Yosemite National Park

Yosemite National Park ( ) is an American national park in Northern California, surrounded on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The park is managed by the National Park Service and covers an area of and sits in four counties: centered in Tuolumne and Mariposa, extending north and east to Mono and south to Madera County. Designated a World Heritage Site in 1984, Yosemite is internationally recognized for its granite cliffs, waterfalls, clear streams, giant sequoia groves, lakes, mountains, meadows, glaciers, and biological diversity. Almost 95% of the park is designated wilderness.
Yosemite is one of the largest and least fragmented habitat blocks in the Sierra Nevada, and the park supports a diversity of plants and animals. The park has an elevation range from and contains five major vegetation zones: chaparral and oak woodland, lower montane forest, upper montane forest, subalpine zone, and alpine. Of California's 7,000 plant species, approximately 50% occur in the Sierra Nevada and more than 20% are within Yosemite. The park contains suitable habitat for more than 160 rare plants, with rare local geologic formations and unique soils characterizing the restricted ranges many of these plants occupy.
The geology of the Yosemite area is characterized by granitic rocks and remnants of older rock. About 10 million years ago, the Sierra Nevada was uplifted and then tilted to form its relatively gentle western slopes and the more dramatic eastern slopes. The uplift increased the steepness of stream and river beds, resulting in the formation of deep, narrow canyons. About one million years ago, snow and ice accumulated, forming glaciers at the higher alpine meadows that moved down the river valleys. Ice thickness in Yosemite Valley may have reached during the early glacial episode. The downslope movement of the ice masses cut and sculpted the U-shaped valley that attracts so many visitors to its scenic vistas today.
Yosemite was central to the development of the national park idea. Galen Clark and others lobbied to protect Yosemite Valley from development, ultimately leading to President Abraham Lincoln's signing the Yosemite Grant in 1864. John Muir led a successful movement to have Congress establish a larger national park by 1890, one which encompassed the valley and its surrounding mountains and forests, paving the way for the National Park System. Yosemite now draws about four million visitors each year, and most visitors spend the majority of their time in the of Yosemite Valley. The park set a visitation record in 2016, surpassing five million visitors for the first time in its history.
Etymology.
The name "Yosemite" (meaning "killer" in Miwok) originally referred to the name of a tribe which was driven out of the area (and possibly annihilated) by the Mariposa Battalion. Previously, the area had been called "Ahwahnee" ("big mouth") by indigenous people. The indigenous tribe that lived in the Valley were called Yosemites by other tribes because they were formed of renegades from the Paiutes. The term "Yosemite" in Miwok is easily confusable with a similar term for "grizzly bear".
History.
Ahwahneechee and the Mariposa Wars.
Yosemite Valley has been inhabited for nearly 3,000 years, although humans may have first visited the area as long as 8,000 to 10,000 years ago. The indigenous natives called themselves the Ahwahnechee, meaning "dwellers in Ahwahnee". They are related to the Northern Paiute and Mono tribes. Many tribes visited the area to trade, including nearby Central Sierra Miwoks, who lived along the drainage area of the Tuolumne and Stanislaus Rivers. A major trading route went over Mono Pass and through Bloody Canyon to Mono Lake, just to the east of the Yosemite area. Vegetation and game in the region were similar to that present today; acorns were a staple to their diet, as well as other seeds and plants, salmon and deer.
The California Gold Rush in the mid-19th century drew over 90,000 European-Americans to the area in less than two years, causing competition for resources between the regional Paiute and Miwok and miners. In 1851, as part of the Mariposa Wars intended to suppress Native American resistance, the State of California funded a private militia to drive Native people from contested territory. Trader Jim Savage was appointed United States Army Major and led the Mariposa Battalion into the west end of Yosemite Valley. He was pursuing around 200 Ahwahneechee people led by Chief Tenaya.
Accounts from this battalion were the first well-documented reports of ethnic Europeans entering Yosemite Valley. Attached to Savage's unit was Lafayette Bunnell, who later wrote about his awestruck impressions of the valley in "The Discovery of the Yosemite". Bunnell is credited with naming Yosemite Valley, based on his interviews with Chief Tenaya. Bunnell wrote that Chief Tenaya was the founder of the Ah-wah-nee colony. Bunnell falsely believed that the word "Yosemite" meant "full-grown grizzly bear." In fact, "Yosemite" was derived from the Miwok term for the Ahwaneechee people: "yohhe'meti," meaning "they are killers".
Bunnell's battalion eventually captured Chief Tenaya and the Ahwahneechee and burned their village; the Ahwahneechee were marched to a reservation near Fresno, California. The chief and some others were later allowed to return to Yosemite Valley. In the spring of 1852 they attacked a group of eight gold miners, and then moved east to flee law enforcement. Near Mono Lake, they took refuge with the nearby Mono tribe of Paiute. They stole horses from their hosts and moved away, but the Mono Paiutes tracked down and killed many of the Ahwahneechee, including Chief Tenaya. The Mono Paiute took the survivors as captives back to Mono Lake and absorbed them into the Mono Lake Paiute tribe.
After these wars, a number of Native Americans continued to live within the boundaries of Yosemite. A number of Indians supported the growing tourism industry by working as laborers or maids. Later, Indians became part of the tourism industry itself by selling baskets or performing for tourists. In 1969, the National Park Service evicted the remaining Native people from their residences and destroyed their village as part of a fire-fighting exercise.
A reconstructed "Indian Village of Ahwahnee" has been erected behind the Yosemite Museum, located next to the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center.
Early tourists.
In 1855, entrepreneur James Mason Hutchings, artist Thomas Ayres and two others were the first to tour the area. Hutchings and Ayres were responsible for much of the earliest publicity about Yosemite, writing articles and special magazine issues about the Valley. Ayres' style in art was highly detailed with exaggerated angularity. His works and written accounts were distributed nationally, and an art exhibition of his drawings was held in New York City. Hutchings' publicity efforts between 1855 and 1860 led to an increase in tourism to Yosemite.
