Tag Archives: Forests
Death is life
Halloween has passed, with rain and wind and falling autumn leaves. And all over the forest: the very spooky ‘consumers of the death’, the creatures of the dark soils feasting on what has fallen: the saprotrophs and detritivores. What better … Continue reading
European tree species in decline
Close to half of Europese tree species are threatened, according to a recent report by the IUCN, the groupin charge of the so-called ‘species red lists’. Causes of this dramatic number? Ongoing forest cutting of course. Yet, most importantly and … Continue reading
Collective science is the best science
When scientists (or people in general) work together, magic happens. I am a dedicated advocate of that policy: if a lot of people all do a little bit of work, the level of interest of the results skyrockets. I was … Continue reading
Autumn
In autumn, leaves rapidly loose photosynthetic efficiency when chlorophyll is broken down, which reflects in their levels of chlorophyll fluorescence. This breaking down of chlorophyll is a patchy process, however, with increasing variation in fluorescence levels when leaves start … Continue reading
More than bluebells
The Hallerbos is much more than only bluebells. Yes, the millions of delicate purple flowers are world-famous, and the single reason why thousands of people flock together here every day at the height of the season. Yet there is a … Continue reading
Autumn is awesome
At least when the sun is shining… Currently, we are hiding inside for the autumn rains and the poor 6 °C they come with. Yet when the sun is out to lighten up all the colors, the Arctic world seems to … Continue reading