Ecosystems
View allAll Photos Tagged ECOSYSTEMS
A rainforest is an area of tall, mostly evergreen trees and a high amount of rainfall. Rainforests are Earth’s oldest living ecosystems, with some surviving in their present form for at least 70 million years. They are incredibly diverse and complex, home to more than half of the world’s plant and animal species—even though they cover just 6% of Earth’s surface. This makes rainforests astoundingly dense with flora and fauna. Rainforests’ rich biodiversity is incredibly important to our well-being and the well-being of our planet.
Tessin
My best photos are here: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/ticino-best-photos-of-southern-...
Whole PHOTO SERIES about my garden on my blog: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/post/western-green-lizard-lacer...
My latest ANIMAL VIDEO (warning, it's a bit shocking): www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T2-Xszz7FI
AUDIO (if you want to hear the sounds of my garden in the early morning): www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfoCTqdAVCE
ABOUT THIS PHOTO:
Partly out of fear to bore the Flickr community with too many lizard photos, I thought it would make for a nice change - yet in keeping with the main theme of my gallery - to give interested nature and reptile fans the opportunity to get a sense of the lacerta bilineata habitat where I photographed all the animals on this page.
So this is the second of a (as yet planned) series of pictures (if people like them there will be more) that will show you where all the reptile "action" took place: my garden in the beautiful community of Monteggio in the Malcantone region of the Ticino, Switzerland.
The pictures were taken over a period of over a decade, so there were obviously some changes in the garden during that time, but If you focus on the palm tree - which has grown considerably over the years but is visible in all the photos I plan to upload - you get a sense of the geography of the place.
In summer, which is when this photo was taken, the micro-climate in this particular area of the Ticino can be almost tropical in the sense that it's hot and very humid with frequent thunderstorms and heavy rain, and I often refer to my garden (half-)jokingly as my "little Swiss rainforest". I guess you can see how animals - particularly lacerta bilineata and other lizards - would feel at home in this "tropical paradise" of mine :-)
Apparently - as I learned in the comments here on Flickr - the occurrence of this particular lizard species is a very good indicator that an ecosystem is intact, and my family and I always took great care not to interfere too much in our garden and let nature roam as free as possible.
In return, over the years we were rewarded for this "calculated inaction" with a wide variety of species of plants, insects, lizards and snakes visiting - or by now residing permanently in - our little nature refuge, some of which I managed to capture on camera.
As mentioned before, if people like these photos or are interested in other flora and fauna from my private jungle, I'll upload one every once in a while between lizards, so let me know in the comments if you're interested in seeing more of these or if I should stick to just reptiles ;-)
As always, thank you so much for your interest and feedback, stay safe - and have a great week everyone!
Lacerta
Music:
"Repeat" by CHRIS COMBETTE, in 'Les Enfants de Gorée' (2010)
open.spotify.com/track/5ErThqPZNKTeyITR3fYNL9?si=hRygwwzP...
Les insectes du monde entier sont en voie d'extinction , Plus de 40 % des espèces d'insectes sont en déclin et un tiers sont menacées, selon les chercheurs. Leur taux de mortalité est huit fois plus rapide que celui des mammifères, oiseaux et reptiles. Au cours des trente dernières années, la masse totale des insectes existant dans le monde a diminué de 2,5 % chaque année. A ce rythme, s'inquiètent les scientifiques, ils pourraient disparaître d'ici à un siècle. « C'est très rapide. Dans dix ans, il y aura un quart d'insectes de moins, dans cinquante ans, plus que la moitié, et dans cent ans, il n'y en aura plus » Les insectes sont « essentiels » au bon fonctionnement de tous les écosystèmes, expliquent les chercheurs. Ils pollinisent les plantes, recyclent les nutriments et servent de nourriture de base aux autres animaux. Leur disparition « aura des conséquences catastrophiques à la fois pour les écosystèmes de la planète et pour la survie de l'humanité » L'un des impacts majeurs concerne les nombreux oiseaux, reptiles, amphibiens et poissons qui se nourrissent d'insectes. « Si cette source de nourriture leur est enlevée, tous ces animaux mourront de faim » , « Si nous ne changeons pas nos méthodes de production alimentaire, les insectes dans leur ensemble s'engageront sur la voie de l'extinction dans quelques décennies », écrivent les chercheurs, pour lesquels l'agriculture intensive est la cause principale du déclin des populations d'insectes, en particulier la forte utilisation des pesticides. L'urbanisation et le changement climatique sont également des facteurs importants.
