streams archives - planet forward - 克罗地亚vs加拿大让球 //www.getitdoneaz.com/tag/streams/ inspiring stories to 2022年卡塔尔世界杯官网 tue, 28 feb 2023 18:46:18 +0000 en-us hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 sewanee, streams, salamanders: kevin fouts at the sewanee headwaters initiative //www.getitdoneaz.com/story/sewanee-streams-salamanders-kevin-fouts-at-the-sewanee-headwaters-initiative/ thu, 28 feb 2019 12:47:47 +0000 http://dpetrov.2create.studio/planet/wordpress/sewanee-streams-salamanders-kevin-fouts-at-the-sewanee-headwaters-initiative/ with a mom from south carolina and a georgian dad, kevin fouts knew from a young age he would eventually attend university of georgia, where his parents met. after receiving his m.s. in wildlife management and ecology from uga, he stuck to the southeast and worked in the smokies to connect water management practices to their impacts; from wildlife diseases, salamander populations, to biofuel production. this is his first year in tennessee, working at the university of the south as the coordinator for the sewanee headwaters initiative.

we interviewed him to learn more about the initiative and the impacts the work can have on the environment and policies surrounding it.

http://www.sewanee.edu/offices/oess/our-team/_mg_3395-small.jpg
kevin fouts (photo courtesy sewanee oess)

q: how was the concept of the headwaters initiative formed?

a: i think one of the impetuses was trying to think of ways the domain is a unique asset to the university. it’s really important for them to try to establish and grow their imprint in their environmental programs among liberal arts universities. from a research perspective, the domain offers a lot of really unique opportunities because we own it and it’s so unimpacted by upstream effects; and because it all goes downstream it offers stewardship opportunities as well.

 

q: so, how are you monitoring these water systems? are you looking at their health? what are the impacts you’re protecting them from?

a: what we’re doing right now is laying the groundwork for more nuanced research in the future. no one has really in the past done a thorough characterization of the streams’ baseline data. we have censors in streams to log light, temperature, and tell us when the streams dry out. we have leaf litter bags to see how the environment is breaking down leaf litter and cycling carbon. what we were doing yesterday was bottling samples to get a snapshot of the stream water chemistry. it’s necessary if anyone wants to do anything more nuanced, like studying the effects of global warming: you have to know your baseline.

 

q: the southeast is, within north america, this big hotspot for freshwater biodiversity. why is it critical that sewanee look at its biodiversity and freshwater ecosystems?

a: well, because that makes it culturally important. it’s the salamander capital of the world right there in southern appalachia. but it’s also because animals all play their own role in their ecosystem here. if we decrease diversity there’s a good chance you can wreak havoc on some of these ecosystem services that we rely on animals for.

 

q: such as?

a: things like nutrient cycling, soil health, forest regeneration, trophic levels. if anyone around here is interested in hunting, those animals have to have something to feed on. like i said, soil health and forest regeneration: some of the little critters that hang out on the floor play a big role in seed dispersal and leaf litter breakdown that becomes fertilizer for the plant that grows that allows the deer to eat. the health of all of these systems, none of them are independent. it’s easier to compartmentalize them to study them, but they’re all interconnected.

 

q: a minute ago you called the southern appalachians the “salamander capital of the world”—

a yeah, they like to put that on coffee mugs in the smokies.

 

q ha! well, can you explain what bsal is and why sewanee is concerned about it?

a: yeah. bsal is essentially a form of chitrid, and a lot of people who are at least somewhat acquainted with amphibians know of chitrid came through and killed a lot of frog species, particularly in south america.

 

q: so, is this a viral disease?

a: no, it’s a fungal pathogen. all amphibians can breathe through their skin, and though some also have lungs, they all assimilate moisture and other things through their skin. because their skin stays wet the fungus will colonize it and cause them a lot of physiological stress.

more recently, i think it was 2014, they actually documented bsal in western europe that had been brought over from asia. a lot of animals coevolved with pathogens in their environment, but if you pick up a pathogen and move it somewhere—like in this case from asia to europe—it can completely wipe out whole populations.

because we have so many species here and the international pet trade is so thriving in atlanta, there’s big time concern among most scientists that its’s really a “when” not “if” situation for bsal to get introduced to the southern appalachians. it can cause all kinds of problems for the ecosystem services i talked about before… most people are preparing already for that. it would be sad for people like me, who are just big salamander fans, but it would be terrible for the ecosystem.

 

q: because the introduction of bsal is a “when” not “if” situation, how do you expect shi to contribute to monitoring bsal and preparing for its arrival?

a: well, we do the stream surveys. if certain species are found to be more vulnerable than others, we will know where they are and will recognize the areas that we’ll have to focus in on.

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the stream in your backyard //www.getitdoneaz.com/story/the-stream-in-your-backyard/ thu, 02 mar 2017 19:31:14 +0000 http://dpetrov.2create.studio/planet/wordpress/the-stream-in-your-backyard/ my story aims to spread this idea of stream restoration using a specific design, and to teach why stream restoration is important to our environment, and how different measures can be taken to restore a stream.

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the idea behind this design is to try our best as humans to maintain a healthy, natural ecosystem. the method is self-sustaining, the energy of the stream and the formation of the rocks will do the work themselves without human interference following the original addition in the stream if installed correctly. in result, the benefits can be critical, such as stabilizing banks without planting invasive plants to stabilize with their roots, it creates more exchange of materials between the soils beneath the stream and the water channel itself, and provides a better habitat for aquatic and fish species. 

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using natural landscapes to manage stormwater //www.getitdoneaz.com/story/using-natural-landscapes-to-manage-stormwater/ tue, 06 sep 2011 10:19:03 +0000 http://dpetrov.2create.studio/planet/wordpress/using-natural-landscapes-to-manage-stormwater/ climate change is happening all around us – see how we can prepare our communities and wild places like forests and streams for climate change, all while improving the environment and creating jobs. shot on location in anne arundel county, md., restoration contractor keith underwood shows a project to manage stormwater that helps fight back against climate change and improves the health of the chesapeake bay.

the wilderness society is the leading american conservation organization working to protect our nation’s public lands, the 635 million acres collectively owned by the american people and managed by our government. from well-known icons to hidden gems, these lands provide us all with clean air and water; abundant wildlife; havens for recreation, learning, and solitude; and a foundation for a healthy planet. they are also important sources of renewable energy and vital natural resources that must be managed wisely.

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