Wawona was an Indian encampment in what is now the southwestern part of the park. Settler Galen Clark discovered the Mariposa Grove of giant sequoia in Wawona in 1857. He had simple lodgings built, and roads to the area. In 1879, the Wawona Hotel was built to serve tourists visiting Mariposa Grove. As tourism increased, so did the number of trails and hotels developed by people intending to build on the trade.
The Wawona Tree, also known as the Tunnel Tree, was a famous giant sequoia that stood in the Mariposa Grove. It was tall, and was in circumference. When a carriage-wide tunnel was cut through the tree in 1881, it became even more popular as a tourist photo attraction. Everything from horse-drawn carriages in the late 19th century, to automobiles in the first part of the 20th century, traveled the road which passed through that tree. The tree was permanently weakened by the tunnel, and the Wawona Tree fell in 1969 under a heavy load of snow. It was estimated to have been 2,300 years old. It is unclear how much longer it may have lived if it had not been damaged.
Yosemite's first concession was established in 1884 when John Degnan and his wife established a bakery and store. In 1916, the National Park Service granted a 20-year concession to the Desmond Park Service Company. It bought out or built hotels, stores, camps, a dairy, a garage, and other park services. Desmond changed its name to the Yosemite National Park Company in December 1917 and was reorganized in 1920.
The Curry Company had been started in 1899 by David and Jennie Curry to provide concessions in the park. They also founded Camp Curry, formerly known as Half Dome Village, now restored back to Curry Village. The Currys lobbied reluctant park supervisors to allow expansion of concession operations and development in the area.
Administrators in the National Park Service felt that limiting the number of concessionaires in each national park would be more financially sound. The Curry Company and its rival, the Yosemite National Park Company, were forced to merge in 1925 to form the Yosemite Park & Curry Company (YP&CC). The company built the Ahwahnee Hotel in 1926-27.
Yosemite Grant.
Concerned by the effects of commercial interests, prominent citizens including Galen Clark and Senator John Conness advocated for protection of the area. A park bill was prepared with the assistance of the General Land Office in the Interior Department. The bill passed both houses of the 38th United States Congress, and was signed by President Abraham Lincoln on June 30, 1864, creating the Yosemite Grant. This is the first instance of park land being set aside specifically for preservation and public use by action of the U.S. federal government, and set a precedent for the 1872 creation of Yellowstone as the first national park. Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Grove were ceded to California as a state park, and a board of commissioners was proclaimed two years later.
Galen Clark was appointed by the commission as the Grant's first guardian, but neither Clark nor the commissioners had the authority to evict homesteaders (which included Hutchings). The issue was not settled until 1872 when the homesteader land holdings were invalidated by the U.S. Supreme Court. Clark and the reigning commissioners were ousted in 1880, this dispute also reaching the Supreme Court in 1880. The two Supreme Court decisions affecting management of the Yosemite Grant are considered important precedents in land management law. Hutchings became the new park guardian.
Access to the park by tourists improved in the early years of the park, and conditions in the Valley were made more hospitable. Tourism significantly increased after the First Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869, but the long horseback ride to reach the area was a deterrent. Three stagecoach roads were built in the mid-1870s to provide better access for the growing number of visitors to Yosemite Valley.
John Muir was a Scottish-born American naturalist and explorer. It was because of Muir that many National Parks were left untouched, such as Yosemite Valley National Park. One of the most significant camping trips Muir took was in 1903 with then president Theodore Roosevelt. This trip persuaded Roosevelt to return "Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove to federal protection as part of Yosemite National Park".
Muir wrote articles popularizing the area and increasing scientific interest in it. Muir was one of the first to theorize that the major landforms in Yosemite Valley were created by large alpine glaciers, bucking established scientists such as Josiah Whitney, who regarded Muir as an amateur. Muir wrote scientific papers on the area's biology. Landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted emphasized the importance of conservation of Yosemite Valley.
Increased protection efforts.
Overgrazing of meadows (especially by sheep), logging of giant sequoia, and other damage caused Muir to become an advocate for further protection. Muir convinced prominent guests of the importance of putting the area under federal protection; one such guest was Robert Underwood Johnson, editor of "Century Magazine". Muir and Johnson lobbied Congress for the Act that created Yosemite National Park on October 1, 1890. The State of California, however, retained control of Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove. Muir also helped persuade local officials to virtually eliminate grazing from the Yosemite high country.
The newly created national park came under the jurisdiction of the United States Army's Troop I of the 4th Cavalry on May 19, 1891, which set up camp in Wawona with Captain Abram Epperson Wood as acting superintendent. By the late 1890s, sheep grazing was no longer a problem, and the Army made other improvements. The cavalry could not intervene to ease the worsening condition of Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove. The cavalry left another legacy in the park, the ranger hat. From 1899 to 1913, cavalry regiments of the Western Department, including the all Black 9th Cavalry (known as the "Buffalo Soldiers") and the 1st Cavalry, stationed two troops at Yosemite and brought with them the trooper's campaign hat with its distinctive Montana Peak we recognize today as the "ranger hat". This peak had been formed into the trooper's stetson by veterans of the 1898 Spanish–American War to better shed tropical rain.
Muir and his Sierra Club continued to lobby the government and influential people for the creation of a unified Yosemite National Park. In May 1903, President Theodore Roosevelt camped with Muir near Glacier Point for three days. On that trip, Muir convinced Roosevelt to take control of Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove away from California and return it to the federal government. In 1906, Roosevelt signed a bill that did precisely that.
National Park Service.
The National Park Service was formed in 1916, and Yosemite was transferred to that agency's jurisdiction. Tuolumne Meadows Lodge, Tioga Pass Road, and campgrounds at Tenaya and Merced lakes were also completed in 1916. Automobiles started to enter the park in ever-increasing numbers following the construction of all-weather highways to the park. The Yosemite Museum was founded in 1926 through the efforts of Ansel Franklin Hall. In the 1920s, the museum featured Native Americans practicing traditional crafts, and many of the Sierra Miwok continued to live in Yosemite Valley until they were evicted from Yosemite in the 1960s.
