaying their generational resilience, residents and heritage crops continue to endure as the sapelo island gullah geechee community fights to preserve their historic lands, culture, and way of life.

it was an unseasonably warm and sunny friday, feb. 15 – good weather for youth climate strikes across the united kingdom. before the main gathering strengthened in bonn square, the main site of oxford’s strike, a banner for the youth climate strike was unfurled off of the bridge of sighs, one of oxford’s most iconic landmarks.

by the time i arrived in the late morning, the plaza was filled with protestors of all ages, mostly school children who were skipping school to participate in the demonstration but also university of oxford students, parents, and more elderly community members.

most protestors held pickets and posters with handwritten slogans following the theme of the protest movement that the older generations have left the younger generation with a climate crisis they must fix. the subject matter of the signs overall covered an impressively broad range of climate change topics, including, “our planet is not like your actions, it’s not rubbish”; “stop climate changing before it changes the world”; “if the earth were a bank, it’d be bailed out”; and “there is no planet b.” there was also “no pollution is the only solution”; “i’d rather miss a day of school than see my planet die”; and even “harry potter and the deadly climate change” (it was oxford, after all).

the protesters’ emphasis on clever and often humorous signs contributed to the overall upbeat (or positive) atmosphere of the event.

the size of the constantly growing crowd was so great that people repeated different chants at opposite ends of the plaza. one of the more popular ones was the call and response chant of “what do we want? climate action! when do we want it? now!”

after striking in bonn square for a while, the majority of the protestors left and made a procession through oxford city centre and back around to bonn square, a trip they repeated several times over the course of the day. in addition to the convening and march, the event organizer brought in a number of speakers, including an environmental journalist and a student who did spoken word poetry. the strike as a whole was executed as a very peaceful and minimally disruptive protest without any outside intervention.

i was curious about the environmental interests of the participants, so i posed a few questions of martin parker, a student from leeds, u.k., studying math in st. catherine’s college at the university of oxford. when i asked him why he attended the strike, martin said, “i find it inspiring watching the youth strikes….and seeing it on the news. i think it’s a very exciting movement. i’m inspired by the global aspect as well. i think it’s really motivating that people are getting together across the country and across the world.”

although the interview was challenging because the crowds’ chanting was deafening, i asked martin how long he has been interested in environmentalism.

“all my life i’ve been aware and conscious of the issues facing the planet. i’ve never been involved in activism until recently,” he said. “i think it’s the same case for a lot of people, that they’ve seen movements like this coming up a lot recently and are just getting involved now.”

as a planet 世界杯欧洲预选赛免费直播 and student of environmental journalism, i was interested in what the participants of the strike thought about the importance of sharing climate stories through public communication. surveying the scene, i spotted a woman wearing a name badge, which upon closer inspection was a card which read “ask me anything, i’m a climate researcher.” she was dr. michelle cain, a science and policy research associate at the university of oxford environmental change institute. i asked her about what impact she thinks environmental storytelling has on people’s understanding and interest in the current climate situation.

“i think storytelling is very powerful and everyone can…engage with a good story,” she responded. “there are only so many articles you can read, but the ones that really grab you are the ones that are telling a good story.” covering climate events and people’s personal perspectives and experiences can encourage increased focus on and participation in global efforts to facilitate change.

today’s young people will need to contend with the implications of climate change exponentially more so than older generations, and i am proud to have witnessed youth standing in such unity for justice against what will be the greatest challenge during their lifetimes.

the use of a dockless scooter is dependent on the use of the corresponding mobile application which allows you to unlock the scooter and perform other features. riders can use the apps to pay for a ride on a scooter, which often costs less than using public transit to go to the same destination. the apps also allow riders to locate the scooters available for use and to report any scooters which need maintenance.

since these escooters run on battery, they can only function for so long before needing a charge. that’s where people known as the chargers, or “juicers” in the case of lime scooters, come in. each night, they pick up the electric scooters, charge them at their own residences, and in the morning they “free the birds” and otherwise distribute the scooters to optimal locations for people to find and use them.

these scooters provide low-cost and sustainable transportation that can be shared among multiple riders per day. in highly congested urban areas, use of the scooters can relieve some car traffic and emissions. amazingly, it’s budget-friendly even for a city or campus to start a program in their area, with virtually no cost to the community to have one or more of the electric scooter companies.

the scooters can also have unexpected community benefits. lime is pioneering a new program that gives disadvantaged communities the opportunity to use electric scooters at a much more affordable rate. however, that is not the only social program lime pioneered in 2018. on nov. 6, election day, lime ingeniously partnered with vote.org and made all rides to polling stations free to ensure people were not prevented from voting due to lack of transportation.

some communities are beginning to regulate the use of scooters. arguments against the advent of the dockless electric city scooter are primarily those of the safety of the riders and pedestrians. sometimes people ride them on the sidewalks, which is not allowed. the scooters can interfere with pedestrians, blocking sidewalk access by being placed lying down — or falling over — or in clusters in random areas. although required in some places, riders often choose not to wear helmets.

but there are some safety features that are fundamentally built into the scooter programs and apps. some examples include the requirement of a rider scanning their driver’s license and in-app checks and reporting on erratic riding. the requirement to wear a helmet is supplemented by the scooter companies providing extensive supplies of free helmets at events.

electric scooters are transforming how people get around cities. they reduce the number of automobiles and the volume of traffic on the roads, as well as the congestion in public transit. they provide a less expensive yet environmentally friendly method of transit that reduces pollution output and improves city air quality. where public or affordable transit is less available, they provide residents with a reliable way to get around at a low pay-by-ride rate. while it remains to be seen whether scooter-share program deployment is a temporary trend or the beginning of a movement, scooter ridership continues to climb.

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the beloved atlantic puffin is a symbol of conservation success. by the end of the 19th century, atlantic puffins disappeared from islands along the coast of maine as victims of feather hunters. almost a century later, a biologist named stephen kress decided to reintroduce puffins to those islands using innovative techniques, restarting colonies of puffins and eventually other seabirds on eastern egg rock and other area islands, leading to the formulation of a novel species reintroduction method now used around the world.

see the full story below.