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f 7.1; 1/800; ISO 400; Ap; Spot metering

This wasp trying to mimic as dead. found this wasp in my home after took few shots carefully

Master of lying in wait for an ambush

My 200 th post in this section.

Iceland must balance growth in power and tourism industries with nature conservation, OECD says Iceland has one of the world’s most pristine natural environments and its glaciers, volcanoes and hot underground springs bring major economic benefits via renewable energy and tourism.

Iceland must balance growth in power and tourism industries with nature conservation, OECD says Iceland has one of the world’s most pristine natural environments and its glaciers, volcanoes and hot underground springs bring major economic benefits via renewable energy and tourism.

Highly qualified and competent teachers are fundamental for equitable and effective education systems. Teachers today are facing higher and more complex expectations to help students reach their full potential and become valuable members of 21st century society.

Have we gone from protecting nature to managing it on behalf of the Earth’s dominant species?

The trust announced the payment of a 2.475p dividend per share for the second quarter of this year - 2.1 per cent higher than 12 months ago, and replicating the payment made three months earlier.

4 Tamarinds and Toffees is a delightful and nostalgic film on two women directed by a young and thoughtful director, writes Shoma Chatterji.

Archives, Room Use Only - QC670.C43 1855

It's hard not to get skin tingles when you see these stunning images. They are winning pictures and shortlisted entries from the sixth annual International Landscape Photographer of the Year competition.More than 3,400 photos were entered into the contest from both amateur and professional photographers from around the globe. The shots feature everything from remote beaches to moody mountain ranges.

A storytelling session for kids about nature

At a time when governments are struggling to reach out to some tribal hamlets located deep inside the forest, like the Chenchus of Nallamalla forest, have made personal protective equipment such as face masks from leaves of teak and sal trees. They are also not stepping out from their hamlets, except to collect forest produce once or twice a week.

The present work reports on the charge and spin density modelling of YTiO3 in its ferromagnetic state (TC = 27 K). Accurate polarized neutron diffraction and high-resolution X-ray diffraction (XRD) experiments were carried out on a single crystal at the ORPHÉE reactor (LLB) and SPRING8 synchrotron source. The experimental data are modelled by the spin resolved pseudo-atomic multipolar model (Deutsch et al., 2012). The refinement strategy is discussed and the result of this electron density modelling is compared with that from XRD measured at 100 K and with density functional theory calculations. The results show that the spin and charge densities around the Ti atom have lobes directed away from the O atoms, confirming the filling of the t2g orbitals of the Ti atom. The dxy orbital is less populated than dxz and dyz, which is a sign of a partial lift of degeneracy of the t2g orbitals. This study confirms the orbital ordering at low temperature (20 K), which is already present in the paramagnetic state above the ferromagnetic transition (100 K).

In recent research on Santa Rosa Island off the coast of Southern California, isotope readings of carbon and nitrogen found in the bones of Chumash Indians and domestic dogs excavated from archaeological sites show that both humans and dogs have nearly identical signatures of stable isotopes.

The post Ancient bond between humans and dogs revealed in isotopic signatures of their bones appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Recently, after examining hundreds of photos taken by camera traps set-up to monitor clouded leopards in the park, three Smithsonian researchers say Khao Yai also is quite popular with a different kind of visitor: poachers.

The post Poachers at large in Thailand’s nature reserves despite ranger outposts appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

With a non-stop babble of hums, grunts and shrill squeals as they argue over fish and defend their territories, the Amazon’s giant otters are one […]

The post With voices joined in chorus, giant otter families create a distinct sound signature appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

Efforts to address climate change and protect natural ecosystems can – and need to – benefit each other. But conflicts can arise. This Future Brief focuses on how land-based ecosystems are affected by wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) development, and how win-win solutions which maximise both conservation and climate benefits may be developed. Recommendations include careful site planning, regeneration and enhancement, and use of multi-level ecosystem data.

The ability of the Earth’s living systems to store carbon could play a vital role in the mitigation of climate change. A new report suggests that, in coming decades, safeguarding and restoring carbon in ecosystems has the potential to prevent well over 50 gigatonnes (Gt) of carbon entering the atmosphere.

Ecosystems are not only essential to human life but can help us face changing conditions in the future. This Thematic Issue brings together the latest research on how the protection of ecosystems, and the services they provide, can form an important part of climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies.

New ecosystem-based solutions which provide flexible resilience to coastal flooding, rather than rigid defences, are needed in the face of global environmental change. A recent study examines a new coastal protection scheme in the Netherlands which reduces ecosystem damage whilst offering resilient defence against flooding. Using this case study, the researchers present a framework for evaluating climate change adaptation measures called ‘Building with Nature’.

