Mark Ranger

Have Wolves Saved Yellowstone’s Aspens? - Mountain Journal Claims that wolves have rescued Yellowstone National Park aspen trees through a ‘trophic cascade’ oversimplify a complex story

Wolves saved Yellowstone’s aspens… right?

Turns out the real story isn’t so simple. Read it here.

🧪🌿🌎

More historical events that occurred on January 6. It says: "1601–1900 On January 6, 1641, the Parliament of Quillín convened during the Arauco War, establishing a temporary truce between Spanish colonial forces and Mapuche indigenous groups in southern Chile.[16] This diplomatic assembly, the first of its kind in the conflict, recognized Mapuche military resilience after a century of resistance, halting hostilities and delineating a de facto boundary that persisted into the 19th century, thereby constraining Spanish expansion and preserving Mapuche autonomy."

The beginning of the section of the Grokipedia article on Historical Events before the January 6 Capitol Attack. It says: "Historical Events Pre-1600 Raymond of Peñafort (c. 1175–1275), a Catalan Dominican friar, theologian, and canon lawyer, died on January 6, 1275, in Barcelona at about age 100.[11][12] Commissioned by Pope Gregory IX, he compiled the Decretales Gregorii IX (also known as the Liber Extra), a systematic collection of papal decretals from 1234 that organized ecclesiastical legislation into five books on judicial matters, decrees, and doctrine, serving as the primary source of canon law until the 1917 Codex Iuris Canonici.[11][12] This work replaced Gratian's Decretum as the standard reference, influencing legal scholarship, inquisitorial procedures, and church governance across Europe."

The beginning of the Grokipedia article on the January 6 Capitol Attack. It says: "January 6 The events of January 6, 2021, at the United States Capitol involved a large protest by supporters of President Donald Trump against the congressional certification of the 2020 presidential election results, amid claims of widespread irregularities and fraud; during the ensuing breach, an estimated 2,000 to 2,500 individuals entered the Capitol building, temporarily halting the joint session of Congress tasked with formalizing Joe Biden's electoral victory.[1][2] The gathering, drawing between 10,000 and 30,000 people to Washington, D.C., followed a rally where Trump reiterated election concerns and called for supporters to "peacefully and patriotically" demonstrate their support.[3] Barriers were overcome amid clashes with police, leading to unauthorized access through windows, doors, and areas where officers appeared to facilitate entry in some instances, though the overall violence was limited relative to crowd size, with most entrants engaging in non-destructive activity inside

This sentence cites a report from the Global Warming Policy Foundation, a group created by a British politician and investment banker who in 2017 said that global temperatures had "slightly declined" over the past ten years.

Interesting, the coral reef report has since been taken off their website.

A section of the Grokipedia article on sea ice demonstrating its bias to downplay the impacts of climate change. "A 2025 study found that multi-model averages predict faster near-term loss (0.6 million km² per decade) than observed recently, highlighting unresolved discrepancies between simulations and data that fuel debates over projection reliability.[205] Skeptics emphasize that such overpredictions, often amplified in media and policy circles despite empirical slowdowns, exemplify a pattern of alarmism disconnected from verifiable trends, potentially eroding public trust in scientific communication."

This is a screenshot from the Grokipedia post on glaciers that demonstrates its bias to downplay the impacts of global warming. It says: "Subsequent analyses revealed that such projections fueled exaggerated alarms about Himalayan water crises, with early claims predicting river flow collapses by mid-century; however, empirical data indicate that monsoon-driven precipitation sustains river volumes even amid glacier retreat, rendering "water tower collapse" narratives overstated.[220][221] Peer-reviewed reassessments, including those critiquing alarmist models, have documented relative stability in aggregate glacier mass for High Mountain Asia through the 2010s, contrasting with projections of uniform, rapid loss and underscoring model sensitivities to precipitation variability over temperature alone."

I looked at the #grokipedia articles about five major environmental topics: coral reefs, sea ice, Amazon rainforest, wildfire, glacier.

The five articles mentioned the phrases climate change/global warming a total of 4 times.

They said alarm/alarmism/alarmist 12 times. 🧪🌿🌎

"Thermal bleaching tied to ENSO variability, have shaped reef assemblages over millennia by periodically resetting community structure while creating niches for recolonization."

In a section titled "Policy and Alarmism Critiques," it states that "global assessments indicate no consistent long-term decline in reef ecosystems, with fluctuations attributed to natural variability rather than irreversible anthropogenic forcing."

The #grokipedia on coral reefs mentions "global warming" and "climate change" zero times. It also emphasizes reefs' resilience to "thermal stress." 🧪🌎🦑

This Forest Survived a Megafire Why Do Some Forests Survive Megafires? How do some stands survive such a devastating fires almost intact while others perish entirely?

I wrote about it here: nautil.us/this-forest-...

Most Sierra Nevada forests are adapted to low-intensity fire every 10ish years. Frequent burns keep the understory sparse and starve wildfires of the fuel they need to ignite large trees.

