Forbes | ServiceNow Invests In MapAnything In Platform Ecosystem Play Forbes Service management leader ServiceNow today announced a strategic investment in MapAnything, a location services company that has heretofore run on the ... |
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ServiceNow Invests In MapAnything In Platform Ecosystem Play - Forbes
Swatch Group and CSEM to promote "Swiss made" OS ecosystem ... Electronics EETimes (registration) Long-term partners Swatch Group and CSEM announced they are working on the development of a unique Swiss made ecosystem to secure small connected ... |
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Swatch Group and CSEM to promote "Swiss made" OS ecosystem ... - Electronics EETimes (registration)
TechCrunch | French Government to promote gender equality in the tech ecosystem TechCrunch The French Government announced a new initiative today in order to promote gender equality in the tech ecosystem in France with the help of 15 organizations. Like in many other countries, there are less women working in French startups than men. This ... |
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French Government to promote gender equality in the tech ecosystem - TechCrunch
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Nature, in the broadest sense, is the natural, physical, or material world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large part of science. Although humans are part of nature, human activity is often understood as a separate category from other natural phenomena.
The word nature is derived from the Latin word natura, or "essential qualities, innate disposition", and in ancient times, literally meant "birth".[1]Natura is a Latin translation of the Greek word physis (), which originally related to the intrinsic characteristics that plants, animals, and other features of the world develop of their own accord.[2][3] The concept of nature as a whole, the physical universe, is one of several expansions of the original notion; it began with certain core applications of the word by pre-Socratic philosophers, and has steadily gained currency ever since. This usage continued during the advent of modern scientific method in the last several centuries.[4][5]
Within the various uses of the word today, "nature" often refers to geology and wildlife. Nature can refer to the general realm of living plants and animals, and in some cases to the processes associated with inanimate objects the way that particular types of things exist and change of their own accord, such as the weather and geology of the Earth. It is often taken to mean the "natural environment" or wildernesswild animals, rocks, forest, and in general those things that have not been substantially altered by human intervention, or which persist despite human intervention. For example, manufactured objects and human interaction generally are not considered part of nature, unless qualified as, for example, "human nature" or "the whole of nature". This more traditional concept of natural things which can still be found today implies a distinction between the natural and the artificial, with the artificial being understood as that which has been brought into being by a human consciousness or a human mind. Depending on the particular context, the term "natural" might also be distinguished from the unnatural or the supernatural.
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Earth is the only planet known to support life, and its natural features are the subject of many fields of scientific research. Within the solar system, it is third closest to the sun; it is the largest terrestrial planet and the fifth largest overall. Its most prominent climatic features are its two large polar regions, two relatively narrow temperate zones, and a wide equatorial tropical to subtropical region.[6]Precipitation varies widely with location, from several metres of water per year to less than a millimetre. 71 percent of the Earth's surface is covered by salt-water oceans. The remainder consists of continents and islands, with most of the inhabited land in the Northern Hemisphere.
Earth has evolved through geological and biological processes that have left traces of the original conditions. The outer surface is divided into several gradually migrating tectonic plates. The interior remains active, with a thick layer of plastic mantle and an iron-filled core that generates a magnetic field. This iron core is composed of a solid inner phase, and a fluid outer phase. Convective motion in the core generates electric currents through dynamo action, and these, in turn, generate the geomagnetic field.
The atmospheric conditions have been significantly altered from the original conditions by the presence of life-forms,[7] which create an ecological balance that stabilizes the surface conditions. Despite the wide regional variations in climate by latitude and other geographic factors, the long-term average global climate is quite stable during interglacial periods,[8] and variations of a degree or two of average global temperature have historically had major effects on the ecological balance, and on the actual geography of the Earth.[9][10]
Geology is the science and study of the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth. The field of geology encompasses the study of the composition, structure, physical properties, dynamics, and history of Earth materials, and the processes by which they are formed, moved, and changed. The field is a major academic discipline, and is also important for mineral and hydrocarbon extraction, knowledge about and mitigation of natural hazards, some Geotechnical engineering fields, and understanding past climates and environments.
The geology of an area evolves through time as rock units are deposited and inserted and deformational processes change their shapes and locations.
Rock units are first emplaced either by deposition onto the surface or intrude into the overlying rock. Deposition can occur when sediments settle onto the surface of the Earth and later lithify into sedimentary rock, or when as volcanic material such as volcanic ash or lava flows, blanket the surface. Igneous intrusions such as batholiths, laccoliths, dikes, and sills, push upwards into the overlying rock, and crystallize as they intrude.
After the initial sequence of rocks has been deposited, the rock units can be deformed and/or metamorphosed. Deformation typically occurs as a result of horizontal shortening, horizontal extension, or side-to-side (strike-slip) motion. These structural regimes broadly relate to convergent boundaries, divergent boundaries, and transform boundaries, respectively, between tectonic plates.
Earth is estimated to have formed 4.54billion years ago from the solar nebula, along with the Sun and other planets.[11] The moon formed roughly 20million years later. Initially molten, the outer layer of the Earth cooled, resulting in the solid crust. Outgassing and volcanic activity produced the primordial atmosphere. Condensing water vapor, most or all of which came from ice delivered by comets, produced the oceans and other water sources.[12] The highly energetic chemistry is believed to have produced a self-replicating molecule around 4billion years ago.[13]
Continents formed, then broke up and reformed as the surface of Earth reshaped over hundreds of millions of years, occasionally combining to make a supercontinent. Roughly 750million years ago, the earliest known supercontinent Rodinia, began to break apart. The continents later recombined to form Pannotia which broke apart about 540million years ago, then finally Pangaea, which broke apart about 180million years ago.[15]
During the Neoproterozoic era covered much of the Earth in glaciers and ice sheets. This hypothesis has been termed the "Snowball Earth", and it is of particular interest as it precedes the Cambrian explosion in which multicellular life forms began to proliferate about 530540million years ago.[16]
Since the Cambrian explosion there have been five distinctly identifiable mass extinctions.[17] The last mass extinction occurred some 66 million years ago, when a meteorite collision probably triggered the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs and other large reptiles, but spared small animals such as mammals. Over the past 66million years, mammalian life diversified.[18]
Several million years ago, a species of small African ape gained the ability to stand upright.[14] The subsequent advent of human life, and the development of agriculture and further civilization allowed humans to affect the Earth more rapidly than any previous life form, affecting both the nature and quantity of other organisms as well as global climate. By comparison, the Great Oxygenation Event, produced by the proliferation of algae during the Siderian period, required about 300million years to culminate.
The present era is classified as part of a mass extinction event, the Holocene extinction event, the fastest ever to have occurred.[19][20] Some, such as E. O. Wilson of Harvard University, predict that human destruction of the biosphere could cause the extinction of one-half of all species in the next 100years.[21] The extent of the current extinction event is still being researched, debated and calculated by biologists.[22][23][24]
The Earth's atmosphere is a key factor in sustaining the ecosystem. The thin layer of gases that envelops the Earth is held in place by gravity. Air is mostly nitrogen, oxygen, water vapor, with much smaller amounts of carbon dioxide, argon, etc. The atmospheric pressure declines steadily with altitude. The ozone layer plays an important role in depleting the amount of ultraviolet (UV) radiation that reaches the surface. As DNA is readily damaged by UV light, this serves to protect life at the surface. The atmosphere also retains heat during the night, thereby reducing the daily temperature extremes.
Terrestrial weather occurs almost exclusively in the lower part of the atmosphere, and serves as a convective system for redistributing heat. Ocean currents are another important factor in determining climate, particularly the major underwater thermohaline circulation which distributes heat energy from the equatorial oceans to the polar regions. These currents help to moderate the differences in temperature between winter and summer in the temperate zones. Also, without the redistributions of heat energy by the ocean currents and atmosphere, the tropics would be much hotter, and the polar regions much colder.
Weather can have both beneficial and harmful effects. Extremes in weather, such as tornadoes or hurricanes and cyclones, can expend large amounts of energy along their paths, and produce devastation. Surface vegetation has evolved a dependence on the seasonal variation of the weather, and sudden changes lasting only a few years can have a dramatic effect, both on the vegetation and on the animals which depend on its growth for their food.
Climate is a measure of the long-term trends in the weather. Various factors are known to influence the climate, including ocean currents, surface albedo, greenhouse gases, variations in the solar luminosity, and changes to the Earth's orbit. Based on historical records, the Earth is known to have undergone drastic climate changes in the past, including ice ages.
The climate of a region depends on a number of factors, especially latitude. A latitudinal band of the surface with similar climatic attributes forms a climate region. There are a number of such regions, ranging from the tropical climate at the equator to the polar climate in the northern and southern extremes. Weather is also influenced by the seasons, which result from the Earth's axis being tilted relative to its orbital plane. Thus, at any given time during the summer or winter, one part of the Earth is more directly exposed to the rays of the sun. This exposure alternates as the Earth revolves in its orbit. At any given time, regardless of season, the northern and southern hemispheres experience opposite seasons.
Weather is a chaotic system that is readily modified by small changes to the environment, so accurate weather forecasting is limited to only a few days.[citation needed] Overall, two things are happening worldwide: (1) temperature is increasing on the average; and (2) regional climates have been undergoing noticeable changes.[25]
Water is a chemical substance that is composed of hydrogen and oxygen and is vital for all known forms of life.[26] In typical usage, water refers only to its liquid form or state, but the substance also has a solid state, ice, and a gaseous state, water vapor, or steam. Water covers 71% of the Earth's surface.[27] On Earth, it is found mostly in oceans and other large water bodies, with 1.6% of water below ground in aquifers and 0.001% in the air as vapor, clouds, and precipitation.[28][29] Oceans hold 97% of surface water, glaciers, and polar ice caps 2.4%, and other land surface water such as rivers, lakes, and ponds 0.6%. Additionally, a minute amount of the Earth's water is contained within biological bodies and manufactured products.
An ocean is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface (an area of some 361 million square kilometers) is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas. More than half of this area is over 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) deep. Average oceanic salinity is around 35 parts per thousand (ppt) (3.5%), and nearly all seawater has a salinity in the range of 30 to 38 ppt. Though generally recognized as several 'separate' oceans, these waters comprise one global, interconnected body of salt water often referred to as the World Ocean or global ocean.[30][31] This concept of a global ocean as a continuous body of water with relatively free interchange among its parts is of fundamental importance to oceanography.[32]
The major oceanic divisions are defined in part by the continents, various archipelagos, and other criteria: these divisions are (in descending order of size) the Pacific Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean, the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and the Arctic Ocean. Smaller regions of the oceans are called seas, gulfs, bays and other names. There are also salt lakes, which are smaller bodies of landlocked saltwater that are not interconnected with the World Ocean. Two notable examples of salt lakes are the Aral Sea and the Great Salt Lake.
