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Galapagos Finch Evolution – Dan Lewitt – HHMI (2013)

January 28, 2019 at 1:53 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Evolution, Natural history, Video

The Galapagos is home to many iconic species. Each are unique on their own and form a case study in evolutionary biology. Darwin’s finches and mocking birds with their striking beak morphology provided the first clues to Darwin in formulating the mechanism of evolution by natural selection. The Galapagos was the origin of the Origin of the Species. Finches in the island of Daphne Major have been studied for more than 40 years by Princeton University scientists Peter and Rosemary […]

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Person of the Forest – Melissa Lesh/Tim Laman (2017)

January 18, 2019 at 10:58 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, Wildlife Documentaries

As an emerging filmmaker Melissa Lesh has joined forces with veteran National Geographic writer and photographer Tim Laman, anthropologist Cheryll Knott and explorer Robert Suro in this informative documentary. The team works in lowland rainforests of Borneo to document and understand the unique cultural behaviors of orangutans in the wild. The work of researchers spans more than 20 years during which they recorded fascinating orangutan behavior including making pillows, fashioning umbrellas and displaying regional greetings. Long term observations of primates […]

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Photosynthesis Board Game – Blue Orange Games

November 17, 2018 at 11:56 am / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history

Photosynthesis is a fundamental concept in life sciences. It is one of the prerequisites for making sense of our Earth. If the World citizens do not understand how plants grow, then it becomes almost impossible to convey the urgent message that accumulation of carbondiokside in the air leads to global warming and climate change. If the primers are not given in an understandable way almost everything can become esoteric. But, do not despair! The board game Photosynthesis provides such primers […]

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Let Them Eat Flies! KQED/QUEST (2014)

November 3, 2018 at 10:15 am / Ecological Documentaries, PBS Nature, Video

Insects are a hugely successful group of organisms. Their evolution transformed life on land immensely especially influencing flowering plant evolution. Insects also play a large role as food sources. Here in this KQED documentary we see how a fly farm in Ohio rears a common insect, the black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) to be used as food for fish farms. Some City farms have successfully been growing fish beneath the plants which helps recycling of nutrients reducing fertilizer use. Aquaponics […]

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Associates of Eciton burchellii – Carl & Marian Rettenmeyer (2009)

October 28, 2018 at 10:51 am / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

Filmed entirely on location at La Selva Biological Field Station in Costa Rica this film is one of the two part documentary series produced by Rettenmeyers. Both documentaries harbor so much natural history that there’s almost no break during the narration. Over the course of 55 years, Carl Rettenmeyer of the University of Connecticut and his wife Marian enthusiastically studied the army ant (Eciton burchellii) and their associates. Throughout this period Carl Rettenmeyer became the world’s leading expert on army […]

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Astonishing Army Ants – Carl & Marian Rettenmeyer (2009)

October 28, 2018 at 10:50 am / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

Filmed entirely on location at La Selva Biological Field Station in Costa Rica this film is one of the two part documentary series produced by Rettenmeyers. Both documentaries harbor so much natural history that there’s almost no break during the narration. Over the course of 55 years, Carl Rettenmeyer of the University of Connecticut and his wife Marian enthusiastically studied the army ant (Eciton burchellii) and their associates. Throughout this period Carl Rettenmeyer became the world’s leading expert on army […]

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Welcome to the Anthropocene – a Film About the State of the Planet – UN Rio+20 Summit (2012)

October 17, 2018 at 1:03 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Global Patterns, Human Nature, Video

Due to Human activities our planet has now reported to have entered into a “no analog state”. This means our planet has never experienced fast changing present-day conditions in its geological and evolutionary history. The closest geological event to what is happening now is known as (PETM) Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum. PETM took place 56 million years ago. Changes happening now is way too fast, much faster than those in PETM. We are indeed in a no analog state in ecological […]

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REDD+ on the Threshold – Gemma Sethsmith (2011)

August 3, 2018 at 8:44 am / Ecological Documentaries, Global Patterns, Human Nature, Video

The promise of REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation) is fairly straightforward: Forest owners keep their standing vegetation intact and in return get compensated by polluters. There are already established strong protective traditions in some local communities such as the indigenous Mayan cantones in the state of Totonicapán, Guatemala, Kichwa tribe of the Ecuador and many others around the World. REDD+ is an economical model developed by Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) […]