In 1903, a dam in the northern portion of the park was proposed. Located in the Hetch Hetchy Valley, its purpose was to provide water and hydroelectric power to San Francisco. Muir and the Sierra Club opposed the project, while others, including Gifford Pinchot, supported it. In 1913, the U.S. Congress authorized the O'Shaughnessy Dam through passage of the Raker Act.
In the late 1920s a bid for Yosemite for the 1932 Winter Olympics was put forward. Ultimately, the 1932 Winter Olympics were awarded to Lake Placid, New York. In 1937, conservationist Rosalie Edge, head of the Emergency Conservation Committee (ECC), successfully lobbied Congress to purchase about 8,000 acres of old-growth sugar pines on the perimeter of Yosemite National Park that were to be logged.
In 1984, preservationists persuaded Congress to designate , or about 89% of the park, as the Yosemite Wilderness—a highly protected wilderness area. The Park Service has reduced artificial inducements to visit the park, such as the "Firefall", in which red-hot embers were pushed off a cliff near Glacier Point at night. Traffic congestion in Yosemite Valley during the summer months has become a concern. Two electric buses commenced service in September 1995. The buses are quiet and do not emit pollutants. Eventually, all the buses in Yosemite will be electric.
In 2016, The Trust for Public Land purchased Ackerson Meadow, a 400-acre tract on the western edge of Yosemite National Park, for $2.3 million in order to preserve habitat and protect the area from development. Ackerson Meadow was originally included in the proposed 1890 park boundary but never acquired by the federal government. The purchase and donation of the meadow was made possible through a cooperative effort by the Trust for Public Land, the National Park Service, and Yosemite Conservancy. On September 7, 2016, the National Park Service accepted the donation of the land, making the meadow the largest addition to Yosemite since 1949.
Geography.
Yosemite National Park is located in the central Sierra Nevada of California. Three wilderness areas are adjacent to Yosemite: the Ansel Adams Wilderness to the southeast, the Hoover Wilderness to the northeast, and the Emigrant Wilderness to the north.
The park is roughly the size of the U.S. state of Rhode Island and contains thousands of lakes and ponds, of streams, of hiking trails, and of roads. Two federally designated Wild and Scenic Rivers, the Merced and the Tuolumne, begin within Yosemite's borders and flow westward through the Sierra foothills, into the Central Valley of California. On average, about 4 million people visit the park each year, with most visitor use concentrated in the seven-square-mile (18 km2) area of Yosemite Valley.
Rocks and erosion.
Almost all of the landforms in the Yosemite area are cut from the granitic rock of the Sierra Nevada Batholith (a batholith is a large mass of intrusive igneous rock that formed deep below the surface). About 5% of the park's landforms (mostly in its eastern margin near Mount Dana) are metamorphosed volcanic and sedimentary rocks. These rocks are called "roof pendants" because they were once the roof of the underlying granitic rock.
Erosion acting upon different types of uplift-created joint and fracture systems is responsible for creating the valleys, canyons, domes, and other features we see today. These joints and fracture systems do not move, and are therefore not faults. Spacing between joints is controlled by the amount of silica in the granite and granodiorite rocks; more silica tends to create a more resistant rock, resulting in larger spaces between joints and fractures.
Pillars and columns, such as Washington Column and Lost Arrow, are created by cross joints. Erosion acting on master joints is responsible for creating valleys and later canyons. The single most erosive force over the last few million years has been large alpine glaciers, which have turned the previously V-shaped river-cut valleys into U-shaped glacial-cut canyons (such as Yosemite Valley and Hetch Hetchy Valley). Exfoliation (caused by the tendency of crystals in plutonic rocks to expand at the surface) acting on granitic rock with widely spaced joints is responsible for creating domes such as Half Dome and North Dome and inset arches like Royal Arches.
Popular features.
Yosemite Valley represents only one percent of the park area, but this is where most visitors arrive and stay. The Tunnel View is the first view of the Valley for many visitors and is extensively photographed. El Capitan, a prominent granite cliff that looms over Yosemite Valley, is one of the most popular rock climbing destinations in the world because of its diverse range of climbing routes in addition to its year-round accessibility. Granite domes such as Sentinel Dome and Half Dome rise , respectively, above the valley floor. In the park are many domes.
The high country of Yosemite contains beautiful areas such as Tuolumne Meadows, Dana Meadows, the Clark Range, the Cathedral Range, and the Kuna Crest. The Sierra crest and the Pacific Crest Trail run through Yosemite, with peaks of red metamorphic rock, such as Mount Dana and Mount Gibbs, and granite peaks, such as Mount Conness. Mount Lyell is the highest point in the park, standing at . The Lyell Glacier is the largest glacier in Yosemite National Park and is one of the few remaining in the Sierra Nevada today.
The park has three groves of ancient giant sequoia ("Sequoiadendron giganteum") trees; the Mariposa Grove (200 trees), the Tuolumne Grove (25 trees), and the Merced Grove (20 trees). This species grows larger in volume than any other and is one of the tallest and longest-lived.
Water and ice.
The Tuolumne and Merced River systems originate along the crest of the Sierra Nevada in the park and have carved river canyons deep. The Tuolumne River drains the entire northern portion of the park, an area of approximately . The Merced River begins in the park's southern peaks, primarily the Cathedral and Clark Ranges, and drains an area of approximately .
Hydrologic processes, including glaciation, flooding, and fluvial geomorphic response, have been fundamental in creating landforms in the park. The park also contains approximately 3,200 lakes (greater than 100 m2), two reservoirs, and of streams, all of which help form these two large watersheds. Wetlands in Yosemite occur in valley bottoms throughout the park, and are often hydrologically linked to nearby lakes and rivers through seasonal flooding and groundwater movement. Meadow habitats, distributed at elevations from in the park, are generally wetlands, as are the riparian habitats found on the banks of Yosemite's numerous streams and rivers.
