#ultimate Angler my beloved
Text
Oh right I forgot to redownload my Streetpass games when I changed my 3DS’ microSD card. Redid that and man I miss some of these games
0 notes
Text
Natter #5 05/15/2019
Subject: Natter #5 May 2019
Nearly dinner time so I'll need to be swift, although I won't finish until a bit later - there's the Bellevue Library meeting tonight to go through the clinic boxes. Maybe I saw you there?
I am beginning to feel like that Mum on the TV ad who phones her son as he is being harassed by Nasties, when she say's "The Squirrels are back. Your father says it's personal this time."
The verdampften deer are back and believe me this is personal!
Mind, they didn't do too much damage - this time, and they did leave a calling card or rather two calling cards, but I haven't been able to find where they got in, so my Hostas are in danger again. Never got any blooms last year as they wiped off the lot, just before they opened.
Today, Saturday the 18th, was Propagation lecture day at the BDG with Alison. All very well received especially the practicum at the finish. We have scheduled another for the end of July at The Grange. There will be basic instruction with the emphasis on practical hands-on work, which always seems to go over well and of course it does emphasise the spoken word. More information a little later.
Sunday was the Plant Amnesty & MG Interns snow day make-up class. Some good information there, but the bit that interested me the most was a photo that Janet showed me. She seems to have come up with a successful design for a Deer Fence. It consists of 6-7ft steel fence posts on 6ft centers, strung with horizontal 30lb monofilament Nylon fishing line spaced 12" apart. This is almost invisible and for sure the deer seem not to see it. They brush against it and stop, then back off. Try again and stop. It's as if they can't understand what is going on. They can't jump it because they can't see what is in the way. This fence has been installed for a few weeks now and so far they haven't twigged what is going on and Janet's garden stays deer free.
If only I could discover where they are getting into my garden I would install one too.
Now that Janet has shown the way, I expect somebody to come up with something similar for rabbit protection! She has incidentally, arranged a section that can be moved to allow access to her veggie garden.
At last we have something to suggest to clients at the Farmers Market. other than to place the deer between a couple of hamburger buns - although that is still an option!
Unfortunately, some weeks later, the deer returned with it’s offspring. The offspring, being much smaller, just walked under the lowest nylon line and went to town, with Mum looking on with an approving expression of her face. Needs a slight tweek to design.
You will undoubtedly have realised by now that tempus has fugited some since I started writing this.
I did experience an unfortunate event this morning when eating my Shredded Wheat breakfast. A strand of the shreds tickled my throat a little, making me cough, which turned unfortunately into a sneeze which happened to coincide with a mouthful of said Shredded Wheat. As the sneeze built up I realised that I was on the verge of a disaster and attempted to stifle the sneeze, which I understand can be injurious - but what are you going to do? The sneeze built up to the point where it was obvious that I could do little to stop it, but at least I didn't redecorate the kitchen. Instead, the Shredded Wheat took the path of least resistance and came down my nose! I don't think I can remember doing that since I was a kid. Happy days!
Just read a rather alarming article in the NYT about earthworms (some earthworms that is).
Cindy Shaw, a carbon-research scientist with the Canadian Forest Service, studies the boreal forest - the most northerly forest, which circles the the top of the globe like a ring of hair around a balding head.
A few years ago. while conducting a study in northern Alberta to see how the forest floor was recovering after oil and gas activity, she saw something new - earthworms.
I was amazed, she said,. At the very first plot, there was a lot of evidence of earthworm activity.
Native earthworms disappeared from most of northern America 10,000 years ago - I remember distinctly, during the last Ice Age Now invasive earthworm species from southern Europe - survivors from that frozen epoch, and introduced to this continent by European settlers centuries ago - are making their way through northern forests, their spread hastened by roads,timber and petroleum activities, tire treads, boats, anglers and even gardeners.
As the worms feed, they release into the atmosphere much of the carbon stored in the forest floor. Climate scientists are worried.
Earthworms are yet another factor that can affect the carbon balance. The fear is that the growing incursion of earthworms - not just in North America, but also in northern Europe and Russia - could convert the boreal forest, now a powerful global carbon sponge, into a carbon spout.
Moreover, the threat is still so new to boreal forests that scientists don't yet know how to calculate what the earthworms carbon effect will be or when it will appear.
It is a significant change to the carbon dynamic and how it is understood to work. The rate or the magnitude of that change is not truly understood.
The relationship between carbon and the earthworm is complex. They are beloved by gardeners because they break down organic material in soil, freeing up nutrients. This helps plants and trees grow faster, which locks carbon into living tissue. Some types of invasive earthworms also burrow into mineral soil and seal carbon there.
But as they speed decomposition, they also release Carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. As they occupy more areas of the world, will they ultimately add more carbon to the atmosphere or will they subtract it?
That question led to what Ingrid M. Lubbers, a soil researcher at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, christened "the earthworm dilemma" in a paper published in 2013 in Nature Climate Change. Scientists have been keen to resolve it ever since. It is just another reason why more knowledge of systems is needed because there could be an effect that would enhance climate change and enhance the rising temps.
The boreal is special. In warmer climates the floor of a typical forest is a mix of mineral soil and organic soil. In a boreal forest those components are distinct with a thick layer of rotting leaves, mosses and fallen wood on top of the mineral soil.
Soil scientists once thought that cooler temperatures reduced mixing, now they wonder if the absence of earthworms is what made the difference.
The spongy layer of leaf litter contains most of the carbon stored in the boreal soil. As it turns out, most of the invading earthworms in the North American boreal forest appear to be the type that love to devour leaf litter and stay above ground, releasing carbon.
It was found that 99.8% of earthworms studied in Alberta belonged to Dendrobia octaendra, an invasive species that eats leaf litter but doesn't burrow into the ground.
In 2015, a computer model, aimed at figuring the effect of leaf litter over time, was published.
It was found that forest floor carbon is reduced by between 50% and 94%, mostly in the first 40 years. That carbon, no longer sequestered, goes into the atmosphere. Not only that, in a 2009 study it was calculated that earthworms had already wriggled their way into 9% of the forest of northeastern Alberta and would occupy half by 2049.
The Canadian Forest Service found that 35% to 40% of the plots studied in northern Alberta contained earthworms. The leaf litter, which can be more than a foot thick, was thin and churned up where the earthworms were present. If their calculations bear out, it means that the lowly earthworm stands to alter the carbon balance of the planet by adding to the load in the atmosphere.
The global boreal forest is a muscular part of Earth's carbon cycle, at least one fifth of the carbon that cycles through air, soil and oceans passes through the boreal. Currently, the boreal absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it adds, but that is changing.
On the one hand warmer temps could extend the growing season, allowing trees to grow bigger and store more carbon. But rising temps. also release carbon to the atmosphere, by thawing permafrost and increasing the number of forest fires.
It seems that earthworms are a factor - if not the main one - nudging the boreal towards becoming a global source of carbon.
In northern Minnesota, the boreal forest has slowly been invaded by earthworms. They have altered not just the depth of the leaf litter, but also the types of plant life the forest supports.
Endemic species such as the white and pink Ladies Slipper Orchid, Minnesota's State flower - as well as ferns, orchids and the saplings of coniferous trees rely on the spongy litter. As the worms feed on that layer, they allow non-natives, plants such as European Buckthorn and grasses to thrive, which in turn push out endemic plants. There is a very real danger here of Minnesota's boreal forest being transformed into prairie.
These earthworms have even been found right up at the edge of the permafrost in the northern boreal, with the bigger concern that they will penetrate even further north into the permafrost with the subsequent release of masses of carbon which would be devastating. There is no way existing to eradicate the worms from the boreal forest, their impact is permanent. Hopefully educating people not to transport them up north might slow things down, but right now scientists are keeping an eye on a new invader - Asian earthworms, which have made their way to southern Quebec and Ontario.
Sorry for the lengthy report, but I thought it was fascinating and somewhat scary.
Your fearless leader,
Gordon
0 notes
Text
Dead rainbow trout floated on the South Platte. Could fish detectives crack the case?
#twoweeks🛣 🌅 👨💼 🏙 🇰🇷 💆♂️ 🐬 ✈️
get headlines https://thecherrycreeknews.com
Two weeks ago, Rick Mikesell started his morning the way he often does before heading in to his job as operations manager at Trouts Fly Fishing in Denver — he wet a line in the urban stretch of the South Platte River near the Interstate 25 overpass.
An isolated downpour the day before had bumped up the river’s flow, and perhaps cooled it off a bit amid a stretch of blistering heat, and just as he suspected, his beloved carp were in fine form. Then he noticed a couple of dead rainbow trout floating nearby.
He didn’t think much of it — rainbows are cold-water fish, and though some have been stocked by private interests and have adapted to this relatively warm stretch of the South Platte, it’s not uncommon to find one that has succumbed to high temperatures. But then he saw another. And another. And another.
When the count reached a half-dozen, he grew concerned.
“The thing that didn’t make sense was that the carp were healthy and happy,” Mikesell said. “So were the smallmouth bass, and I saw one adult (rainbow) at the Mile High bridge. If there was a chemical spill, all species would be hurting.”
But why all the dead rainbows? The circumstances were troubling enough that he pulled out his cell phone, took photos of the deceased — all mature fish ranging from 18 to 22 inches — and sent them off to John Davenport, the conservation chair for Denver Trout Unlimited. That set in motion a prompt investigation to try to determine the cause of death.
Ultimately, data from water temperature sensors would be collected, flows would be analyzed, oxygen levels would be tracked and theories would be formulated. Deductive reasoning eliminated some possible culprits. And while the aquatic detective work didn’t exactly culminate in a Hercule Poirot moment, it compiled enough evidence to finger a most likely suspect.