Contact with nature in urban areas can have numerous health benefits, a new study finds. The researchers found people whose homes had views of different kinds of vegetation had significantly lower levels of stress hormones, indicating that green spaces play an important role in healthy cities.

This Thematic Issue provides a flavour of recent work by scientists in the area of biodiversity monitoring to highlight both up-to-date approaches to conservation and evaluation, and how long-term monitoring data could be used more effectively in management and policy decisions.

A new study has analysed four Scandinavian examples of public involvement in nature conservation and suggested that successful participation requires clear rules to enable public involvement and a process to resolve conflicts.

The drive to increase renewable energy production can sometimes be at loggerheads with the desire to preserve natural landscapes. In this study, researchers from across Europe assessed the environmental impacts of renewable energies in the Alps, making key recommendations to resolve conflicts between different users of habitats.

The concepts of instrumental value (protecting nature for humans’ sake) and intrinsic value (protecting nature for nature’s sake) are fundamental to environmental policy. This paper — based on a literature review and critical analysis — argues that using these concepts alone overlooks important concerns for the environment. The authors recommend also considering relational values, which derive from the relationships between people and nature.

Natural water-retention measures, which ‘keep the rain where it falls’, have great potential to be used as part of flood-risk management plans. But their benefits for downstream urban areas can bring costs to the upstream agricultural areas where they are installed, a recent analysis explains. The researchers behind this analysis suggest that we need new and/or improved policies and institutions to oversee the trade-offs and benefits for agriculture and flood management, and a better scientific understanding of the measures’ likely impact on urban flood risk.

A new global study on the economics of ecosystem services and biodiversity loss suggests that governments can achieve more resilient economies and receive higher rates of return on their public investment strategies when they recognise and target the value of ecosystem services.

Humans are more dependent upon ecosystem services and biodiversity than ever before, according to researchers. A new study has demonstrated that human well-being derived from three major ecosystem services has been increasing in 152 countries, particularly in countries considered to be biodiversity hotspots.

High Nature Value (HNV) farmland is agricultural land that supports biodiversity and can be identified by its environmentally sound farming practices. New research on bird biodiversity on French HNV farmland has concluded that conservation of HNV farmland is important as well as conserving areas that were previously HNV and have undergone recent agricultural intensification.

Loss of biodiversity may be connected to the rising incidence of allergies and other chronic inflammatory diseases, such as asthma, in people living in urban areas, according to recent research. Contact with the natural environment appears to be good for health, not only for a feeling of wellbeing, but also for boosting the human immune system.

To preserve rich biodiversity in protected areas of tropical forests, safeguarding the surrounding area can be just as important as safeguarding the park or reserve itself. This is according to a new study, which assessed the ecological health of 60 protected areas across the tropics.

New research from central Italy shows that high nature value farmland in the region can be accurately identified by the presence of just four bird species. Once such groups of species have been identified for different regions, they can provide a quick and inexpensive tool for assessing the ecological value of farmland, the researchers say.

With over half of Europe’s species dependent on agricultural habitats, protecting ‘high nature value’ farmland is vital to biodiversity conservation. However, the identification and assessment of such farmland requires careful co-ordination, concludes a recent study. The researchers present a framework to help with this process and make a set of key recommendations.

Scientists recommend policies that alternate between mowing and grazing to manage Europe’s high-nature-value grasslands. This comes after a new seven-year study found that a high plant-species diversity helps grasslands to maintain productivity and to resist depletion of phosphorus caused by livestock grazing and depletion of potassium caused by mowing.

Green spaces like urban parks can counteract the loss of plant and animal species caused by urbanisation. For many city dwellers, parks provide most of their experiences of natural spaces. Researchers have compared different methods of park management in Paris and Berlin, and assessed how they influence citizens' attitudes towards nature.

A new study has assessed the value of ecosystem-based approaches to mitigating climate changes and conserving biodiversity in Germany. The researchers highlight the trade-offs and synergies between climate adaptation and nature conservation and suggest that effective ecosystem-based climate policy requires improved coordination between different sectors, such as agriculture, forestry and energy.

Insect numbers in west German nature reserves have fallen by more than 76% in just 27 years, according to a new study. The fall was even higher in the summer months, with 82% on average fewer insects being recorded. The reasons for this dramatic fall are unclear. The researchers ruled out changes in weather, plant cover and local landscape playing a significant role in the observed decline, but suggest that intensive agriculture and pesticides in fields near to the reserves could be responsible. Whatever the cause, the catastrophic fall in insect numbers will inevitably lead to knock-on effects on ecosystems in the long term, particularly due to their essential role as pollinators and their position in the food web. The researchers say that preserving and protecting insects should now be a priority for conservation policies.