...Red imported fire ants (RIFA) are invasive nuisance insects that have spread throughout the southeastern United States since their initial arrival more than sixty five years ago. Red imported fire ants, or Solenopsis invicta Buren, is native to Mato Grasso, Brazil and other areas throughout central South America and was accidentally brought to Mobile, Alabama in the early 1940s. Although the method of introduction is not clear, the USDA states that it is possible that the species may have arrived in the United States on ships’ ballasts. Since their initial invasion in the 1940s, the species has spread throughout fourteen states. Red imported fire ants impose substantial negative impacts on people, animals, rural and urban environments culminating...
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...Taz and Ant; One Endangered, One Invasive Taylor Drake Biology 106A, Fall 2012 In a world dominated by humans there are many things that also inhabit Earth, one of those being animals. Sometimes these animals can thrive in certain or multiple geographical areas while others, due to humans, may fail to adapt and survive. An invasive species is one that has a native geographical range but then somehow gets transferred to a new geographical range where it possibly can thrive and cause problems such as the Red Imported Fire Ant. On the other hand, there are some species of animals that are endangered and on the brink of extinction like the Tasmanian devil. With the encroachment of humans on the animal’s environment, they have hindered their ability to thrive forcing them to become endangered. Humans influence on the ecosystem, animals have to adapt like the Red Fire Ant or be forced to near or possible extinction like the Tasmanian devil. 1 The Tasmanian devil (Figure 1), Sarcophilus harrisii, is the largest carnivorous marsupial of the family Dasyuridae found on the Australian island of Tasmania (Figure 2) (Tasmanian devil). The devil is normally black with a white patch around its neck and generally about the size of a small dog weighing between fifteen and twenty Figure 1. The Tasmanian devil, Sarcophilus harrisii pounds (Tasmanian Devil). On Tasmania, it lives in coastal scrubs and eucalypt forests but is also found near places of human inhabitance because S...
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...Climate change Welcomes the Asian Needle Ant into its ecosystem The Asian needle ant is a native species of ant which has begun vastly spreading throughout the ecosystem; eliminating various native ant species and therefore corrupting how the ecosystem functions. The six-legged, brown-red insect appears to have an almost identical appearance to the Fire ant and Argentine ant; as well as 30 other species of ants. The Asian needle ant has already rapidly migrated from Asia, and can already be found in forests in 9 different states around North East America. It is not uncommon for ants to establish populations outside of their native habitat; with over 200 ant species already discovered in other habitats, with the international transportation and tourism trading system said to be the main cause. Guénard, Benoît, (2009) Formicidae. But what causes the Asian needle ants to invade new habitats and eliminate other ant species? Ants and their survival are greatly affected by changes in temperature and humidity. Therefore, climate change causes the colonisation of ant species in colder climates that are more suitable. Studies and experiments based on the distribution of the Argentine ant have proven that the major factor responsible for their numbers increasing Worldwide is due to climate change. The invasion of the Asian needle ant has had a large range of negative impacts on the ecosystem and its natural ecological functioning. The species is one of the most difficult to rid once...
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...provide interesting information on the birds, plants and snails of the Galapagos Islands. I will discuss the biological interrelations between the species to include how they are affected by the human intrusion. I will also share some information on the conservation groups that are trying to preserve these islands for the future. The Galapagos Islands are located in the eastern Pacific Ocean approximately 600 miles off the west coast of South America. The Galapagos Archipelago consists of 4,897 square miles of land over 28,000 square miles. There are 16 islands that provide tourists and visitors with many spectacular species to look at. These species are comprised of birds, marine life, tortoises, sea lions, iguanas, snails and flora such as cactus and mangroves. (Galapagos Online, 2009) The Galapagos Islands are home to many species of birds. Some of these birds are the Blue-Footed, Red-Footed, and Masked boobies; Darwin’s Finches which are comprised of 13 different species belonging to 4 genera; the Albatross and the Galapagos Penguins. (Galapagos Online, 2009) The three varieties of boobies are different in nature. The Blue-Footed Booby’s natural habitat extends from Peru to Mexico. They nest in colonies. They can be seen breeding on most islands north of the equator. (Galapagos Online, 2009) The Red-Footed Booby is the smallest in size compared to the other types of booby. These birds make their nests in small trees and shrubs. Their colonies...