“Naively, I thought when I got a sample for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, I assumed in my mind that they’d take the fish and put it into a mass spectrometer,” Davenport said, “then read out all the components in there, and get right to the reason the fish died. But it doesn’t work that way.
“There’s no CSI for fish.”
But this came close, at least in citizen-science terms. And the exercise confirmed how effectively anglers can serve as an early warning system for river health. Ultimately, Davenport described this incident as a “minor fish kill” — ultimately about 15 were discovered along this segment of the river, among thousands that can populate any given mile.
But in 2011, fly fisherman Trevor Tanner sounded the alarm on what turned out to be a dangerous chemical spill seeping from the Suncor oil refinery. But his first clue that something was amiss came when he noticed dozens of carp clustered in the water beneath a footbridge near the confluence of Sand Creek and the South Platte in Commerce City.
As he waded through the river seeking a spot to cast, he noticed the oily sheen on the water and smelled the foul odor. The problem appeared to be pouring into the river from Sand Creek and he found himself standing in the middle of it.
Although workers in the area had noticed the smell for days, it wasn’t until Tanner made his discovery that authorities were alerted. The spill was found to contain benzene, a known carcinogen, and though it didn’t cause a fish kill, it created an environmental hazard that took months to address.
We all use the river every day. If something really crummy like that happens, a chemical spill or some major toxic event, if we don’t take care of it quick, we’re going to lose a huge resource.
Rick Mikesell, angler
The difficulty Tanner encountered finding the right reporting channels led to Denver Trout Unlimited and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency creating a process. “Reporting cards” were printed and distributed to fishing enthusiasts with an 800 number and instructions to call if they spotted anything that might indicate a waterway could be in distress.
“Something like that is not only a concern to the fish population but to human health,” said Paul Winkle, aquatic biologist for CPW, of the Suncor incident. “Anglers should keep their eyes open. We can’t be everywhere all the time to see what’s going on.”
So when Mikesell saw the floaters in the river, he wasted no time triggering the process.
“We all use the river every day,” Mikesell said. “If something really crummy like that happens, a chemical spill or some major toxic event, if we don’t take care of it quick, we’re going to lose a huge resource.”
Starting with Mikesell’s email that morning, Davenport logged everything. He notified the National Response Center for potentially toxic spills at 11:01 a.m. that day, reporting Mikesell’s find of the dead fish. That triggered more than a dozen notifications, ranging from the Colorado attorney general’s office to city and state health departments.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife called him back, as did the EPA and Colorado Water Conservation Board.
This “reporting card” was created after the 2011 incident in which seepage from the Suncor oil refinery found its way into Sand Creek and the South Platte River. The problem was first reported by a man fishing for carp near the intersection of those waterways. (Provided by John Davenport)
“Had there been an obvious cause like an oil sheen or a chemical odor the response teams would have been dispatched, but in this case that could not happen because the cause was and actually still is unknown,” Davenport said. “When I reported it, we could not tell whether it was a minor incident or a major incident that was unfolding and would warrant immediate action. Luckily, it turned out to be minor, but it was a good response and the agencies were ready.”
Davenport emailed the Denver Department of Health and Environment and alerted Ashley Rust, a research associate in civil and environmental engineering at the Colorado School of Mines who also advises Revesco, developer of The River Mile, on trout habitat. Then he headed down to the river.
As he scouted the South Platte for more dead rainbows, Davenport heard a shout from across the water. It was Rust, who also had come on the scene to investigate. They joined forces and came upon more rainbows, including one that looked strikingly familiar.
In a catch-and-release fishing culture, some fish make multiple appearances at the end of an angler’s line. A rainbow Davenport had named Alice Meow Wolf — Alice “just because” and Meow Wolf to denote that she lived in the waters near the under-construction art company installation — fell victim to the kill. He has referred to her as his “favorite trout.”
He noted the discovery at 1:06 p.m.
Since the arrival of in-phone cameras and social media, images of the day’s catch often find their way to the public before they’re even released back into waterways. Regular anglers soon come to recognize certain fish by some combination of size, location, markings (in the case of rainbows, Davenport notes, the spot patterns are unique as fingerprints) and even wear and tear from repeatedly being caught.
Mikesell has gotten to know a giant carp dubbed Big Bertha who inhabits the waters in Globeville. A couple years ago, he landed her and held the 32-pound behemoth, but he hadn’t hooked the fish in the mouth, so by angling ethics the catch didn’t count. Still, she was the largest fish he ever touched. He knows her not only by size, but by one eye with a characteristic bulge.
Davenport landed a carp that ranks as his largest freshwater catch and named him John. They met again on two other occasions. A friend who also fishes the Denver stretch of the South Platte once caught the same fish four times within a month. He could tell it was the same one because a lip injury he noticed the first time gradually healed from catch to catch.
He also knows four anglers who caught the same carp, which they named Dorothy.
So seeing Alice Meow Wolf belly-up in the water reminded Davenport of the respect he and others felt for the trout.
“Fishing is a fair game,” he said. “We try to fool them, they try not to be fooled. We debarb hooks so the fish will heal quickly, and we try to make sure they live to fight another day.”
Just off the east bank of the South Platte River in Denver in July of 2018, John Davenport of Denver Trout Unlimited retrieves one of his previously placed sensors that has gathered temperature and oxygen readings. (Kathryn Scott, Special to The Colorado Sun)
So it was not so unusual for Davenport to recognize an old adversary. Catch-and-release is one of the reasons Colorado retains high fish counts per mile of waterway.
“We look at it as ‘catch and restock,’” Davenport said of the ethic that can be controversial among anglers. “Some other states are dependent on hatcheries to stock fish, so that’s a lot of recreation that disappears. In Colorado, most fly fishing anglers catch many more fish when they release them than if they were to keep them.”
Statewide, anglers have flocked to Colorado’s fisheries, possibly fueled by the coronavirus shutdown that pushed many Coloradans to seek recreation outdoors. With most of three months left in 2020, the number of fishing licenses distributed already has exceeded all of last year’s total — by more than 165,000, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
Davenport and Rust continued their investigation. He noted that the heavy showers of the day before could have washed anything from air pollution — smoke from wildfires wafted over the city — to metals like zinc and copper shed by vehicles onto pavement into the South Platte.
She gathered water samples. They checked temperature gauges positioned at various known fish habitats. Rust also checked for levels of dissolved oxygen, which various species require in different amounts.
Davenport initially wondered if the evening rain the day before had heated from the hot asphalt parking lots at Mile High Stadium before channeling into the river and spiking the temperature. The numbers didn’t show that to be the case.
The temperature logs showed the water ranging between 65 and 83 degrees, not far out of the ordinary for a hot stretch of August. Rainbows struggle with temperatures over 60, so they often seek deep, shady pools or other cool nooks in the river.
The dissolved oxygen level, which trout like at a minimum of 6 mg/L, had spiked to 9 mg/L with the runoff from the rainstorm. But then it sank below optimal levels.
Evidence pointed to a cause of death “probably related to the natural environment, river flows, and high temperatures,” Davenport noted in his report, which also acknowledged Rust’s oxygen measurements.
“During summer is when they’re under the most stress,” he said of the rainbows. “In this case, there was no sheen on the water, no chemical smells, no indication that there was a toxin, because nothing else had died. We saw some that actually survived.”
John Davenport
Rust came to a similar conclusion.
“I believe it was just a combination of stressful circumstances for them, a warm environment and not much oxygen,” Rust said. “If (pollutants) were to run off the pavement, it might have been just enough to knock them off the edge. Small native fish seemed OK. That makes me think either the trout that survived found a place to hide from a pollution event, or the heat and oxygen levels alone were enough to kill a few fish.”
In his report, Davenport noted some possible remedial measures to prevent a recurrence, including long-term improvements to low-flow channels, more shaded spots and deep habitat “holding areas” that provide the rainbows refuge from high temperatures, and more fish passageways that allow them to seek more hospitable waters.
Aeration devices and “beneficial weed beds” could also help to increase dissolved oxygen levels, particularly when summer heat tends to lower them.
So while some mystery still surrounds the incident, the most dangerous perps were eliminated and the vision of maintaining the urban South Platte as an improbable home for rainbow trout remains intact.
“We know what kind of fish we catch there,” Davenport said. “We’ve been catching trout all the way to Coors Field, sometimes as far north as 88th Avenue. Who knows why, but they figured out how to live there.”
Our articles are free to read, but not free to report
Support local journalism around the state.
Become a member of The Colorado Sun today!
$5/month
$20/month
$100/month
One-time Contribution
The latest from The Sun
Dead rainbow trout floated on the South Platte. Could fish detectives crack the case?
Out-of-state money fuels U.S. Senate race between Cory Gardner and John Hickenlooper
Colorado regulators back 2,000-foot setback for new oil and gas drilling in “paradigm shift”
$40,000 reward offered for information about Denver fire that killed 5
Colorado, five other states promise lawsuits if feds fast-track approval of Utah’s Lake Powell Pipeline project
from Straight News https://ift.tt/3k2INDn
0 notes
Text
New Library Material August - November 2019
Sorted by Call Number / Author.
031 O
Bill O'Neill. Trivia Madness : 1000 fun trivia questions. Wiq Media, 2016.
031 O
Bill O'Neill. Trivia Madness : 1000 fun trivia questions. Wiq Media, 2016.
031 O
Bill O'Neill. Trivia Madness : 1000 fun trivia questions about anything. LAK Publishing, 2017.
The complete manual providing trivia, trivia facts, interesting facts, trivia questions, random facts, brain teaser quizzes, and brain games to strengthen your knowledge base!.