Yosemite is famous for its high concentration of waterfalls in a small area. Numerous sheer drops, glacial steps and hanging valleys in the park provide many places for waterfalls to exist, especially during April, May, and June (the snowmelt season). Located in Yosemite Valley, the Yosemite Falls is the highest in North America at . Also in Yosemite Valley is the much lower volume Ribbon Falls, which has the highest single vertical drop, . Perhaps the most prominent of the Yosemite Valley waterfalls is Bridalveil Fall, which is the waterfall seen from the Tunnel View viewpoint at the east end of the Wawona Tunnel. Wapama Falls in Hetch Hetchy Valley is another notable waterfall. Hundreds of ephemeral waterfalls also exist in the park.
All glaciers in the park are relatively small glaciers that occupy areas that are in almost permanent shade, such as north- and northeast-facing cirques. Lyell Glacier is the largest glacier in Yosemite (the Palisades Glaciers are the largest in the Sierra Nevada) and covers . None of the Yosemite glaciers are a remnant of the much, much larger Ice Age alpine glaciers responsible for sculpting the Yosemite landscape. Instead, they were formed during one of the neoglacial episodes that have occurred since the thawing of the Ice Age (such as the Little Ice Age). Climate change has reduced the number and size of glaciers around the world. Many Yosemite glaciers, including Merced Glacier, which was discovered by John Muir in 1871 and bolstered his glacial origins theory of the Yosemite area, have disappeared and most of the others have lost up to 75% of their surface area.
Climate.
Yosemite has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification "Csa"), meaning most precipitation falls during the mild winter, and the other seasons are nearly dry (less than 3% of precipitation falls during the long, hot summers). Because of orographic lift, precipitation increases with elevation up to where it slowly decreases to the crest. Precipitation amounts vary from at elevation to at . Snow does not typically persist on the ground until November in the high country. It accumulates all winter and into March or early April.
Mean daily temperatures range from to at Tuolumne Meadows at . At the Wawona Entrance (elevation ), mean daily temperature ranges from . At the lower elevations below , temperatures are hotter; the mean daily high temperature at Yosemite Valley (elevation ) varies from . At elevations above , the hot, dry summer temperatures are moderated by frequent summer thunderstorms, along with snow that can persist into July. The combination of dry vegetation, low relative humidity, and thunderstorms results in frequent lightning-caused fires as well.
At the park headquarters, with an elevation of , January averages , while July averages , though in summer the nights are much cooler than the hot days. There are an average of 39.5 days with highs of or higher and an average of 97.9 nights with freezing temperatures. Freezing temperatures have been recorded in every month of the year. The record high temperature was on July 20, 1915, while the record low temperature was on January 2, 1924 and on January 21, 1937. Average annual precipitation is nearly , falling on 65 days. The wettest year was 1983 with and the driest year was 1976 with . The most precipitation in one month was in December 1955 and the most in one day was on December 23, 1955. Average annual snowfall is . The snowiest year was 1967 with . The most snow in one month was in January 1993.
Geology.
Tectonic and volcanic activity.
The area of the park was astride a passive continental margin during the Precambrian and early Paleozoic. Sediment was derived from continental sources and was deposited in shallow water. These rocks have since been deformed and metamorphosed.
Heat generated from the Farallon Plate subducting below the North American Plate led to the creation of an island arc of volcanoes on the west coast of proto-North America between the late Devonian and Permian periods. Later volcanism in the Jurassic intruded and covered these rocks in what may have been magmatic activity associated with the early stages of the creation of the Sierra Nevada Batholith. 95% of these rocks were eventually removed by uplifted-accelerated erosion.
The first phase of regional plutonism started 210 million years ago in the late Triassic and continued throughout the Jurassic to about 150 million years before present (BP). Around the same time, the Nevadan orogeny built the Nevadan mountain range (also called the Ancestral Sierra Nevada) to a height of . This was directly part of the creation of the Sierra Nevada Batholith, and the resulting rocks were mostly granitic in composition and emplaced about below the surface. The second major pluton emplacement phase lasted from about 120 million to 80 million years ago during the Cretaceous. This was part of the Sevier orogeny.
Starting 20 million years ago (in the Cenozoic) and lasting until 5 million years ago, a now-extinct extension of Cascade Range volcanoes erupted, bringing large amounts of igneous material in the area. These igneous deposits blanketed the region north of the Yosemite region. Volcanic activity persisted past 5 million years BP east of the current park borders in the Mono Lake and Long Valley areas.
Uplift and erosion.
Starting 10 million years ago, vertical movement along the Sierra fault started to uplift the Sierra Nevada. Subsequent tilting of the Sierra block and the resulting accelerated uplift of the Sierra Nevada increased the gradient of western-flowing streams. The streams consequently ran faster and thus cut their valleys more quickly. Additional uplift occurred when major faults developed to the east, especially the creation of Owens Valley from Basin and Range-associated extensional forces. Uplift of the Sierra accelerated again about two million years ago during the Pleistocene.
The uplifting and increased erosion exposed granitic rocks in the area to surface pressures, resulting in exfoliation (responsible for the rounded shape of the many domes in the park) and mass wasting following the numerous fracture joint planes (cracks; especially vertical ones) in the now solidified plutons. Pleistocene glaciers further accelerated this process and the larger ones transported the resulting talus and till from valley floors.
Numerous vertical joint planes controlled where and how fast erosion took place. Most of these long, linear and very deep cracks trend northeast or northwest and form parallel, often regularly spaced sets. They were created by uplift-associated pressure release and by the unloading of overlying rock via erosion.
Sculpting by glaciers.
A series of glaciations further modified the region starting about 2 to 3 million years ago and ending sometime around 10,000 BP. At least four major glaciations have occurred in the Sierra Nevada, locally called the Sherwin (also called the pre-Tahoe), Tahoe, Tenaya, and Tioga. The Sherwin glaciers were the largest, filling Yosemite and other valleys, while later stages produced much smaller glaciers. A Sherwin-age glacier was almost surely responsible for the major excavation and shaping of Yosemite Valley and other canyons in the area.
