Island Press Field Notes

Considering the lines stretching around the block ten years ago to witness one of nature’s masterpieces, you might want to arrive early when the National Botanic Garden opens its doors. Trained botanists, tropical ecologists, and naturalists must queue patiently alongside curious visitors from Toledo. All eagerly await a chance to pay homage to the world’s largest flowering plant, the titan arum, now opening (literally) at the Garden. This floral extravaganza will likely run a few more days before Amorphophallus titanum returns to normal life and goes out of bloom.

Did you know that pandas used to roam parts of Tennessee and feed on the bamboo  that grew there? Cool, right? Check out this week's #ForewordFriday selection from "distinguished elder of conservation biology" and "marvelous guide," Reed Noss. His new book, Forgotten Grasslands of the South, is an unforgettable journey through the history and natural history of the once biologically rich and abundant grasslands of the southern US.

Salamanders, fish and perhaps even humans are evolving fast in response to toxic chemicals. Is that bad? In the hemlock and oak forests of northeastern Connecticut, Steve Brady stood thigh deep in black muck and scooped up a handful of spotted salamander eggs. A Yale PhD student, he had once fancied himself zipping across tropical waters in a Zodiac boat or scanning rainforest canopies in search of exotic birds. Instead, he had just planted his budding career as an evolutionary biologist in a muddy ditch.

Everyone knows that sea otters are adorable, and larger numbers of people are learning that they play a key role in maintaining ecosystem diversity by preventing sea urchin populations from turning into kelp-forest mowing swarms that leave “urchin barrens” in their wake.