Treesearch

By 1995 wilderness quality maps developed under the Australian Government's National Wilderness Inventory (NWI) program had been published for most of Australia, but few traces of the NWI now remain and the word "wilderness" has become almost unmentionable in government and professional land management circles. Yet its popular appeal is demonstrated by its continuing frequent use in tourism industry advertising for natural areas. This study explores this remarkable rise and fall. It establishes that there appears to have been a decision by Australian Government in the late 1990s to avoid...

As a result of its elevated level of consciousness, the human species has been engaged in the quest for an ultimate meaning of life and what lies beyond life and death for millennia. Many of these spiritual or religious perspectives have been closely linked to each society's relationship with wild nature. This paper explores the topic of wilderness spirituality from the perspectives of: 1) direct experience, i.e., spiritual experiences and emotions that arise while one is in wilderness, utilizing some of the results from a Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area spiritual values study,...

During the period of the Cold War between 1945 and 1989, a "Green Belt" of valuable pristine landscapes developed along the border line between Eastern and Western Europe, the intensively fortified and guarded so called Iron Curtain. Due to the remoteness of the border areas, a high number of national parks and other large conservation areas can be found there. They are connected by small conservation areas and linear structures along the borders which are to a high percentage natural, semi-natural and/or extensively used areas. The Green Belt is a cross section of all European biogeographi...

Sumava National Park, in the Czech Republic, is, along with the adjacent Bayerischer Wald NP in Germany, one of the largest wilderness areas in Western and Central Europe. Mountain spruce forests here have been heavily influenced by natural disturbances. Following years of debate about conservation management in the national park, logging operations on the Czech side were stopped by massive public protests, including a logging blockade, in 2011. Meanwhile, the Ministry of the Environment Minister and the National Park Director proposed changes that would legalize logging in areas which...

The German government's National Strategy on Biological Diversity (NSBD) aims at protecting its biodiversity in a broad sense. The NSBD calls for 5% of Germany's forest land area to be permanently set aside for natural forest protection, i.e., natural processes taking place, and as a second target, for 2% of Germany's land area to become "wilderness areas," where the land is left to develop without human interventions.

One of the factors in local tourism could be nature tourism promotion for disabled people in protected areas. This social group is more sensitive to long-distance travel; therefore, it is likely that local tourism is especially attractive. The disabled population may possibly have more free time, which also makes local travel particularly attractive. The main focus while developing disabled people's opportunities in nature should be imposed on three parallel tracks: 1) a consistent segment-oriented policy, 2) assurance of its feasible implementation, and 3) promotion of the motives to...

With this paper, it is illustrated that a focus on entrepreneurship training in the nature and wilderness sector is relevant for diverse organisations and situations. The first curricula on nature entrepreneurship are currently being developed. In this paper the authors describe a project that focusses on educating the next generation of nature entrepreneurs, reflect on the Erasmus Intensive Program 'European Wilderness Entrepreneur' and the Wild10 World Café on nature entrepreneurship training. Sharing and learning from experiences is highly recommended to further develop and strengthen...

Aquila chrysaetos (Golden Eagle) breeds in both eastern and western North America. However, the former population has received much less attention than the latter. The purpose of this paper is to document the known distribution and abundance of eastern Golden Eagles within their breeding range and to identify gaps in knowledge for future studies. Eastern Golden Eagles breed in Labrador, Québec, and Ontario, Canada. The species has been extirpated as a breeder from the eastern US. In 2013, 187 Golden Eagle territorial pairs were documented in eastern Canada. Most territorial pairs occur in...

Bark beetle outbreaks have killed billions of trees and affected millions of hectares of forest during recent decades. The objective of this study was to quantify responses of surface energy and hydrologic fluxes 2-3 yr following a spruce beetle outbreak using measurements and modeling. The authors used observations at the Rocky Mountains Glacier Lakes Ecosystem Experiments Site (GLEES), where beetles killed 85% of the basal area of spruce from 2005-07 (prebeetle) to 2009/10 (postbeetle). Observations showed increased albedo following tree mortality, more reflected solar radiation, and...

The Neotropical genus, Arachnocoris Scott groups thirteen species of specialized spider web-inhabiting damsel bugs (Nabidae) distributed from Panama to Brazil and the West Indies. We present new information on the web behavior of A. berytoides Uhler from Puerto Rico. Three different life stages were observed on the spider webs, suggesting this species likely depends on that microhabitat for all its life history stages. In addition to the modified tarsi described by Myers, we describe mimetic adaptations that may help it live a life in close association with its predacious host. Species in...