Glacial systems reached depths of up to and left their marks in the Yosemite area. The longest glacier in the Yosemite area ran down the Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne River for , passing well beyond Hetch Hetchy Valley. Merced Glacier flowed out of Yosemite Valley and into the Merced River Gorge. Lee Vining Glacier carved Lee Vining Canyon and emptied into Lake Russel (the much-enlarged ice age version of Mono Lake). Only the highest peaks, such as Mount Dana and Mount Conness, were not covered by glaciers. Retreating glaciers often left recessional moraines that impounded lakes such as the long Lake Yosemite (a shallow lake that periodically covered much of the floor of Yosemite Valley).
Ecology.
Habitats.
With its scrubby sun-baked chaparral, stately groves of pine, fir, and sequoia, and expanses of alpine woodlands and meadows, Yosemite National Park preserves a Sierra Nevada landscape as it prevailed before Euro-American settlement. In contrast to surrounding lands, which have been significantly altered by logging, the park still contains some of old-growth forest. Taken together, the park's varied habitats support over 250 species of vertebrates, which include fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals.
Much of Yosemite's western boundary has habitats dominated by mixed coniferous forests of ponderosa pine, sugar pine, incense cedar, white fir, Douglas fir, and a few stands of giant sequoia, interspersed by areas of black oak and canyon live oak. A relatively high diversity of wildlife species is supported by these habitats, because of relatively mild, lower-elevation climate and the mixture of habitat types and plant species. Wildlife species typically found in these habitats include black bear, coyote, raccoon, mountain kingsnake, Gilbert's skink, white-headed woodpecker, bobcat, river otter, gray fox, red fox, brown creeper, two species of skunk, cougar, spotted owl, and a wide variety of bat species.
Going higher in elevation, the coniferous forests become purer stands of red fir, western white pine, Jeffrey pine, lodgepole pine, and the occasional foxtail pine. Fewer wildlife species tend to be found in these habitats, because of their higher elevation and lower complexity. Species likely to be found include golden-mantled ground squirrel, chickaree, fisher, Steller's jay, hermit thrush, and northern goshawk. Reptiles are not common, but include rubber boa, western fence lizard, and northern alligator lizard.
As the landscape rises, trees become smaller and more sparse, with stands broken by areas of exposed granite. These include lodgepole pine, whitebark pine, and mountain hemlock that, at highest elevations, give way to vast expanses of granite as treeline is reached. The climate in these habitats is harsh and the growing season is short, but species such as pika, yellow-bellied marmot, white-tailed jackrabbit, Clark's nutcracker, and black rosy finch are adapted to these conditions. Also, the treeless alpine habitats are the areas favored by Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep. This species, however, is now found in the Yosemite area only around Tioga Pass, where a small, reintroduced population exists.
At a variety of elevations, meadows provide important, productive habitat for wildlife. Animals come to feed on the green grasses and use the flowing and standing water found in many meadows. Predators, in turn, are attracted to these areas. The interface between meadow and forest is also favored by many animal species because of the proximity of open areas for foraging and cover for protection. Species that are highly dependent upon meadow habitat include great grey owl, willow flycatcher, Yosemite toad, and mountain beaver.
Management issues.
The black bears of Yosemite were once famous for breaking into parked cars to steal food. They were also an encouraged tourist sight for many years at the park's garbage dumps, where bears congregated to eat park visitors' garbage and tourists gathered to photograph the bears. Increasing encounters between bears and humans and increasing damage to property led to an aggressive campaign to discourage bears from relying on human food or interacting with people and their property. The open-air dumps were closed; all trash receptacles were replaced with bear-proof receptacles; all campgrounds were equipped with bear-proof food lockers so that people would not leave food in their vehicles, which were easy targets for the powerful and resourceful bears. Because bears who show aggression towards people usually are eventually destroyed, park personnel have continued to come up with innovative ways to have bears associate humans and their property with unpleasant experiences, such as being hit with rubber bullets. Today, about 30 bears a year are captured and ear-tagged and their DNA is sampled so that, when bear damage occurs, rangers can ascertain which bear is causing the problem.
Despite the richness of high-quality habitats in Yosemite, the brown bear, California condor, and least Bell's vireo have become extinct in the park within historical time, and another 37 species currently have special status under either California or federal endangered species legislation. The most serious current threats to Yosemite's wildlife and the ecosystems they occupy include loss of a natural fire regime, exotic species, air pollution, habitat fragmentation, and climate change. On a more local basis, factors such as road kills and the availability of human food have affected some wildlife species.
Yosemite National Park has documented more than 130 non-native plant species within park boundaries. These non-native plants were introduced into Yosemite following the migration of early Euro-American settlers in the late 1850s. Natural and human-caused disturbances, such as wildland fires and construction activities, have contributed to a rapid increase in the spread of non-native plants. A number of these species aggressively invade and displace the native plant communities, resulting in impacts on the park's resources. Non-native plants can bring about significant changes in park ecosystems by altering the native plant communities and the processes that support them. Some non-native species may cause an increase in the fire frequency of an area or increase the available nitrogen in the soil that may allow more non-native plants to become established. Many non-native species, such as yellow star thistle ("Centaurea solstitialis"), are able to produce a long tap root that allows them to out-compete the native plants for available water.
Bull thistle ("Cirsium vulgare"), common mullein ("Verbascum thapsus"), and Klamath weed ("Hypericum perforatum") have been identified as noxious pests in Yosemite since the 1940s. Additional species that have been recognized more recently as aggressive and requiring control are yellow star thistle ("Centaurea solstitialis"), sweet clover ("Melilot" spp.), Himalayan blackberry ("Rubus armeniacus"), cut-leaved blackberry ("Rubus laciniatus") and large periwinkle ("Vinca major").
Increasing ozone pollution is causing tissue damage to the massive giant sequoia trees in the park, making them more vulnerable to insect infestation and disease. Since the cones of these trees require fire-touched soil to germinate, historic fire suppression has reduced these trees' ability to reproduce. The current policy of setting prescribed fires is expected to help the germination issue.
