Archives for October 2014 | Nature Documentaries

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James L. Hamrick interview – Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS) – (2014)

October 27, 2014 at 7:48 pm / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, Video

Dr. James L. Hamrick is Regents Professor of Plant Biology at the University of Georgia. He is widely recognized for his work on the genetics and evolution of natural plant populations. The featured video is from a series of interviews for the 50th anniversary of Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS/OET). Dr. Hamrick is also a personal hero of mine and is one of my role models as a tropical biologist. I discovered his work soon after I began to work […]

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How to Maintain an Ant Colony in an Artificial Nest at Home – AntsCanada

October 25, 2014 at 12:15 pm / Natural history, Video

You have seen exciting and interesting documentaries where entire colonies are kept in captivity and their activities are carefully recorded and analyzed. Perhaps you yourself always wanted to keep ants right next to where you lived but always thought terrariums required the expertise and money only available through natural history museums or nature centers. It is indeed an art to maintain an ant colony. If you do it right you can join many people who do just that like Mikey […]

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Raising a Weaver Ant Colony at Home – AntsCanada

October 25, 2014 at 12:14 pm / Natural history, Video

You have seen exciting and interesting documentaries where entire colonies are kept in captivity and their activities are carefully recorded and analyzed. Perhaps you yourself always wanted to keep ants right next to where you lived but always thought terrariums required the expertise and money only available through natural history museums or nature centers. It is indeed an art to maintain an ant colony. If you do it right you can join many people who do just that like Mikey […]

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Cane Toads: An Unnatural History – Mark Lewis (1988)

October 15, 2014 at 11:55 am / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

Cane Toads is one of the classics of nature documentaries that focus on biological invasions. It is a remarkable story of a species being extremely successful in an environment that is free from diseases, parasites and predators. On top of that, cane toad is a predator itself. Feeding on naive prey that have evolved no defenses boosts the reproductive success. Cane toad become a paradigm for invasive species that achieved abnormally high population densities compared to that of it’s native […]

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Cane Toads: The Conquest – Mark Lewis (2010)

October 15, 2014 at 11:53 am / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

Cane Toads: The Conquest is a remake of a hugely successful 1988 documentary that became one of the classics of nature documentaries focusing on biological invasions. It is a remarkable story of a species being extremely successful in an environment that is free from diseases, parasites and predators. Cane Toads: The Conquest updates the status of this biological range expansion after their introduction to Australia in 1935. Interviews with residents newly exposed to Cane Toads as well as follow ups […]

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Cormorant Pursuing a Fish School – Lütfü Tanrıöver (2014)

October 11, 2014 at 1:25 am / Ecological Documentaries, Natural history, Short Observations, Video, Wildlife Documentaries

Lütfü Tanrıöver recorded this short observation in the eastern Mediterranean town of Fethiye. As the camera rolled it recorded some pretty interesting interactions. Most water birds ambush their prey. Cormorants are different. They actively chase their prey underwater. Here you can see one going after a small school of Mediterranean sand smelt (Atherina hepsetus). Predation pressure is intense. If you pay attention you will notice another predator of small fish, a blue-spotted cornet fish entering the screen from the very […]

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