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...There is a substantial relationship amid tropical hammocks and tropical storms. A lot of these forests were created by wind-born seeds from tropical species. Powerful winds have the capability to shape and reshape whole landscapes. The Hammocks are exclusively susceptible to destruction by strong winds from hurricanes and tropical storms. Thousands of years of adapting to the harsh, coastal winds have affected the form, or habitat of many trees. The fact that these trees have shallow root systems causes them to be easily up-rooted by abrupt gusts of strong winds. Branches on many hardwood trees in tropical hammocks modified enabling them to cope with winds, by spreading out and growing horizontally to minimize damage to the trees and loss of limbs. (Main, 2013). The same way high winds helped to create and form the landscape of tropical hammocks they can also alter or destroy them. Serious tropical...
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...Biology 2F03: Lecture 1 Chapter 2: Life on Land • • • • • • • • Labs start on the Sept 17 Why horses and cattle help restore Guanacaste forest of Costa Rica? o This forest was in decline for thousands of years, when Indians colonized central America, it caused its decline. o Its regenerated when the Europeans came with the cattle o The trees only produce a new plant after processes: the fallen fruit has to be eaten by a larger animal (mule, or horse or cow) à it has to pass through the body and ends up in a pile of fertilizer only then it can regenerate and produce a tree o Why did it evolve to be depended to this process? § There must be animals there in the past, in the past it was a camel (llama, alpaca). When the Indians came from asia (50000 years ago) these animals went extinct and the tree lost its major dispersal system What is the most obvious foundation of life on land? o Is landà soil Climate defines biomes, the ‘shapes’ of vegetation o Defines the major types of land on earth o Temperature and precipitation to be specific Soils in turn greatly affect the aspects (roots, water, nutrient) à rentention, root attachment, etc. Soil typically form layers (horizontal) retaining a range of physical and chemical layers: o Classification of soil: O= organic, A, B, C Soil horizons: description o O: organic, litter on top, fine litter deeper (gets broken down, hence fine), pollen, dead organisms o A: mineral soil, some organic matter...
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...Establish and Manage Your Home Lawn The home lawn and turf areas surrounding churches, parks, and office buildings do more than just serve as pleasant green backdrops. The grass plants that make up the lawns serve as miniature air-conditioners and pollution-abatement centers. On a block of eight houses, the front lawns have the cooling effect of 70 tons of air-conditioning. The plants, in transpiring water to cool themselves, also cool the surrounding area. Roughly 50 percent of the heat striking a turf area is eliminated by transpiration. When the temperature of the sidewalk is 100 °F, the temperature of the adjacent turf remains near 75 °F. This cooling may last into the night, with studies showing a 13-degree cooling at 9 p.m. This air-conditioning is not free, however. An average 5,000-square-foot lawn transpires about 3,000 gallons of water on a hot summer day. If this water is not supplied by rain, it must be applied by some other means. Turfgrass also functions as a noise barrier. Studies at the Riverbank Acoustical Laboratory in Geneva, Illinois, found Kentucky bluegrass turf more sound-absorbent than a heavy carpet on a felt pad. One of the most significant byproducts of a living, green backdrop is its effect upon the atmosphere. A 250-square-foot lawn produces enough oxygen for a family of four. The average lawn traps significant amounts of carbon dioxide, peroxyacetyl nitrates, and ozone, as well as particulate matter. A most important effect is the prevention of soil...
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...designations of geographical entities in this publication, and the presentation of the material, do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of Conservation International or its supporting organizations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Any opinions expressed in this publication are those of the writers, and do not necessarily reflect those of Conservation International (CI). Suggested citation: Walker Painemilla, K., Rylands, A. B., Woofter, A. and Hughes, C. (eds.). 2010. Indigenous Peoples and Conservation: From Rights to Resource Management. Conservation International, Arlington, VA. Cover photos: Background: Red-and-green macaw (Ara chloroptera) with two Kayapo children, Pará, Brazil. © Cristina G. Mittermeier. Left column (from top to bottom): Man in native dress at the Celebration of the YUS (Yopno, Uruwa, and Som watersheds) Conservation Area Dedication in Teptep village, Papua New Guinea. © Bruce Beehler/Conservation...