A lake (from Latin lacus) is a terrain feature (or physical feature), a body of liquid on the surface of a world that is localized to the bottom of basin (another type of landform or terrain feature; that is, it is not global) and moves slowly if it moves at all. On Earth, a body of water is considered a lake when it is inland, not part of the ocean, is larger and deeper than a pond, and is fed by a river.[33][34] The only world other than Earth known to harbor lakes is Titan, Saturn's largest moon, which has lakes of ethane, most likely mixed with methane. It is not known if Titan's lakes are fed by rivers, though Titan's surface is carved by numerous river beds. Natural lakes on Earth are generally found in mountainous areas, rift zones, and areas with ongoing or recent glaciation. Other lakes are found in endorheic basins or along the courses of mature rivers. In some parts of the world, there are many lakes because of chaotic drainage patterns left over from the last Ice Age. All lakes are temporary over geologic time scales, as they will slowly fill in with sediments or spill out of the basin containing them.
A pond is a body of standing water, either natural or man-made, that is usually smaller than a lake. A wide variety of man-made bodies of water are classified as ponds, including water gardens designed for aesthetic ornamentation, fish ponds designed for commercial fish breeding, and solar ponds designed to store thermal energy. Ponds and lakes are distinguished from streams via current speed. While currents in streams are easily observed, ponds and lakes possess thermally driven micro-currents and moderate wind driven currents. These features distinguish a pond from many other aquatic terrain features, such as stream pools and tide pools.
A river is a natural watercourse,[35] usually freshwater, flowing toward an ocean, a lake, a sea or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including stream, creek, brook, rivulet, and rill; there is no general rule that defines what can be called a river. Many names for small rivers are specific to geographic location; one example is Burn in Scotland and North-east England. Sometimes a river is said to be larger than a creek, but this is not always the case, due to vagueness in the language.[36] A river is part of the hydrological cycle. Water within a river is generally collected from precipitation through surface runoff, groundwater recharge, springs, and the release of stored water in natural ice and snowpacks (i.e., from glaciers).
A stream is a flowing body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. In the United States, a stream is classified as a watercourse less than 60 feet (18 metres) wide. Streams are important as conduits in the water cycle, instruments in groundwater recharge, and they serve as corridors for fish and wildlife migration. The biological habitat in the immediate vicinity of a stream is called a riparian zone. Given the status of the ongoing Holocene extinction, streams play an important corridor role in connecting fragmented habitats and thus in conserving biodiversity. The study of streams and waterways in general involves many branches of inter-disciplinary natural science and engineering, including hydrology, fluvial geomorphology, aquatic ecology, fish biology, riparian ecology, and others.
Ecosystems are composed of a variety of abiotic and biotic components that function in an interrelated way.[38] The structure and composition is determined by various environmental factors that are interrelated. Variations of these factors will initiate dynamic modifications to the ecosystem. Some of the more important components are: soil, atmosphere, radiation from the sun, water, and living organisms.
Central to the ecosystem concept is the idea that living organisms interact with every other element in their local environment. Eugene Odum, a founder of ecology, stated: "Any unit that includes all of the organisms (ie: the "community") in a given area interacting with the physical environment so that a flow of energy leads to clearly defined trophic structure, biotic diversity, and material cycles (i.e.: exchange of materials between living and nonliving parts) within the system is an ecosystem."[39] Within the ecosystem, species are connected and dependent upon one another in the food chain, and exchange energy and matter between themselves as well as with their environment.[40] The human ecosystem concept is grounded in the deconstruction of the human/nature dichotomy and the premise that all species are ecologically integrated with each other, as well as with the abiotic constituents of their biotope.[citation needed]
A smaller unit of size is called a microecosystem. For example, a microsystem can be a stone and all the life under it. A macroecosystem might involve a whole ecoregion, with its drainage basin.[41]
Wilderness is generally defined as areas that have not been significantly modified by human activity. Wilderness areas can be found in preserves, estates, farms, conservation preserves, ranches, national forests, national parks, and even in urban areas along rivers, gulches, or otherwise undeveloped areas. Wilderness areas and protected parks are considered important for the survival of certain species, ecological studies, conservation, solitude, and recreation. Some nature writers believe wilderness areas are vital for the human spirit and creativity,[42] and some Ecologists consider wilderness areas to be an integral part of the Earth's self-sustaining natural ecosystem (the biosphere). They may also preserve historic genetic traits and that they provide habitat for wild flora and fauna that may be difficult to recreate in zoos, arboretums, or laboratories.
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Although there is no universal agreement on the definition of life, scientists generally accept that the biological manifestation of life is characterized by organization, metabolism, growth, adaptation, and response to stimuli and reproduction.[43] Life may also be said to be simply the characteristic state of organisms.
Properties common to terrestrial organisms (plants, animals, fungi, protists, archaea, and bacteria) are that they are cellular, carbon-and-water-based with complex organization, having a metabolism, a capacity to grow, respond to stimuli, and reproduce. An entity with these properties is generally considered life. However, not every definition of life considers all of these properties to be essential. Human-made analogs of life may also be considered to be life.
The biosphere is the part of Earth's outer shell including land, surface rocks, water, air and the atmosphere within which life occurs, and which biotic processes in turn alter or transform. From the broadest geophysiological point of view, the biosphere is the global ecological system integrating all living beings and their relationships, including their interaction with the elements of the lithosphere (rocks), hydrosphere (water), and atmosphere (air). The entire Earth contains over 75billion tons (150 trillion pounds or about 6.81013kilograms) of biomass (life), which lives within various environments within the biosphere.[44]
Over nine-tenths of the total biomass on Earth is plant life, on which animal life depends very heavily for its existence.[45] More than 2 million species of plant and animal life have been identified to date,[46] and estimates of the actual number of existing species range from several million to well over 50million.[47][48][49] The number of individual species of life is constantly in some degree of flux, with new species appearing and others ceasing to exist on a continual basis.[50][51] The total number of species is in rapid decline.[52][53][54]
The origin of life on Earth is not well understood, but it is known to have occurred at least 3.5billion years ago,[57][58][59] during the hadean or archean eons on a primordial Earth that had a substantially different environment than is found at present.[60] These life forms possessed the basic traits of self-replication and inheritable traits. Once life had appeared, the process of evolution by natural selection resulted in the development of ever-more diverse life forms.
Species that were unable to adapt to the changing environment and competition from other life forms became extinct. However, the fossil record retains evidence of many of these older species. Current fossil and DNA evidence shows that all existing species can trace a continual ancestry back to the first primitive life forms.[60]
The advent of photosynthesis in very basic forms of plant life worldwide allowed the sun's energy to be harvested to create conditions allowing for more complex life.[citation needed] The resultant oxygen accumulated in the atmosphere and gave rise to the ozone layer. The incorporation of smaller cells within larger ones resulted in the development of yet more complex cells called eukaryotes.[61] Cells within colonies became increasingly specialized, resulting in true multicellular organisms. With the ozone layer absorbing harmful ultraviolet radiation, life colonized the surface of Earth.
The first form of life to develop on the Earth were microbes, and they remained the only form of life until about a billion years ago when multi-cellular organisms began to appear.[62] Microorganisms are single-celled organisms that are generally microscopic, and smaller than the human eye can see. They include Bacteria, Fungi, Archaea, and Protista.
These life forms are found in almost every location on the Earth where there is liquid water, including in the Earth's interior.[63] Their reproduction is both rapid and profuse. The combination of a high mutation rate and a horizontal gene transfer[64] ability makes them highly adaptable, and able to survive in new environments, including outer space.[65] They form an essential part of the planetary ecosystem. However, some microorganisms are pathogenic and can post health risk to other organisms.
Originally Aristotle divided all living things between plants, which generally do not move fast enough for humans to notice, and animals. In Linnaeus' system, these became the kingdoms Vegetabilia (later Plantae) and Animalia. Since then, it has become clear that the Plantae as originally defined included several unrelated groups, and the fungi and several groups of algae were removed to new kingdoms. However, these are still often considered plants in many contexts. Bacterial life is sometimes included in flora,[66][67] and some classifications use the term bacterial flora separately from plant flora.
Among the many ways of classifying plants are by regional floras, which, depending on the purpose of study, can also include fossil flora, remnants of plant life from a previous era. People in many regions and countries take great pride in their individual arrays of characteristic flora, which can vary widely across the globe due to differences in climate and terrain.
Regional floras commonly are divided into categories such as native flora and agricultural and garden flora, the lastly mentioned of which are intentionally grown and cultivated. Some types of "native flora" actually have been introduced centuries ago by people migrating from one region or continent to another, and become an integral part of the native, or natural flora of the place to which they were introduced. This is an example of how human interaction with nature can blur the boundary of what is considered nature.
Another category of plant has historically been carved out for weeds. Though the term has fallen into disfavor among botanists as a formal way to categorize "useless" plants, the informal use of the word "weeds" to describe those plants that are deemed worthy of elimination is illustrative of the general tendency of people and societies to seek to alter or shape the course of nature. Similarly, animals are often categorized in ways such as domestic, farm animals, wild animals, pests, etc. according to their relationship to human life.
Animals as a category have several characteristics that generally set them apart from other living things. Animals are eukaryotic and usually multicellular (although see Myxozoa), which separates them from bacteria, archaea, and most protists. They are heterotrophic, generally digesting food in an internal chamber, which separates them from plants and algae. They are also distinguished from plants, algae, and fungi by lacking cell walls.
With a few exceptions, most notably the sponges (Phylum Porifera), animals have bodies differentiated into separate tissues.[citation needed] These include muscles, which are able to contract and control locomotion, and a nervous system, which sends and processes signals. There is also typically an internal digestive chamber. The eukaryotic cells possessed by all animals are surrounded by a characteristic extracellular matrix composed of collagen and elastic glycoproteins. This may be calcified to form structures like shells, bones, and spicules, a framework upon which cells can move about and be reorganized during development and maturation, and which supports the complex anatomy required for mobility.
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Sessions/Tracks
Conferenceseries LLC invites all the members of ecological family, from all over the world to join and share research at the '6thInternational Conference on Biodiversity and Conservation'during 27th & 28th April, 2017 at Dubai, UAE which includes prompt keynote presentations, plenary talks, oral talks, poster presentations and exhibitions.
Theme: Variety of Species Innovates Variety of Research
Biodiversity Congress is providing a global platform to discuss and learn about our own ecology and its associated fields like evolution of species, plant & animal biodiversity, biodiversity management and its conservation, fauna & flora, biodiversity & food security, conservation of endangered species, marine biodiversity, forestry and sustainable energy development.
Track 1: Biodiversity
Across scales from genes to species, landscapes and biomes, biodiversity is an important resource for humanity. It is the key for a broad range of services provided by ecosystems. Biodiversity helps regulate the nutrient cycle, water (e.g. floods) and mitigates impacts of climate change. Biodiversity is also of direct importance for human well-being and for cultural and other values including recreation. The provisioning of clean water and diverse food supply makes it vital for all people.
