UP Ibalon Bicol: man and nature

Showing posts with label man and nature. Show all posts

Nepenthes attenboroughii: tanom na na-nga-ngakan nin kino, aninipot, sagkod amamangui

9/03/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

“An dahon kan burak naserbing higda’an nin sarong nobya na ang Amang Diyos iyo an na-guibo---kurtina na pano nin olor, malumoy na mga hamot…”---Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778)

Naturaleza nin Kinaban

Talagang may mga tanom na na-nga-ngakan nin mga hayop. Haloy ng nadiskubre iyan--- panahon pa ni Carl Linnaeus. Tubong Uppsala, Sweden, gikan sa Unibersidad de Lund asin Harderwijk (Netherlands), si Linnaeus sarong mahigos na maestro. Siya nagpa-uso kan pag-adal, pag-grupo (taxonomic classification), pagdiskubri nin mga tinanom sa kinaban. Prominenteng nag-contribuir sa sciencia nin Botaniya. Saro sa mga enot na scientipikong nag-tukdo sa pag-apreciar kan kagayunan nin azul na planeta.

Experiencia sa Pilipinas

Kan tiempong Hapon an mga soldados na Amerikano tinukdu'an kun paano mabuhay sa kadlagan nin Pilipinas habang ang guerra ipinaglalaban. Inaram ninda ang mga tinanom sa gubat na pwedeng kakanon, mga yierbas na dapat dulagan ta nakakalason o tanom na na-nga-ngakan nin hayop o tawo!

Ang Amerikano natakot sa mga plantas na karneboro. Paglakaw ninda sa kadlagan, pirme sindang handa! Ang saindang sundang pirmeng matarom, an badil naka-kasa ingkaso. Arog sa takot sa halas o linta, ang mga guerrero maingat na naglikay. Kaipuhan ninda sa sobrevivir (survival) sa marambong na kagubatan.

An tanom na pitsil

Sa www.popsci.com, kan naka-aguing bulan, nabasa ko ang mga Nepenthes, sarong grupo nin plantas na natutuparan sa kadlagan kan Pilipinas. Sarong pagpaguiromdom nin natural na yaman kan satuyang isla sa Asia na dapat tang atamanon.

Si Stewart McPherson sagkod si Alistair Robinson, mga Britanikong dalubhasa (botanists) nin mga plantas nag-anuncio na pinangaran ki Sir David Attenborough (personalidad sa telebisyon, sarong mahilig man sa flora,) an misteriosong tanom sa kagubatan sa satuyang lugar----Nepenthes attenboroughii. Pambihira ang tanom na ini, pero magayon. Maka-nga-ngalas! Uyogon mo, na-nga-ngakan nin kino sagkod alibangbang!

Hilinga ang ang kagayunan kan Nepenthes sa mga retrato. An hitsura garo pitsil na nakolektang tubig sa ambon, ragiri, sagkod uran kan kagubatan. Makolor. Igua siya nin mahamis na taguk na gusto nin animales. Kun mapano ang pitsel kan Nepenthes nin tubig, nakakalamos ini nin mga namok, tanga, aninipot, gamo-gamo, paru-paro, kuto, mga bubuyog atbp.

Pag ang mga insekto nagadan sa pitsil, si sustansiya kan tinanom iyo ang nalusaw kan saradit na hayop. An proceso siempre luway-luway, hanggang mahigop kan Nepenthes an restos asin sustansiya kan mga insekto.

Tan’o ta maski ma-ulyas na kino pwedeng kakanon kan tinanom na ini? Kun an pistil kan Nepenthes dakula, an tubig hararom, pwedeng ang babu, halas, gamgam o ano man na hayop na daradakula mala’om sa pistil. Pwede sindang magkagaradan arog kan mga sadit na duli-duli sagkod mga amamangui.(Photo Credito Red Fern Natioal History/ www.popsci.com x 2)=0=

Nepenthes attenboruoughii among 120 species

Found in the remote mountain in Palawan, Philippines, Nepenthes attenboroughii was discovered in 2007 and was officially named this year after naturalist and TV personality David Attenborough. The plant enthusiast featured the species in his TV series Zoo Quest and also The Private Life of Plants in 1995. It’s one among 120 diverse species so far described by botanist-taxonomist Stewart McPherson in the last three years. About 30 of them are encountered in Palawan, most of them have not been fully studied and described in publcation.

The carnivorous plant produces enzymes that dissolve small mice and insects in a pitcher-like receptacle. The only pitcher plant larger than N. attenboroughii is N. rajah which British naturalist Spencer St John observed in Borneo to have drowned and digested a rodent in 1862.=0=

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Labels: Botany, conservation, environment, flora and fauna, Linneaus, man and nature, nature, Nepenthes, Nepenthes attenboroughii, pitcher plant, plants, rat-eating plant, science, Totie Mesia

Even the birds must learn how to fish

5/12/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." ---Lao Tzu

What the Chinese proverb says about people also applies to the birds. In this stunning picture, an osprey shows dexterity in holding a meal tightly on its sharp talons. Truly, nature teaches the feathered creatures to take care of themselves.

The bird of prey is caught in glorious flight after a successful fishing trip in a stunning photo by Wilfredo Lee/ AFP as it flies over the Players Championship golf tournament at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., Friday, May 8, 2009.

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Labels: animals, bird, conservation, environment, man and nature, Toti Mesia, wildlife

Hundreds of dolphins disoriented in shallow Philippine waters

2/11/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

There’s a great deal of empathy that was elicited by the sight of hundreds of dolphins stranded in shallow waters of Orion and Pilar, Bataan, somewhere close to Manila Bay in the Philippines. For reasons that aren’t clear, the docile and friendly sea mammals were stranded on Tuesday, February 10, 2008, unable to swim back to deeper waters.

