View allAll Photos Tagged ECOSYSTEMS
Just hangin’
Green Darner Dragonfly blending in with the Lilac Bush
Along the garden path ~
Captured w/Canon EOS Rebel T6
© All rights reserved.
Pokhara, Nepal
Embracing the beauty of our planet's natural jewels! Mountains, home to 15% of the world's population and half of its biodiversity hotspots, face threats like climate change, overexploitation, and contamination.
These challenges impact us all — from melting glaciers affecting freshwater supplies to rural mountain communities facing food insecurity. On International Mountain Day 2023, let's unite to restore mountain ecosystems.
Did you know mountains contribute to our food diversity? Six crucial plant species, including maize and apples, originated in these majestic landscapes. Yet, pollution, even reaching the heights of Mt. Everest, poses a grave danger.
Let's reduce our carbon footprint, spread awareness, and advocate for nature-based solutions. Join the cause and safeguard our natural treasures! #RestoreMountains #InternationalMountainDay2023
Super-Elmar 21mm, ISO 200, 1/180 sec, f/9.5, Lee RF75 ND Grand medium soft, two stops.
LR and Nick Silver efex pro..
The organisms in the riparian zone respond to changes in river channel location and patterns of flow. The ecosystem of rivers is generally described by the river continuum concept, which has some additions and refinements to allow for dams and waterfalls and temporary extensive flooding. The concept describes the river as a system in which the physical parameters, the availability of food particles and the composition of the ecosystem are continuously changing along its length. The food (energy) that remains from the upstream part is used downstream.
The general pattern is that the first order streams contain particulate matter (decaying leaves from the surrounding forests) which is processed there by shredders like Plecoptera larvae. The products of these shredders are used by collectors, such as Hydropsychidae, and further downstream algae that create the primary production become the main food source of the organisms. All changes are gradual and the distribution of each species can be described as a normal curve, with the highest density where the conditions are optimal. In rivers succession is virtually absent and the composition of the ecosystem stays fixed in time.
TMI: your ART & NATURE
October Contest - Fresh Water Wonder
www.flickr.com/groups/impressionists/
~ai/pixlr
Il nuovo servizio ARS Altomann gestito da Rail Traction Company / Lokomotion da Verona QE per Monaco è da poco ripartita dal passo del Brennero verso Innsbruck al traino della 189.917 ed è qui ripreso sul celebre curvone di St Jodok. (10/3/16)
The new ARS Altmann train from Verona QE to München has just letf the Brennerpass station pulled by the Br189.917. (2016/3/10)
Earth is beautiful, Earth is complex.
Earth is fragile.
Earth is a delicate inter-dependent web of ecosystems that provides the basis for all life forms.
Constantly reconfiguring, morphing, decaying, the natural world is at once confounding, sublime, brutal, and unspeakably elegant.
There are 1,8 million species that we know of.
And many millions more we don't even have names for.
Countless are going extinct before we even glimpse them.
The series on "Trees" continues with a Garry Oak from Vancouver Island. The Gary Oak ecosystem is among the rarest and most endangered in North America - and the most beautiful. In springtime, waves of wildflowers sweep through the grassy meadows between trees: Early Camas, Great Camas, Death Camas, Shooting Star, Spring Gold, Miner's Lettuce, Lupine, and many more.
The trees themselves are fantastic, developing thick, twisty trunks and branches. In recent decades, significant efforts have been made to restore habitat. Walking through the oak meadows with camera and tripod was among my great pleasures during the years I lived near Victoria (1991-2000 and 2003-2011).
Photographed in Uplands Park, Victoria, Vancouver Island, BC (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2008 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
In this photo, the preparation of the ground for the installation of an almond tree, whose shapes resemble tombs, portrays the destruction of an entire natural ecosystem representative of a region.
The long thick branches of green, lush trees entwine and protect the forest by forming a canopy. The forest floor, consisting of decaying leaves, flowers embedded deep into it's soil still gives life to the ferns, grasses, mushroom and tree seedlings. The bushes crowd each other and grow around the trees with, grass covering the forest floor protecting it. It seems chaotic to read doesn't it? This isn't even 1% of the chaos that gives life to an ecosystem & helps it thrive.
Why should we seek stability, when chaos is the reason behind birth, reincarnation (reference: dead leaves & flowers, etc), a full beautiful life & an elegant meaningful death?
I don't want to be stable if I can be a living, breathing, powerful body full of chaos.
Just something to think about.
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Ogni volta che leggo di qualche disastro ambientale, come è accaduto in questi giorni, mi chiedo fino a che punto potremo arrivare.. Un giorno dovremo competere per le risorse e la sopravvivenza come la maggior parte delle speci viventi.. e in quel caso, si salvi chi può...
Foto di archivio, un angolo di barriera corallina, dall'acquario di Genova.
#reef #genova #acquario #acquarium #seaworld #echosystem #ecosistema #pesci #natura #corallo #coral #pollution #inquinamento
© all rights reserved
The Oostvaardersplassen is a nature reserve in the Netherlands. Despite its young age, it is in a polder which was only created in 1968, it already has international importance as a European wetland. The Oostvaardersplassen can be divided into two areas: wet and dry. Before the establishment of the reserve, the dry area was a nursery for willow trees, and in the first year hundreds of seedlings could be found on each square metre. This led to concern that a dense woodland would develop, significantly reducing the value of the habitat for water birds. To avoid this, the park's managers brought in a number of large herbivores to keep the area more open, including Konik horses, Red deer and Heck cattle. These large grazing animals are kept out in the open all year round without supplemental feeding, and are allowed to behave as wild animals without, for example, castrating males. The ecosystem developing under their influence is thought to resemble those that would have existed on European river banks and deltas before human disturbance. Twelve hundred of the estimated thirty-six hundred cattle, horses, and deer have perished from today's winter starvation. Scientists and managers have deemed the deaths normal. People are not very happy that the government is letting the animals die. They see the Oostvaardersplassen as more of a zoo than a wild space. Well, I think the managers are doing the right thing to maintain a healthy population within the park’s carrying capacity.