Food security faces significant challenges due to population growth, poverty, globalization, climate change and other factors. Supplying healthy food to all citizens is crucial for global development - to reach it, not only food production but also equitable access to food for all people must be improved substantially. Biodiversity loss and global food security are hence two major challenges of our time. Linking these two areas from a research perspective, and seeking synergies between them is likely to generate multiple benefits for social, ecological and economic development.
Our"biodiversity event"focusing on Biodiversity & Food Security.
Related Conferences: Biodiversity Conferences | Ecological Conferences | Conservation Conferences | Ecosystem Conferences
2nd International Conference on Pollution Control & Sustainable Environment March 13-14, 2017, UK; 2nd Annual Congress on Climate Change and Global Warming April 10-11, 2017, UAE; 2nd International Conference on Green Energy & Expo November 28-30, 2016, USA; 4th International Conference on Geology April 10-11, 2017, UAE; World Conference on Climate Change October 24-26, 2016, Spain; 19thInternational Conference on Ecosystems and Biodiversity June 28-29, 2017, United Kingdom; 28thInternational Congress for Conservation Biology July 23-27, 2017, Colombia; The 6thWorld Sustainability Forum 27-28 January 2017, South Africa; 19thInternational Conference on Biodiversity 23-24 February 2017, France; 19thInternational Conference on Ocean Biodiversity and Conservation 25-26 September 2017, United Kingdom. World Biodiversity Association Onlus, Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association, Lao Biodiversity Association, FACE: The European Federation of Associations for Hunting & Conservation, UIA: Union of International Associations
Track 2: Sustainable Development
Living within our environmental limits is one of the central principles of sustainable development. One implication of not doing so is climate change. Environmental sustainable development involves making decisions and taking action that are in the interests of protecting the natural world, with particular emphasis on preserving the capability of the environment to support human life. Environmental sustainable development is about making responsible decisions that will reduce your business' negative impact on the environment. It is not simply about reducing the amount of waste you produce or using less energy, but is concerned with developing processes that will lead to businesses becoming completely sustainable in the future. Monitoring, analysis and management of environmental pollution in biodiversity Monitoring analysis and Assessment discusses technical developments and data arising from environmental monitoring and assessment, principles in the design of monitoring systems, and the use of monitoring data in assessing the consequences of natural resource management and pollution risks. Monitoring analysis designed to estimate exposure both at the individual and population levels, and also focuses on the development of monitoring systems related to the management of various renewable natural resources in, for instance, environment ,agriculture, fisheries and forests.
Our"biodiversity conferences"is providing a platform to speak on environmental issues.
Related Conferences: Biodiversity Conferences | Ecological Conferences | Conservation Conferences | Ecosystem Conferences
World conference on Ecology and Ecosystems September 11-13, 2017, USA; International Conference on Biorefineries and Biobased Industries for Clean Energy September 18-20, 2017, Spain; 6th International Conference on Earth Science and Climate Change September 18-19, 2017, Hong Kong; Global Solar Energy Summit July 10-12, 2017, Spain; 2nd Annual Congress on Climate Change and Global Warming April 10-11, 2017, UAE; The 6thWorld Sustainability Forum 27-28 January 2017, South Africa; 19thInternational Conference on Biodiversity 23-24 February 2017, France; 19thInternational Conference on Ocean Biodiversity and Conservation 25-26 September 2017, United Kingdom; International Conference on Emerging Trends In Environmental Engineering and Pollution Control 13-15 March 2017, China; 3rdInternational Interdisciplinary Conference on LAND USE and WATER QUALITY: Effect of Agriculture on the Environment 29 May 2017 - 01 Jun 2017, Netherlands. UIA: Union of International Associations, AMAZON Conservation Association, Ecological Society of America, NatureServe, Society of Conservation Biology
Track 3: Climate Change and Global Warming
Biodiversity, short for biological diversity, is the term used to describe the variety of life found on Earth and all of the natural processes. . The different aspects of biodiversity all have a very strong influence on each other. It is helpful to think of an ecosystem as a woven carpet. Climate change is a major threat to biodiversity. Energy which is a major part of Biodiversity usually defined as the ability to do work. An energy system may be thought of as an interrelated network of Biodiversity and stores of energy, connected by transmission and distribution of that energy to where it is needed. The transformation from stores of energy in food to work and subsequent dissipation of energy is an example of such a system.
It is now widely recognized that biodiversity and climate change are interconnected.Biodiversity is affected by climate change, with negative consequences for human well-being, but biodiversity, through the ecosystem services it supports, also makes an important contribution to both climate change mitigation and adaptation.Conserving natural terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems and restoring degraded ecosystems (including their genetic and species diversity) is essential for the overall goals of both the Convention on Biological Diversity and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change because ecosystems play a key role in the global carbon cycle and in adapting to climate change, while also providing a wide range of ecosystem services that are essential for human well-being and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.
Our[biodiversity conferences]is providing a platform to speak much more on Biodiversity & Climate Change
Related Conferences: Biodiversity Conferences | Ecological Conferences | Conservation Conferences | Ecosystem Conferences
4th International Conference on Geology April 10-11, 2017, UAE; World Conference on Climate Change October 24-26, 2016, Spain; World conference on Ecology and Ecosystems September 11-13, 2017, USA; 3rd World Congress & Expo on Recycling October 3-5, 2016, USA; 6th International Conference on Earth Science and Climate Change September 18-19, 2017, Hong Kong; The 6th World Sustainability Forum 27-28 January 2017, South Africa; 19thInternational Conference on Biodiversity 23-24 February 2017, France; 19thInternational Conference on Ocean Biodiversity and Conservation 25-26 September 2017, United Kingdom; International Conference on Emerging Trends In Environmental Engineering and Pollution Control 13-15 March 2017, China; 3rdInternational Interdisciplinary Conference on LAND USE and WATER QUALITY: Effect of Agriculture on the Environment 29 May 2017 - 01 Jun 2017, Netherlands. FACE: The European Federation of Associations for Hunting & Conservation, UIA: Union of International Associations, AMAZON Conservation Association, Ecological Society of America, NatureServe
Track 4: Ecology and Biodiversity Conservation
Ecosystem functioning reflects the collective life activities of plants, animals, and microbes and the effects these activities feeding, growing, moving, excreting waste, etc. have on the physical and chemical conditions of their environment. (Note that functioning means showing activity and does not imply that organisms perform purposeful roles in ecosystem-level processes.) A functioning ecosystem is one that exhibits biological and chemical activities characteristic for its type. Ecologists abstract the essential features of an ecosystem into two compartments, the biotic and the abiotic. The biotic compartment consists of the community of species, which can be divided functionally into plant producers, the consumers that feed on producers and on each other, and the decomposers. The abiotic compartment consists of organic and inorganic nutrient pools. Energy and materials move between these two compartments, as well as into and out of the system. Comparing different ecosystems is likely to yield an unclear result because the response to variations in biodiversity cannot easily be distinguished from responses caused by variations in environmental and other factors.[biodiversity conferences USA]explained very well about Biodiversity & Ecosystem.
Related Conferences: Biodiversity Conferences | Ecological Conferences | Conservation Conferences | Ecosystem Conferences
2nd International Conference on Pollution Control & Sustainable Environment March 13-14, 2017, UK; 2nd Annual Congress on Climate Change and Global Warming April 10-11, 2017, UAE; 2nd International Conference on Green Energy & Expo November 28-30, 2016, USA; 4th International Conference on Geology April 10-11, 2017, UAE; 2nd World Conference on Climate Change June 5-7, 2017, Milan, Italy; 19thInternational Conference on Ecosystems and Biodiversity June 28-29, 2017, United Kingdom; 28thInternational Congress for Conservation Biology July 23-27, 2017, Colombia; The 6thWorld Sustainability Forum 27-28 January 2017, South Africa; 19thInternational Conference on Biodiversity 23-24 February 2017, France; 19thInternational Conference on Ocean Biodiversity and Conservation 25-26 September 2017, United Kingdom. Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association, Lao Biodiversity Association, FACE: The European Federation of Associations for Hunting & Conservation, UIA: Union of International Associations, AMAZON Conservation Association
Track 5: Plant and Animal Biodiversity
Plants define the habitat of a site, providing structure, shelter and food as well as contributing to the overall biodiversity. Plants are a kingdom of life forms that includes familiar organisms such as trees, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns and mosses. Through photosynthesis, they convert water and carbon dioxide into the oxygen we breathe and the sugars that provide the primary fuel for life. Plants were instrumental to evolution as a whole in that they produced the oxygen that made life on Earth possible not only by "breathing" it into the atmosphere and transforming it, but also by crushing rocks with their roots, which created soils and released nutrients on a large scale. Plant diversity is well represented in rural areas, development pressures have reduced the amount of green space in urban and peri-urban areas, resulting in a poorer diversity of plant communities. However, there are still many small pockets of green space within the built environment with a rich diversity of plant species, and other areas where improvements to green space could encourage the establishment of plants. Management of urban green space directly influences the micro-environment and can create conditions favorable to a range of plants, which in turn can increase habitats for, and therefore the diversity of, other species groups.
How animals have adapted to survive and thrive in their environmental riches? is one of the most fascinating aspects of biology. Farm animal biodiversity is important for maintaining genetically diverse and healthy livestock. However, this diversity is being threatened by industrial farming operationsthat depend on a small number of farm animal breeds that can thrive in an intensive livestock environment. Because of this, farm animal breeds that don't thrive in factory farming operations are becoming more rare.
Variability is essential for the evolution and adaptation of living organisms, including animals be they wild or domestic, and constitutes a vast field of research. Such research will lead a better understanding of the ecosystems and the discovery of various molecules with potential benefits to the humanity. biodiversity Protection is therefore crucial both for animals and humans, in particular at a time when global challenges are posed by growing human population; increasing movement of goods, animals and people, together with pathogens and invasive species; and climate changes, to name a few.
Previousbiodiversity conferences 2016explained the importance of Plant and Animal Biodiversity and its conversation as well.
