‘Nature’ Archives
Venus Flytrap
Venus Flytrap Found only in nitrogen-poor bogs along the Carolina coast, this little insectivorous plant was brought to the attention of European naturalists in 1759 by Arthur Dobbs (1689–1765), royal governor of North Carolina. John Bartram made several unsuccessful attempts to supply his English friends with viable seeds of what he called [...]
Charles Sutherland Elton
Charles Sutherland Elton (1900-1991) Charles Sutherland Elton is a British biologist and naturalist who established the principles of modern animal ecology. His studies of animals in their natural environment helped him develop the concepts of the food chain, a succession of organisms, each dependent on the next for food; and ecological niche, [...]
Reef
Reef A reef is a barely submerged expanse of rock or coral, often found in shallow water near a continent or island. Coral reefs are often associated with volcanic islands and seamounts, when a submarine volcano’s summit rises close enough to the surface for light to penetrate and allow the growth of coral. This scenario is only possible [...]
Surviving in Antarctica
Surviving in Antarctica Surviving in Antarctica is extremely difficult. The largest land animal there is an insect, so the men of the Endurance had to rely on seals and penguins and whatever they could catch in the sea for their food. There is no wood for fuel so blubber was burned. Although Antarctica is surrounded by water, by definition [...]
Tides
Tides Tides are regular fluctuations in water level due to the gravitational attraction of the Sun and the Moon on the Earth’s hydrosphere, but their effects are hardly noticed in deep water. This is not the case in the near-shore areas and tidal currents have an important role to play in sediment movement. By way of introducing their [...]
Forests and Forestry
Forests and Forestry Vast woodlands and towering trees have impressed successive generations of American explorers and pioneers, and have also provided resources for building and fuel for these settlers as they cleared forest lands for agriculture and settlement. Nevertheless, the United States remains surprisingly wooded—roughly one-third of [...]
Teleology
Teleology Nominally, the study of nature in terms of purpose. Frequently, and especially in the Scientific Revolution, researchers also associated purpose with economy; this efficient purpose is summed up by the oft-repeated phrase, “Nature does nothing in vain.” Purpose involves the question “why?” and is different from function, which [...]
Ecology
Ecology A term coined by Ernst Haeckel in 1866, referring to the study of organisms in relation to the physical components of the environment and the other organisms with which they share it. It was rarely used until the end of the century, when botanists began to consider the physical distribution of plants in the context of Darwinian [...]
Wilderness
Wilderness Wilderness is a wild and uncultivated area marked by minimal human influence on the natural environment and its processes. The word is derived from the Anglo-Saxon term Wil(d)deor, meaning “wild deer” or “wild beast.” Wilderness has a long history of use in Western culture. In medieval Bibles, it referred to an arid and [...]
Ocean Currents
Ocean Currents Earth’s oceans have patterns of movement known as ocean currents. There are several major factors that contribute to the direction of ocean currents: Earth’s rotation; wind friction at the surface of the water; variations in water density resulting from differences in temperature and salinity; and the effect of landmasses. [...]