031 S
Evan Salveson. Game night trivia : 2,000 trivia questions to stump your friends. Lexington, KY, : 2019.
323.1
Eskew, Glenn T. But for Birmingham : the local and national movements in the civil rights struggle. Chapel Hill, NC : University of North Carolina Press, c1997.
Provides an analysis of the struggle for desegregation in Birmingham, Alabama in the 1960s, during which the Southern Christian Leadership Conference urged the African-American community into a mass protest that ultimately resulted in the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
333.95 W
Wilson, Edward O. The diversity of life. Cambridge, Mass. : Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1992.
338.2 M
Maddow, Rachel, author. Blowout. First edition.
"Rachel Maddow's Blowout offers a dark, serpentine, riveting tour of the unimaginably lucrative and corrupt oil-and-gas industry. With her trademark black humor, Maddow takes us on a switchback journey around the globe-from Oklahoma City to Siberia to Equatorial Guinea-exposing the greed and incompetence of Big Oil and Gas. She shows how Russia's rich reserves of crude have, paradoxically, stunted its growth, forcing Putin to maintain his power by spreading Russia's rot into its rivals, its neighbors, the United States, and the West's most important alliances. Chevron, BP, and a host of other industry players get their star turn, but ExxonMobil and the deceptively well-behaved Rex Tillerson emerge as two of the past century's most consequential corporate villains. The oil-and-gas industry has weakened democracies in developed and developing countries, fouled oceans and rivers, and propped up authoritarian thieves and killers. But being outraged at it is, according to Maddow, "like being indignant when a lion takes down and eats a gazelle. You can't really blame the lion. It's in her nature.""--.
355.3 S
Stengel, Richard, author. Information wars : how we lost the global battle against disinformation and what we can do about it. First edition.
Welcome to State -- Getting There -- The Job -- Information War -- The Battle Is Engaged -- Disruption -- What to Do About Disinformation. "In February of 2013, Richard Stengel, the former editor-in-chief of Time, joined the Obama administration as Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs. Within days, two shocking events made world-wide headlines: ISIS executed American journalist James Foley on a graphic video seen by tens of millions, and Vladimir Putin's "little green men"-Russian special forces-invaded Crimea, amid a blizzard of Russian denials and false flags. What these events had in common besides their violent law-lessness is that they were the opening salvos in a new era of global information war, where countries and non-state actors use social media and disinformation to create their own narratives and undermine anyone who opposes them. Stengel was thrust onto the front lines of this battle as he was tasked with responding to the relentless weaponizing of information and grievance by ISIS, Russia, China, and others. He saw the scale of what he was up against and found himself hopelessly outgunned. Then, in 2016, the wars Stengel was fighting abroad came home during the presidential election, as "fake news" became a rallying cry and the Russians used the techniques they learned in Ukraine to influence the election here. Rarely has an accomplished journalist been not only a close observer but also a principal participant in the debates and decisions of American foreign policy. Stengel takes you behind the scenes in the ritualized world of diplomacy, from the daily 8:30 morning huddle with a restless John Kerry to a midnight sit-down in Saudi Arabia with the prince of darkness Mohammed bin Salman. The result is a rich account of a losing battle against trolls and bots-who are every bit as insidious as their names imply."--.
355.8 K
Kean, Sam, author. The bastard brigade : the true story of the renegade scientists and spies who sabotaged the Nazi atomic bomb. First edition.
Prologue: Summer of '44 -- Prewar, to 1939 -- 1940-1941 -- 1942 -- 1943 -- 1944 -- 1945. The leaders of the Manhattan Project were alarmed to learn that Nazi Germany was far outpacing the Allies in nuclear weapons research. Hitler would soon have the capability to reverse the entire D-Day operation and conquer Europe. Kean tells the story of a rough and motley crew of geniuses-- dubbed the Alsos Mission-- sent into Axis territory to spy on, sabotage, and even assassinate members of Nazi Germany's feared Uranium Club. The Mission included Moe Berg, a major league catcher and multilingual international spy; Joe Kennedy Jr, whose need for adventure lead him to volunteer for the dangerous mission; and Irène and Frederic Joliot-Curie, a physics Nobel-Prize winning power couple who became active members of the resistance. -- adapted from jacket.
364.152 C
Cep, Casey N., author. Furious hours : murder, fraud, and the last trial of Harper Lee. First edition.
"The stunning story of an Alabama serial killer and the true-crime book that Harper Lee worked on obsessively in the years after To Kill a Mockingbird. Reverend Willie Maxwell was a rural preacher accused of murdering five of his family members for insurance money in the 1970s. With the help of a savvy lawyer, he escaped justice for years until a relative shot him dead at the funeral of his last victim. Despite hundreds of witnesses, Maxwell's murderer was acquitted -- thanks to the same attorney who had previously defended the Reverend. Sitting in the audience during the vigilante's trial was Harper Lee, who had traveled from New York City to her native Alabama with the idea of writing her own In Cold Blood, the true-crime classic she had helped her friend Truman Capote research seventeen years earlier. Lee spent a year in town reporting, and many more working on her own version of the case. Now Casey Cep brings this nearly inconceivable story to life, from the shocking murders to the courtroom drama to the racial politics of the Deep South. At the same time, she offers a deeply moving portrait of one of the country's most beloved writers and her struggle with fame, success, and the mystery of artistic creativity."--.
419.07 B
Butterworth, Rod R. Signing made easy; : a complete program for learning sign language... Putnam, 1989.
...includes sentence drills and exercises for increase comprehension and signing skill.
419.7 D
Duke, Irene. The everything sign language book : American Sign Language made easy. 2nd ed. Avon, Mass. : Adams Media, c2009.
Explains basic communication using American Sign Language, including proper handshapes, body language, signing etiquette, and communicating with the hearing impaired.
419.7 G
Guido, James W., author. Learn American sign language : everything you need to start signing now.
Alphabet -- Numbers -- Basics -- Days & times -- Family & friends -- Body & health -- At home -- Out & about -- School & work -- Food & drink -- Activities -- Social -- Nature -- Misc. verbs -- Descriptors. American Sign Language (ASL) is a vibrant, easy-to-learn language that is used by approximately half a million people each day. Current with the latest additions to ASL and filled with thousands of brand new photographs by Deaf actors, Learn American Sign Language is the most comprehensive guide of its kind.- Learn more than 800 signs, including signs for school, the workplace, around the house, out and about, food and drink, nature, emotions, small talk, and more.- Unlock the storytelling possibilities of ASL with classifiers, easy ways to modify signs that can turn "fishing" into "catching a big fish" and "walking" into "walking with a group."--Find out how to make sentences with signs, use the proper facial expressions with your signs, and other vital tips.
636.7 D
Davis, Kathy Diamond. Therapy dogs : training your dog to help others. 2nd ed. Wenatchee, Wash. : Dogwise Pub., c2002.
Benefits therapy dogs provide -- Orientation to reality -- Focal point for attention-deficit problems -- Morale -- Antidote to depression -- Cooperation -- Social stimulation.
649.1 G
Ginott, Haim G. Between parent and child : the bestselling classic that revolutionized parent-child communication. Rev. and updated /Orig. pub.: Macmillan, 1965. New York : Three Rivers Press, c2003.
The code of communication : parent-child conversations -- The power of words : better ways to encourage and guide -- Self-defeating patterns : there's no right way to do a wrong thing -- Responsibility : transmitting values rather than demanding compliance -- Discipline : finding effective alternatives to punishment --A day in a child's life -- Jealousy : the tragic tradition -- Some sources of anxiety in children : providing emotional safety -- Sex and human values : sensitive handling of an important subject -- Summing up : lessons to guide your parenting -- Epilogue.
796.334 A
Adams, Sean, 1977-. Mia Hamm. New York : Barnes & Noble Books, 2003.
809.1 C
Classic writings on poetry. New York : Columbia University Press, c2003.
810.8 O
The outlaw bible of American literature. New York : Thunder's Mouth Press ;, c2004.
811 D
Davis, Geffrey M., 1983- author. Night angler : poems. First edition.
The fidelity of water -- Hymn or hum -- The radiance -- The night angler -- Bop: no more your mirror/Side a: my son's prelude -- Survivor -- First blood -- Human note -- The epistemology of cheerios -- Prayer with miscarriage/Grant us the ruined grounds -- A proposal from the previously divorced -- Pillow kombat with the ultimate sleep fighter -- Son's face -- What I mean when I say harmony -- Self-portrait with headwaters -- Self-portrait as a dead black boy -- I have my father's hands -- Smolder -- The book of family -- What make a man -- From the country notebooks -- The fidelity of music -- The night angler -- Poem in which my son wakes crying -- Arkansas aubade -- What I mean when I say harmony -- 3:16: whosoever -- 3:16: so loved -- 3:16: for 56 -- 3:16: world -- 3:16: blackout -- Like a river -- From the suicide notebooks -- The fidelity of angles -- What i mean when I say harmony -- Bop: no more your mirror/Side b: my wife's fugue -- Pleasures of place -- The epistemology of growing pains -- West Virginia nocturne -- Hear the light -- For the child's mole -- The night angler.
812 G
Williams, Jaston. Greater Tuna. New York : S. French, c1983.
Play.
812.54 W
Wilson, August. The piano lesson. New York : Plume, c1990.
Dramatizes the struggles of an African-American family as they consider selling a prized possession, an ornate upright piano, in order to buy the tract of land upon which they were once enslaved.
813 B
Baldwin, James, 1924-1987, author. Later novels.
821 B
Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron, 1788-1824. The major works. Oxford ; : Oxford University Press, 2008.
821 D
John Donne : Selected poems. Phoenix Edition, 2003. London (UK) : Orion Publishing Group, 2003.
