Renewable Resources

1. The video "Secret Lives of Mountain Lions" gave some insight into the social nature of mountain lions. It once previously thought that these mountain cats are solitary creatures, but recent footage that tracked the lives of a small family proved otherwise. What was shown is actually a more affectionate and caring lifestyle than anyone had previously thought. This relationship is important because it is possibly one of the reasons the species has avoided extinction. As it is, less than 1 in 5 kittens survive long enough to reproduce and it seems one for the crucial pieces of survival is the care the mother takes with her offspring. The video also shows random acts of kindness such as sharing food with a male (the father) and the mother adopting an orphan kitten. 2. I did learn something new from this video. I learned that mountain lions share the position at the top of the food chain with things like wolves and humans and the mountain lion babies are vulnerable to predat

1. For as long as I can remember, it has been taught that we should all try to prevent forest fires. The Smokey Bear campaign has drilled it into our heads that fires are bad. I'm not planning on changing my actions, I have no intention of being careless with fire, but it seems the propaganda has gone too far and made fire the enemy. I don't think I would consider myself an alarmist, as I have seen and heard a bit about controlled burns and I understand forest fires are essential to the health and rejuvenation of the natural ecosystem. I think the alarmist perspective might be helpful if you live in an area where forest fires can run rampant, like in the Sierras where the tree mortality rate is high. 2. The ecologist perspective is that fires are good and essential to a healthy, diverse forest. Fires help regenerate native plants, which in turn helps keep a balance among plant and animal communities. An example of this is the fir tree which has been allowed to grow up and ta

1. Getting ready for wildfire is an unfortunate reality for people who live in and around forests, but very necessary in case of emergency. There are three steps you can take to prepare for a wildfire. The first is to remove dead and dying trees to about 100 feet from a home or building. Dead pine trees and pine needles act as fuel for fires so it's best to remove it before it is too late. The second step is to pay attention to local and state media like the news, twitter, radio, etc, and be aware of any current wildfire threats that could affect your area. The third step is to be prepared to evacuate, especially during the summer months when the chance of wildfire is at its height. Fires can spread quickly so being ready to leave your home may be a life or death situation. 2. Bark beetles are a common insect that have inhabited forest habitats for many thousands of years. Their populations are kept in check by weather, but over the last few years their population has exploded an

The life cycle of the salmon as explained in the video is an incredible journey that begins in freshwater streams. Female salmon prepare nests, called redds, by cleaning and shaping gravel into shallow indentations. They deposits thousands of eggs in their nests and their mate follows closely behind and fertilizes the eggs. The fresh, cool water helps bring fresh oxygen to the eggs and eventually a fry is born from the egg. They are born with the yolk still attached, which they need for nourishment. At this point they live in the shallow "backwater and stream waters". As they grow to be an inch long they are called fingerlings. Once they are large enough they leave the shallows and move into the deep channels where they use large rocks and wood for safety and shade. Smolting is the next stage as the baby salmon are big enough to travel in schools and they head down river for the migration out to sea. Their bodies start undergoing physiological changes as their environment tra

The video "The story of bottled water" ( https://vimeo.com/10441794 ) really went into detail about the bottled water industry and talked about how it has become a trend. Tap water is basically free and very accessible for many people so how did people come to the decision that bottled water is better? Annie Leonard asks this question of us and explains that big corporations changed the way people perceive their tap water. They created a manufactured demand by scaring us into thinking our tap water is bad and convincing us through advertisements that their product is much better. Pepsi and Coke are certainly instigators in this game, and it's all just a ploy for us to give them our money. In fact, bottled water is not always what it appears to be, as some companies are actually selling tap water and making a huge profit off it. I think this video should be shared with others because it exposes large companies as the heartless money-grubbers that they are. What a scam t

It is quite obvious from watching the video "6 Ways Mushrooms Can Save The World" that the speaker Paul Stamets is quite brilliant. His opinions and knowledge of myselium is so extensive that an an 18 minute lecture seems only to graze the surface of his knowledge. In fact, he spoke so quickly it was hard for me to follow his train of though sometimes. I ended up watching the video three times and still didn't feel like I was getting everything he was saying. I did my best to piece together what I thought his 6 ways mushrooms could save the world: 1). myselium can be used as a treatment against consumption 2) myselium can help control pests like carpenter ants and termites 3) they can provide habitat restoration for polluted waterways by treating polluted water 4) they can work against pox viruses and flu viruses because they produce strong antibodies 5) fungi could be used for alternative energy if we used "econol" which uses myselium to convert cellulose into