A photo of Red Deer late in the afternoon, it was the whole day foggy. Food is very hard to find in the harsh winter taken at the Dutch nature reserve Oostvaardersplassen. He was very busy and didn't notice me at first sneaking towards him. A handheld shot at 1/15s. F3.7, ISO400 and 310mm Zoom. After my photo shot he noticed me. You can see the tree in front where he eat the fibres of tree trunks. He must have been very hungry. The national park is located between Almere and Lelystad. I did enter at the Kottertocht entrance. It is hard to survive the winter. All animals are kept without supplemental winter feeding. Many Red deer and Konik horses already crossed the frozen water in search for food. Some horses were stucked due to their weight did crush the too thin ice. These Red Deer where consuming the fibres of tree trunks, because food is very hard to find, although it is not there daily nutrition. Especially when there is deep snow, lack of food causes starvation among the weak and the strongest will survive . So the survival of the fittest keeps the herds strong and healthy. Also Foxes, which are quite common in this reserve, profit from carcasses of deer, cows and birds in winter. Maybe in future a pack of Wolves could do a great job as natural predators in this part of Holland.
Een bezoek aan de Oostvaardersplassen is een kennismaking met het Nederland van duizenden jaren geleden. Een ongerept moerasgebied, met uitgestrekte plassen en woeste graslanden. De natuur mag er onbelemmerd haar gang gaan. Uniek in Nederland én in Europa. Natuurliefhebbers komen hier helemaal aan hun trekken. Vogels kijken op de plassen, een excursie naar de edelherten, een fotosafari naar de grote grazers. Of maak een rustige wandeling naar een van de vogelobservatiehutten. De Oostvaardersplassen zijn het grootste moerasgebied van Nederland. De weidsheid is ongekend en de natuur heeft er vrij spel. Ontelbare vogels hebben bezit genomen van het gebied. Vooral in de winter is dat een spectaculair gezicht. Het witte besneeuwde winterlandschap is indrukwekkend kaal en stil. De natuur is er nog jong. Toch is het nu al een natuurgebied van internationale allure. De bomen, struiken en bossen zitten vol vogels, zoogdieren en insecten. Grauwe ganzen grazen in het moeras. En de honderden Heckrunderen, konikpaarden en edelherten geven het gebied een haast on-Nederlandse aanblik. Staatsbosbeheer verwacht dat door de strenge winter dit jaar 30 procent van de edelherten, heckrunderen en konikpaarden in het natuurgebied de Oostvaardersplassen dood gaan. Het gaat om ongeveer 1200 dieren. Op zich is 30 procent niet meer dan in voorgaande jaren", aldus Staatsbosbeheer. ,,Maar de kuddes zijn door de zachte omstandigheden van de afgelopen jaren flink gegroeid. In absolute cijfers is het aantal dieren dat dood gaat daarom wel hoger dan normaal." Voor de winter liepen er in het natuurgebied ongeveer 570 heckrunderen, 1140 konikpaarden en 2320 edelherten. In de winter is de sterfte, vooral onder jonge dieren, groot. In de Oostvaardersplassen worden ernstig verzwakte dieren die toch zouden sterven afgeschoten. Zo wordt hen nodeloos lijden bespaard.
Went out for a walk in the rocky shore of Vuosaari, Helsinki.
I found a nice location and started to wander around.
Found this composition after getting my shoes and socks wet, because I wasn't paying attention to the waves. Lesson learned.
I proceeded to set the tripod, grabbed the camera from the backpack as well as the Sigma 18-35mm lens.
After taking a couple of test shots, it became obviously clear that the image needed a polarising filter to expose more detail underwater, and a graduated filter to calm down the bright sky.
I took three shots, first focusing on the rocks in the foreground, then the partially submerged rocks just a few meters away and then all the way to the island with the trees.
After finishing the trip I sat down in front of the computer monitor and started working on the images. I processed the images the way I liked them and proceeded to focus stacking them in Photoshop.
So here's the result of a lovely mid-day walk with wet shoes, hope you enjoy the image.
Amidst the dynamic ecosystem of Lagos Yaguacaca, the Great Egret (Ardea alba) stands as a beacon of tranquility. This photograph captures the bird in its poised vigilance, a sentinel in the marshes. The egret's stark white plumage, set against the dense greenery of Leticia, Colombia, illustrates the bird's adaptation to its wetland habitat. The striking yellow beak, a sliver of color, punctuates the scene, drawing the viewer's eye to the bird's elegant profile.
In this frame, my focus was on isolating the egret's form to emphasize its role within the ecosystem. It's a moment that speaks to the egret's solitary nature and its prowess as a hunter. The composition is a deliberate balance of color and space, inviting contemplation on the simplicity and complexity of nature. As a conservation photographer, these are the instances I seek to share, hoping to bridge the distance between our human experience and the natural world.
©2023 Adam Rainoff