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Sinister Cannibals or Nurturing Fathers?

November 11, 2018 at 9:16 pm / Evolution, Natural history, Video

In majority of sexually reproducing species females are the choosy ones. Generally, females invest more in offspring during pregnancy and post-natal care. Males try many tricks (fighting with other males, making elaborate dances, providing nuptial gifts, carrying showy and difficult to maintain body ornaments etc.) to prevent being filtered out in female preferences. Parental investment is a determinant in choosiness. In this post we will take a look at a spectrum of male behavior in parental care. Pipefishes and mudskippers […]

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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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What Gall! The Crazy Cribs of Parasitic Wasps – Deep Look – PBS/KQED (2015)

November 2, 2018 at 11:45 am / Evolution, Natural history, PBS Nature, Video

Another fascinating episode from a series produced by PBS/KQED: Deep Look… Gall formations are indeed one of the most interesting examples of plant-animal interactions. Gall-inducing wasps are plant parasites. The larvae hijack the chemical signaling pathways by secreting two plant hormones auxin and cytokinin which induce abnormal cell divisions leading to gall formation. In certain instances anthocyanin production pathways become upregulated and this gives most of the gall tissues their characteristic red color. Larvae also induce sugary secretions and literally […]

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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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Siccar Point: The Birthplace of Modern Geology – British Geological Survey

August 19, 2018 at 8:56 pm / Global Patterns, Video

The World was a rather different place in the late 18th century. A great majority of people in the West believed the Earth was not older than 6,000 years old. Rocks were formed immediately after the Biblical flood of Noah. Fossils were simply the remains of animals that had died in the flood. Scientific facts that are so obvious to us today such as plate tectonics and continental drift were not connected. For instance, a core tenet is the geological […]

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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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The White Pine Weevil’s Life Cycle – Ray Asselin

August 1, 2018 at 1:43 pm / Natural history, Short Observations, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

Tree architecture is affected by many factors. Genetics is a major determinant. Hundreds of genes coordinate to determine the stature of a tree. Conifers have strong apical dominance in their growth and plant hormones such as the auxin play a lead role in its maintenance. When the apical dominance is lost due to loss of the apical meristem located at the top of shoot tip the branching pattern of a tree changes. Apical meristem can be lost due to physical […]

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A Stunning Artwork by the Japanese Puffer Fish – BBC Life

July 30, 2018 at 1:45 pm / Natural history, Short Observations, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

The evolutionary origins of nest building behavior in vertebrates are deep rooted and go all the way back to the fish. The behavior can be very complex with stunning results such as that of the Japanese puffer fish. When the behavior was documented for the first time by Japanese divers it created a big excitement among biologist. Here in this short observation the selective pressures on the male puffer fish exceeds those from predation and nest parasitism but purely sexual. […]

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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 Copperhead Snake Taking Its First Breath – Copperhead Institute (2015)

July 12, 2018 at 8:25 pm / Natural history, Short Observations, Video

In this short observation you can see a juvenile copperhead individual taking its first breath filmed by The Copperhead Institute in South Carolina. Copperheads are ovoviviparous, that is babies are born alive. Eggs incubate inside the mother’s body instead of being oviposited like many other reptiles such as turtles. Copperheads mate in the spring. This results upto 18 offspring in late summer or fall. Snakes may seem as asocial however, prior to giving birth female copperheads may gather in certain […]

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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 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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