Related Conferences: Biodiversity Conferences | Ecological Conferences | Conservation Conferences | Ecosystem Conferences
4th International Conference on Geology April 10-11, 2017, UAE; World Conference on Climate Change October 24-26, 2016, Spain; World conference on Ecology and Ecosystems September 11-13, 2017, USA; 3rd World Congress & Expo on Recycling October 3-5, 2016, USA; 6th International Conference on Earth Science and Climate Change September 18-19, 2017, Hong Kong; The 6th World Sustainability Forum 27-28 January 2017, South Africa; 19thInternational Conference on Biodiversity 23-24 February 2017, France; 19thInternational Conference on Ocean Biodiversity and Conservation 25-26 September 2017, United Kingdom; International Conference on Emerging Trends In Environmental Engineering and Pollution Control 13-15 March 2017, China; 3rdInternational Interdisciplinary Conference on LAND USE and WATER QUALITY: Effect of Agriculture on the Environment 29 May 2017 - 01 Jun 2017, Netherlands. AMAZON Conservation Association, Ecological Society of America, NatureServe, Society of Conservation Biology, World Biodiversity Association Onlus
Track 6: Marine Biodiversity
Biodiversity is now commonly defined as the variety of life in genes, species and habitats. According to the definition of the Convention on Biological Diversity, biodiversity is the variability among living organisms from all sources, including inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems. The three domains of life, bacteria, archaea and eukarya are present in the marine environment. In addition there are viruses. About 230,000 species of marine plants and animals have been scientifically described and a few thousand bacteria and archaea. This known biodiversity only represents a small fraction of the number of species existing, except for the macrophytes and seagrasses which are living in coastal environments and, in general, for the pelagic environment. Species diversity in the oceanic pelagic environment is extremely low. Habitat diversity and the number of marine habitats are difficult to define. Studies of zonation have typically demonstrated the existence of very narrow zones in intertidal areas, where direct observation is possible, and broader and broader zones as one goes deeper. Marine ecosystems deliver a series of services that are essential to the proper functioning of the Earth. These include the production and mineralization of organic material, the storage of carbon, the storage of pollutants and waste products from land, the buffering of the climate and of climate change, coastal protection (mangroves, dune-beach systems, coral reefs). Most of these services are delivered by microscopic organisms.
Marine Biodiversity research an important product of marine biodiversity research should be the necessary knowledge and tools for adequately managing and protecting marine biodiversity. This requires knowledge on genetic and ecological mechanisms that control biodiversity (gene flow, dispersal, adaptive value of genetic polymorphisms, determination of dispersal and recruitment, species interactions including invasions, sediment transport, natural and human-induced catastrophes, etc.). It also requires knowledge on the functional role of biodiversity.
Marine biodiversity research can discuss only at[biodiversity conferences]
Related Conferences: Biodiversity Conferences | Ecological Conferences | Conservation Conferences | Ecosystem Conferences
World conference on Ecology and Ecosystems September 11-13, 2017, USA; International Conference on Biorefineries and Biobased Industries for Clean Energy September 18-20, 2017, Spain; 6th International Conference on Earth Science and Climate Change September 18-19, 2017, Hong Kong; Global Solar Energy Summit July 10-12, 2017, Spain; 2nd Annual Congress on Climate Change and Global Warming April 10-11, 2017, UAE; The 6thWorld Sustainability Forum 27-28 January 2017, South Africa; 19thInternational Conference on Biodiversity 23-24 February 2017, France; 19thInternational Conference on Ocean Biodiversity and Conservation 25-26 September 2017, United Kingdom; International Conference on Emerging Trends In Environmental Engineering and Pollution Control 13-15 March 2017, China; 3rdInternational Interdisciplinary Conference on LAND USE and WATER QUALITY: Effect of Agriculture on the Environment 29 May 2017 - 01 Jun 2017, Netherlands. Lao Biodiversity Association, FACE: The European Federation of Associations for Hunting & Conservation, UIA: Union of International Associations, AMAZON Conservation Association, Ecological Society of America
Track 7: Forestry
Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous, native plant life and Fauna is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. Both are collective terms, referring to groups of plant or wildlife specific to a region or a time period.
To geographical groupings, environment also helps further their classification. For example, aquatic flora and fauna of a region refers to the plant and animal life found in the waters in or surrounding a geographic region.
Conservation, The area of flora, fauna and biodiversity is quite interrelated. Flora and fauna forms a major part of biodiversity. India is a land of varied flora, fauna and biodiversity. India is one of the twelve mega-diverse nations of the World. Two of India's great mountain ranges, the Eastern Himalayas and the Western Ghats have been designated among the world's eighteen 'hotspots' of biodiversity. But In the last few decades we have seen a steady increase in the extinction rate of flora, fauna etc. all over world including India and so now, conservation of biological diversity is of paramount importance to the survival of man. Conservation of biological diversity leads to conservation of essential ecological diversity to preserve the continuity of food chains. The genetic diversity of plants and animals is preserved. It ensures the sustainable utilization of life support systems on earth. It provides a vast knowledge of potential use to the scientific community. A reservoir of wild animals and plants is preserved, thus enabling them to be introduced, if need be, in the surrounding areas. Biological diversity provides immediate benefits to the society such as recreation and tourism. Biodiversity conservation serves as an insurance policy for the future.
The major role of Forest in our ecosystem was explained atbiodiversity conferences 2016
Related Conferences: Biodiversity Conferences | Ecological Conferences | Conservation Conferences | Ecosystem Conferences
World conference on Ecology and Ecosystems September 11-13, 2017, USA; International Conference on Biorefineries and Biobased Industries for Clean Energy September 18-20, 2017, Spain; 6th International Conference on Earth Science and Climate Change September 18-19, 2017, Hong Kong; Global Solar Energy Summit July 10-12, 2017, Spain; 2nd Annual Congress on Climate Change and Global Warming April 10-11, 2017, UAE; The 6th World Sustainability Forum 27-28 January 2017, South Africa; 19th International Conference on Biodiversity 23-24 February 2017, France; 19th International Conference on Ocean Biodiversity and Conservation 25-26 September 2017, United Kingdom; International Conference on Emerging Trends In Environmental Engineering and Pollution Control 13-15 March 2017, China; 3rd International Interdisciplinary Conference on LAND USE and WATER QUALITY: Effect of Agriculture on the Environment 29 May 2017 - 01 Jun 2017, Netherlands. Ecological Society of America, NatureServe, Society of Conservation Biology, FACE: The European Federation of Associations for Hunting & Conservation, UIA: Union of International Associations
Track 8: Vulnerable species
Conservation of Endangered Species is done by Captive breeding Captive breeding is the process of breeding rare or endangered species in human controlled environments with restricted settings, such as wildlife preserves, zoos and other conservation facilities. Captive breeding is meant to save species from extinction and so stabilize the population of the species that it will not disappear. Additionally, if the captive breeding population is too small, then inbreeding may occur due to a reduced gene pool and reduce immunity. In 1981, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) created a Species Survival Plan (SSP) in order to help preserve specific endangered and threatened species through captive breeding and Private farming
Where poaching substantially reduces endangered animal populations, legal, for-profit, private farming does the opposite. It has substantially increased the populations of the southern black rhinoceros and southern white rhinoceros. Recovery Plans In the United States and many other countries, recovery plans are often developed to aid in the recovery of the species. These recovery programs can be in situ (take place in the natural range of the species) or ex situ (in areas outside their natural range) and can involve. Even ourinternational conference on biodiversity 2016concentrated mostly on Endangered Species.
Related Conferences: Biodiversity Conferences | Ecological Conferences | Conservation Conferences | Ecosystem Conferences
World conference on Ecology and Ecosystems September 11-13, 2017, USA; International Conference on Biorefineries and Biobased Industries for Clean Energy September 18-20, 2017, Spain; 6th International Conference on Earth Science and Climate Change September 18-19, 2017, Hong Kong; Global Solar Energy Summit July 10-12, 2017, Spain; 2nd Annual Congress on Climate Change and Global Warming April 10-11, 2017, UAE; The 6thWorld Sustainability Forum 27-28 January 2017, South Africa; 19thInternational Conference on Biodiversity 23-24 February 2017, France; 19thInternational Conference on Ocean Biodiversity and Conservation 25-26 September 2017, United Kingdom; International Conference on Emerging Trends In Environmental Engineering and Pollution Control 13-15 March 2017, China; 3rdInternational Interdisciplinary Conference on LAND USE and WATER QUALITY: Effect of Agriculture on the Environment 29 May 2017 - 01 Jun 2017, Netherlands. World Biodiversity Association Onlus, Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association, Lao Biodiversity Association, FACE: The European Federation of Associations for Hunting & Conservation, UIA: Union of International Associations
Track 9: Biodiversity and Food Security
Healthy ecosystems are essential to increase resilience and agricultural production in the face of change.
Production needs to be sustainable: capitalizing on biological processes and harvesting resources without compromising natural capital such as biodiversity and ecosystem services.
A large number of the worlds poor rely directly on biodiversity and ecosystem services, and their livelihoods would be affected first and foremost by biodiversity loss.
A vastly broader share of the human population would be affected by a decrease in the provision of ecosystem services related to food production, nutrition, water and sanitation.
The major role of Food in our ecosystem was explained well atbiodiversity conferences 2016
Related Conferences: Biodiversity Conferences | Ecological Conferences | Conservation Conferences | Ecosystem Conferences
4th International Conference on Geology April 10-11, 2017, UAE; World Conference on Climate Change October 24-26, 2016, Spain; World conference on Ecology and Ecosystems September 11-13, 2017, USA; 3rd World Congress & Expo on Recycling October 3-5, 2016, USA; 6th International Conference on Earth Science and Climate Change September 18-19, 2017, Hong Kong; The 6th World Sustainability Forum 27-28 January 2017, South Africa; 19thInternational Conference on Biodiversity 23-24 February 2017, France; 19thInternational Conference on Ocean Biodiversity and Conservation 25-26 September 2017, United Kingdom; International Conference on Emerging Trends In Environmental Engineering and Pollution Control 13-15 March 2017, China; 3rdInternational Interdisciplinary Conference on LAND USE and WATER QUALITY: Effect of Agriculture on the Environment 29 May 2017 - 01 Jun 2017, Netherlands. Society of Conservation Biology, World Biodiversity Association Onlus, Biodiversity and Nature Conservation Association, Lao Biodiversity Association, FACE: The European Federation of Associations for Hunting & Conservation
Track 10: Environmental Pollution & Management
The Biodiversity Management Branchis responsible for the conservation and restoration of biodiversity within the City'sboundary. A fundamental aspect to the branchs work is to ensure that biodiversity and nature are mainstreamed into everyday life, which includes delivering tangible benefits to all communities. More specifically, this Biodiversity Management branch is responsible for conservation planning, biodiversity management and alien species eradication. In the field of conservation planning, the Citys approvedBiodiversity Strategyhas resulted in the identification of abiodiversity network of sites that need to be secured to conserve a representative sample of the Cape Towns unique biodiversity and, thus, promote sustainable development. Key functions of theBiodiversity Managementbranch include:
Nature reservemanagement
Biodiversity strategy co-ordination
Monitoringand evaluation
Protected area status
Invasive alien species co-ordination
We have seen a great response on Biodiversity Management atbiodiversity conference 2016
Related Conferences: Biodiversity Conferences | Ecological Conferences | Conservation Conferences | Ecosystem Conferences
World conference on Ecology and Ecosystems September 11-13, 2017, USA; International Conference on Biorefineries and Biobased Industries for Clean Energy September 18-20, 2017, Spain; 6th International Conference on Earth Science and Climate Change September 18-19, 2017, Hong Kong; Global Solar Energy Summit July 10-12, 2017, Spain; 2nd Annual Congress on Climate Change and Global Warming April 10-11, 2017, UAE; The 6thWorld Sustainability Forum 27-28 January 2017, South Africa; 19thInternational Conference on Biodiversity 23-24 February 2017, France; 19thInternational Conference on Ocean Biodiversity and Conservation 25-26 September 2017, United Kingdom; International Conference on Emerging Trends In Environmental Engineering and Pollution Control 13-15 March 2017, China; 3rdInternational Interdisciplinary Conference on LAND USE and WATER QUALITY: Effect of Agriculture on the Environment 29 May 2017 - 01 Jun 2017, Netherlands. AMAZON Conservation Association, Ecological Society of America, NatureServe, Society of Conservation Biology, World Biodiversity Association Onlus
Summary of Biodiversity Conference:
Biodiversity conference series is playing an important role to create awareness and providing a platform to share and discuss on, how different types of species evolved in our ecology and about its importance and how to be eco-friendly to eradicate the word extinction. World is looking at extinction of species, so we are organizing series of biodiversity conferences which mainly aims to invent a methods on extinction of endangered species. We are inviting the whole world to gather at a single platform and to raise-up their voice on our own Biodiversity
Scope and Importance of Biodiversity Research:
The study and research on biodiversity is unlimited. The scope of biodiversity includes, ecology, evolution, marine science, animal science, plant science, landscape, environmental science, geology, forestry, sustainable energy etc.. The scope of the meeting is to brought ecologists and population biologists to evaluate the consequences of human-driven disruption of natural system.