Fishermen and town folks from neighboring villages came in droves to help drive the melon-head dolphins, numbering about 200 to 300, back to sea. Admirably, the villagers followed the appeal of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) to help and not harm the marooned animals.

“The unusual occurrence may have been triggered by a sea quake that could have damaged the dolphins' eardrums and disoriented them, or the pod could have been following a sick or injured leader, Malcolm Sarmiento, director of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, said in a telephone interview.”----AOL News/ AP (02/10/09, Marquez, B; Cerojano, C)

Though the group of agile air-breathing animals eventually made it to the open sea, there were three dolphins found dead. One was pregnant and one was a young baby. According to the animal doctor who examined the remains, two adult dolphins revealed fractured eardrums. (Photo Credit: Malaya) =0=

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Labels: animals, behavior, BFAR, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, conservation, Conservation International, dolphins, environment, environmental stress, man and nature, nature, Toti Mesia

Imminent eruption of Alaska’s Mount Redoubt reminds us of Mayon and Pinatubo

1/30/2009 | Posted by mesiamd | Edit Post

The snow-capped Mt. Redoubt in Anchorage, Alaska is showing signs of restiveness that makes eruption probable. Residents living close to the 10,200 foot volcano are on alert as they set aside gears and provisions for the imminent volcanic eruption. Having seen showers of ash and pyroclastic debris in the past, the people there prepare masks and goggles, the first line of defense to protect their eyesight and breathing.

This isn’t unfamiliar to our kababayans in Bicol where Mt. Mayon displays periodic volcanic activity which forces the evacuation of villagers from its slope and gulleys. The PhilVolcs and government officials coordinate with the community to avoid loss of life and property during such emergency.

Farther north in Luzon Island of the Philippines is Mt. Pinatubo also blows its top with tons of lava and subterranean debris shooting up in the air. Ash deposits and later lahar destroy towns along its path.

In June 1991, the Mount Pinatubo brought hardship and misery in the neighboring provinces of Zambales, Tarlac and Pampanga. The eruption forced indigenous tribesmen, the Aetas, to scamper from their mountain dwellings as volcanic debris rolled and covered lowland settlements, reaching as far as the environs of Manila. Pinatubo’s gigantic eruption destroyed crops and agriculture land, countless homes and villages making it one of the biggest eruptions in memory. (Photo Credits: Blastard; DiffusedPixel; US Geological Survey PD) =0=

Mount Mayon and Mount Pinatubo

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Labels: Aeta, Alaska, Anchorage, calamity, eruption, man and nature, Mayon Volcano, Mount Redoubt, nature, Pinatubo Volcano, Totie Mesia

Some Floodings Explained: The Conflict Between Man and Nature

1/16/2009 | Posted by myty555 | Edit Post

These recent days heavy floodings have been reported in some parts of the Philippines--Northern Samar, the Agusan provinces (flooding due to the swelling of Agusan River), Cagayan de Oro (flooding due to the overflowing of Cagayan River of its banks), Iligan City and Linamon in Lanao del Norte, Capiz and Cagayan provinces.

The rains might have been frequent but not really that strong. And flood-prone areas like Metro Manila and Central Luzon were generally spared this time. But all know that during the habagat (southwest monsoons) those areas are almost always flooded when the heavy rains come.

If one will notice all of these now-flooded areas lie to the north of the island to where they belong. The floodings were due to the overflowing of the banks of their rivers which all flow northward.

Funny that the reporter in Lanao del Norte charged that "storm surge" was the cause of the flooding. What he meant was the rivers cannot empty to the sea (causing it to rise) because there's a surge coming from the sea. A sea surge, yes, but not a "storm surge" because there's no storm.

This sea surge fuelled by the amihan (northwest moonsoon) is capping the flow to the sea of these northward-flowing rivers. That's why the river banks are being breached. And also why flooding occurs in the upper reaches of the rivers.

This is one relationship that people must understand. A strong amihan produce a southward-flowing sea surge capping the northward-flowing rivers thereby slowing their capacity to empty to sea and this in turn cause the river to overflow its banks. During habagat, the relationship is reversed. Southward-flowing rivers are bottled up by the sea surge going north.

If tropical cyclones or typhoons are not all bad so do this phenomenon. Storms and typhoons are the primary elements the sea and oceans have in order to cleanse themselves. Sea surges and storm surges have the capability to push back river flows. It is known that Manila Bay sea water even enters the Laguna de Bay through the Pasig River and these cleanses the lake. Flooding and the entry of sea water does the same for rivers.

But herein lies the classic confrontation between man and nature. In the olden days man will simply just give way to nature. But with ever-burgeoning population pressures and urbanization man now occupy nature's former path.

And so disasters occur.

[Photo credit:Agence France-Presse]

Labels: Agusan, amihan, Cagayan, Cagayan de Oro, Capiz, floodings, habagat, Iligan, Laguna de Bay, Lanao del Norte, Linamon, man and nature, Northern Samar, sea surge, storm surge, typhoon

UP Ibalon Bicol

Nepenthes attenboroughii: tanom na na-nga-ngakan nin kino, aninipot, sagkod amamangui

Even the birds must learn how to fish

Hundreds of dolphins disoriented in shallow Philippine waters

Imminent eruption of Alaska’s Mount Redoubt reminds us of Mayon and Pinatubo

Some Floodings Explained: The Conflict Between Man and Nature

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