Past Programs
Ecology and Natural History - 2008
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Conserving Peru's coastal forests
29/11/2008
Prosopis pallida or Huarango is a very useful plant. In the dry forests of southern coastal Peru it provides food and forage for many people. Now it is being chopped for charcoal for cooking and the forests are threatened. Only a few tens of hectares of native Huarango forest remain and much of the landscape now resembles a moonscape. Oliver Whaley is part of a team from Kew Gardens assisting local people to conserve their forests.
Traditional Indian farming encourages biodiversity
29/11/2008
Tropical forests used to cover large parts of India, especially along the Malabar Coast in Karnataka State. Modern tropical agriculture doesn't support biodiversity. The human population is predicted to grow to 9 or 10 billion people. So how can food be supplied while maintaining biological life support systems? Gretchen Daily counted birds and found abundance and richness in the Indian countryside, despite dense human population. The secret is complexity to farming rather than monocultures; for example, high palms with lower understorey crops.
Malaysian and Indonesian peat swamps drained and burnt for palm oil production
12/07/2008
Most peat swamps are in the Indo Malaysian region. Peat a spongy wet mass and can support trees up to 70m in height. The environment is water-logged with high acidity, up to pH of 2. Dropped leaves don't decompose. Cellular contents leak out, but leaf structure remains. Peat swamps are estimated to have formed over 5,000 years. As well as a large range of plants, surprisingly there is diverse animal life as well. But peat swamps are being destroyed originally for timber but now for palm oil for American fast food and as a biofuel. Peat swamps are drained and the peat is burnt.
New baits target feral pigs
12/07/2008
Feral pigs are one of Australia's most destructive pests. Now a pig-specific bait has been developed. Nicky Phillips reports.
18th century attitudes to Australian plants and animals
26/01/2008
While tracking the introduction of the African gamba grass which has become a significant problem in the Northern Territory, ecologist Gary Cook discovered that from the 1920s to 2000, 84 species of grasses and legumes were intentionally introduced to Australia. In official documents he found that in some cases these introductions appear to have been part of a plan to wipe out Australian plants and animals.
Saving Nemo
12/01/2008
The speakers in today's forum describe how the changing climate is affecting coral. We'll hear about the effect of green zones where fish are protected. There's the latest research on sharks and concerns for their future. And do fish larvae stay close to home or do fish protected in one region actually influence the populations of the same species in other neighbouring regions.