Wildfires.
Forest fires seasonally clear the park of dead vegetation, making way for new growth. These fires damage the income generated by tourism. The Rim Fire in 2013 destroyed nearly $2 billion in assets and revenue, though natural woodland assets are renewable, and closed off much of the park to tourists. This fire was the third largest on record, and burned nearly 500 acres of wild habitat.
During late July and early August, 2018, sections of the park, including the Valley, were temporarily closed due to the Ferguson Fire at its western boundary. The closing was the largest in almost thirty years at the park.
Activities.
Yosemite Valley is open year-round and numerous activities are available through the National Park Service, Yosemite Conservancy, and Aramark at Yosemite, including nature walks, photography and art classes, stargazing programs, tours, bike rentals, rafting, mule and horseback rides, and rock climbing classes. Many people enjoy short walks and longer hikes to waterfalls in Yosemite Valley, or walks among giant sequoias in the Mariposa, Tuolumne, or Merced Groves. Others like to drive or take a tour bus to Glacier Point (summer–fall) to see views of Yosemite Valley and the high country, or drive along the scenic Tioga Road to Tuolumne Meadows (May–October) and go for a walk or hike.
Most park visitors stay just for the day, and visit only those locations within Yosemite Valley that are easily accessible by automobile. There is a US$25–30 per automobile user fee to enter the park, depending on the season. Traffic congestion in the valley is a serious problem during peak season, in summer. A free shuttle bus system operates year-round in the valley, and park rangers encourage people to use this system since parking within the valley during the summer is often nearly impossible to find. Transit options are available from Fresno and Merced.
In addition to exploring the natural features of the park, visitors can also learn about the natural and cultural history of Yosemite Valley at a number of facilities in the valley: the Yosemite Valley Visitor Center, the adjoining Yosemite Museum, and the Nature Center at Happy Isles. There are also two National Historic Landmarks: the Sierra Club's LeConte Memorial Lodge (Yosemite's first public visitor center), and the Ahwahnee Hotel. Camp 4 was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.
In the winter, it is snowed in, but the area of Tuolumne Meadows has a great deal of hiking, rock climbing, and mountain climbing; see also the highest mountains of Yosemite National Park.
Hiking.
Over of trails are available to hikers—everything from an easy stroll to a challenging mountain hike, or an overnight backpack trip. One of the most popular trails leads to the summit of Half Dome and requires an advance permit from Memorial Day weekend in late May, to Columbus Day in early October. A maximum of 300 hikers, selected by lottery, are permitted to advance beyond the base of the subdome each day, including 225 day hikers and 75 backpackers.
The park can be divided into five sections for the day-user—Yosemite Valley, Wawona/Mariposa Grove/Glacier Point, Tuolumne Meadows, Hetch Hetchy, and Crane Flat/White Wolf. Numerous books describe park trails, and free information is available from the National Park Service in Yosemite. Park rangers encourage visitors to experience portions of the park in addition to Yosemite Valley.
Between late spring and early fall, much of the park can be accessed for multiple-day backpacking trips. All overnight trips into the back country require a wilderness permit and most require approved bear-resistant food storage.
Driving destinations.
While some locations in Yosemite require hiking, other locations can be reached via automobile transportation. Driving locations also allow guests to observe the night sky in locations other than their campsite or lodge. All of the roads in Yosemite are scenic, but the most famous is the Tioga Road, typically open from late May or early June through November.
As an alternative to driving, bicycles are allowed on the roads. However, bicycles are allowed off-road on only of paved trails in Yosemite Valley itself; mountain biking is not allowed.
Climbing.
Rock climbing is an important part of Yosemite. In particular Yosemite Valley, which is surrounded by famous summits like Half Dome and El Capitan. Camp 4, a walk-in campground in the Valley, was instrumental in the development of rock climbing as a sport, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Climbers can generally be spotted in the snow-free months on anything from ten-foot-high (3 m) boulders to the face of El Capitan. Classes on rock climbing are offered by numerous groups.
Winter activities.
Yosemite Valley is open all year, although some roads within the park close in winter. Downhill skiing is available at the Badger Pass Ski Area—the oldest downhill skiing area in California, offering downhill skiing from mid-December through early April. Much of the park is open to cross-country skiing and snowshoeing, with several backcountry ski huts open for use. Wilderness permits are required for backcountry overnight ski trips.
The Bracebridge dinner is an annual holiday event, held since 1927 at the Ahwahnee Hotel, inspired by Washington Irving's descriptions of Squire Bracebridge and English Christmas traditions of the 18th century in his "Sketch Book". Between 1929 and 1973, the show was organized by Ansel Adams.
Other.
Bicycle rentals are available in Yosemite Valley spring through fall. Over of paved bike paths are available in Yosemite Valley. In addition, bicyclists can ride on regular roads. Helmets are required by law for children under 18 years of age. Off-trail riding and mountain biking are not permitted in Yosemite National Park.
Water activities are plentiful during warmer months. Rafting can be done through the Yosemite Valley on the Merced River. There are also swimming pools available at Yosemite Lodge and Curry Village.
In 2010, Yosemite National Park was honored with its own quarter under the America the Beautiful Quarters program.
Horsetail Fall.
Horsetail Fall flows over the eastern edge of El Capitan in Yosemite Valley. This small waterfall usually flows only during winter and is easy to miss. On rare occasions during mid- to late February, it can glow orange when it's backlit by sunset. This unique lighting effect happens only on evenings with a clear sky when the waterfall is flowing. Even some haze or minor cloudiness can greatly diminish or eliminate the effect. Although entirely natural, the phenomenon is reminiscent of the human-caused Firefall that historically occurred from Glacier Point.
In popular culture.
The opening scenes of "" (1989) were filmed in Yosemite National Park. Films such as "The Last of the Mohicans" (1920) and "Maverick" (1994) have also been shot here. The 2014 documentary "Valley Uprising" is centered around Yosemite Valley and its history. The Academy Award-winning 2018 documentary "Free Solo" was filmed in Yosemite. "The Dawn Wall," a 2017 documentary, was also filmed in Yosemite.