The importance of biodiversity research is to evaluate the different kinds of species among our biosphere and also helps to find new ways for the conversation of endangered species. Up to now we have several types of species in our ecology and the research which is going-on will give much more varieties of species and its evolution as well, so we came up with a theme Variety of Species Innovates Variety of Research
Why is it in Dubai, UAE:
Dubai has emerged as a global city and business hub of the Middle East, apart from that the UAE government has special concern on Biodiversity, as follows
Environment:
The UAE has a diverse environment comprising a wide range of plant and animal life; both on land and in the sea. Camels , horses , oryxes , gazelles and tahr are some of the common animals of the UAE. Whales, dolphins and turtles are amongst the common aquatic animals. Dugongs are under conservation. Kingfish, hamoor and tuna are amongst the common fishes. Falcon is the national bird. Pigeons, myna, gulls , flamingoes, hoopoes and Indian rollers are amongst the common birds found in the UAE. Houbara bustard is under conservation. Acacia and ghaf trees are common in the UAE and so are the date palms.
Sand:
The UAE does have marshy land and salt pans, but most of the territory is covered by sand. Sand is found in all emirates and in several colours. Read more about the colours of sand . Sandstorms are a common occurrence usually in February-March and June-August when strong winds blow.
Water:
As per Environment Agency Abu Dhabi , in 2012, only 18 per cent of all groundwater in the emirate was directly usable. 79 per cent was saline and could be used only after treatment. 3 per cent was fresh and largely protected.
Cloud Seeding:
The UAE is one of the first Arab countries to study and carry out cloud seeding to induce artificial rain.
Renewable Energy:
The UAE is also looking at generating renewable energy through alternate sustainable sources. Masdar , a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Government-owned Mubadala Development Company invests in producing renewable energy and building sustainable technology. Their domestic portfolio accounts for about 68% of the GCC's renewable capacity. Masdar's residential unit Masdar City which is modelled on techniques and technologies that reduce the need and use of energy, is the permanent headquarters of International Renewable Energy Agency .
Members Associated with Biodiversity Research:
Overall 12 university people are working on biodiversity along with many individual institutes, associations & societies and government bodies, in that most of them are professors, post-docs, PhD students along with individual scientists and also some of the museums are joining their hand in the field of biodiversity research.
Societies Associated with Biodiversity Research:
Societies belongs to UAE, are involving to raise the research value on Biodiversity and its Conservation are listed below
Universities Associated with Biodiversity Research
Dubai is surrounded with around 15 Universities, in which biodiversity research is programming abundantly. The list of universities listed below are the
Market Value on Biodiversity Research
Endangered species received a Dh6.4 million boost from the UAE government for Species Conservation Fund last year. The money will promote conservation training and monitoring among the scientists and university students UAE government is allowing budget on biodiversity research, which distributes to central government, state government, local government & business sector as well and the total expenditure is 1,640.82 UDS million in the year 2015 and the country trying to spend 0.7% of Gross National Income.
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Biodiversity Conferences | Earth and Environmental Science ...
by Mara Dolph
The forest ecosystem contains many smaller habitats.
A forest ecosystem is defined as an area dominated by trees and other woody plants. Forests aren't only trees, however. Healthy forests have a lot going on in them, and many different species of both animals and plants that call them home. There are many different types of forests in the world, ranging from tropical rain forests to the dense sub-polar taiga. To truly understand a forest ecosystem, it is easiest to break it down into the five layers that most healthy forests have. Animals that live in a forest move between the layers to feed and hunt.
The canopy section of a forest is the very top, and consists of the tallest, oldest trees, which can reach heights of 150 to 200 feet. This layer is the harshest of the five layers because it is exposed to everything that nature throws its way. It gets whipped by the wind, exposed to the sun without shade, receives the brunt of downpours, and is the most likely to be struck by lightning. Animal that live in this layer are those adapted to living tough, and include birds, tree frogs, snakes, lizards and hard-bodied insects.
The understory is the layer just below the canopy, and consists of those trees that are still growing but haven't reached full height. This environment is protected from the elements somewhat by the canopy layer, and is therefore less harsh. Trees in the understory are growing slower because they have less light, and tend to be a bit thinner in foliage. There is a greater variety of animals that live in this layer, including birds, butterflies and caterpillars, frogs and tree mammals like squirrels and raccoons, in the north, and monkeys, in the tropics.
The shrub layer is the next level down, and is dominated by woody plants that never grow very tall. Some of these are very young trees or trees that remain shorter, but most are shrubs, which are woody plants that have more than one stem. Shrubs can get as tall as 15 to 20 feet, but most top out at around 10, and many are shorter than that. Lichens can grow on tree bark between the shrub layer and the understory, and animal life also thrives. The shrub layer is home to many different kinds of insects and spiders, birds, snakes and lizards.
The herbaceous layer is the layer just above the forest floor, and consists of tree seedlings and non-woody plants. These include mosses and a variety of flowers. The forest floor consists of the leaf litter-- a thick bed of leaves dropped from the trees-- and the soil. These layers are the backbone of the forest. Without good soil, trees have nothing to root into, and in the north, the leaf litter acts as insulation for tree roots and soil-based animals. Hornets, butterflies, birds, worms, slugs, snails, centipedes, millipedes, spiders, snakes live at this level, as well as billions of microbes, all of which contribute to soil health.
Mara Dolph is a career outdoor educator and conservation biologist. She holds a BA in the Biological Aspects of Conservation from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a graduate certificate from the Center for Environmental Research and Conservation program at Columbia University. She has been a writer for six years, and has contributed articles for "Outdoors in NYC."
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ePosters are available for viewing! This is available only to conference registrants; to access the ePosters site you will need your registration confirmation numberand the email address you used for registration. (If you don't know your confirmation number, there's a link to help jog your memory.) Once you've entered this information, click on the ePosters tab on top of the page and then follow the link provided.
The 2016 Conference Online Program and Planner are now available! Search through over 500 abstracts and plan out the presentations you want to hear. This year, the online planner and mobile app sync so that you can preview on a larger screen and manage your activities on your smartphone or tablet.
Important Dates Registration is now open. Online registration closes January 22, 2016. Onsite registration will be available at the conference.
Registration Fees Registration: $500 Student registration: $150 One-day registration: $250
We accept payment by credit card, PayPal and check. Credit card payments are processed through PayPal but you do not need a PayPal account.
If you are paying by check, please make it out to "Gulf of Mexico Alliance" and mail to: Gulf of Mexico Alliance 1151 Robinson Street Ocean Springs, MS 39564
Refunds If a registration is cancelled on or before November 20, 2015, a full refund will be issued, minus a small processing fee based on payment type. After November 20, no refunds will be made.
The 2016 conference theme, One Gulf: healthy ecosystems, healthy communities, will focus on opportunities to promote and sustain a healthy Gulf environment, communities, and economy, including new discoveries, innovations, technologies, and policies. A strong emphasis this year will be placed on the human dimensions of oil spill in addition to the ecosystem science research that has led past conferences.
The scientific program of the 2016 conference will invite Sessions, talks and posters on the following objectives:
Understand the dynamic physical processes of the Gulf of Mexico and related environment.
Understand the chemistry of the Gulf of Mexico system and the evolution, degradation, and interactions of pollutants introduced in coastal, open-ocean, and deep-water ecosystems.
Understand the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem and its resilience, including the sea floor, water column, coastal waters, beach sediments, wetlands, marshes, and organisms.
Advance technology developments for improved research, observation, and operations in the Gulf.
Apply data management and informatics in the context of Gulf of Mexico ecosystem science and oil spill response, restoration and policy.
Understand the impacts of oil spills on public health, socio-economics, and ecosystem services.
Understand linkages between the health of people, animals, and Gulf and associated management and policy decision-making.
Understand the human dimensions of response, mitigation, and restoration following environmental emergencies.
Improve education, outreach, and other efforts to communicate with the public about the risks and long-term impacts of oil spill incidents, and the recovery, and restoration of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem.
Stay informed of conference updates by following us on Twitter (#gulfscienceconference #OneGulf) and liking us on Facebook.
Upcoming:
2017 Conference - New Orleans, LA Venue: Hyatt New Orleans February 6-9, 2017
2018 Conference - New Orleans, LA Venue: Hyatt New Orleans February 5-8, 2018
2019 Conference - New Orleans, LA Venue: Hyatt New Orleans February 4-7, 2019
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Find out the weeks top mobile stories from around the world.
This week.. EU hits Google with 2nd anti-trust charge, UK report cites rising digital privacy concerns, Ghana & mobile democracy, plus many more mobile news stories from across the ecosystem.
The European Union charged Google on Wednesday with using its dominant Android mobile operating system to squeeze out rivals, opening a second front against the U.S. technology giant that could result in large fines.
Is it time for a new look at one of the webs oldest and least successful ideas? Tim Green wonders if bitcoin can revive micropayments and save content from awful ads
Have you ever had an http error 402? Probably not. The clever people who build the web created 402 as code that might eventually be used for digital cash or micropayments. But it never went any further and as of today it is officially reserved for future use.