Image prise dans un milieu naturel .
flying from the canopy of a fig tree in Enonkishu Conservancy in the Greater Masai Mara ecosystem, Kenya
Turaco's ( Musophagidae ) are one of the bird families endemic to Africa. These medium-sized birds live in sub-Sahara Africa.
The only large species is the Great Blue Turaco.
Turaco's are difficult to see and to photograph as they spend a lot of time in tree cover while foraging.
Often their presence in areas with riparian or riverine forest is revealed by the raucous calls but then the challenge of locating them remains, especially when you want to take flight shots
Tauraco Schalowi
Schalow's toerako
Touraco de Schalow
Schalowturako
Turaco de Schalow
Turaco di Schalow
Turaco-de-schalow
Many thanks for your views, favorites and supportive comments.
All rights reserved.
Fons Buts©2025
My photos may not be used on websites, blogs or in any other media without my written and explicit permission.
Enonkishu Conservancy in the Greater Masai Mara ecosystem, Kenya
Merops bullockoides
Witkapbijeneter
Guêpier à front blanc
Weißstirnspint
Abejaruco Frentiblanco
Gruccione frontebianca
abelharuco-de-testa-branca
Many thanks for your views, favorites and supportive comments.
All rights reserved. Fons Buts©2024
My photos may not be used on websites, blogs or in any other media without my written and explicit permission.
Erythrina Mulungu and its "customers"
July and August are months rich in beauty and color here.
Crossing the mountains that separate Rio de Janeiro from São Paulo, with a halfway detour to Minas Gerais, this is the time when the green is punctuated by many trees with red flowers, others in coral tones.
Erythrina mulungu, known by the common names of Murungu, Mulungu-coral, is an endemic tree in Brazil, found in several national ecosystem including the Amazon and Atlantic Forest.
The species is used as an ornamental tree in tropical and subtropical regions and as a medicinal plant in traditional South American medicine, especially in Brazil. The tree is 10 to 25 m tall, blooms from mid-August with the tree completely leafless, lasting until the end of September. Its flowers are much sought after by hummingbirds and other birds to suck their nectar.
The fruits ripen in October-November with the plant still without leaves, but they are not edible.
Studies show that the plant has sedative, anxiolytic and anticonvulsant properties.
In my hometown I saw specimens of this beautiful and exuberant flowering being attacked by flocks of Maritacas, and I ended up feeling a small shower of flowers on my head, as the clumsy creatures lose a lot of food on these wild visits to the trees where they feed on.
Maritaca is a popular term to refer to the various species of birds in the parrot family. Depending on the region, Maritaca is the name used for medium-sized birds, which are smaller than parrots.
In the first photo you can see the Psittacara leucophthalma (Periquitão Maracanã) which has an “oval” shaped head, general green coloration with the sides of the head and neck with some red feathers. The average size is 32cm. In juveniles, the red feathers on the head and under the wings are absent, being entirely green in color.
The species flyes in flocks of 5 to 40 individuals, sleeping collectively in different places.
Found from the east of the Andes, from Colombia and Venezuela to the north of Argentina and Uruguay, including part of the Amazon and almost all of Brazil.
In the second photo another species, the Brotogeris chiriri (Yellow-winged Parakeet or Star Parakeet).
It is found in Central and Eastern Brazil, Bolivia, Argentina, Eastern Paraguay, Uruguay and Peru. In the national territory, it occurs from the South to the extreme of Pará, Ceará, Maranhão, Bahia, Minas Gerais, Pantanal, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.
Both species were feeding from the same tree when I took these photos.
Seen in Enonkishu Conservancy in the Greater Masai Mara ecosystem, Kenya
also called Black-breasted Snake-Eagle
Circaetus pectoralis
zwartborstslangenarend
Circaète à poitrine noire
Schwarzbrust-Schlangenadler
Culebrera Pechinegra
Biancone pettonero
Águia-cobreira-de-peito-preto
Many thanks for your views, favorites and supportive comments.
