I’ll be the first to admit that “land” is a pretty broad topic for a nature blog. But why not? Marine is a topic in it’s own right and with a topic so broad one could rightly covers issues concerning 3/4ths of the planet’s surface. While terrestrial habitats offer a relatively small area of earth to chose from, our own species’ familiarity with the dry part of the world has led us to be very precise about the distinct parts of it. We innately grasp the differences between land biomes while equally distinct marine ecosystems may seem foreign. Is it because our evolution as a species required the need to understand various food and shelter possibilities different terrestrial ecosystems afford? Could I be overthinking the less than impressive ability to tell a forest from a desert?
Ignore the blue parts, photo from wikipedia
Many blogs in the NBN deal with specific subject matter, be it bugs or birds or general “nature”. Fewer bloggers write about a love for the landscape and everything that can be found within it. Time to give them their due!
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- Two blogs in the NBN focus on desert ecosystems, the first happens to be one of the very finest blogs in our community on any topic. Chris Clarke writes about issues related to the Mojave Desert at Coyote Crossing. If you’re not already aware of this blog, you should be.
- Desert Survivor is less about desert issues and more about simply living in a place that seems so inhospitable. Plus there is gratuitous usage of child and puppy photos, which I’m told are irresistible, if you need more reasons.
- About half way between desert and forest lie the grasslands, and our sole representative of this fine part of the world is Flint Hills, Tall Grass from the eastern parts of Kansas.
-Mountains sort of transcend a specific habitat. There can be mountains in the desert or forest as formidable as any traditional alpine scene. The Human Footprint is based in the Yellowstone basin, but certainly gets around to the high places wherever they may be found.
- As fascinating as it is unique, the Canadian tundra is a ecosystem that people rarely get to experience. Fortunately, there’s Clare Kines at The House and other Arctic Musings to bring the icy plains of Nunavut to the general public.
- Forests are what the general public often thinks of when they think “nature”. We’ve got plenty of options for forest themed blogs in the NBN. From East Sussex in England comes Brede High Woods.
- Great photos of trees are surprisingly few. It seems that so many photographers are more interested in what’s in the tree rather than the tree itself. To remedy that situation there’s Early Forest, a three photography and information blog.
- I don’t think I have to tell you all that there are a lot of forests in South America. Sure, a lot of them are in one, especially large, country, but Chile has it’s share as well, especially the cool coastal ones with strange life forms. Bosque Ciencia has the scoop.
- Wanderer’s Eye has an eye on forests on the Indian subcontinent, and Aniruddha is focused on just about anything that moves, and lots more that doesn’t.
- And last, a blog that seeks to accomplish the seemingly impossible task of serving as a collection of images of every gymnosperm on earth. The Evergreen Tree Species blog certainly has it’s work cut out for it. Fortunately, it appears up to the task.
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Next week is Labour Day in New Zealand. I don’t know if we have an Kiwi blogs in the NBN, but I’d sure like to find out if we do!
Send them to me at naswick (at) gmail (dot) com.
Til next week!