821.008 C
Roy J. Cook. One Hundred and One Famous Poems. 122 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10011 : Barnes & Noble, Inc, 2009.
821.809
Hay, Daisy, 1981-. Young romantics : the Shelleys, Byron, and other tangled lives. 1st American ed. New York : Farrar Straus & Giroux, c2010.
A group biography that tells the story of the interlinked lives of England's young Romantic poets. Focuses on the network of writers and readers who gathered around Percy Bysshe Shelley and the campaigning journalist Leigh Hunt. They included Lord Byron, John Keats, and Mary Shelley, as well as a host of lesser-known figures: Mary Shelley's stepsister and Byron's mistress, Claire Clairmont; Hunt's botanist sister-in-law, Elizabeth Kent; the musician Vincent Novello; the painters Benjamin Haydon and Joseph Severn; and writers such as Charles and Mary Lamb, Thomas Love Peacock, and William Hazlitt. They were characterized by talent, idealism, and youthful ardor, and these qualities shaped and informed their politically oppositional stances--as did their chaotic family arrangements, which often left the young women, despite their talents, facing the consequences of the men's philosophies.
823.9 L
Lewis, C. S. (Clive Staples), 1898-1963. Till we have faces : a myth retold. 1st Harvest/HBJ ed. New York : Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1980, c1956.
828.609
Gordon, Charlotte. Romantic outlaws : the extraordinary lives of Mary Wollstonecraft and her daughter Mary Shelley. First U.S. edition.
"Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) and her daughter Mary Shelley (1797-1851) have each been the subject of numerous biographies by top tier writers, yet no author has ever examined their lives in tandem. Perhaps this is because these two amazing women never knew each other--Wollstonecraft died of infection at the age of 38, a week after giving birth to her daughter. Nevertheless their lives were closely intertwined, their choices, dreams and tragedies so eerily similar, it seems impossible to consider one without the other: both became famous writers; both fell in love with brilliant but impossible authors; both were single mothers and had children out of wedlock (a shocking and self-destructive act in their day); both broke out of the rigid conventions of their era and lived in exile; and both played important roles in the Romantic era during which they lived. The lives of both Marys were nothing less than extraordinary, providing fabulous material for Charlotte Gordon, a gifted story teller. She seamlessly weaves their lives together in back and forth narratives, taking readers on a vivid journey across Revolutionary France and Victorian England, from the Italian seaports to the highlands of Scotland, in a book that reads like a richly textured historical novel"--.
914.304 G
The vagabonds : the story of Henry Ford and Thomas Edison'sTen-Year Road Trip. First Simon & Schuster Hardback Edition, 2019. New York, NY : Simon & Schuster, 2019.
Prologue: Paris, Michigan : mid-August 1923 -- 1914 -- 1915 -- 1916 -- 1918 -- 1919 -- 1920 -- 1921 -- Interim: November 1921-June 1923 -- 1923 -- 1924 -- Jep Bisbee is famous. "A brilliant portrait of two American giants, Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, and America entering the automobile age, told through the fascinating but little-known narrative of the summer road trips taken by Edison and Ford"-- Provided by publisher.
920.72 C
Clinton, Hillary Rodham, author. The book of gutsy women. First Simon and Schuster hardcover edition.
EARLY INSPIRATIONS. Harriet Tubman -- Anna Pavlova, Isadora Duncan, Maria Tallchief, and Virginia Johnson -- Helen Keller -- Margaret Chase Smith -- Margaret Bourke-White -- Maria von Trapp -- Anne Frank -- Rigoberta Menchú Tum -- Jackie Joyner-Kersee and Florence Griffith Joyner -- EDUCATION PIONEERS. Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz -- Margaret Bancroft -- Juliette Gordon Low -- Maria Montessori and Joan Ganz Cooney -- Mary McLeod Bethune -- Esther Martinez -- Daisy Bates -- Patsy Mink, Bernice Sandler, and Edith Green -- Ruby Bridges Hall -- Malala Yousafzai -- EARTH DEFENDERS. Marjory Stoneman Douglas -- Rachel Carson -- Jane Jacobs and Peggy Shepard -- Jane Goodall and "The Trimates" -- Wangari Maathai -- Alice Min Soo Chun -- Greta Thunberg -- EXPLORERS AND INVENTORS. Caroline Herschel and Vera Rubin -- Ada Lovelace and Grace Hopper -- Margaret Knight and Madam C.J. Walker -- Marie Curie and Irène Jolior-Curie -- Hedy Lamarr -- Sylvia Earle -- Sally Ride -- Mae Jemison -- HEALERS. Florence Nightingale -- Clara Barton -- Elizabeth Blackwell, Rebecca Lee Crumpler, and Mary Edwards Walker -- Betty Ford -- Mathilde Krim -- Dr. Gao Yaojie -- Dr. Hawa Abdi -- Flossie Wong-Staal -- Molly Melching -- Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha -- Vaccinators -- ATHLETES. Alice Coachman and Wilma Rudolph -- Junko Tabei -- Billie Jean King -- Diana Nyad -- Abby Wambach -- Michelle Kwan -- Venus and Serena Williams -- Ibtihaj Muhammad -- Tatyana McFadden -- Caster Semenya -- Aly Raisman -- ADVOCATES AND ACTIVISTS. Dorothy Height and Sojourner Truth -- Ida B. Wells -- Eleanor Roosevelt -- Elizabeth Peratrovich -- Rosa Parks and Claudette Colvin -- Coretta Scott King -- Dolores Huerta -- The Peacemakers -- Victoria Mxenge -- Ai-jen Poo -- Sarah Brady, Gabby Giffords, Nelba Màrquez-Greene, Shannon Watts, and Lucy McBath -- Nza-Ari Khepra, Emma Gonzàlez, Naomi Wadler, Edna Chavez, Jazmine Wildcat, and Julia Spoor -- Becca Heller -- STORYTELLERS. Maya Angelou -- Mary Beard -- Jineth Bedoya Lima -- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie -- America Ferrera -- Ali Stoker -- Amani Al-Khatahtbeh -- ELECTED LEADERS. Bella Abzug -- Shirley Chisholm -- Ann Richards -- Geraldine Ferraro -- Barbara Jordan -- Barbara Mikulski -- Ellen Johnson Sirleaf -- Wilma Mankiller -- Michelle Bachelet -- Danica Roem -- GROUNDBREAKERS. Frances Perkins -- Katharine Graham -- Constance Baker Motley -- Edie Windsor -- Ela Bhatt -- Temple Grandin -- Ellen DeGeneres -- Maya Lin -- Sally Yates -- Kimberly Bryant and Reshma Saujani -- WOMEN'S RIGHTS CHAMPIONS. Rosa May Billinghurst -- The Suffragists -- Sophia Duleep Singh -- Fraidy Reiss -- Manal al Sharif -- Nadia Murad. Hillary Rodham Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea, share the stories of the gutsy women who have inspired them -- women with the courage to stand up to the status quo, ask hard questions, and get the job done. Ensuring the rights and opportunities of women and girls remains a big piece of the unfinished business of the twenty-first century. While there's a lot of work to do, we know that throughout history and around the globe women have overcome the toughest resistance imaginable to win victories that have made progress possible for all of us. That is the achievement of each of the women in this book. So how did they do it? The answers are as unique as the women themselves. Civil rights activist Dorothy Height, LGBTQ trailblazer Edie Windsor, and swimmer Diana Nyad kept pushing forward, no matter what. Writers like Rachel Carson and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie named something no one had dared talk about before. Historian Mary Beard used wit to open doors that were once closed, and Wangari Maathai, who sparked a movement to plant trees, understood the power of role modeling. Harriet Tubman and Malala Yousafzai looked fear in the face and persevered. Nearly every single one of these women was fiercely optimistic -- they had faith that their actions could make a difference. And they were right. To us, they are all gutsy women -- leaders with the courage to stand up to the status quo, ask hard questions, and get the job done. So in the moments when the long haul seems awfully long, we hope you will draw strength from these stories. We do. Because if history shows one thing, it's that the world needs gutsy women.
940.54 S
Smith, Jean Edward, author. The liberation of Paris : how Eisenhower, De Gaulle, and Von Choltitz saved the City of Light. First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition.
Paris occupied -- De Gaulle and the resistance -- The Allies advance -- The German defense -- The resistance rises -- Eisenhower changes plans -- Leclerc moves out -- A field of ruins -- Day of liberation -- De Gaulle triumphant. "The liberation of Paris tells the dramatic story of the Allied decision in World War II to divert from the strategic plan in order to save the City of Light from chaos and assist de Gaulle's efforts to become France's new leader even as the German general in charge of the occupation defied his orders to destroy the city as the Allies closed in"--.
942.01 A
Alexander, Michael, 1941-. Medievalism : the Middle Ages in modern England. New Haven : Yale University Press, c2007.
Introduction -- The advent of the Goths : the medieval in the 1760s -- Chivalry, romances and revival : Chaucer into Scott : The lay of the last minstrel and Ivanhoe -- Dim religious lights -- The lay, Christabel and 'The eve of St Agnes' -- 'Residences for the poor' : the Pugin of Contrasts -- Back to the future in the 1840s : Carlyle, Ruskin, Sybil, Newman -- 'The death of Arthur was the favourite volume' : Malory into Tennyson -- History, the revival and the PRB -- Westminster, Ivanhoe, visions and revisions -- History and legend : the subjects of poetry and painting -- The working men and the common good : Madox Brown, Maurice, Morris, Hopkins -- Among the lilies and the weeds : Hopkins, Whistler, Burne-Jones, Beardsley -- 'I have seen-- a white horse' : Chesterton, Yeats, Ford, Pound -- Modernist medievalism : Eliot, Pound, Jones -- Twentieth-century Christendom : Waugh, Auden, Inklings, Hill -- Epilogue : 'riding through the glen.