All rights reserved.
Fons Buts©2025
My photos may not be used on websites, blogs or in any other media without my written and explicit permission.
Lemek Conservancy in the Greater Masai Mara ecosystem , Kenya
Many thanks for your views, favorites and supportive comments.
All rights reserved. Fons Buts©2024
My photos may not be used on websites, blogs or in any other media without my written and explicit permission
🌐 Paraje Mora, Corrientes, Argentina
🇦🇷 Jote cabeza amarilla
🔬 Cathartes burrovianus
🇵🇾 Yryvu-akâ-sa'yju
🇺🇸 Lesser Yellow-headed Vulture
🇧🇷 Urubu-de-cabeça-amarela
this young eagle is looking at an adult at the other side of a floodplain in Enonkishu Conservancy in the Greater Masai Mara ecosystem, Kenya
Haliaeetus vocifer
Afrikaanse Zeearend
Pygargue vocifer
Schreiseeadler
Pigargo Vocinglero
Aquila pescatrice africana
pigargo-africano
Many thanks for your views, favorites and supportive comments.
All rights reserved.
Fons Buts©2025
My photos may not be used on websites, blogs or in any other media without my written and explicit permission.
Tanzania, Parco Nazionale del Serengeti, Autunno 2019
Foto scattata durante un safari in Tanzania nell’ottobre 2019 / Photo taken during a safari in Tanzania in October 2019
L'ecosistema del Serengeti è una regione geografica dell'Africa, che si estende nel nord della Tanzania. L'area protetta all'interno della regione comprende circa 30.000 km2 di terreno, compreso il Parco Nazionale del Serengeti e diverse riserve di caccia. Il Serengeti ospita la seconda più grande migrazione di mammiferi terrestri al mondo, il che contribuisce a renderlo una delle sette meraviglie naturali dell'Africa. Il Serengeti è anche rinomato per la sua numerosa popolazione di leoni. Vi si trovano circa 70 specie di grandi mammiferi e 500 di uccelli. Si dice spesso che il nome "Serengeti" derivi dalla parola "seringit" nella lingua Maasai, che significa "pianure infinite".
The Serengeti ecosystem is a geographical region in Africa, spanning northern Tanzania. The protected area within the region includes approximately 30,000 km2 of land, including the Serengeti National Park and several game reserves. The Serengeti hosts the second largest terrestrial mammal migration in the world, which helps secure it as one of the Seven Natural Wonders of Africa.The Serengeti is also renowned for its large lion population. Approximately 70 large mammal and 500 bird species are found there. The name "Serengeti" is often said to be derived from the word "seringit" in the Maasai language, meaning "endless plains".
Taken in Mulligans Flat Nature Reserve, Canberra.
At Mulligans Flat one has the opportunity to wander through Yellow Box-Red Gum, Grassy Woodland, an endangered ecological community. The grassy woodland ecosystem has a native understorey of tussock grasses, scattered shrubs and a rich diversity of smaller flowering plants.
Amazingly underground truffles are being studied in the Reserve which are eaten by native animals and so the spores are spread!!
A gorgeous nature reserve with many tracks to walk.
View large:
[Explore 15/11/2015]
This is a classic view of Maya Bay, made famous by the movie 'The Beach' starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Controversy arose during the making of the film due to 20th Century Fox's bulldozing and landscaping of the natural beach setting of Ko Phi Phi Leh to make it more "paradise-like". The production altered some sand dunes and cleared some coconut trees and grass to widen the beach. Fox set aside a fund to reconstruct and return the beach to its natural state; however, lawsuits were filed by environmentalists who believed the damage to the ecosystem was permanent and restoration attempts had failed. The lawsuits dragged on for years and in 2006 Thailand's Supreme Court upheld a ruling that the filming had harmed the environment and ordered that damage assessments be made. Defendants in the case included 20th Century Fox and some Thai government officials.
The insanely picturesque bay is now protected as a National Park.