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...ADRA AC&H AC&H H&S ADRA HA HA H&S OI REC NAT NAT OI VOC VOC SGO&H REC SGO&H pathfinder honor book 2014 revision general conference youth ministries department -1- ADRA AC&H H&S NAT HA OI SGO&H REC VOC pathfinder honor book 2014 revision general conference youth ministries department -3- General Conference Youth Ministries Department Director: Gilbert Cangy General Conference Associate Youth Director/Pathfinder World Director: Jonatan Tejel General Conference Honors Committee: Jonatan Tejel, Chairman Vanessa Correa, Secretary Gennady Kasap: ESD Youth Director Busi Khumalo: SID Youth Director Mark O’Ffill: NAD representative John Sommerfeld: SPD representative Paul Tompkins: TED Youth Director Jobbie Yabut: SSD Youth Director Udolcy Zukowski: SAD Pathfinder Director Copyright © 2014 by the Youth Ministries Department of the Seventh-day Adventist® Church All rights reserved. Published 2014 First edition published 1998. Second edition 2011. Third edition 2014 Rights for publishing this book outside the U.S.A. or in non-English languages are administered by the Youth Ministries Department of the Seventh-day Adventist® Church. For additional information, please visit our website, www.gcyouthministries. org, email youthinfo@gc.adventist.org, or write to Youth Ministries Department, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists® Church, 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904, U.S.A. Cover and inside design by Jonatan Tejel Printed in the United...
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...Growing Vegetables & Useful UAE Climate Information Compiled by: Saqer Bin Zayed Al Nehayyan Growing Vegetables & UAE Climate Information 2007 Index Temperature conversion chart ................................................................ 4 Average Temperature Conditions........................................................... 4 UAE Vegetables Growing Calendar ........................................................ 5 Measurement and Conversions ............................................................... 8 Winds in UAE ....................................................................................................17 Greenhouse Introduction ..........................................................................22 Vegetables A to Z ...........................................................................................23 Nursery management in vegetable crops By: Rajinder Kumar Dhall and J.S. Hundal.......................................................................................................25 Raised Bed Gardening .................................................................................26 Hydroponic production ...............................................................................29 Shade Tolerant Vegetables (and Fruits)............................................39 A veggie for all seasons..............................................................................40 Cool Season Vegetables ................
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...500 extraordinary islands G R E E N L A N D Beaufort Sea Baffin Bay vi Da i tra sS t a nm De it Stra rk Hudson Bay Gulf of Alaska Vancouver Portland C A N A D A Calgary Winnipeg Newfoundland Quebec Minneapolis UNITED STATES San Francisco Los Angeles San Diego Phoenix Dallas Ottawa Montreal ChicagoDetroitToronto Boston New York OF AMERICA Philadelphia Washington DC St. Louis Atlanta New Orleans Houston Monterrey NORTH AT L A N T I C OCEAN MEXICO Guadalajara Mexico City Gulf of Mexico Miami Havana CUBA GUATEMALA HONDURAS b e a n Sea EL SALVADOR NICARAGUA Managua BAHAMAS DOMINICAN REPUBLIC JAMAICA San Juan HAITI BELIZE C a r PUERTO RICO ib TRINIDAD & Caracas N TOBAGO A COSTA RICA IA M PANAMA VENEZUELA UYANRINA H GU C U G Medellín A PAC I F I C OCEAN Galapagos Islands COLOMBIA ECUADOR Bogotá Cali S FR EN Belém Recife Lima BR A Z I L PERU La Paz Brasélia Salvador Belo Horizonte Rio de Janeiro ~ Sao Paulo BOLIVIA PARAGUAY CHILE Cordoba Santiago Pôrto Alegre URUGUAY Montevideo Buenos Aires ARGENTINA FALKLAND/MALVINAS ISLANDS South Georgia extraordinary islands 1st Edition 500 By Julie Duchaine, Holly Hughes, Alexis Lipsitz Flippin, and Sylvie Murphy Contents Chapter 1 Beachcomber Islands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Aquatic Playgrounds 2 Island Hopping the Turks & Caicos: Barefoot Luxury 12 Life’s a Beach 14 Unvarnished & Unspoiled 21 Sailing...