Putrajaya Wetlands Park

Putrajaya Wetlands Park () in Putrajaya, Malaysia is the largest constructed freshwater wetlands in the tropics. It is the first man-made wetland in Malaysia, which includes a Wetland Park (138 hectares) and the wetland areas (1977 hectares).
Putrajaya Wetlands consists of 24 wetland cells, Wetlands Park (Taman Wetland) and the other Wetlands areas. The Wetland now is also a wildlife sanctuary which attracts a huge variety of animals to the combined terrestrial-aquatic wetland environment.
Several species of local marshland birds and water birds including the little egret, the little green heron and cinnamon bittern, and migratory birds form Northern Hemisphere have been spotted there. Binoculars will come in handy for bird watching. The visitors can also enjoy a leisurely walk, jog or cycle along its bicycle track.


Palmaria (island)

Palmaria is an Italian island situated in the Ligurian Sea, at the westernmost end of the Gulf of La Spezia. Measuring , it is the largest island of an archipelago of three closely spaced islands jutting out south from the mainland at Portovenere. The other islands, Tino, and the tiny Tinetto lie further south.
In 1997, the archipelago, together with Portovenere and the Cinque Terre, was designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
Description.
The Palmaria island with a surface area of , is the largest of three islands in the Gulf of La Spezia and the Liguria region of the whole, the other two islands, Tino and Tinetto meet down a few hundred meters straight line to the south.
The island has a triangular shape: the sides that face Portovenere and the Gulf of La Spezia are the most humanized and slope gently down to the level of the sea, covered by typical Mediterranean vegetation, the side that faces west, i.e. towards the open sea, is instead characterized by high cliffs overhanging the water, in which there are many caves. The sides humanized see the presence of some private homes, a restaurant (in Pozzale) and especially bathing establishments, both public and confidential employees of the Navy and Air Force.
As for the western side, the most difficult to reach, are worthy of note the "Blue Cave", visited by boat, and the "Cave of Pigeons", which can be reached only by climbing down ropes. The latter in particular has been very important in the study of historical events in the Gulf, as have been found inside the fossilized bones of Pleistocene animals such as chamois and the snowy owl, but above all remains of human burials, testifying the presence of man at least five thousand years ago.
On the island there are also many buildings of a military character and of great historical interest: the top, inaccessible as a former military area and is currently in a state of neglect, the Fort Count of Cavour (or Fort Palmaria), the battery now used as experimental environmental education center and "Batteria Semaforo" near the "Scola Tip", the tower ironclad Umberto I and used in World War II to a military prison and renovated a few years ago and the remains of the battery Albini, scattered throughout the island, several bunkers from the Second World War and the remains of coastal artillery and antiaircraft mostly inaccessible since abandoned and submerged vegetation.
Portoro marble.
Remarkable is the presence (in the south, called "Pozzale") of an abandoned quarry, once used for the extraction of the precious black marble with streaks of gold called portoro. There are still remnants of cranes and hoists used for moving the blocks of marble and the walls of the houses of the miners.
Natural habitat.
Flora.
The flora of Palmaria is composed of about 500 species. The original vegetation, which must have consisted mainly of Mediterranean scrub and oak wood forest, was modified by anthropic causes such as fire, agriculture, introduction of alien plants and animals (plane trees, palms and rabbits).
Today the pines ("Pinus pinaster" and "Pinus halepensis") share space with typical Mediterranean species such as holly oak ("Quercus ilex"), downy oak ("Quercus pubescens"), mastic ("Pistacia lentiscus"), strawberry tree ("Arbutus unedo"), rockrose ("Cistus monspeliensis", "Cistus salvifolius", "Cistus incanus"), Spanish broom ("Spartium junceum"), etc.
Other important plant groups include spurge ("Euphorbia dendroides") and nearest to the sea cliffs on those characterized by samphire ("Crithmum maritimum"). Among the new flora, "Centaurea cineraria veneris", "Iberis umbellata" var. "linifolia", exclusive in Palmaria, "Centaurea aplolepa lunensis", endemic to eastern Liguria. Finally, also worth "Brassica oleracea robertiana", "Serapias neglecta" and "Cistus incanus", rare in Liguria, where it reaches its northern limit.
Fauna.
On the island, there exists a large quantity of reptilian species, such as the European leaf-toed gecko ("Phyllodactylus europaeus)", the smallest of the European geckos. While present on the neighboring islands of Tino and Tinetto, this species is rare in Liguria.
Bird species found on the island include the kestrel ("Falco tinnunculus"), peregrine falcon ("Falco peregrinus"), sparrowhawk ("Accipiter nisus"), red partridge ("Alectoris rufa"), gulls ("Larus argentatus", "Larus michahellis"), raven ("Corvus corax"), rock thrushes ("Monticola solitarius"), and cormorant ("Phalacrocorax aristotelis").
Several species of bats are found in caves on Palmaria: the trunnion ("Plecotus auritus"), greater horseshoe bat ("Rhinolophus ferrumequinum"), and lesser horseshoe bat ("Rhinolophus hipposideros").
Colonies of rabbits and goats on the island are remains of a recent past when the island was more inhabited by humans.
The beetle "Parmenas solieri" is an endemic species linked to spurge patches found on the island.
Climate and maritime links.
The climate is typically Mediterranean, temperate on both daily and seasonal timescales.
In winter, there are very few episodes of extreme cold or frost, while in summer the heat is moderated by the effect of the sea breeze. The abundant rainfall follows the trends of the Riviera di Levante, especially heavy in autumn and spring.
For the maritime links, is possible reach the island by private boat or, in the summer months, with ferries that connect to Portovenere, Lerici, and La Spezia.


Yucul Genetic Reserve

Yucul Genetic Reserve is a nature reserve in Nicaragua. It is one of the 78 reserves which are officially under protection in the country.