The fifth quarterly edition of MEFs Mobile Money eBulletin is now available for download. Packed with articles, news insights and analysis the free eBulletin examines the issues, trends and business models that are shaping the mobile money sector.
In this edition Carrier Billing is under the spotlight with insight on the market drivers that are helping to facilitate growth in new markets from Sukey Miller, VP of Marketing at MEF member, Bango.
Last week Facebook announced the launch of its bot platform for Messenger, opening up an API to allow developers to create bots so that people chat with organisations to get information, answer questions and transact.
This means that by combining AI and natural language processing, users will simply instruct messenger to transfer money to someone, order a cab or discuss movie showtimes just like they were talking to a friend.
The rest is here:
The Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Units (CESU) Network is a national consortium of federal agencies, tribes, academic institutions, state and local governments, nongovernmental conservation organizations, and other partners working together to support informed public trust resource stewardship. The CESU Network includes 377 partners, including 15 federal agencies, in seventeen CESUs representing biogeographic regions encompassing all 50 states and U.S. territories. The CESU Network is well positioned as a platform to support research, technical assistance, education and capacity building that is responsive to long-standing and contemporary science and resource management priorities.
The seventeen CESUs bring together scientists, resource managers, students, and other conservation professionals, drawing upon expertise from across the biological, physical, social, cultural, and engineering disciplines (from Anthropology to Zoology) to conduct collaborative and interdisciplinary applied projects that address natural and cultural heritage resource issues at multiple scales and in an ecosystem context. Each CESU is structured as a working collaborative with participation from numerous federal and nonfederal institutional partners. CESUs are based at host universities and focused on a particular biogeographic region of the country.
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Organizational Psychologist & Certified Professional Coach
Hetal Doshi holds a Masters in Organisational Psychology from Macquarie University (Sydney, Australia), Honours in Psychology (Second Upper Class of Honours) from Murdoch University (Perth, Australia) and a Bachelors of Arts majoring in Psychology from the National University of Singapore (Singapore). She is a HRDF Certified trainer and is currently completing her International Coaching Federation (ICF) accredited coaching certification. She also is a certified user of several profiling tools including MBTI, DISC, Management Potential Evaluation (MPE,), Facet 5, SHL and Genesys.
Hetal has been in the business of organizational psychology for several years with a focus on consulting, training, coaching, talent selection and development, psychometric testing, developing assessment centres, outplacement and crisis consulting. She has worked successfully with individuals of varying job levels within the Banking, Services, Government, Universities, Manufacturing, Oil & Gas, Telecommunications and Transportation industries. Her work has taken her to countries and cities including Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Mumbai, Perth, Singapore, Shanghai, Sydney and Thailand. Within Malaysia, she has carried out work in states not limited to Cyberjaya, KL, Penang, Kuching, Johor, Seremban and Terrenganu./p>
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Talent Ecosystem Conference 2015: Organization Development ...
The new MacBook is the future of Apple laptops. The Force Touch trackpad, Retina display, and 2 pound weight make up for the MacBook's weak keyboard and slower performance, but not everyone can live on...
Apples often been a company that pushes new technology into a world thats reluctant to receive it or doesnt know what to make of it. Its a company thats often designing for what it sees as the world of the future and not today. The first iMac dropped off legacy ports and embraced the then-unknown connection standard called USB. The MacBook Air ditched optical media. Even the current Mac Pro is a complete redefinition of what the standard features of a professional workstation should be.
This approach has its strengths and weaknesses. Apple has rightfully gained a reputation for being on the cutting edge. Its designs push the entire computer industry forwardsometimes kicking and screaming. But it can be painful to live on the cutting edge. New iMac buyers couldnt use any of their old Mac accessories without buying adapters, and it was months before USB accessories were widespread. MacBook Air owners had to grapple with their inability to insert a CD or DVD to install software.
Using a computer that feels like it fell through a time warp from the future is fun, but if that computer drops through the wormhole without any compatible accessories then theres going to be some aggravation, too.
The new MacBook is one of those Apple products. It feels like it came from the future, and didnt bring its ecosystem with it. With its single USB-C port for both charging and peripherals, its unlike any Mac previously made. Its the smallest, lightest Mac laptop ever, offers a Retina display, and yet it boasts all-day battery life. Using it alone will be a pleasure, but trying to plug it in to all your existing technology will be a pain.
Clearly Apples goal with the new MacBook was to reduce it in every conceivable dimension. Its width is defined by the width of the keyboard, bringing to mind the old 12-inch PowerBook, which was similarly constrained. That makes it seven-tenths of an inch narrower than even the 11-inch MacBook Air, and 1.7 inches narrower than the 13-inch Air. I deeply loved that old 12-inch PowerBook, and one of the reasons was that it was no wider than its keyboard. Ten years later, Apple has once again created a laptop whose keyboard goes right to the edge, and I love it.
The new MacBook is noticeably thinner and lighter than even the 11-inch MacBook Air.
The MacBook is 7.7 inches deep, making it deeper than the 11-inch MacBook Air, but not the 13-inch model. This added depth owes to the ratio of the MacBooks displayits a 16:10 aspect ratio like the 13-inch Air, rather than the 16:9 ratio found on the 11-inch model. Much more about that display in a little bit.
But of course, the dimension Apple has tended to be most obsessed with is thickness, or as its been called since the Titanium PowerBook G4 was 1 inch thin, thinness. And of course the MacBook delivers: Ive used an 11-inch MacBook Air for many years, and the MacBook seems impossibly thin.
At its thickest point, the MacBook is 0.52 inches thick. The 11-inch Air, in comparison, is 0.68 inches thick at that same point. I admit that 0.14 inches, or 4 millimeters, is not a whole lot of difference, but shaving one-fifth of the thickness off the MacBook Air is still a pretty impressive accomplishment.
USB-C is the only port you get, besides the headphone jack. This'll be no big deal someday, but today it's kind of a pain.
Then theres the weight, which is 2.03 pounds, down from 2.38 pounds on the 11-inch Air, and 2.96 pounds on the 13-inch Air. Again, this is a major reductionespecially for 13-inch Air usersand even as a user of the 11-inch Air, I noticed how light the MacBook was as I toted it around.
To make the MacBook this thin, Apples had to make some compromises. The device is positively iOS-like in its lack of portsits got a headphone jack and a single USB-C port rather than the Lightning port found on iPads and iPhones. This is about as minimal as a computer can get, at least until wireless charging becomes standard.
The MacBook also shows a familial resemblance to iOS devices in its color options: silver, space gray, and gold are now on the menu. The MacBook I tested is a base model of the space gray variety, and while the difference is subtle, its fun to use a Mac laptop that isnt silver for the first time in ages. It matches well with my space gray iPhone 6 and iPad mini. The Apple logo on the device is also no longer backlit by a cutout that allows the screen backlighting to shine through, but is instead mirrored like the Apple logo on an iPad.
The space gray matches my iPhone 6 and iPad Air 2, and so does the reflective Apple logo.
With the darker gray color, taller display, and the large square keys, the MacBook actually reminds me of Googles Chromebook Pixel (itself a gorgeous bit of hardware), only much smaller. Physically, this is a device that shows off all of Apples skill as a hardware developer and everything its learned from building iPhones and iPads. This is the iPad of laptops.
Like the 13-inch MacBook Pro that preceded it to market by a few weeks, the MacBook features Apples new Force Touch trackpad. I like it, though it took me a day or two to get used to the more subtle click feel. To say that this trackpads surface doesnt move isnt entirely accuratethe material flexes, subtly, but the clicking sensation you feel is generated by a haptic device thats shaking the surface slightly when sensors detect that youve applied an appropriate amount of pressure. The net effect is that it feels like a click, but its controlled by software.
This has several ramifications. First, Apples added a new click gesture called the Force clickwhich is what happens when you click and then push a little bit harder, until you feel a second click. Apples built in force-click actions to many of its apps, including the Finder (it opens a Quick Look window), and other developers can choose to support it too.
The Force Touch trackpad has software-controlled haptic feedback, which developers will be able to take advantage of too.
Developers also have the ability to access the haptics in the trackpad to provide another dimension of interface feedback. Apple can vibrate the trackpad to provide extra feedbackfor example, imagine an app letting you know that the object youre dragging has reached the center of the document by giving you a brief bump on the trackpad. It will be interesting to see experimentation with this new piece of hardware.
But the bottom line is, this is a trackpad, and it feels like oneplus its programmable.
One of the biggest compromises Apple made in designing the MacBook to be as thin and light as possible was to create a new, thinner keyboard. In order to make the keyboard thinner, Apple reduced the amount of key travelthe amount of distance that the keys move when you press them.
As someone who types for a living, and who types roughly 115 words per minute, this is a huge change. The reduced key travel is instantly noticeabletheres just much less physical feedback as you press each individual key. It feels like a cross between typing on a more traditional Mac keyboard and tapping on the hard glass screen of an iPad. (No travel at all there!)
Apple seems to have realized that the reduced travel has made this keyboard less appealing, and has attempted to offset the change with a bunch of other changes that improve the typing experience. Theres a new butterfly key mechanism atop stainless steel dome switches, which Apple says increases key stability, and the keys are all a bit wider than on a traditional keyboard, so theres more area to hit on each key.
The MacBook's keys have much shallower travel, and it's my biggest problem with this laptop. (Then again, I type an awful lot.)
These changes help, but they dont really offset the reduced travel. The MacBook keyboards better than I expected it to beI was able to score 118 words per minute on TypeRacer using itbut it never felt particularly comfortable. If youre not a keyboard snob, you may not even notice the difference, but if theres any single feature that would make me reluctant to buy a MacBook, it would be the keyboard.
Beyond the changes to the key movement itself, this keyboard offers a few other interesting features. Each key is individually LED backlit, which is supposed to reduce light leakage, but I found the lighting of the key labels not to be uniform. Edges of several key labels (the left side of the Esc key, the bottom of the delete and tab keys) were darker, as if they werent properly lit.
The Esc key has been elongated and the function keys narrowed, which didnt really bother me. However, the redesign of the arrow keys really shook methe up and down arrows are still half-height, but the left and right arrows are now full sized. It turns out that I used the gaps above the left and right arrow keys on prior keyboards to orient by feel, so I knew which arrow key was which. On the MacBooks keyboard, theres no longer a gapand I kept having to look down to make sure I was tapping the up arrow key.
The MacBook will probably go down in history for a single reason: Its got a single port for both charging and connecting to other devices, and that port is of the USB-C variety.
First, the single port thing. MagSafe, the magnetic charging technology that has adorned all Apple laptops since 2006, is gone. The MacBook comes with a USB-C charging brick and a USB-C-to-USB-C cable, and thats what you use to charge.
