The Huron Mountain Wildlife Foundation (HMWF) is a not-for-profit organization with the sole mission of supporting research in ecology, geology, and other field sciences in the Lake Superior region. It was established in 1955, and has supported a wide range of research focusing on the natural history of the Huron Mountains region.
Ecology is the branch of biology which studies the interactions among organisms and their environment. Objects of study include interactions of organisms that include biotic and abiotic components of their environment. Topics of interest include the biodiversity, distribution, biomass, and populations of organisms, as well as cooperation and competition within and between species. Ecosystems are dynamically interacting systems of organisms, the communities they make up, and the non-living components of their environment. Ecosystem processes, such as primary production, pedogenesis, nutrient cycling, and niche construction, regulate the flux of energy and matter through an environment. These processes are sustained by organisms with specific life history traits. Biodiversity means the varieties of species, genes, and ecosystems, enhances certain ecosystem services.
Geology is an earth science concerned with the solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Geology can also include the study of the solid features of any terrestrial planet or natural satellite such as Mars or the Moon. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other earth sciences, including hydrology and the atmospheric sciences, and so is treated as one major aspect of integrated earth system science and planetary science.
Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe.
The Foundation maintains a field station at Ives Lake, near the town of Big Bay, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The Ives Lake Field Station is adjacent to the private Huron Mountain Club, and much of the research sponsored by the Foundation takes place on the private lands of the Club. The Huron Mountain Club is one of the largest private natural areas in the Great Lakes region and includes extensive tracts of old-growth forest and a number of protected lakes. The Huron Mountain Wildlife Foundation can provide access to the lands for appropriate research purposes.
Big Bay is an unincorporated community in Marquette County of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is a census-designated place (CDP) for statistical purposes and does not have any legal status as an incorporated municipality. As of the 2000 census, the CDP population was 265. The community is located within Powell Township near the shore of "Big Bay" on Lake Superior.
The Upper Peninsula (UP), also known as Upper Michigan, is the northern of the two major peninsulas that make up the U.S. state of Michigan. The peninsula is bounded on the north by Lake Superior, on the east by the St. Marys River, and on the southeast by Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. Geographically, the Upper Peninsula has a land boundary with Wisconsin, and over-water boundaries with Minnesota and Ontario (Canada). Upper Peninsula counties also include nearby islands such as Grand, Drummond, Mackinac, and Bois Blanc, and more distant Isle Royale.
The Huron Mountain Club is a private club whose land holdings in Marquette County, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, constitute one of the largest tracts of primeval forest in the Great Lakes region. Formed circa 1890, the club consists of 50 dwellings clustered inside about 13,000 acres of private land, encompassing the Huron Mountains area. The club was founded to establish a remote hunting and fishing club for outdoor enthusiasts. The original charter limited membership to 50 partners. The property encompasses several lakes and approximately 10,000 acres of old-growth forest.
HMWF has sponsored a series of occasional publications, including an ongoing all-taxa biodiversity inventory. These are freely available, along with a large collection of historical research reports, at the Foundation's website.
An all-taxa biodiversity inventory, or ATBI, is an attempt to document and identify all biological species living in some defined area, usually a park, reserve, or research area.
In-situ conservation is the on-site conservation or the conservation of genetic resources in natural populations of plant or animal species, such as forest genetic resources in natural populations of Teagan species. It is the process of protecting an endangered plant or animal species in its natural habitat, either by protecting or restoring the habitat itself, or by defending the species from predators. It is applied to conservation of agricultural biodiversity in agro ecosystems by farmers, especially those using unconventional farming practices.
Habitat conservation is a management practice that seeks to conserve, protect and restore habitats and prevent species extinction, fragmentation or reduction in range. It is a priority of many groups that cannot be easily characterized in terms of any one ideology.
The Huron Mountains are located in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, mostly in Marquette and Baraga counties, overlooking Lake Superior. Their highest peak is Mount Arvon which, at 1,979 feet (603 m) above sea level, is the highest point in the state of Michigan. Nearby Mt. Curwood, Michigan's second highest mountain at 1,978 feet (603 m), is also a part of the Huron Mountains.
