We’re a team of Conservation Biologists. Fundamentally, our job is to stop biodiversity loss around the world. Our RU-vid channel is a window into just some of these issues. We hope to continue growing our library, illustrating conservation stories from around the world.
What is Biodiversity? From genetic diversity in animal populations, to different species of plants, to ecosystems like deserts or tundra - Biodiversity is an extremely broad term that describes the variety of life on Earth and the interactions between all these species, systems and variations.
Why is it Important? We rely on biodiversity for countless things; food, resources, medical care, all of which we wouldn’t have, if it wasn’t for the natural processes which create these vital assets. But as we loose more and more biodiversity on a global scale, biodiversity loss is becoming an issue that, potentially, is more prevalent and damaging than climate change.
ITS REAL BAD ! ... Scientists from around the world agree if humans disappeared and plants were left to fend for themselves that knotweed would be the last plant standing ... not only does the canopy block other species from getting sunlight, but the roots tie "knots" around other species roots
What do we have yet to learn, that we haven't learned from 100+ years of capturing and imprisoning wild animals? I would argue that we learn much more from observing them in nature. "Zoos" should be places containing local wild life for rehabilitation and breed and release programs. Entertainment and profit is the purpose of a zoo, and not for the benefit of the animal or it's species. We learn more about them by observing them in nature.
I lived in the London area and it always amazed me how early the frogs toads etc used to spawn. We had spawn in our pond on many occasions in late January. Well we moved down to the coast in East Sussex five years ago this year and one of my first jobs was putting in a new pond and low and behold in its first spring there was a few frogs in early march but the following year last week in January it was like Frog Piccadilly Circus hundreds turned up to spawn in the pond where through asking neighbors, had never been one before .
I have a small colony that made a hive in the inside of my garage. I am a beekeeper that keeps honeybees already so this is very exciting to have bumblebees to look after as well.
"Thinking Like a Mountain By Aldo Leopold A deep chesty bawl echoes from rimrock to rimrock, rolls down the mountain, and fades into the far blackness of the night. It is an outburst of wild defiant sorrow, and of contempt for all the adversities of the world. Every living thing (and perhaps many a dead one as well) pays heed to that call. To the deer it is a reminder of the way of all flesh, to the pine a forecast of midnight scuffles and of blood upon the snow, to the coyote a promise of gleanings to come, to the cowman a threat of red ink at the bank, to the hunter a challenge of fang against bullet. Yet behind these obvious and immediate hopes and fears there lies a deeper meaning, known only to the mountain itself. Only the mountain has lived long enough to listen objectively to the howl of a wolf. Those unable to decipher the hidden meaning know nevertheless that it is there, for it is felt in all wolf country, and distinguishes that country from all other land. It tingles in the spine of all who hear wolves by night, or who scan their tracks by day. Even without sight or sound of wolf, it is implicit in a hundred small events: the midnight whinny of a pack horse, the rattle of rolling rocks, the bound of a fleeing deer, the way shadows lie under the spruces. Only the ineducable tyro can fail to sense the presence or absence of wolves, or the fact that mountains have a secret opinion about them. My own conviction on this score dates from the day I saw a wolf die. We were eating lunch on a high rimrock, at the foot of which a turbulent river elbowed its way. We saw what we thought was a doe fording the torrent, her breast awash in white water. When she climbed the bank toward us and shook out her tail, we realized our error: it was a wolf. A half-dozen others, evidently grown pups, sprang from the willows and all joined in a welcoming melee of wagging tails and playful maulings. What was literally a pile of wolves writhed and tumbled in the center of an open flat at the foot of our rimrock. In those days we had never heard of passing up a chance to kill a wolf. In a second we were pumping lead into the pack, but with more excitement than accuracy: how to aim a steep downhill shot is always confusing. When our rifles were empty, the old wolf was down, and a pup was dragging a leg into impassable slide-rocks. We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes - something known only to her and to the mountain. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters' paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view. Since then I have lived to see state after state extirpate its wolves. I have watched the face of many a newly wolfless mountain, and seen the south-facing slopes wrinkle with a maze of new deer trails. I have seen every edible bush and seedling browsed, first to anaemic desuetude, and then to death. I have seen every edible tree defoliated to the height of a saddlehorn. Such a mountain looks as if someone had given God a new pruning shears, and forbidden Him all other exercise. In the end the starved bones of the hoped-for deer herd, dead of its own too-much, bleach with the bones of the dead sage, or molder under the high-lined junipers. I now suspect that just as a deer herd lives in mortal fear of its wolves, so does a mountain live in mortal fear of its deer. And perhaps with better cause, for while a buck pulled down by wolves can be replaced in two or three years, a range pulled down by too many deer may fail of replacement in as many decades. So also with cows. The cowman who cleans his range of wolves does not realize that he is taking over the wolf's job of trimming the herd to fit the range. He has not learned to think like a mountain. Hence we have dustbowls, and rivers washing the future into the sea. We all strive for safety, prosperity, comfort, long life, and dullness. The deer strives with his supple legs, the cowman with trap and poison, the statesman with pen, the most of us with machines, votes, and dollars, but it all comes to the same thing: peace in our time. A measure of success in this is all well enough, and perhaps is a requisite to objective thinking, but too much safety seems to yield only danger in the long run. Perhaps this is behind Thoreau's dictum: In wildness is the salvation of the world. Perhaps this is the hidden meaning in the howl of the wolf, long known among mountains, but seldom perceived among men."
It makes me feel better to know nature made bees more important for itself than humans. We😅just destroying it with mass scale. So, i respect nature and the 🐝.
I know this is eight years later, but this video has made me so happy knowing other people want to capture the little idiots. They are such wonderful creatures and deserve to be captured and observed.
I know what they do but they are so cute and I love feeding them. It is not their fault man brought them over, they didn't come over with the intention of killing the Reds. Leave them alone and let nature sort itself out.
I'm a beetle keeper myself and was raised around York. I'm tempted to take on this breed to increase their numbers in captivity and eventually release them into the wild!
FANTASTIC video. I hope you're a teacher because people could really benefit from your skills. I don't think I will ever forget what a true bug is and what I learned about beetles. seriously thank you
I recently watched a video of earthworms, saying that they aren't native to Americas, and were brought there by European settlers. So... by modern standards, earthworm would be there an invasive, ecosystem disruptive species. Recently an asian flathead worm has invaded Americas, and people there try to get rid of it because its eating the earthworms, and being toxic, it also has no natural predators to keep it in check, and its very problematic since its resistant to chopping etc. But is it only restoring the previous ecosystem if it replaces the earthworms but does not mix the organic matter to soil as earthworms do?
Really helpful! Would it be an effective strategy to pull up Himalayan Balsam early in its life cycle when these plants are seedlings? Could you point us to resources to help us identify what HB looks like when it first grows?