The Grapevine was a column in the Wild Ones Journal written by Maryann Whitman between 2002 and 2015.
Maryann refers to her bachelor of arts degree and her graduate work in psychology as her misspent youth. When she came to her senses, she went back to read biology, botany, chemistry, physics, and ecology and has not yet stopped. She discovered Wild Ones in 1995 and was the founding president of the Oakland Chapter (MI) of Wild Ones in 1999.
Welcome to the Anthropocene The classic presentation of the biomes of the Earth, as seen in all our current ecology texts, has been based on abiotic environmental conditions, like climate, and the productivity of the dominant vegetation. The eight major biomes have been: Tropical Rainforest, Tropical Savanna, Desert, Chaparral, Grassland, Temperate Deciduous Forest, Temperate Boreal […] Continue reading "The Grapevine (May 2008)"
No Child Left Inside Act We’ve all heard about the No Child Left Behind law. Before the end of this year Congress will be re-ratifying this law. In its implementation, schools have been cutting back on math, science, and environmental education. A strong bipartisan coalition has formed in both the House and the Senate to […] Continue reading "The Grapevine (Mar 2008)"
And the times … they are a-changin’… Apologies to Bob Dylan, but duh…that is the nature of time. Where I live is a park of a hundred-and-some acres that encompasses open fields, woods one may get lost in, wondrously inhabited hedgerows, and variously sized marshes, swamps, and plain-old mud holes. Children bussed from local schools, […] Continue reading "The Grapevine (Nov 2007)"
What’s that you say? You don’t believe in global warming? That’s OK … the planet still needs your help. Whether or not you believe in man-made global warming (or climate change as it’s now being called), if you’re a regular reader of the Journal, you’re most likely aware of the fact that planet Earth has […] Continue reading "The Grapevine (Sept 2007)"
Wild Ones Presidents Wild Ones will have a new National President when Carol Andrews is inducted at the Annual Meeting in Dayton, Ohio, on Saturday, August 16. I read Joe’s final “Notes” with a deep sense of appreciation for his style of leadership. True to form, Joe said “What have we accomplished during my term?” […] Continue reading "The Grapevine (July 2007)"
Do all serious gardening practices still come from Europe? In France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, where gardens occupy four times more area than natural reserves, ecologists are enlisting gardeners to leave several square meters of wild grass, brambles, and nettles in their gardens to feed butterfly larvae. “Spotless gardens with a well-mown lawn are true […] Continue reading "The Grapevine (May 2007)"
This Spaceship Earth On February 2, 2007, the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), removed all doubt as to whether climate change is in fact occurring. In their report they concluded that not only is the average temperature of the planet rising at an unprecedented rate, but the chemistry of our air, our water, and […] Continue reading "The Grapevine (March 2007)"
Advocacy at work The Meijer grocery-retail chain, with 170 stores in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky has entered into a partnership with The Nature Conservancy to combat invasive plants. Not only is the Meijer’s chain donating $450,000 to the Nature Conservancy to support its efforts against invasives in the Great Lakes dunes, but next […] Continue reading "The Grapevine (Jan 2007)"
GMO Escape An experimental, genetically modified grass, designed for golf courses, has been found in the wild, several miles from its test site. In the May/June 2004 “Grapevine” I included a brief mention of genetically modified (GM), Roundup-Ready Creeping Bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.). Scott’s and Monsanto are testing this plant, hoping to provide it for […] Continue reading "The Grapevine (Nov 2006)"
Invasive and destructive gypsy moths fall prey to a “fungus among us.” Homeowners begin to realize that their lawns really do suck (too much water). And does NASA still go where no one has gone before? When populations of gypsy moths reach outbreak proportions, the caterpillars can completely defoliate host trees over a wide geographic […] Continue reading "The Grapevine (Sept 2006)"