To protect forests from catastrophic wildfires, we need more prescribed burns—a lot more.

A ponderosa pine stand in Plumas National Forest that was killed by the 2021 Dixie Fire. This stand of trees was unmanaged during previous decades.

A ponderosa pine stand in Plumas National Forest that was killed by the 2021 Dixie Fire. This stand of trees was unmanaged during previous decades.

A healthy stand of ponderosa pines in Plumas National Forest that survived the Dixie Fire. This area received thinning and a prescribed burn between 2003 and 2005.

A healthy stand of ponderosa pines in Plumas National Forest that survived the Dixie Fire. This area received thinning and a prescribed burn between 2003 and 2005.

We can protect California's forests from megafires.

Last month, I visited part of the Sierra Nevada that burned in 2021. In unmanaged areas, most trees died. But where land managers had thinned trees and conducted prescribed burns, nearly every tree survived.

These photos show the difference.🧪🌿🌎

Mendocino County’s Burned Oak Savannas Attract Birds – KneeDeep Times A new study has found that birds are thriving in the nutrient rich oak savannas that burned in the 2018 Mendocino Complex Fire.

Oak‑savanna birds thrive after fire, a new study found.

Dozens of species preferred areas that burned in the 2018 Mendocino Complex Fire over unburned areas. So far, these ecosystems are proving resilient to increasingly severe wildfires, the authors concluded. 🧪🌿🌎

‪This was a fun story to write.

Last year, environmental police in Brazil stumbled upon thousands of climbing bumblebee catfish. Scientists know almost nothing about this species, which only became known to science in 2017. 🧪🌿🌎

Don't worry, the article says it is "supported by editorial technologies."

Orchids Thrive Among the Dead Cemeteries are a gravely overlooked habitat for wild orchids in Europe

Botanical surveys of more than 2,000 European cemeteries found that they support at least 65 native orchid species. Graveyards might be the last best plant habitat around cities, the study authors said. 🧪🌿🌎

nautil.us/orchids-thri...

There are so many fascinating studies you can find while looking through recent issues of scientific journals. Here is an article I wrote about a study that used high-speed videos of volcanic eruptions to determine the shapes of the projectiles they shoot. 🧪

Burning coal and smelting metals vaporizes small amounts of iron. Some of the iron produced by East Asian industry has been wafting into the North Pacific, where it supercharges an algal bloom. 🧪🦑

The point I made is that forests no longer have 300 or 400 years to recover now that climate change is increasing the frequency of wildfires.

Intense fires do 'kill' trees and a forest with nearly 100% tree mortality has been 'eviscerated,' even if the fire that did it is perfectly natural. Effective science communication requires down-to-earth, accurate language, not technical jargon like 'tree mortality.'

Me too. The Yellowstone forests that historically burned very infrequently are the most vulnerable to increasing fire frequency caused by climate change. These forests have few adaptations to fire and take centuries to regenerate. The same could be true for boreal forests.

"...In areas that burned in both fires, one-sixth as many new trees sprouted after the 2016 fire when compared to the 1988 fire, subsequent field research led by Turner revealed....Repeated fires could cause a gradual collapse in forests across the GYE, they added."

Actually, that is not entirely true. From the story: "But in a changing climate, all three scientists agree that the interval of time between fires is decreasing...the 2016 Maple Fire reburned forests previously scorched in 1988...(continued in the thread)

Yellowstone’s 1988 Fires Eviscerated Forests. Will They Ever Recover? - Mountain Journal While most park woodlands are regenerating, some have turned into meadows. A new study digs into why.

In 1988, wildfires razed one-third of Yellowstone National Park. While most park woodlands are regenerating, some have turned into meadows. A new study digs into why. 🧪🌿🌎

New study documents California coyotes eating harbor seal pups A paper published on February 12 in the journal Ecology details how the researchers used motion-triggered cameras placed at MacKerricher State Beach on California's North Coast during harbor seal pupp...

Whether it’s ice cream, a greasy hamburger, or a heap of french fries, everybody loves fatty foods. For coyotes, that meal is a blubbery seal pup, according to a new study led by UC Santa Cruz scientists. 🧪🌎🦑

They published the first known videos of California coyotes hunting harbor seals.

I would love to be added! I'm a science communication student and my personal website is here:

Markdegraff.com

Wild Coho Salmon Are Surviving Four Years After CZU Fire At the southern end of their range, coho salmon in Scott Creek are adapting to wildfire and warming.

Happy #salmonsunday!! 🦑🌎🐟

The Santa Cruz Mountains are home to the world’s southernmost coho salmon runs. Although this population of fish is critically endangered, scientists are finding that they were relatively unaffected by a major wildfire.

Wild Coho Salmon Are Surviving Four Years After CZU Fire At the southern end of their range, coho salmon in Scott Creek are adapting to wildfire and warming.

Coincidentally, I published a story today about how coho salmon in the Santa Cruz mountains proved surprisingly resilient following a 2020 wildfire. Fingers crossed steelhead are the same.