944.05 N
Napoleon : the art of war & power. 2018. London (UK) : Sirius Publishing; a division of Arcturus Publishing, Ltd, 2018.
973 G
Gates, Henry Louis, Jr., author. Stony the Road : Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow.
Antislavery/antislave backlash : the white resistance to black Reconstruction -- The old Negro : race, science, literature, and the birth of Jim Crow -- Chains of being : the black body and the white mind -- Framing blackness : Sambo art and the visual rhetoric of white supremacy -- The United States of race : mass-producing stereotypes and fear -- The new Negro : redeeming the race from the redeemers -- Reframing race : enter the new Negro -- Epilogue. "A profound new rendering of the struggle by African-Americans for equality after the Civil War and the violent counterrevolution that resubjugated them as seen through the prism of the war of images and ideas that have left an enduring stain on the American mind. The abolition of slavery in the aftermath of the Civil War is a familiar story, as is the civil rights revolution that transformed the nation after World War II. But the century in between remains a mystery: if emancipation came in Lincoln's America, why was it necessary to march in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s America? In this new book, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., one of our leading chroniclers of the African-American experience, seeks to answer that question in a history that moves from the Reconstruction Era to the 'nadir' of the African-American experience under Jim Crow, through to World War I and the Harlem Renaissance. Through his close reading of the visual culture of this tragic era, Gates reveals the many faces of Jim Crow and how, together, they reinforced a stark color line between white and black Americans. Bringing a lifetime of wisdom to bear as a scholar, filmmaker, and public intellectual, Gates uncovers the roots of structural racism in our own time, while showing how African Americans after slavery combatted it by articulating a vision of a "New Negro" to force the nation to recognize their humanity and unique contributions to America as it hurtled toward the modern age. The book will be accompanied by a new PBS documentary series on the same topic, with full promotional support from PBS"--.
973.09 G
Goodwin, Doris Kearns, author. Leadership in turbulent times. First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition.
Part 1. Ambition and the recognition of leadership -- Abraham: "Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition" -- Theodore: "I rose like a rocket" -- Franklin: "No, call me Franklin" -- Lyndon: "A steam engine in pants" -- Part 2. Adversity and growth -- Abraham Lincoln: "I must die or be better" -- Theodore Roosevelt: "The light has gone out of my life" -- Franklin Roosevelt: "Above all, try something" -- Lyndon Johnson: "The most miserable period of my life" -- Part 3. How they led: man and the times -- Transformational leadership: Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation -- Crisis management: Theodore Roosevelt and the Coal Strike -- Turnaround leadership: Franklin Roosevelt and the Hundred Days -- Visionary leadership: Lyndon Johnson and Civil Rights -- Epilogue: Of death and legacy. Are leaders born or made? Where does ambition come from? How does adversity affect the growth of leadership? Does the leader make the times or do the times make the leader? Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin draws upon the four presidents she has studied most closely -- Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson (in civil rights) -- to show how they recognized leadership qualities within themselves and were recognized as leaders by others. By looking back to their first entries into public life, we encounter them at a time when their paths were filled with confusion, fear, and hope. They all collided with dramatic reversals that disrupted their lives and threatened to shatter forever their ambitions. Nonetheless, they all emerged fitted to confront the contours and dilemmas of their times. No common pattern describes the trajectory of leadership. Although set apart in background, abilities, and temperament, these men shared a fierce ambition and a deep-seated resilience that enabled them to surmount uncommon hardships. At their best, all four were guided by a sense of moral purpose. At moments of great challenge, they were able to summon their talents to enlarge the opportunities and lives of others.
973.91 G
Goodwin, Doris Kearns. The bully pulpit : Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of journalism. First Simon & Schuster hardcover edition.
92 Bagehot
Grant, James, 1946- author. Bagehot : the life and times of the greatest Victorian. First edition.
Prologue: "With devouring fury" -- "Large, wild, fiery, black" -- "In mirth and refutation; in ridicule and laughter" -- "Vive la guillotine" -- The literary banker -- "The ruin inflicted on innocent creditors" -- "The young gentleman out of Miss Austen's novels" -- A death in India -- The "problem" of W.E. Gladstone -- "Therefore, we entirely approve" -- "The muddy slime of Bagehot's crotchets and heresies" -- The great scrum of reform -- A loser by seven bought votes -- By "influence and corruption" -- "In the first rank" -- Never a bullish word -- Government bears the cost -- "I wonder what my eminence is?". "The definitive biography of a banker, essayist, and editor of the Economist, by an acclaimed financial historian. During the upheavals of 2007-9, the chairman of the Federal Reserve had the name of a Victorian icon on the tip of his tongue: Walter Bagehot. Banker, man of letters, inventor of the Treasury bill, and author of Lombard Street, Bagehot prescribed the doctrines that--decades later--inspired the radical responses to the world's worst financial crises. In James Grant's colorful and groundbreaking biography, Bagehot appears as both an ornament to his own age and a muse to our own. Brilliant and precocious, he was influential in political circles, making high-profile friends, including William Gladstone--and enemies: Lord Overstone, Benjamin Disraeli. As an essayist on wide-ranging topics, he won the admiration of Matthew Arnold and Woodrow Wilson. He was also a misogynist, and while he opposed slavery, he misjudged Abraham Lincoln and the Civil War. As editor of the Economist, he offered astute commentary on the financial issues of his day, and his name lives on in an eponymous weekly column"--.
92 Napoleon
Napoleon : a life. 2015. New York, NY : Penguin Books, 2015.
Introduction -- Rise. Corsica ; Revolution ; Desire ; Italy ; Victory ; Peace ; Egypt ; Acre ; Brumaire -- Mastery. Consul ; Marengo ; Lawgiver ; Plots ; Amiens ; Coronation ; Austerlitz ; Jena ; Blockades ; Tilsit ; Iberia ; Wagram ; Zenith -- Denouement. Russia ; Trapped ; Retreat ; Resilience ; Leipzig ; Defiance ; Elba ; Waterloo ; St Helena. " ... the first single-volume, cradle-to-grave biography to take advantage of the recent publication of Napoleon's thirty-three thousand letters, which radically transform our understanding of his character and motivation"--Jacket.
92 Napoleon
Brown, Adam. Napoleon Bonaparte : the biography of a leader who changed the history of France (including the French Revolution). 2018.
92 Roosevelt
Ryan Swanson. The Strenuous life : Theodore Roosevelt and the making of the American athlete. New York, NY : Diversion Publishing Corp, 2019.
CD Hob
Tolkien, J. R. R. (John Ronald Reuel), 1892-1973. The Hobbit. Complete and unabridged ed. London : HarperCollins, 2002.
Read by Rob Inglis. Bilbo Baggins enjoys a quiet and contented life, with no desire to travel far from the comforts of home; then one day the wizard Gandalf and a band of dwarves arrive unexpectedly and enlist his services - as a burglar - on a dangerous expedition to raid the treasure-hoard of Smaug the dragon. Bilbo's life is never to be the same again.
CD Rai
Hansberry, Lorraine, 1930-1965. A raisin in the sun. 2008 by Recorded Books, LCC. Recorded by arrangement with HarperCollins Publishers.
Starring Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Claudia McNeil, Diana Sands, Leonard Jackson, Sakes Mokae, Sam Schacht, and Harold Scott; Lloyd Richards, director.
DVD Bir
The birth of a nation. [Blu-ray/DVD combo].
Nate Parker, Armie Hammer, Mark Boone Jr., Colman Domingo, Aunjanue Ellis, Dwight Henry, Aja Naomi King, Esther Scott, Roger Guenveur Smith, Gabrielle Union, with Penelope Ann Miller and Jackie Earle Haley. In 1831, when Virginia slave Nat Turner learns of slavery conditions in other parts of the state, he leads an uprising against slave owners in the area.
DVD Gre
Based on the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The Great Gatsby [2013]. DVD.
Joel Edgerton, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Elizabeth Debicki, Leonardo Dicaprio, Isla Fisher. A would-be writer, Nick Carraway leaves the Midwest and comes to New York City in the spring of 1922, an era of loosening morals, glittering jazz, bootleg kings, and skyrocketing stocks. Chasing his own American dream, Nick lands next door to a mysterious, party-giving millionaire, Jay Gatsby. It is thus that Nick is drawn into the captivating world of the super rich, their illusions, loves, and deceits. "The cast is first-rate, the ambiance and story provide a measure of intoxication and, most importantly, the core thematic concerns pertaining to the American dream, self-reinvention and love lost, regained and lost again are tenaciously addressed."--Hollywood Reporter. "The best attempt yet to capture the essence of the novel."--Richard Roeper. "...Stands out like a beacon in a sea of silly blockbusters."--New York Post.
DVD Jer
Jerry Tarkanian's amoeba zone defense. Ames, IA 50010 : Championship Productions, 1996.
Coach Tarkanian explains, in several teaching progressions, why your zone defense must be similar to your man-to-man defense. Tark shows how the Amoeba prevents the offensive players from getting into the gaps, beating you with the dribble and getting cross-court passes. On-court, the Runnin' Rebels demonstrate run glide run, zig zags, close outs and denials. Drills include the Amoeba drill for guards, back line, 5-on-7, 5-on-5 and how to double team the first pass.
F Atw
Atwood, Margaret, 1939-. The testaments : a novel. 1st edition.
F Bal
Baldwin, James, 1924-1987. If Beale Street could talk. New York : Dial Press, 1974.
