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Aristotle’s Silkworm / Great Peacock Moth (Saturnia pyri) Life Cycle – Adam Grochowalski (2015)

August 19, 2015 at 10:01 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

Great Peacock Moth / Aristotle’s Silkworm (Saturnia pyri) Life Cycle – Adam Grochowalski, Kraków, Poland (2015). The filmmaker Adam Grochowalski of the Kraków University of Technology found the female butterfly in the Komarno district of Slovakia. The butterfly was attracted to light at night. He brought the female butterfly to his home studio in Kraków Poland and captured almost the entire life cycle in exquisite detail. The observations include emergence from the eggs, larval (caterpillar) stages, pupation (chrysalis) and overwintering […]

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Protecting Appalachia’s Hellbenders – The Last Dragons – Freshwater Illustrated (2014)

August 14, 2015 at 9:15 am / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

The Last Dragons is a part of a series from Freshwater Illustrated including A Deeper Creek: Watchable Waters of Appalachia and Hidden Rivers. The series were screened in EcoFocus Film Festival of Athens GA in 2014. Filmed on location in Conesauga River in Geargia and Pisgah National Forest, North Carolina by Freshwaters Illustrated this short episode focuses on monitoring and conservation efforts on highly endangered hellbenders (Cryptobranchus alleganiensis). The natural history of these elusive giant salamanders has never been subject […]

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Chasing El Niño – Carol L. Fleisher – PBS NOVA (1998)

August 13, 2015 at 9:42 am / Ecological Documentaries, Global Patterns, Nova Documentaries, PBS Nature, Video

Can we predict El Niño? Moreover can we calculate it’s severity and effects on different parts of the world? On board the research ship Ka’imimoana scientists carry out measurements and then build computer models to understand the climate cycle that produces El Niño. The documentary “Chasing El Niño” was released by the aftermath of an intense El Niño event observed during 1997/1998 measured. In March 2015 climatologists have started to detect early signs of another one beginning to develop. They […]

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Red Goat Moth (Cossus cossus) Caterpillar Searching for Pupation Site

May 16, 2015 at 4:28 am / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, NatureDocumentaries.org, Short Observations, Video

Recorded on May 4th 2015 at the Atatürk Arboretum of Istanbul University, Bahçeköy, Türkiye. The individual in the recording most probably belongs to Cossus cossus gueruenensis reported from Asia Minor. The caterpillar has reached its final growth stage as a caterpillar and is frantically searching for a place to burrow itself in the forest floor to become a pupa. Pupation is the final stage of a caterpillar before metamorphosing into adult butterfly form. The developmental transformation in these insects has […]

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European Yellow Jacket Wasp vs. Australian Bull Ant (and other ant-wasp clashes)

April 23, 2015 at 9:26 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, Short Observations, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

Ant – Wasp clash is a rather frequent interspecific competitive interaction between the two social insect groups. At first glance wasps may seem to be at an advantage by being aerial. On the other hand, ants can achieve high numbers and squirt formic acid which is a potent neurotoxin for most animals. Wasps and ants both can bite and sting and therefore they are somehow equal rivals. The main footage featured above was filmed in the Kosciuszko National Park of […]

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High-speed Filming of Hummingbirds – Harold Eugene “Doc” Edgerton (1936)

April 12, 2015 at 10:38 am / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

Harold Eugene “Doc” Edgerton (1903 – 1990) was a professor of electrical engineering at MIT. He invented the stroboscopic electric flash to capture events happening at incredible speeds including the explosion of an atomic bomb. Even in today’s standards these images are hard to capture. His uncle was pivotal in beginning of his innovation filled career. He introduced him to the world of cameras. Edgerton invented and developed many different cameras including underwater cameras. One of his cameras was tested […]

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Whale Shark Aggregation in Belize – Cristiana & Alain Bontemps (2009)

March 31, 2015 at 8:28 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

External fertilization is a wasteful process but still enables survival of many aquatic species. For external fertilization to be successful certain prerequisites are needed: high population numbers, aggregation of these large groups and synchronous release of gametes. Animals are great resource maximizers. Once they discover a high value resource they will exploit it as efficiently as possible. Gametes (sperms and eggs) released during external fertilization of large groups of fish such as the Jack are extremely nutritious for filter feeders […]

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Crippled Cranefly Orchid (Tipularia discolor) (2014)

March 23, 2015 at 3:12 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Evolution, Natural history, NatureDocumentaries.org, Short Observations, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