I miss MagSafe, but USB laptop charging was inevitable.
I have to say, Im going to miss MagSafe. I can pick up my MacBook Air and push off the power connector in one quick motion, but with the MacBook I have to grab the laptop with one hand and then pull the cord out with the other hand. Its the tiniest of inconveniences, to be sure, but its a regression nonetheless. And yes, if someone trips over the power cable, the MacBook will go flying.
The MagSafe connector included a small LED that lit up to indicate that it was attached and charging. Thats gone, but in a nice touch, when you insert the USB-C cable into the MacBook (or plug the already-inserted cable into the wall), the MacBook sounds an iOS-style chime to let you know its charging. Theres no visual indication, however.
Then theres the fact that this MacBook is the very first Mac to ship with a USB-C connector. In a few years, this connector type will be common, and well not-so-fondly remember the days of the original USB port shape. But right now this is a port type thats on the cutting edge, and the transition will be difficult. When I first started up the MacBook, I wanted to use Apples Migration Assistant utility to move files from my MacBook Air. I held down the T key at startup to put the MacBook into target-disk mode, and then I realized that I had no way to connect it to any other device I own. (I finally was able to connect the MacBook to my Ethernet network by attaching Apples $29 USB Ethernet adapter to Apples $19 USB-C to USB adapter, and attaching that monstrosity to the MacBook itself.)
It's annoying to have to buy cables and adapters to use this MacBook, but Apple's embrace of USB-C will lead to cheaper, more ubiquitous cables in the long run.
As I write this, Monoprice has announced a whole bunch of USB-C cables, including one that wouldve worked perfectly to attach the MacBook to another Mac for target mode. Belkin announced a similar clutch of products a few weeks back. The USB-C ecosystem is coming, and thats good, but out of the box today the MacBook is basically not compatible with anything you own. Youll need to buy a bunch of adapters and cables if you need to make it work with the rest of the world. If you ever need to hook into a projector or other video display, youll want to buy a USB-C video adapter and carry it with you, because for quite some time nobody else is going to have one for you to borrow.
And then gradually, over time, the MacBooks use of USB-C will cease to be an issue. USB-C itself is an exciting new technology. You dont have to worry about whether youre plugging it in upside-down or not, so itll save you time and frustration. Someone will make a great docking station to use with it. This will all become mainstream, eventually, but right now its not.
Apples argument with the MacBook, as it was back in 2008 with the first MacBook Air, is that everythings becoming wireless, so ports dont matter. Thats certainly more true now than it was seven years ago. The MacBook is a device built for people who are not plugging and unplugging external devices every day, and there are more of those people now than ever. But if youre not one of those people, this is not the laptop youre looking for.
Everyones talking about the size of the MacBook and its single USB port, but the marquee feature of the product is really its screen. This 12-inch retina display introduces high-resolution Mac display goodness to a small, light laptop for the first time ever. The displays physical resolution is 2304 by 1440 pixels, meaning that at standard 2x retina resolution, its the equivalent of a 1152x720 display.
I like the new MacBook's black bezel, as compared to the MacBook Air line (11-inch to the left, 13-inch on the right).
But heres the thing: At that resolution, the 12-inch display seems small. Like, really small. Nearly unusably small. So Apple has made the decision to ship the MacBook with its default resolution scaled to emulate a 1280 x 800 display, roughly the same screen area as youd find on an 11-inch MacBook Air. Fortunately, the scaled resolution looks really good. But after a little while, I decided I wanted my display scaled even more, so I switched it to the More Space setting, which emulates a 1440x900 display, the equivalent number of pixels as the 13-inch Air. This was the setting I used for the rest of my time with the MacBook.
The MacBooks display is covered edge-to-edge with glass, with a black bezel underneath. This is the style that the MacBook Pro line has had for some time, but itll be a change for MacBook Air users. The MacBook Airs display has a large silver bezel around the screen, but this look is much simpler and more attractive, and I didnt notice any real difference in glare versus the Airs display.
The MacBook is powered by Intels Core M processor, which is designed to be power efficient and cool. (The MacBook has no fanits completely silent, even when stressed out.) Its not designed to be fast, and by the standards of all of Apples other current laptops, its not. Its not fast by the standards of last years models. Or those of the year before. I pulled out every laptop in my house dating back four years and the base model MacBook is slower than all of themthough to be fair, my four-year-old MacBook Air is the top-of-the-line model. Still, its not a stretch to say that the MacBook is bringing 2010 performance to 2015.
Does it matter? If youre a power user who likes to read super-long reviews of Apple laptops, it might. I honestly gave some thought to not even including test scores in this review, because if youre the kind of person who seeks the longest bar, the MacBook just wont please you.
See?
But the Intel processors in Mac laptops have been so powerful for so long that Im not sure it matters for most users. I fancy myself a bit of a power user, what with my Photoshop and my Logic Pro, and you know what? I was able to edit a multi-track Logic project on the MacBook just fine. Yes, bouncing the final project to disk took longer than it does on my 5K iMac or even my 2014 MacBook Air, but it still exported.
Similarly, although the MacBook is limited to 8GB of RAM, this seemed sufficient for all of my tasks. If youre someone who cant use a laptop if it doesnt have more than 8GB of RAM, there are better options in Apples laptop linespecifically, the MacBook Pro.
I never found using the MacBook sluggish. Then again, I didnt try to play games on it. But again, if youre trying to play games on the MacBook, you may be missing the point. The integrated Intel HD Graphics 5300 processor is more than enough to drive the Retina display with no lag, and I found Apples various interface animations ran smoothly.
Like a great many computer features that used to be essential, speed appears to have become a high-end luxury. In 2010, if you handed me a new laptop that was as fast as the average Mac laptop from 2005, it would probably have felt sluggish and unusable. But honestly, I wouldnt have any qualms using this MacBook as a travel machine, just as Ive chosen to use the 11-inch MacBook Air rather than a MacBook Pro. Opting for a tiny, thin laptop doesnt mean you cant get your work done. Its a lesson the 11-inch Air taught me, and the MacBook fits that tale well.
By using the Intel Core M and packing in a whole lot of battery, Apple claims that the MacBook boasts all day battery life. Of course, these things are relativeediting a Logic Pro project will suck the battery out of even the hardiest laptop. But in general, I was extremely impressed with the battery life of the MacBook.
During my testing I tried to spend as long as possible between charges, and was continually surprised at how little the MacBook was draining its battery. I spent most of a workday with the MacBook in my living room and at a nearby Starbucks and didnt get close to running out of battery.
Now you can pick your seat without having to scope out its proximity to an available power outlet.
It will take a long time to break old-school laptop users out of the habit of constantly seeking a power plug in order to avoid range anxiety, but if theres a laptop that can do it, its probably the MacBook.
The MacBook is a gorgeous piece of hardware. The Retina display is excellent, and Im really loving the Force Touch trackpad. The keyboard is more of a hit-or-miss affair; if youre someone who is particular about your keyboards and spends a whole lot of time typing, it may be a deal-breaker.
This is a laptop that will serve its audience well. That audience is one that prioritizes size, weight, and stylishness over compatibility and ports and computing power. Id say that this isnt a laptop for power users, but I dont think thats truethere are whole classes of power users who dont actually need more power than the MacBook can provide.
But if your workflow includes lots of USB flash drives and external hard drives, if youve invested in Thunderbolt hard drives or displays, or if your work really does require 16GB of RAM and the very fastest processors around, the MacBook wont be a good fit. Fortunately, Apples isnt ceasing production of the MacBook Proand it offers all of that and more.
As a longtime user of the MacBook Air line, I look at the MacBook with a mix of excitement and trepidation. This is the future of Apples thin and light laptop line, as well as a warning that were about to enter a transition period for devices as Apple begins to embrace USB-C. And ultimately thats the trade-off here: To get the cutting edge technology, youve got to deal with the incompatibilities and limitations that go with it.
People who are willing to deal with the pains in order to get their hands on a product like this, you know who you are. Its waiting for you. The rest of the world will catch up, in time.
Jason is the former editorial director of Macworld, and has reviewed every major Apple product of the last few years, including the original iPhone and iPad as well as every major version of Mac OS X. Check out Sixcolors.com for his latest Apple coverage. More by Jason Snell
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Our System - A full year of treatments involving specialized applications!. For maximum effectiveness we recommend five lawn treatment applications per year. more...
Why do it yourself whenwe can do it for you? From week to week we will be on your property keeping your lawn cut, trimmed and looking its best all season long. You can spend your time relaxing. more...
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We offer a full range of lawn care services. After working with Eco-Lawn System you will realize that our attentive customer service and our quality workmanship make Eco-Lawn System an excellent candidate for developing a business relationship with you and your family.
Our approach... to lawn care is one that is committed to an environmentally-friendly approach. I use the most natural solution available that I believe will not sacrifice the quality of your lawn. After years of experience and research, I have come to the conclusion that there are no 100% organic solutions that will provide adequate results. This is why I use a "Hybrid" approach. I use a mix of organic and slow release traditional fertilizers, that provide a steady release of nutrients into your soil from one application to the next. This eliminates having your lawn look great for two Weeks, and then dull until your next application.
Welcome to Eco-Lawn System, professional lawn care service experts focused exclusively on lawn care maintenance, fertilization and weed control management in Frederick and Montgomery Counties.
At ELS we begin with professional lawn mowing that is unique to each client's desire and need.
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KOMMOL 100% Search, 100% SaaS, 100% Venture Backed About
We specialise in search.
Our vision is to build the best B2B Cloud teams in Europe enabling our portfolio of founders, CEOs and Venture Partners to rapidly exploit their time and opportunities. We do this by dedicating all of our resources into a very unique niche of venture backed start ups in B2B Cloud, from Seed to Series B. Imagine a Search firm whose only purpose in life is to enable your business to attract, hire and retain the best talent you, your budgets and strategies can command with the sole purpose of accelerating your growth and investment potential Round to Round. Thats Kommol we love the challenge of getting amazing people to invest their careers in early stage B2B Cloud companies. Just ask our eco-system.
It is our dedicated focus into this unique niche which has allowed us to build the most comprehensive network of B2B Cloud candidates, why we are extensively used by the leading venture firms in Seed to B Round investing and why the CEOs and Founders we work with grow so much value Round to Round its a people driven economy and we know how to find and hire these very unique people. No distractions outside the space or with companies too big.
So, if you are a B2B Cloud founder, CEO or Venture Partner and you want a team dedicated to your success then come and meet us, meet our eco-system at one of our events or just check us out.
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DesertAnimals.net, a website in The Animal Spot, is a reference to some of the animals that can be found in the desert. A desert is defined as a region that receives very little rainfall. It can be hot or cold. There are various types of deserts all around the world, from the harsh elements of the Sahara desert in Africa to the 4 deserts of the Southwestern United States. Areas in Antarctica are examples of cold deserts.
