That¹s a good idea, Ed. A good id guide is needed for the checklist, and
I¹m hoping to see what Jenny is producing for NYBG. NY has a
well-researched flora list which is approx two thousand plants, too many for
most folks to handle. NY trees are manageable 100+. Maybe the list of
trees should be more widely available. Does anyone else have tree
checklists for their state?
--
Carolyn Summers
63 Ferndale Drive
Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706
914-478-5712
From: Edward Frank <[email protected]>
Reply-To: <[email protected]>
Date: Sun, 29 Nov 2009 16:57:03 -0500
To: <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [ENTS] Observing nature...
Jess,
People like searching, as you say Waldo, word searches etc., I think people
really like to collect things. Many are not really interested in birds as
part of ecology except in how it might enable them to collect more. Birds
for many are an item on a list to be checked off. I collect lots of things
and I think it is a common preoccupation, so it is not surprising that
people collect birds. For others this collection is the beginning or a
doorway into understanding and exploring nature more fully. Many kids
collect leaves from trees simply as part of a school assignment, but I am
willing to bet that many of you collected leaves as a child simply because
you wanted to collect them. You were interested in the trees and this has
led to your eventual participation in groups like ENTS. Many people had an
interest when younger and have lost it as they grew older. If we want to
see new generations of people involved with nature, we need to find some way
to encourage them to retain their initial interest in nature as they grow
into adulthood. Maybe we should be producing checklists of tree species
and and shrub species for people to collect as Audubon and others produce
bird lists for people to check off.
Ed
Check out my new Blog: http://nature-web-network.blogspot.com/ (and click
on some of the ads)
>
> ----- Original Message -----
>
> From: Jess Riddle <mailto:[email protected]>
>
> To: [email protected]
>
> Sent: Saturday, November 28, 2009 11:59 PM
>
> Subject: Re: [ENTS] Observing nature...
>
>
> Steve,
>
> Interesting question. I don't know enough relevant information to
> make come up with a good answer, but I'm not going to let that keep me
> from speculating.
>
> Eyeballs help make an entity cute. Humans have many body parts in
> common with other vertebrates, so its natural to anthropomorphize
> animals. Anthropomorphizing could lead to an emotional connection.
> Plants are more difficult to identify with, and hence less commonly
> cared about.
>
> For motile animals, natural selection favors individuals that that pay
> attention to movement in their environment. Hence, moving birds
> naturally become the focus of human attention, while no analogous
> process exists to draw our attention to an individual tree.
>
> I enjoy finding things: fossils, rare plants, and of course big trees.
> I don't know how universally people enjoy searching (although Waldo
> suggests I'm not alone), but birds seem like a convenient goal for
> those who like searching. Birds exhibit patterns of behaviour
> allowing the development of search strategies, and the birds present
> at a given site changes daily. Once found, the behaviour can become
> the focus of attention, which is not possible with plants (with a few
> notable exceptions like carnivorous plants).
>
> Bob,
>
> All those people frustrating you could have chosen to walk at a track,
> in a mall, or on a treadmill. However, they made the conscious
> decision to go to the arboretum. That decision suggests to me that on
> some level they do appreciate their surroundings.
>
> Jess
>
> On Sat, Nov 28, 2009 at 10:58 PM, Steve Galehouse <[email protected]>
> wrote:
>> > ENTS-
>> >
>> > Today my oldest son and I returned to the Cuyahoga Valley to investigate
>> > some sites for potential reports. We didn't spend much time measuring,
>> > rather just hiked to explore unfamiliar areas(did measure a white ash to
>> > 132', and a sycamore to 13' 10'' cbh and 113'). The neatest thing we
>> > observed was a snowy owl, perched in a tree in an area of larger trees.
>> It's
>> > very unusual for one to be in Ohio, but my trusty Peterson's guide says it
>> > can happen---which brings me to the primary question of this post: Why are
>> > more people, generally, interested in birding than observing and
>> measuring
>> > trees? I think we all can attest that on a trail we would more likely
>> > encounter a birder with a $800-$1200 Zeiss binocular around the neck than
a
>> > tree measurer with a $200 Nikon rangefinder and $100 inclinometer. I'm in
>> no
>> > way anti-birding, but knowing the woods seems so much more basic--the
>> types
>> > of trees determine the species of birds and mammals present. The
>> > avian-centric position seems to be expressed in the promotional literature
>> > of park systems also, where rare or unusual species of birds present are
>> > stressed, without mention of the forest community that attracted them. And
>> > Jenny, this in no way is meant to disparage your rescue efforts in NYC.
>> >
>> > Steve
>> >
>> > --
>> > Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org
>> > Send email to [email protected]
>> > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en
>> > To unsubscribe send email to [email protected]
>
> --
> Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org
> Send email to [email protected]
> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en
> To unsubscribe send email to [email protected]
--
Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org
Send email to [email protected]
Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en
To unsubscribe send email to [email protected]
--
Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org
Send email to [email protected]
Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en
To unsubscribe send email to [email protected]