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Seed Dispersal by Dung Mimicry – Nature (2015)

July 20, 2018 at 3:47 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Evolution, Natural history, Short Observations, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

Plant-animal interactions have not always evolved to become mutualistic win-win strategies like birds dispersing seeds of palms while feeding on the fruits. Plants can be rather deceptive. They can hijact sensory vulnerabilities of animals. Secondary metabolites such as nicotine, caffeine, codeine can be rather addictive. Plant chemicals can also be used as deterrent. A sub-Saharan desert plant taily weed (Ochradenus baccatus) detonates a mustard bomb in the mouths of seed predators who dare to chew and destroy its seeds. Plant […]

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The Lost Forests of New England – Ray Asselin (2018)

July 14, 2018 at 8:33 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, Video

The documentary by filmmaker Ray Asselin highlights many values of oldgrowth forests and features forest ecologists including David Foster of Harvard Forest, Peter Dunwiddie of University of Washington, Tony D’Amato of University of Vermont, Tom Wessels of Antioch University of New England, David Orwig and Neil Pederson of Harvard Forest. Among these people Robert Leverett is a nature enthusiast who has spearheaded local expeditions to find the last bits of old-growth patches and gain recognition. Today old-growth forests occupy a […]

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A Bumblebee Mimic Robber Fly (Laphria macquarti) Hunting

June 28, 2018 at 4:55 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, NatureDocumentaries.org, Short Observations, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

A Bumblebee Mimic Robber Fly (Laphria macquarti) hunting. June 26th 2018, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Edgewater, MD. Robber flies (Asilidae) are predatory insects. Adult forms of both sexes launch grasping aerial attacks on other insects, including stinging insects such as bees and wasps. For this reason they are also known as ‘bee catchers’. Foraging occurs in sunny habitats. They are seldom found in deep woods where it is dark. Here in this observation, the habitat is an exposed sunny edge […]

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The Incredible Oyster Reef – Chesapeake Bay Foundation (2017)

June 28, 2018 at 4:01 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, Wildlife Documentaries

Poor water quality, disease, and harvesting nearly put an end to native oyster (Crassostrea virginica) in Chesapeake Bay. Restoration of the bay to pre-Columbian levels is challenging. The film commissioned by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation explores the ecology of this keystone species providing services to maintain a healthy biological community. A single oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water in the Chesapeake Bay in a single day. Oysters filter nutrient and suspended sediment from the water column. Moreover, […]

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The Ecology of Fear – KQED/QUEST (2014)

May 28, 2018 at 5:32 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

The return of wolves had a profound impact on vast wilderness areas in North America. Biologist Aaron Wirsing explores why wolves and other top predators are necessary for maintenance of diversity in ecosystems. Using a “deer-cam” Wirsing is quantifying some of the behavioral relationships between predator and prey. Wildlife cameras provide unprecedented opportunities to view social lives of many wild animals including mountain lions. The gray wolf is one of the world’s most adaptable and widely distributed mammals, ranging over […]

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An Agouti Eating Pulp of the Dipteryx panamanensis Seed Coat

April 14, 2018 at 2:27 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, NatureDocumentaries.org, Short Observations, Video

Agoutis are rodents exclusive to forested and wooded lands of the American tropics. Their habitats include rainforests and savannas. Some species have even adapted to live in cultivated fields. They are active during daytime. At night they hide in hollow tree trunks or in burrows among roots. Here in this short observation recorded at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Barro Colorado Island, Panama you can see an agouti feeding on the outer pulp of the one of the […]

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Climate Science in Action – Earth Focus / Link TV (2014)

March 17, 2018 at 8:12 am / Ecological Documentaries, Global Patterns, Video

We have a very dynamic planet. Throughout it’s geological evolution ice sheets grew and shrunk many times. This process still continues each year through a number of rather complex interactions between land, atmosphere and ocean. Climate science is working hard to measure, document and understand these interactions both on land and from orbit. Satellite missions launched in 1990s produced some very informative estimates about polar regions. Scientists are now collaborating to detail these observations from land measuring the mass balance […]

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