Applied ecology is a subfield within ecology, which considers the application of the science of ecology to real-world questions. It is an integrated treatment of the ecological, social, and biotechnological aspects of natural resource conservation and management. It is also called ecological or environmental technology. Applied ecology typically focuses on geomorphology, soils, and plant communities as the underpinnings for vegetation and wildlife management.
The National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is the United States' largest private, nonprofit conservation education and advocacy organization, with over six million members and supporters, and 51 state and territorial affiliated organizations.
A BioBlitz, also written without capitals as bioblitz, is an intense period of biological surveying in an attempt to record all the living species within a designated area. Groups of scientists, naturalists and volunteers conduct an intensive field study over a continuous time period. There is a public component to many BioBlitzes, with the goal of getting the public interested in biodiversity. To encourage more public participation, these BioBlitzes are often held in urban parks or nature reserves close to cities.
The Sierra Club Foundation is an American environmental nonprofit. It is affiliated with the Sierra Club. The organization's stated mission is to "help educate, inspire, and empower humanity to preserve the natural and human environment." The Sierra Club Foundation is a public charity based in San Francisco, California and founded in 1960. It provides financial support to the Sierra Club and other environmental organizations. The Sierra Club Foundation funds a range of environmental projects. The organization was founded by John Muir. Members of the organization's board of directors have included Lynn Jurich and Mike Richter. The current board of directors include Darren Aronofsky, Steven Berkenfield, Marni McKinnney, Doug Walker and Sanjay Ranchod.
Northwest Service Academy (NWSA) was an AmeriCorps program in the Pacific Northwest which focuses on environmental service. The program ended in 2010 when the Americorps grant was not renewed. Northwest Service Academy ran from 1994, as an Americorps program in the inaugural year, to 2010.
CSIRO Publishing is an Australian-based science and technology publisher. It publishes books, journals and magazines across a range of scientific disciplines, including agriculture, chemistry, plant and animal sciences, natural history and environmental management. It also produces interactive learning modules for primary school students and provides writing workshops for researchers.
Trail ethics deals with ethics as it applies to the use of trails. It is similar to both environmental ethics and human rights in that it deals with the shared interaction of humans and nature. There are multiple agencies and groups that support and encourage ethical behavior on trails.
Allegheny Land Trust is a regional land conservation group headquartered in the Pittsburgh suburb of Sewickley, Pennsylvania in the United States.
Earthwatch Institute is an international environmental charity founded as Educational Expeditions International in 1971 near Boston (USA) by Robert A. Citron and Clarence Truesdale, then superintendent of Vermont public schools. It is one of the largest global underwriters of scientific field research in archaeology, paleontology, marine life, biodiversity, ecosystems and wildlife. For over forty years, Earthwatch has delivered a unique citizen science model to raise funds and recruit individuals, students, teachers and corporate fellows to participate in critical field research to understand nature's response to accelerating global change. Earthwatch's work supports hundreds of Ph.D. researchers across dozens of countries, conducting over 100,000 hours of research annually.
Teatown Lake Reservation is a nonprofit nature preserve and environmental education center in Westchester County, New York, in the United States. The reservation includes an 1,000-acre (4.0 km2) nature preserve and education center located in the Westchester towns of Yorktown, Cortlandt, and New Castle. About 25,000 people come each year to hike the preserve's 15 miles (24 km) of trails, attend an education program, visit the Nature Center, or tour "Wildflower Island". Teatown's educators offer adult, family and children's programs to 20,000 participants annually, including nearly 6,000 schoolchildren and 700 summer camp students.
The Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration is a University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) campus facility dedicated to education, research, and outreach.
The natural environment, commonly referred to simply as the environment, includes all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth.
The Paroo-Darling National Park is a protected national park that is located in the Far West region of New South Wales, in eastern Australia. The 178,053-hectare (439,980-acre) national park spans two distinct regions in the outback area. This region covers the arid catchments of the Paroo River and the Paroo-Darling confluence to the south.
David Lindenmayer,, is an Australian scientist and academic. He is an expert in landscape ecology, conservation and biodiversity. His areas of expertise also include environmental management, forestry management and environment, terrestrial ecology, wildlife and habitat management, environmental monitoring, forestry fire management, natural resource management, zoology and forestry sciences.
Douglas H. Chadwick is an American wildlife biologist, author, photographer and frequent National Geographic contributor. He is the author of fourteen books and more than 200 articles on wildlife and wild places.