F Ber
Berry, Flynn, 1986- author. A double life.
"A gripping, intense, stunningly written novel of psychological suspense from the award-winning author of Under the Harrow Claire is a hardworking doctor living a simple, quiet life in London. She is also the daughter of the most notorious murder suspect in the country, though no one knows it. Nearly thirty years ago, while Claire and her infant brother slept upstairs, a brutal crime was committed in her family's townhouse. Her father's car was found abandoned near the English Channel the next morning, with bloodstains on the front seat. Her mother insisted she'd seen him in the house that night, but his powerful, privileged friends maintained his innocence. The first lord accused of murder in more than a century, he has been missing ever since"--.
F Coa
Coates, Ta-Nehisi, author. The water dancer : a novel. First edition.
"Young Hiram Walker was born into bondage--and lost his mother and all memory of her when he was a child--but he is also gifted with a mysterious power. Hiram almost drowns when he crashes a carriage into a river, but is saved from the depths by a force he doesn't understand, a blue light that lifts him up and lands him a mile away. This strange brush with death forces a new urgency on Hiram's private rebellion. Spurred on by his improvised plantation family, Thena, his chosen mother, a woman of few words and many secrets, and Sophia, a young woman fighting her own war even as she and Hiram fall in love, he becomes determined to escape the only home he's ever known. So begins an unexpected journey into the covert war on slavery that takes Hiram from the corrupt grandeur of Virginia's proud plantations to desperate guerrilla cells in the wilderness, from the coffin of the deep South to dangerously utopic movements in the North. Even as he's enlisted in the underground war between slavers and the enslaved, all Hiram wants is to return to the Walker Plantation to free the family he left behind--but to do so, he must first master his magical gift and reconstruct the story of his greatest loss. This is a bracingly original vision of the world of slavery, written with the narrative force of a great adventure. Driven by the author's bold imagination and striking ability to bring readers deep into the interior lives of his brilliantly rendered characters, The Water Dancer is the story of America's oldest struggle--the struggle to tell the truth--from one of our most exciting thinkers and beautiful writers"--.
F Edu
Edugyan, Esi., author. Washington Black. First United States edition.
F Gol
Goldring, Suzanne. My name is Eva. London, EC4Y 0DZ : Bookouture: In Imprint of StoryFire Ltd, 2019.
F Gre
Green, John. Looking for Alaska. 1st ed. New York : Dutton Bks, c2005.
Sixteen-year-old Miles' first year at Culver Creek Preparatory School in Alabama includes good friends and great pranks, but is defined by the search for answers about life and death after a fatal car crash.
F Kin
King, Stephen, 1947-. Doctor Sleep : a novel. First Scribner hardcover edition.
The now middle-aged Dan Torrance (the boy protagonist of The Shining) must save a very special twelve-year-old girl from a tribe of murderous paranormals.
F Leg
Claire legrand. Kingsbane : the Empirium Trilogy. Naperville, IL : Sourcebooks, Inc, 2019.
Sun Queen Rielle faces new trials as she tries to maintain the Gate and is tempted by the angel Corien, while centuries later, Eliana must choose whether to embrace the crown or reject it forever.
F Sun
Sun, Rivera. Billionaire buddha.
F Sun
Sun, Rivera. The roots of resistance.
F Tol
Tolkien, J. R. R. (John Ronald Reuel), 1892-1973. The Hobbit, or, There and back again. Authorized ed., Rev. ed 1982. New York : Ballantine Books, 1982, ℗♭1980.
The adventures of the well-to-do hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, who lived happily in his comfortable home until a wandering wizard granted his wish. A new edition to Tolkien's classic, the prelude to the Lord of the Rings saga, is available just in time for "The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, " set for release in theaters in December 2002. Illustrations. In this fantasy, a prelude to The Lord of the Rings, the reader meets Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit, in a land filled with dwarfs, elves, goblins, and dragons. The Greatest Fantasy Epic of our Time, Bilbo Baggins was a hobbit who wanted to be left alone in quiet comfort. But the wizard Gandalf came along with a band of homeless dwarves. Soon Bilbo was drawn into their quest, facing evil orcs, savage wolves, giant spiders, and worse unknown dangers. Finally, it was Bilbo-alone and unaided-who had to confront the great dragon Smaug, the terror of an entire countryside ... This stirring adventure fantasy begins the tale of the hobbits that was continued by J.R.R. Tolkien in his bestselling epic The Lord of the Rings. Tolkien are the movie tie-in editions to The Fellowship of the Ring, the first of the three New Line Films based on the classic epic fantasy, which opens December 19, 2001. A saga of dwarfs and elves, goblins and trolls in a far-off, long ago land. There is a special edition illustrated by Michael Hague (1984.
F Twa
Twain, Mark, 1835-1910, author. Five novels. San Diego, Calif. : Canterbury Classics, c2011.
The adventures of Tom Sawyer -- The prince and the pauper -- Adventures of Huckleberry Finn -- A Connecticut yankee in King Arthur's court -- The tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson.
R 419
Sternberg, Martin L. A. American Sign Language dictionary. 3rd ed., rev. ed. New York : HarperPerennial, c1998.
SC Hey
Heyer, Georgette, 1902-1974, author. Snowdrift : and other stories.
Collects fourteen stories of romance, intrigue, and villainy, including "Pistols for two," "A husband for Fanny," and "Runaway match.".
SC O
O'Brien, Tim, 1946-. The Things They Carried : a work of fiction. 1st Broadway Books trade pbk. ed. New York : Broadway Books, 1998, c1990.
Related stories, linked by recurring characters and an interwoven plot, recreate an American foot soldier's experience in the Vietnam War.
SC Twa
Twain, Mark, 1835-1910. The complete short stories. New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2012.
Supp F Sun
Sun, Rivera. The dandelion insurrection study guide : making change through nonviolent action.
Study Guide.
0 notes
Text
Natter # 06 05/31/2019
,
Subject: Natter #6 May 2019
Nearly dinner time so I'll need to be swift, although I won't finish until a bit later - there's the Bellevue Library meeting tonight to go through the clinic boxes. Maybe I saw you there?
I am beginning to feel like that Mum on the TV ad who phones her son as he is being harassed by Nasties, when she say's "The Squirrels are back. Your father says it's personal this time."
The verdampften deer are back and believe me this is personal!
Mind, they didn't do too much damage - this time, and they did leave a calling card or rather two calling cards, but I haven't been able to find where they get in, so my Hostas are in danger again. Never got any blooms last year as they wiped off the lot, just before they opened.
Today, Saturday the 18th, was Propagation lecture day at the BDG with Alison. All very well received especially the practicum at the finish. We have scheduled another for the end of July at The Grange. There will be basic instruction with the emphasis on practical hands-on work, which always seems to go over well and of course it does emphasise the spoken word. More information a little later.
Sunday was the Plant Amnesty & MG Interns snow day make-up class. Some good information there, but the bit that interested me the most was a photo that Janet showed me. She seems to have come up with a successful design for a Deer Fence. It consists of 6-7ft steel fence posts on 6ft centers, strung with horizontal 30lb Nylon fishing line spaced 12" apart. This is almost invisible and for sure the deer seem not to see it. They brush against it and stop, then back off. Try again and stop. It's as if they can't understand what is going on. They can't jump it because they can't see what is in the way. This fence has been installed for a few weeks now and so far they haven't twigged what is going on and Janet's garden stays deer free.
Some time later, Janet found that Mum’s returned with Junior in tow. Junior of course had no idea what he was supposed to see or not see and there were the vegetables right in front of him. With probably a slight nudge from Mum he was past the nylon line - it was above his head anyway - and enjoying a great salad bar - all his. The idea needs a slight adjustment!
If only I could discover where they are getting into my garden I would install one too.
Now that Janet has shown the way, I expect somebody to come up with something similar for rabbit protection! She has incidentally, arranged a section that can be moved to allow access to her veggie garden.
At last we have something to suggest to clients at the Farmers Market. other than to place the deer between a couple of hamburger buns - although that is still an option and one that gets more and more appealing as time and damage accumulate.
You will undoubtedly have realised by now that tempus has fugited some since I started writing this.
I did experience an unfortunate event this morning when eating my Shredded Wheat breakfast. A strand of the shreds tickled my throat a little, making me cough, which turned unfortunately into a sneeze which happened to coincide with a mouthful of said Shredded Wheat. As the sneeze built up I realised that I was looking at a disaster of unmentionable proportions and attempted to stifle the sneeze, which I understand can be injurious - but what are you going to do? The sneeze built up to the point where it was obvious that I could do little to stop it, but at least I didn't redecorate the kitchen.
Instead, the Shredded Wheat took the path of least resistance and came down my nose! I don't think I can remember doing that since I was a kid. Happy days!
Just read a rather alarming article in the NYT about earthworms (some earthworms that is).
Cindy Shaw, a carbon-research scientist with the Canadian Forest Service, studies the boreal forest - the most northerly forest, which circles the the top of the globe like a ring of hair around a monk’s tonsured head.
A few years ago. while conducting a study in northern Alberta to see how the forest floor was recovering after oil and gas activity, she saw something new - earthworms.
I was amazed, she said. At the very first plot, there was a lot of evidence of earthworm activity.
Native earthworms disappeared from most of northern America 10,000 years ago - ( I remember distinctly,) during the last Ice Age Now invasive earthworm species from southern Europe - survivors from that frozen epoch, and introduced to this continent by European settlers centuries ago - are making their way through northern forests, their spread hastened by roads, timber and petroleum activities, tire treads, boats, anglers and even gardeners.
As the worms feed, they release into the atmosphere much of the carbon stored in the forest floor, and Climate scientists are worried.