Crippled Cranefly Orchid (Tipularia discolor). Recorded on August 9th 2014, Georgia State Botanical Garden, Athens, GA, USA. The genus Tipularia has three species. Crippled cranefly orchid (Tipularia discolor) is the only species found in North America. The other two species are Asian found in the Himalayas and Japan. Tipularia discolor grows in organic humus-rich soils of closed canopy oak-pine forests in the Eastern United States. It is protected as Threatened, Endangered, or Rare in Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania. […]

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Voyage of Darwin’s Beagle – Episode 3: The Last Frontier (2009)

February 12, 2015 at 12:34 am / Ecological Documentaries, Evolution, Human Nature, Video

Fish are cold blooded animals and this property make them very efficient in terms of biomass accumulation. For this reason ecological trophic levels in aquatic systems can be much higher than terrestrial systems. The documentary film The End of the Line by Charles Clover mentioned in this episode draws attention to the problem of overfishing. About 400 million years ago, the Falkland Islands were part of the supercontinent of Gondwana, located between southern Africa and what is now Queen Maud […]

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Voyage of Darwin’s Beagle – Episode 4: The Final Countdown (2009)

February 12, 2015 at 12:31 am / Ecological Documentaries, Evolution, Global Patterns, Human Nature, Video

“In the wake of Beagle” series brings back the adventure/science mix documentary programs reminiscent of those of Cousteau. Expeditions carried out on a ship and underwater filming was a signature in Cousteau’s filmmaking. This episode prepares the audience for the next episode filmed in the Galapagos Islands. Darwin developed his insight towards evolving species in that volcanic archipelago. Galapagos islands are largely affected by long-term seasonal fluctuations that known as El Nino/La Nina cycle. A few events Darwin witnessed in […]

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Voyage of Darwin’s Beagle – Episode 5: The Paradise of Competition (2009)

February 12, 2015 at 12:27 am / Ecological Documentaries, Evolution, Global Patterns, Natural history, Video

The Galapagos islands has been a pivotal single location where everything came together in Darwin’s mind. The geology of the archipelago and almost every species (Tortoises, iguanas, finches) he observed on each island showed significant variation. The Galapagos Islands, which are part of Ecuador are about 1000 km (620 miles) west of South America. As the three craters on the largest island (Isabela Island) suggest, the archipelago was created by volcanic eruptions. Each year roughly 60,000 tourists visit these islands. […]

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Voyage of Darwin’s Beagle – Episode 6: Toolbox of Survival (2009)

February 12, 2015 at 12:12 am / Ecological Documentaries, Evolution, Global Patterns, Human Nature, Video

In Australia the arrival of Europeans profoundly effected the biology of the continent through introduction of non-native species that are reproducing and invading at an unprecedented rate. Australian biologists call it “extinction calamity” since the continent has lost one in ten of its native mammals species in the past 200 years. The effects of climate change is also evident with severe droughts and wild fires. A large fraction of Australian vegetation is serotinous that is adapted to disperse their seeds […]

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Voyage of Darwin’s Beagle – Episode 8: The Ruins of Progress (2009)

February 12, 2015 at 12:07 am / Ecological Documentaries, Evolution, Global Patterns, Human Nature, Video

In this last episode of the series the crew of Stad Amsterdam visits Mauritius island before making a final stop in South Africa where the journey of modern Human ancestors began 200 thousand years ago. San culture in South Africa is the most ancestral Human population finding Like many island ecosystems Mauritius has been impacted by introduced species such as macaques. Species evolved on island systems are more prone to extinction. The flightless bird the Dodo is the icon of […]

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Robin L. Chazdon – Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) interview (2014)

February 5, 2015 at 9:10 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Global Patterns, Video

Robin L. Chazdon is a professor of tropical ecology in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department at the University of Connecticut. She has been studying natural regeneration in second-growth tropical forest using long term monitoring plots within the landscape matrix surrounding La Selva Biological Field Station in Heredia province of Northeast Costa Rica. She is a palm specialist and has investigated many aspects of this important plant group including physiology and genetics within the context of forest regeneration. The Bosques Project […]

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Salmon Confidential – Twyla Roscovich (2013)

February 2, 2015 at 2:30 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

Fish are cold-blooded animals and this property make them very efficient in terms of biomass accumulation. For this reason ecological trophic levels in aquatic systems can be more than terrestrial systems. Compared to fish, a warm-blooded cow is a furnace burning 90% of the food intake. Fish is a very valuable food. The global demand for seafood is so large that wild fisheries can’t meet that anymore. How are we going to feed fish to humanity? Two-thirds of the salmon […]

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