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...Chemistry Notes 2010 Core Module 1: Production of Materials Contextual Outline Humans have always exploited their natural environment for all their needs including food, clothing and shelter. As the cultural development of humans continued, they looked for a greater variety of materials to cater for their needs. The twentieth century saw an explosion in both the use of traditional materials and in the research for development of a wider range of materials to satisfy technological developments. Added to this was a reduction in availability of the traditional resources to supply the increasing world population. Chemists and chemical engineers continue to play a pivotal role in the search for new sources of traditional materials such as those from the petrochemical industry. As the fossil organic reserves dwindle, new sources of the organic chemicals presently used have to be found. In addition, chemists are continually searching for compounds to be used in the design and production of new materials to replace those that have been deemed no longer satisfactory for needs. This module increases students’ understanding of the implications of chemistry for society and the environment and the current issues, research and developments in chemistry. 1.1 Construct word and balanced formulae equations of all chemical reactions as they are encountered in this module: • Acid reactions: o acid (aq) + base (aq) salt (aq) + water (l) o acid (aq) + active metal (s) salt (aq) + hydrogen (g)...
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...Acclaim for Yann Martel's Life of Pi "Life of Pi is not just a readable and engaging novel, it's a finely twisted length of yarn— yarn implying a far-fetched story you can't quite swallow whole, but can't dismiss outright. Life of Pi is in this tradition—a story of uncertain veracity, made credible by the art of the yarn-spinner. Like its noteworthy ancestors, among which I take to be Robinson Crusoe, Gulliver's Travels, the Ancient Mariner, Moby Dick and Pincher Martin, it's a tale of disaster at sea coupled with miraculous survival—a boys' adventure for grownups." —Margaret Atwood, The Sunday Times (London) "A fabulous romp through an imagination by turns ecstatic, cunning, despairing and resilient, this novel is an impressive achievement. . . . Martel displays the clever voice and tremendous storytelling skills of an emerging master." —Publisher's Weekly (starred review) "[Life of Pi] has a buoyant, exotic, insistence reminiscent of Edgar Allen Poe's most Gothic fiction. . . . Oddities abound and the storytelling is first-rate. Yann Martel has written a novel full of grisly reality, outlandish plot, inventive setting and thought-provoking questions about the value and purpose of fiction." —The Edmonton journal "Martel's ceaselessly clever writing . . . [and] artful, occasionally hilarious, internal dialogue . . . make a fine argument for the divinity of good art." —The Gazette "Astounding and beautiful. . . . The book is a pleasure not only for the subtleties of its philosophy...
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...Yann Martel: Life of Pi life of pi A NOVEL author's note This book was born as I was hungry. Let me explain. In the spring of 1996, my second book, a novel, came out in Canada. It didn't fare well. Reviewers were puzzled, or damned it with faint praise. Then readers ignored it. Despite my best efforts at playing the clown or the trapeze artist, the media circus made no difference. The book did not move. Books lined the shelves of bookstores like kids standing in a row to play baseball or soccer, and mine was the gangly, unathletic kid that no one wanted on their team. It vanished quickly and quietly. The fiasco did not affect me too much. I had already moved on to another story, a novel set in Portugal in 1939. Only I was feeling restless. And I had a little money. So I flew to Bombay. This is not so illogical if you realize three things: that a stint in India will beat the restlessness out of any living creature; that a little money can go a long way there; and that a novel set in Portugal in 1939 may have very little to do with Portugal in 1939. I had been to India before, in the north, for five months. On that first trip I had come to the subcontinent completely unprepared. Actually, I had a preparation of one word. When I told a friend who knew the country well of my travel plans, he said casually, "They speak a funny English in India. They like words like bamboozle." I remembered his words as my plane started its descent towards Delhi, so the word bamboozle ...
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...6 Build Your Vocabulary ■ ■ ■ ■ The SAT High-Frequency Word List The SAT Hot Prospects Word List The 3,500 Basic Word List Basic Word Parts be facing on the test. First, look over the words on our SAT High-Frequency Word List, which you’ll find on the following pages. Each of these words has appeared (as answer choices or as question words) from eight to forty times on SATs published in the past two decades. Next, look over the words on our Hot Prospects List, which appears immediately after the High-Frequency List. Though these words don’t appear as often as the high-frequency words do, when they do appear, the odds are that they’re key words in questions. As such, they deserve your special attention. Now you’re ready to master the words on the High-Frequency and Hot Prospects Word Lists. First, check off those words you think you know. Then, look up all the words and their definitions in our 3,500 Basic Word List. Pay particular attention to the words you thought you knew. See whether any of them are defined in an unexpected way. If they are, make a special note of them. As you know from the preceding chapters, SAT often stumps students with questions based on unfamiliar meanings of familiar-looking words. Use the flash cards in the back of this book and create others for the words you want to master. Work up memory tricks to help yourself remember them. Try using them on your parents and friends. Not only will going over these high-frequency words reassure you that you...
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