Earthworms are yet another factor that can affect the carbon balance. The fear is that the growing incursion of earthworms - not just in North America, but also in northern Europe and Russia - could convert the boreal forest, now a powerful global carbon sponge, into a carbon spout.
Moreover, the threat is still so new to boreal forests that scientists don't yet know how to calculate what the earthworms carbon effect will be or when it will appear.
It is a significant change to the carbon dynamic and how it is understood to work. The rate or the magnitude of that change is not truly understood.
The relationship between carbon and the earthworm is complex. They are beloved by gardeners because they break down organic material in soil, freeing up nutrients. This helps plants and trees grow faster, which locks carbon into living tissue. Some types of invasive earthworms also burrow into mineral soil and seal carbon there.
But as they speed decomposition, they also release Carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. As they occupy more areas of the world, will they ultimately add more carbon to the atmosphere or will they subtract it?
That question led to what Ingrid M. Lubbers, a soil researcher at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, christened "the earthworm dilemma" in a paper published in 2013 in Nature Climate Change. Scientists have been keen to resolve it ever since. It is just another reason why more knowledge of systems is needed because there could be an effect that would enhance climate change and enhance the rising temps.
The boreal is special. In warmer climates the floor of a typical forest is a mix of mineral soil and organic soil. In a boreal forest those components are distinct with a thick layer of rotting leaves, mosses and fallen wood on top of the mineral soil.
Soil scientists once thought that cooler temperatures reduced mixing, now they wonder if the absence of earthworms is what made the difference.
The spongy layer of leaf litter contains most of the carbon stored in the boreal soil. As it turns out, most of the invading earthworms in the North American boreal forest appear to be the type that love to devour leaf litter and stay above ground, releasing carbon.
It was found that 99.8% of earthworms studied in Alberta belonged to Dendrobia octaendra, an invasive species that eats leaf litter but doesn't burrow into the ground.
In 2015, a computer model, aimed at figuring the effect of leaf litter over time, was published.
It was found that forest floor carbon is reduced by between 50% and 94%, mostly in the first 40 years. That carbon, no longer sequestered, goes into the atmosphere. Not only that, in a 2009 study it was calculated that earthworms had already wriggled their way into 9% of the forest of northeastern Alberta and would occupy half by 2049.
The Canadian Forest Service found that 35% to 40% of the plots studied in northern Alberta contained earthworms. The leaf litter, which can be more than a foot thick, was thin and churned up where the earthworms were present. If their calculations bear out, it means that the lowly earthworm stands to alter the carbon balance of the planet by adding to the load in the atmosphere.
The global boreal forest is a muscular part of Earth's carbon cycle, at least one fifth of the carbon that cycles through air, soil and oceans passes through the boreal. Currently, the boreal absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it adds, but that is changing.
On the one hand warmer temps could extend the growing season, allowing trees to grow bigger and store more carbon. But rising temps. also release carbon to the atmosphere, by thawing permafrost and increasing the number of forest fires.
It seems that earthworms are a factor - if not the main one - nudging the boreal towards becoming a global source of carbon.
In northern Minnesota, the boreal forest has slowly been invaded by earthworms. They have altered not just the depth of the leaf litter, but also the types of plant life the forest supports.
Endemic species such as the white and pink Ladies Slipper, Minnesota's State flower - as well as ferns, orchids and the saplings of coniferous trees rely on the spongy litter. As the worms feed on that layer, they allow non-natives, plants such as European Buckthorn and grasses to thrive, which in turn push out endemic plants. There is a very real danger here of Minnesota's boreal forest being transformed into prairie.
These earthworms have even been found right up at the edge of the permafrost in the northern boreal, with the bigger concern that they will penetrate even further north into the permafrost with the subsequent release of masses of carbon which would be devastating. There is no way existing to eradicate the worms from the boreal forest, their impact is permanent. Hopefully educating people not to transport them up north might slow things down, but right now scientists are keeping an eye on a new invader - Asian earthworms, which have made their way to southern Quebec and Ontario.
Sorry for the lengthy report, but I thought it was fascinating and somewhat scary.
Your fearless leader,
Gordon
0 notes
Text
Natter # 2 05/22/2019
Nearly dinner time so I'll need to be swift, although I won't finish until a bit later - there's the Bellevue Library meeting to night to go through the clinic boxes. Maybe I saw you there?
I am beginning to feel like that Mum on the TV ad who phones her son as he is being harassed by Nasties, when she say's "The Squirrels are back.
Your father says it's personal this time."
The verdampften deer are back and believe me this is personal!
Mind, they didn't do too much damage - this time, and they did leave a calling card or rather two calling cards, but I haven't been able to find where they got in, so my Hostas are in danger again. Never got any blooms last year as they wiped off the lot, just before they opened.
Today, Saturday the 18th, was Propagation lecture day at the BDG with Alison. All very well received especially the practicum at the finish.
We have scheduled another for the end of July at The Grange. There will be basic instruction with the emphasis on practical hands-on work, which always seems to go over well and of course it does emphasise the spoken word. More information a little later.
Sunday was the Plant Amnesty & MG Interns snow day make-up class. Some good information there, but the bit that interested me the most was a photo that Janet showed me. She seems to have come up with a successful design for a Deer Fence. It consists of 6-7ft steel fence posts on 6ft centers, strung with horizontal 30lb Nylon fishing line spaced 12" apart. This is almost invisible and for sure the deer seem not to see it. They brush against it and stop, then back off. Try again and stop.
It's as if they can't understand what is going on. They can't jump it because they can't see what is in the way. This fence has been installed for a few weeks now and so far they haven't twigged what is going on and Janet's garden stays deer free
image.png
If only I could discover where they are getting into my garden I would install one too.
Now that Janet has shown the way, I expect somebody to come up with something similar for rabbit protection! She has incidentally, arranged a section that can be moved to allow access to her veggie garden.
At last we have something to suggest to clients at the Farmers Market
other than to place the deer between a couple of hamburger buns - although that is still an option!
You will undoubtedly have realised by now that tempus has fugited some since I started writing this.
I did experience an unfortunate event this morning when eating my Shredded Wheat breakfast. A strand of the shreds tickled my throat a little, making me cough, which turned unfortunately into a sneeze which happened to coincide with a mouthful of said Shredded Wheat. As the sneeze built up I realised that I was looking at a disaster and attempted to stifle the sneeze, which I understand can be injurious - but what are you going to do? The sneeze built up to the point where it was obvious that I could do little to stop it, but at least I didn't redecorate the kitchen.
Instead, the Shredded Wheat took the path of least resistance and came down my nose! I don't think I can remember doing that since I was a kid.
Happy days!
Just read a rather alarming article in the NYT about earthworms (some earthworms that is).
Cindy Shaw, a carbon- research scientist with the Canadian Forest Service, studies the boreal forest - the most northerly forest, which circles the the top of the globe like a ring of hair around a balding head.
A few years ago. while conducting a study in northern Alberta to see how the forest floor was recovering after oil and gas activity, she saw something new - earthworms.
I was amazed, she said,. At the very first plot, there was a lot of evidence of earthworm activity.
Native earthworms disappeared from most of northern America 10,000 years ago - I remember distinctly, during the last Ice Age Now invasive earthworm species from southern Europe - survivors from that frozen epoch, and introduced to this continent by European settlers centuries ago - are making their way through northern forests, their spread hastened by roads,timber and petroleum activities, tire treads, boats anglers and even gardeners.
As the worms feed, they release into the atmosphere much of the carbon stored in the forest floor. Climate scientists are worried.
Earthworms are yet another factor that can affect the carbon balance.
The fear is that the growing incursion of ear4thworms - not just in North America, but also in northern Europe and Russia - could convert the boreal forest, now a powerful global carbon sponge, into a carbon spout.
Moreover, the threat is still so new to boreal forests that scientists don't yet know how to calculate what the earthworms carbon effect will be or when it will appear.
It is a significant change to the carbon dynamic and how it is understood to work. The rate or the magnitude of that change is not truly understood.
The relationship between carbon and the earthworm is complex. They are beloved by gardeners because they break down organic material in soil, freeing up nutrients. This helps plants and trees grow faster, which locks carbon into living tissue. Soem types of invasive earthworms also burrow into mineral soil and seal carbon there.
But as they speed decomposition, they also release Carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. As they occupy more areas of the world, will they ultimately add more carbon to the atmosphere or will they subtract it?
That question led to what Ingrid M. Lubbers, a soil researcher at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, christened "the earthworm dilemma" in a paper published in 2013 in Nature Climate Change.
Scientists have been keen to resolve it ever since. It is just another reason why more knowledge of systems is needed because there could be an effect that would enhance climate change and enhance the rising temps.
The boreal is special. In warmer climates the floor of a typical forest is a mix of mineral soil and organic soil. In a boreal forest those components are distinct with a thick layer of rotting leaves, mosses and fallen wood on top of the mineral soil.
Soil scientists once thought that cooler temperatures reduced mixing, now they wonder if the absence of earthworms is what made the difference.
The spongy layer of leaf litter contains most of the carbon stored in the boreal soil. As it turns out, most of the invading earthworms in the North American boreal forest appear to be the type that love to devour leaf litter and stay above ground, releasing carbon.
It was found that 99.8% of earthworms studied in Alberta belonged to Dendrobia octaendra, an invasive species that eats leaf litter but doesn't burrow into the ground.
In 2015, a computer model, aimed at figuring the effect of leaf litter over time, was published.
It was found that forest floor carbon is reduced by between 50% and 94%, mostly in the first 40 years. That carbon, no longer sequestered, goes into the atmosphere. Not only that, in a 2009 study it was calculated that earthworms had already wriggled their way into 9% of the forest of northeastern Alberta and would occupy half by 2049.
