An illustrated look – by Professor Charles Sheppard and published by Princeton University Press – at corals and the reefs they build around the world, and the causes and dire consequences of their rapid disappearance.
Corals are among the most varied lifeforms on Earth, ranging from mushroom corals and leather corals to button polyps, sea fans, anemones, and pulse corals.
Bridging the gap between plant and animal, these marine invertebrates serve as homes to reef fish and share symbiotic relationships with photosynthesizing algae, which provide corals with their nourishment.
This stunningly illustrated book profiles the astonishing diversity of the world’s coral groups, describing key aspects of their natural history and explaining why coral reefs are critical to the health of our oceans.
Representative examples of corals have been selected to illustrate the broad range of species, and the book’s lively and informative commentary covers everything from identification to conservation, making it an essential resource for marine biologists, divers, and anyone who is fascinated by these remarkable sea creatures.
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- Features more than 200 exquisite color photos
- Highlights key aspects of corals and their natural history
- Features representative examples from around the world
- Includes photos of rare and unusual species
De wolf is terug
Inmiddels zijn wij na de ontdekking van de eerste wolf – terug in Nederland! – enkele jaren geleden, volop in discussie geraakt hoe om te gaan met het dier dat wij als nomaden al zo vreesde. Het hele systeem van overheid en belangenorganisaties is in werking getreden om de wolf of te reguleren of juist zijn vrijheid te laten.
Ik haal toch even terug mijn bericht van 7 maart 2015, toen het nieuws van de ontdekking door Lieke alle krantenkoppen haalde.
De wolf staat aan de top van het ecosysteem, weten wij. Hij maakt het compleet. Hij is terug. In Drenthe. Zowaar geschiedschrijving na 150 jaar afwezigheid. De waarneming vanochtend door Lieke, is eigenlijk een puur moment.
Er is blijheid bij de ecologen dat de top van het ecosysteem is teruggekeerd ‘op het nest’. Maar goed de jagers zullen daar anders over denken, laat staan de agrariërs. Velen zullen volgen met een standpunt. De wolf wordt een politiek item, hoe dan ook. Maar nu nog niet.
Dit moment, vandaag, is er één van puurheid. Er is iets ‘oers’ terug Nederland . De wolf is niet alleen een sprookjesfiguur maar een ware metafoor van wildernis. Hij spreekt tot onze verbeelding om zijn waarneming en kracht. En wij weten ook dat alle honden, onze huisdiervrienden, ervan afstammen, hoe klein ook. De wolf staat aan de basis. Hij is de oer-hond.
De euforie van de waarneming is nu nog ontdaan van incidenten, van schade aan veestapel of erger mensen, van economische benadeling, van politieke vragen, raadsdebatten, nieuwe wet- en regelgeving en vele beleidsplannen. Van datgene dat ons Nederlanders zo typeert: het willen beheersen, inkaderen en controleren.
Ik geniet nog even van de spontane kreet van Lieke, toen zij de eerst wolf waarnam: “Kijk papa, daar loopt een wolf!”. Hoe mooi kan het zijn.
Freedom
Freedom is one of the highest personal values. It finds its build-up (among others) in the feeling of walking in the pristine snow (white), the cloud illusions (grey), the ability to sport, dance, travel and recreate (brown) and the expression in music art and culture (yellow). A personal expression.
Spider and I
We meet every time of the year, at the crossroad of October and November, when autumn is in full swing. Where I admire its art work and skills to create and walk the web. And spider knows we offer it a safe place to build its house.
That is our policy: to increase biodiversity around the house. Spider knows. This natural beauty found its place. We meet here. No, it is not the moment to compare spider with some political leader (global and local), but just wonder and admire. The colours of its body are really astonishing.
Emily Dickinson
Reading the book ‘Poems’ by Emily Dickinson. In the preface two of her friends describe how they found, perceived and eventually published (after her death) the poems. The description of their first perception is a poem on its own:
“In many cases these verses will seem to the reader like poetry torn up by the roots, with rain and dew and earth still clinging to them, giving a freshness and a fragrance not otherwise to be conveyed.”
As if you can feel, taste here poems from here. They are as original as the woman who wrote them. Straight from the Earth and written with the heart.
Inspiring, again and again, to stretch and challenge the openness and the boundaries of my own perception. Emily has a wide range of doors of perception.
Although Dickinson was a prolific private poet, fewer than a dozen of her nearly eighteen hundred poems were published during her lifetime. The work that was published during her lifetime was usually altered significantly by the publishers to fit the conventional poetic rules of the time. Although most of her acquaintances were probably aware of Dickinson’s writing, it was not until after her death in 1886-when Lavinia, Emily’s younger sister, discovered her cache of poems-that the breadth of Dickinson’s work became apparent.
I am a fan of Emily, forever.
Kruf Huyssons 