By the way, the Flickr map is not quite right in terms of naming!
Genesis 19:17 “And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.”
These are the Cuchara Mountains, a small isolated range of the Rockies in south central Colorado, very close to the New Mexico border. Winter hangs on for a large part of the year here. This photo taken at almost 10,000 feet elevation shows that it's almost June and none of the aspens in the shot have a single Spring bud on them. There was a cold wind blowing, almost "like off the glacier", it snowed for a short time, mostly uber dry "corn snow", and temperatures dropped well into the 20's that night.
Hard to see, but in the distance is one of the "Spanish Sisters", peeking over the horizon.
Truly one of my favorite alpine ecosystems on the Planet.
Early light on the back forty, where we let things grow wild. Webs glisten.
Large view: www.flickr.com/photos/jan-timmons/54014040937/sizes/o/
A bridge, and many species of birds, trees, grasses and aquatic plants in, around, and over Creekfield Lake in Brazos Bend State Park, Needville, TX.
For the Remote theme of Flickr Friday.
Wetlands are a distinct ecosystem that benefit people through ecosystem services that include water purification, groundwater replenishment, stabilization of shorelines and storm protection, water storage and flood control, processing of carbon (carbon fixation, decomposition and sequestration), other nutrients and pollutants, and support of plants and animals. Put bluntly, no wetlands, no sustainable life for humans.
Source Wikipedia.
World Wetlands Day, February 2, 2022.
“Urban Ecosystem Restoration” mural painted by Millo for Street Art For Mankind
From the Street Art For Mankind instagram post:
It features the artist’s signature clumsy character in a surreal setting, attempting to reclaim his space in an urban jungle that has forgotten our primary needs. It poetically and powerfully underscores the importance of green spaces in urban environments. The character demonstrates the strength of these spaces, their transformative impact on our reality, and how they enhance our well-being. It’s a clear invitation to reconnect with nature in our cities.
During the peak of the fish throw used to attract birds on the pelagic trip, among the hundreds of circling gulls, a uvenile (grey-billed, barely visible) and an adult black-browed albatross (Thalassarche melanophris) raced for the fish, showing that the quickest and most skillful get the prize.
• Albatros de ceja negra
• Black-browed albatross
• Albatroz-de-sobrancelha
Scientific classification:
Superdomain: Neomura
Domain: Eukaryota
(unranked): Opisthokonta
Kingdom: Animalia
Subkingdom: Eumetazoa
(unranked): Bilateria
Superphylum: Deuterostomia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Clade: Tetrapoda
Clade: Amniota
Clade: Diapsida
Clade: Archosauria
Class: Aves
Subclass: Neornithes
Infraclass: Neognathae
Clade: Neoaves
Order: Procellariiformes
Family: Diomedeidae
Genus: Thalassarche
Species: T. melanophris
Pelagic waters off the coast of Punta del Este, Maldonado, Uruguay (35.1073°S, 54.9380°W)
Another coastal ecosystem resident is this Black Oystercatcher.
From the Cornell Lab:
"Among the mussel- and barnacle-covered rocks of the Pacific Coast lives this stout shorebird with a gleaming reddish bill, yellow eyes, and pink legs. Black Oystercatchers spend their entire lives in view of the Pacific Ocean or adjacent bays, in rocky marine habitats that provide both nesting and foraging areas."
This one was foraging on the jetty in Crescent City, California.
"If you look at ocean water in a clear glass, you’ll see that it’s not clear but full of tiny particles. Seawater contains dissolved salts, proteins, fats, dead algae, detergents and other pollutants. If you shake this glass of ocean water vigorously, small bubbles will form on the surface of the liquid.
Sea foam forms under similar conditions – but on a much grander scale – when storms roll in and the ocean is agitated by wind and waves. The creation of sea foam can occur often in gargantuan proportions.
Most sea foam is not harmful to humans and is often an indication of a productive ocean ecosystem. But when large harmful algal blooms decay near shore, there are potential for impacts to human health and the environment. During blooms popping sea foam bubbles are one way that algal toxins become airborne. The resulting aerosol can irritate the eyes of beach goers and poses a health risk for those with asthma or other respiratory conditions."