The Canadian Forest Service found that 35% to 40% of the plots studied in northern Alberta contained earthworms. The leaf litter, which can be more than a foot thick, was thin and churned up where the earthworms were present. If their calculations bear out, it means that the lowly earthworm stands to alter the carbon balance of the planet by adding to the load in the atmosphere.
The global boreal forest is a muscular part of Earth's carbon cycle, at least one fifth of the carbon that cycles through air, soil and oceans passes through the boreal. Currently, the boreal absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it adds, but that is changing.
On the one hand warmer temps could extend the growing season, allowing trees to grow bigger and store more carbon. But rsing temps. also release carbon to the atmosphere, by thawing permafrost and increasing the number of forest fires.
It seems that earthworms are a factor - if not the main one - nudging the boreal towards becoming a global source of carbon.
In northern Minnesota, the boreal forest has slowly been invaded by earthworms. They have altered not just the depth of the leaf litter, but also the types of plant life the forest supports.
Endemic species such as the white and pink Ladies Slipper, Minnesota's State flower - as well as ferns, orchids and the saplings of coniferous trees rely on the spongy litter. As the worms feed on that layer, they allow non-natives, plants such as European Buckthorn and grasses to thrive, which in turn push out endemic plants. There is a very real danger here of Minnesota's boreal forest being transformed into prairie.
These earthworms have even been found right up at the edge of the permafrost in the northern boreal, with the bigger concern that they will penetrate even further north into the permafrost with the subsequent release of masses of carbon which would be devastating. There is no way existing to eadicate the worms from the boreal forest, their impact is permanent. Hopefully educating people not to transport them up north might slow things down, but right now scientists are keeping an eye on a new invader - Asian earthworms, which have made their way to southern Quebec and Ontario.
Sorry for the lengthy report, but I thought it was fascinating and somewhat scary.
Your fearless leader,
Gordon
0 notes
Text
Natter #2 05/22/2019
Nearly dinner time so I'll need to be swift, although I won't finish until a bit later - there's the Bellevue Library meeting to night to go through the clinic boxes. Maybe I saw you there?
I am beginning to feel like that Mum on the TV ad who phones her son as he is being harassed by Nasties, when she say's "The Squirrels are back.
Your father says it's personal this time." The verdampften deer are back and believe me this is personal!
Mind, they didn't do too much damage - this time, and they did leave a calling card or rather two calling cards, but I haven't been able to find where they got in, so my Hostas are in danger again. Never got any blooms last year as they wiped off the lot, just before they opened.
Today, Saturday the 18th, was Propagation lecture day at the BDG with Alison. All very well received especially the practicum at the finish.
We have scheduled another for the end of July at The Grange. There will be basic instruction with the emphasis on practical hands-on work, which always seems to go over well and of course it does emphasise the spoken word. More information a little later.
Sunday was the Plant Amnesty & MG Interns snow day make-up class. Some good information there, but the bit that interested me the most was a photo that Janet showed me. She seems to have come up with a successful design for a Deer Fence. It consists of 6-7ft steel fence posts on 6ft centers, strung with horizontal 30lb Nylon fishing line spaced 12" apart. This is almost invisible and for sure the deer seem not to see it. They brush against it and stop, then back off. Try again and stop.
It's as if they can't understand what is going on. They can't jump it because they can't see what is in the way. This fence has been installed for a few weeks now and so far they haven't twigged what is going on and Janet's garden stays deer free
image.png If only I could discover where they are getting into my garden I would install one too.
Now that Janet has shown the way, I expect somebody to come up with something similar for rabbit protection! She has incidentally, arranged a section that can be moved to allow access to her veggie garden.
At last we have something to suggest to clients at the Farmers Market.
other than to place the deer between a couple of hamburger buns - although that is still an option!
You will undoubtedly have realised by now that tempus has fugited some since I started writing this.
I did experience an unfortunate event this morning when eating my Shredded Wheat breakfast. A strand of the shreds tickled my throat a little, making me cough, which turned unfortunately into a sneeze which happened to coincide with a mouthful of said Shredded Wheat. As the sneeze built up I realised that I was looking at a disaster and attempted to stifle the sneeze, which I understand can be injurious - but what are you going to do? The sneeze built up to the point where it was obvious that I could do little to stop it, but at least I didn't redecorate the kitchen.
Instead, the Shredded Wheat took the path of least resistance and came down my nose! I don't think I can remember doing that since I was a kid.
Happy days!
Just read a rather alarming article in the NYT about earthworms (some earthworms that is).
Cindy Shaw, a carbon- research scientist with the Canadian Forest Service, studies the boreal forest - the most northerly forest, which circles the the top of the globe like a ring of hair around a balding head.
A few years ago. while conducting a study in northern Alberta to see how the forest floor was recovering after oil and gas activity, she saw something new - earthworms.
I was amazed, she said,. At the very first plot, there was a lot of evidence of earthworm activity.
Native earthworms disappeared from most of northern America 10,000 years ago - I remember distinctly, during the last Ice Age Now invasive earthworm species from southern Europe - survivors from that frozen epoch, and introduced to this continent by European settlers centuries ago - are making their way through northern forests, their spread hastened by roads,timber and petroleum activities, tire treads, boats anglers and even gardeners.
As the worms feed, they release into the atmosphere much of the carbon stored in the forest floor. Climate scientists are worried.
Earthworms are yet another factor that can affect the carbon balance.
The fear is that the growing incursion of ear4thworms - not just in North America, but also in northern Europe and Russia - could convert the boreal forest, now a powerful global carbon sponge, into a carbon spout.
Moreover, the threat is still so new to boreal forests that scientists don't yet know how to calculate what the earthworms carbon effect will be or when it will appear.
It is a significant change to the carbon dynamic and how it is understood to work. The rate or the magnitude of that change is not truly understood.
The relationship between carbon and the earthworm is complex. They are beloved by gardeners because they break down organic material in soil, freeing up nutrients. This helps plants and trees grow faster, which locks carbon into living tissue. Soem types of invasive earthworms also burrow into mineral soil and seal carbon there.
But as they speed decomposition, they also release Carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. As they occupy more areas of the world, will they ultimately add more carbon to the atmosphere or will they subtract it?
That question led to what Ingrid M. Lubbers, a soil researcher at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, christened "the earthworm dilemma" in a paper published in 2013 in Nature Climate Change.
Scientists have been keen to resolve it ever since. It is just another reason why more knowledge of systems is needed because there could be an effect that would enhance climate change and enhance the rising temps.
The boreal is special. In warmer climates the floor of a typical forest is a mix of mineral soil and organic soil. In a boreal forest those components are distinct with a thick layer of rotting leaves, mosses and fallen wood on top of the mineral soil.
Soil scientists once thought that cooler temperatures reduced mixing, now they wonder if the absence of earthworms is what made the difference.
The spongy layer of leaf litter contains most of the carbon stored in the boreal soil. As it turns out, most of the invading earthworms in the North American boreal forest appear to be the type that love to devour leaf litter and stay above ground, releasing carbon.
It was found that 99.8% of earthworms studied in Alberta belonged to Dendrobia octaendra, an invasive species that eats leaf litter but doesn't burrow into the ground.
In 2015, a computer model, aimed at figuring the effect of leaf litter over time, was published.
It was found that forest floor carbon is reduced by between 50% and 94%, mostly in the first 40 years. That carbon, no longer sequestered, goes into the atmosphere. Not only that, in a 2009 study it was calculated that earthworms had already wriggled their way into 9% of the forest of northeastern Alberta and would occupy half by 2049.
The Canadian Forest Service found that 35% to 40% of the plots studied in northern Alberta contained earthworms. The leaf litter, which can be more than a foot thick, was thin and churned up where the earthworms were present. If their calculations bear out, it means that the lowly earthworm stands to alter the carbon balance of the planet by adding to the load in the atmosphere.
The global boreal forest is a muscular part of Earth's carbon cycle, at least one fifth of the carbon that cycles through air, soil and oceans passes through the boreal. Currently, the boreal absorbs more carbon from the atmosphere than it adds, but that is changing.
On the one hand warmer temps could extend the growing season, allowing trees to grow bigger and store more carbon. But rsing temps. also release carbon to the atmosphere, by thawing permafrost and increasing the number of forest fires.
It seems that earthworms are a factor - if not the main one - nudging the boreal towards becoming a global source of carbon.
In northern Minnesota, the boreal forest has slowly been invaded by earthworms. They have altered not just the depth of the leaf litter, but also the types of plant life the forest supports.
Endemic species such as the white and pink Ladies Slipper, Minnesota's State flower - as well as ferns, orchids and the saplings of coniferous trees rely on the spongy litter. As the worms feed on that layer, they allow non-natives, plants such as European Buckthorn and grasses to thrive, which in turn push out endemic plants. There is a very real danger here of Minnesota's boreal forest being transformed into prairie.
These earthworms have even been found right up at the edge of the permafrost in the northern boreal, with the bigger concern that they will penetrate even further north into the permafrost with the subsequent release of masses of carbon which would be devastating. There is no way existing to eadicate the worms from the boreal forest, their impact is permanent. Hopefully educating people not to transport them up north might slow things down, but right now scientists are keeping an eye on a new invader - Asian earthworms, which have made their way to southern Quebec and Ontario.
Sorry for the lengthy report, but I thought it was fascinating and somewhat scary.
Your fearless leader, Gordon
0 notes
Last Seen Blogs
cawwfeetawk
Cawwffee Tawk
aw-colorcat
Since 2016
mertiyiskr
mert iyiskr
cedarbranch
she's been dead since the beginning