The animals that live in the desert usually have special adaptations that allow them to survive the extreme temperatures and conditions that are present in a desert. A good example of an animal with special adaptations is the camel. A camel can drink very large amounts of water in one day or survive for a relatively long time without drinking any water.
Some animals of the desert are also endangered, including the Lappet-Faced Vulture, which is categorized as vulnerable. The World Conservation Union, or IUCN, has a website which details the endangered status of many animals at http://www.iucnredlist.org.
In this website there is also a section for savanna animals. The savanna is a unique ecosystem that receives more rain than a desert but receives it in large amounts and then is dry for long periods of time.
At The Animal Spot we are always adding new animals and information so please stop by and see what's new. We also hope that you will check out our other websites,
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Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics
Description: The Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution, and Systematics, in publication since 1970, covers significant developments in the fields of Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Systematics, as they apply to all life on Earth. Reviews cover topics ranging from phylogeny, speciation, and molecular evolution through behavior and evolutionary physiology to population dynamics, ecosystems processes, and applications in invasion biology, conservation, and environmental management. This journal's primary audience are ecologists, environmental scientists, systematists, and evolutionary biologists.
Coverage: 2003-2009 (Vol. 34 - Vol. 40)
The "moving wall" represents the time period between the last issue available in JSTOR and the most recently published issue of a journal. Moving walls are generally represented in years. In rare instances, a publisher has elected to have a "zero" moving wall, so their current issues are available in JSTOR shortly after publication. Note: In calculating the moving wall, the current year is not counted. For example, if the current year is 2008 and a journal has a 5 year moving wall, articles from the year 2002 are available.
ISSN: 1543592X
EISSN: 15452069
Subjects: Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, Science & Mathematics, Biological Sciences
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Starting in the early 1990s, James F. Moore originated the strategic planning concept of a business ecosystem, now widely adopted in the high tech community. The basic definition comes from Moore's book, The Death of Competition: Leadership and Strategy in the Age of Business Ecosystems.[1]
The concept first appeared in Moore's May/June 1993 Harvard Business Review article, titled "Predators and Prey: A New Ecology of Competition", and won the McKinsey Award for article of the year.[2]
Moore defined "business ecosystem" as:
An economic community supported by a foundation of interacting organizations and individualsthe organisms of the business world. The economic community produces goods and services of value to customers, who are themselves members of the ecosystem. The member organisms also include suppliers, lead producers, competitors, and other stakeholders. Over time, they coevolve their capabilities and roles, and tend to align themselves with the directions set by one or more central companies. Those companies holding leadership roles may change over time, but the function of ecosystem leader is valued by the community because it enables members to move toward shared visions to align their investments, and to find mutually supportive roles.[3]
Moore used several ecological metaphors, suggesting that the firm is embedded in a (business) environment, that it needs to coevolve with other companies, and that the particular niche a business occupies is challenged by newly arriving species.[4] This meant that companies need to become proactive in developing mutually beneficial ("symbiotic") relationships with customers, suppliers, and even competitors.
Using ecological metaphors to describe business structure and operations is increasingly common especially within the field of information technology (IT). For example, J. Bradford DeLong, a professor of economics at the University of California, Berkeley, has written that "business ecosystems" describe the pattern of launching new technologies that has emerged from Silicon Valley.[5][6] He defines business ecology as a more productive set of processes for developing and commercializing new technologies that is characterized by the rapid prototyping, short product-development cycles, early test marketing, options-based compensation, venture funding, early corporate independence.[7] DeLong also has expressed that the new way is likely to endure because it's a better business ecology than the legendarily lugubrious model refined at Xerox Parca more productive set of processes for rapidly developing and commercializing new technologies.[8]
Mangrove Software,[9] The Montague Institute,[10] Kenneth L. Kraemer, director of the University of California, Irvines Center for Research on Information Technology and Organizations[11] and Stephen Abram, Vice President of Micromedia, Ltd.,[12] Tom Gruber, co-founder and CTO of Intraspect Software,[13] Vinod K. Dar, Managing Director of Dar & Company,[14] have all advocated this approach.
Gruber explains that over a century ago, Ford Motors did well using methods of mass production, an assembly line, and insourcing. However, Ford began to outsource its production [w]hen the ecology evolved. Gruber (n.d.) has stated that such evolution in the ecology of the business world is punctuated now and then by radical changes in the environment and that globalization and the Internet are the equivalents of large-scale climate change. Globalization is eliminating the traditional advantages of the large corporation: access to capital, access to markets, and economies of scale.[13]
The application service provider (ASP) industry is moving toward relationship networks and focusing on core competencies. According to the gospel of Cisco Systems, companies inclined to exist together within an ecosystem facilitate the imminence of Internet-based application delivery.[15]
Books also use natural systems metaphors without discussing the interfaces between human business and biological ecosystems.[16]
Another work defines business ecology as a new field for sustainable organizational management and design, one that is based on the principle that organizations, as living organisms, are most successful when their development and behavior are aligned with their core purpose and values what we call social DNA.[17]
The need for companies to attend to ecological health is indicated by the following: Business ecology is based on the elegant structure and principles of natural systems. It recognizes that to develop healthy business ecosystems, leaders and their organizations must see themselves, and their environments, through an ecological lens.[18]
Some environmentalists have used "business ecosystems" as a way to talk about environmental issues as they relate to business rather than as a metaphor to describe the increasing complexity of relationships among companies. According to Townsend, business ecology is the study of the reciprocal relationship between business and organisms and their environments. The goal of this "business ecology" is sustainability through the complete ecological synchronization and integration of a business with the sites that it inhabits, uses, and affects.[19]
Other environmentalists believe that the ecosystem metaphor is just a way for business to appear 'Green'. For example, in the book 'The Unity of Nature', published in 2002 by Imperial College Press, Alan Marshall shows that the metaphor is used to make out that somehow business operates using natural principles which should be left to run without interference (by governments).
The Cooperative Bank, established in the United Kingdom in 1872, launched its National Centre for Business Ecology in 1995. This Centre promotes itself as a low cost, high quality environmental advisory service to small and medium-sized UK businesses.[20] The bank reports that in keeping with its Ecological Mission Statement, it will not invest in businesses that focus on fossil fuel extraction, the manufacture of harmful chemicals, or the non-sustainable use of natural resources.[20] Yet, exactly what business ecology means to the bank and how it differs from current approaches to greening business are unclear.
Kinetix advertises that it provides sustainable business solutions to companies by working with them on strategy, design, and project management. Located beneath its name on the companys web site are the words business ecology, which the company defines as the effective use of material, social and financial resources the key to sustainability.[21] The company cites pollution, climate change, the need for corporate transparency, and the 2001 economic downturn as creating a market opportunity that is being met by firms involved in renewable energy, working toward creating zero waste, attending to product life cycles, and using the triple bottom line in their accounting practices. In its online brochure, the company has explained that it offers resource audits, workshops for organizational change, environmental management systems, and other services .[21]
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Plants and animals depend upon one another in this African savannah ecosystem. Nuria Camacho / EyeEm; Getty Images
By Jenn Savedge
You have probably heard a lot about ecosystems and how important they are to the health of our planet. But what exactly is an ecosystem anyhow?
An ecosystem - or ecological system - is the interaction between living organisms in an environment, including plants, animals, fish, birds, microorganisms, water, and people, and their relationship with non-living components of the environment - such as soil, air, climate, and weather.
In other words - an ecosystem is the complex way that living things interact with and depend upon one another and their environment.
Each component of an ecosystem has a vital role to play to ensure that all components stay healthy. If a seemingly unimportant bug species starts to decline in population, that means that there will be less food for the spiders and birds in that environment. That in turn translates in less food for the animals that eat those spiders and bugs. And that means that fewer animals will be returning nutrients to the soil via their waste and decay. So the plants will begin to die as will any animals that feed on these plants.
It's a complex, complicated cycle in which balance is maintained only when all of the components are thriving in healthy populations. Too much of one organism will lead to a decline in another. Ecologists refer to healthy ecosystems as sustainable, meaning that they will remain in balance unless disturbed.
Natural incidents such as floods, fires, earthquakes, hurricanes, storms, and even volcanic eruptions can significantly damage the health of an ecosystem.
As can human-caused factors such as climate change,pollution, habitat destruction, overharvesting, and the introduction of invasive species.
Ecosystems vary in size to the complex interactions between microorganisms and a decaying leaf in the forest to the African Serengeti in which hundreds of plants and animals exist with and rely upon one another to survive. And ecosystem can be as small as a puddle or as large as the Atlantic Ocean.
Ecologists define very small ecosystems as 'micro' ecosystems. This could be the size of a puddle, a rock, or a leaf in the forest. These microsystems might seem too small to be significant.
But a single puddle could contain hundreds of microorganisms that depend upon one another to thrive. That's an ecosystem!
Larger ecosystem units are sometimes referred to as biomes. Classic examples of biomes include forests, wetlands, oceans, rivers, savannah, deserts, tundra, and grasslands.
Basically, if an ecosystem is primarily in a water body such as an ocean or lake, it is considered an aquatic ecosystem. If it is on land, it is called a terrestrial ecosystem.
Here is a quick breakdown of ecosystem classification:
Aquatic Ecosystems
Terrestrial Ecosystems
You may have heard this term before and wondered what it meant. An ecotone is the transition zone between two ecosystems. Ecosystems don't just stop and start abruptly. Even in a puddle ecosystem, there may be an area surrounding the puddle in which the ground holds more moisture than it does in the surrounding area. This moist ground may be home to different microorganisms than those that live further away. This area is not quite a puddle, and not quite the surrounding forest. It is a blend between the two ecosystems. It is an ecotone.
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Cogongrass Road Crew Training Resources
Cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica) is one of the worst invasive plants we have in the South. This link contains information and resources for Extension agents to conduct a short informational training program for their county road crews. More info...
This guide is intended to aid foresters and managers in the southeastern United States in developing management plans and managing forests threatened by invasive plants. This guide integrates identification of invasive plants, potential mechanisms for spread (natural seed or vegetative production, or human induced spread by cultural practices) and a suite of silvicultural management/control practices. More info...
TNC's Global Invasive Species Team (GIST) was disbanded in March 2009. The GIST web site including the Element Stewardship Abstracts, images and INVASIPEDIA were in danger of becoming lost. Invasive.org in collaboration with the Global Invasive Species Team, is pleased to announce that the GIST web site has been archived. More info...
The Southern Region Task Force for assessing nonnative invasive species (NNIS) was assembled in August 2006 to prioritize NNIS posing the highest threats to forests and grassland ecosystems in the South. The Task Force collaboratively compiled a list of the most potentially damaging invasive species from multiple existing databases and through surveys of Forest Service regional staff. More info...
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