Madis Aruja

Madis Aruja (16 January 1936, Kuigatsi, Otepää Parish – 12 March 1995, Tallinn) was an Estonian conservationist, geographer and ski-orienteer. He worked in the fields of nature conservation and fish protection in the Estonian SSR before being fired for speaking out against the Estonian Soviet government. He was also an accomplished ski-orienteer.
Biography.
In 1954, Aruja graduated from Jõgeva Secondary School and from the Department of Geography from the University of Tartu in 1963.
From 1963, Aruja worked in the field of nature conservation and fish protection. From 1963 to 1981, he worked as Senior Inspector of the Estonian SSR Ministry of Forestry and Nature Protection, was a member of the Nature Protection Board from 1963 to 1967, and in 1967, was made Deputy Head of the Nature Protection Government.
In 1980, Aruja was one of the signatories of the Letter of 40 Intellectuals. As a result, he lost his job from the Nature Protection Government. From 1982 to 1992, he worked as the chief specialist in nature conservation in the Estonian Agricultural Project. He died in 1995 in Tallinn.
Athletic record.
From 1959 to 1970, Aruja earned 10 gold (8 orienteering runs and 2 ski orienteering), 5 silver and 2 bronze medals in ski orienteering as well as winning the Estonian championship.
In 1960, he became the first Estonian champion in ski orienteering. He became a master in ski orienteering in 1968.


El Rey National Park

The El Rey National Park () is a national park of Argentina, located in the Anta Department, province of Salta, in the Argentine Northwest, 80 km from the provincial capital. It has an area of 441.62 km².
The park was created in order to preserve a representative sample of the Southern Andean Yungas ecoregion and transition environments. The climate is warm, and annual rainfall oscillates between 500 and 700 mm. The flora is varied, showing different species in five levels according to height (from 750 to 2,000 m). The fauna includes tapirs, anteaters and peccaries, as well as fish in the rivers, brooks and lakes. The tapir or "anta", which eats aquatic plants, is the largest South American mammal, weighing up to 300 kg.
The protected area was inhabited by farmer indigenous groups, the oldest inhabitants of the Yungas, and includes archaeological sites.


Auchintaple Loch

Auchintaple Loch also known as Auchenchapel Loch, is a small shallow freshwater loch that is located in Glen Isla in Angus, Scotland.


Tim Low

Tim Low (born 1956) is an Australian biologist and author of articles and books on nature and conservation. His seventh book, "Where Song Began: Australia's Birds and How They Changed the World", became the first nature book ever to win the Australian Book Industry Awards prize for best General Non Fiction, in 2015. In the same year it was shortlisted for the NSW Premier's History Awards. An earlier book, "Feral Future", inspired the formation of an NGO, the Invasive Species Council. His earlier books helped popularise Australian bush tucker. Four of his books have won national prizes.
For twenty years Low wrote a column in "Nature Australia", Australia's leading nature magazine. He contributes to "Wildlife Australia", "Australian Geographic", "Australian Birdlife" and other magazines.
Low became very interested in reptiles as a teenager and discovered several new species of lizard. He named the chain-backed dtella ("Gehyra catenata") and had the dwarf litter-skink ("Menetia timlowi") named after him. His interests expanded to include plants, birds, mammals, fish and invertebrates. He has written journal articles that caution about the weed threats posed by biofuel crops, agroforestry trees and pasture plants.
He works as an environmental consultant, writer and photographer, serves on government committees and does public speaking. He has written many reports about climate change and received a Churchill Fellowship to study its impacts on wildlife. His photos have appeared in many books, including on covers. He is the patron of Rainforest Rescue. Low lives in Brisbane.
A species of lizard, "Pygmaeascincus timlowi", is named in his honor.
Bibliography.
Low has also written chapters or sections in "Australia’s Biodiversity and Climate Change" (CSIRO), "Encyclopedia of Biological Invasions" (University of California Press), "The Mammals of Australia" (Reed New Holland), "Field Companion to Mammals of Australia" (New Holland), "Considering Animals: Contemporary Studies in Human-Animal Relations" (Ashgate), "Biodiversity & The Precautionary Principle", (Earthscan), "Frontier Country" (Weldon), "Everyday Life through the Ages" (Readers Digest), "Encyclopaedia of Australian Wildlife" (Readers Digest), "Wild Places of Greater Brisbane" (Queensland Museum), "Toxic Plants & Animals" (Queensland Museum), "Foods that Harm, Foods that Heal" (Readers Digest)


Conservation status of British Columbia salmonids

British Columbia hosts 22 species of native and introduced salmonids. This list reflects the conservation status of British Columbia salmonids. Status from BC Species and Ecosystems Explorer. Status definitions from NatureServe.


Paestum

Paestum ( , , ) was a major ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Magna Graecia (southern Italy). The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order, dating from about 550 to 450 BC, which are in an excellent state of preservation. The city walls and amphitheatre are largely intact, and the bottom of the walls of many other structures remain, as well as paved roads. The site is open to the public, and there is a modern national museum within it, which also contains the finds from the associated Greek site of Foce del Sele.
Solinus wrote that it was established by Dorians. After its foundation by Greek colonists under the name of Poseidonia (), it was eventually conquered by the local Lucanians and later the Romans. The Lucanians renamed it to Paistos and the Romans gave the city its current name. As Pesto or Paestum, the town became a bishopric (now only titular), but it was abandoned in the Early Middle Ages, and left undisturbed and largely forgotten until the eighteenth century.
Today the remains of the city are found in the modern "frazione" of Paestum, which is part of the "comune" of Capaccio Paestum in the Province of Salerno in the region of Campania, Italy. The modern settlement, directly to the south of the archaeological site, is a popular seaside resort with long sandy beaches. The Paestum rail station on the Naples-Salerno-Reggio Calabria railway line is directly to the east of the ancient city walls.
Ancient ruins and features.
Much of the most celebrated features of the site today are the three large temples in the Archaic version of the Greek Doric order, dating from about 550 to 450 BC. All are typical of the period, with massive colonnades having a very pronounced entasis (widening as they go down), and very wide capitals resembling upturned mushrooms. Above the columns, only the second Temple of Hera retains most of its entablature, the other two having only the architrave in place.
These were dedicated to Hera and Athena (Juno and Minerva to the Romans), although previously they often have been identified otherwise, following eighteenth-century arguments. The two temples of Hera are right next to each other, while the Temple of Athena is on the other side of the town center. There were other temples, both Greek and Roman, which are far less well preserved.
Paestum is far from any sources of good marble. Unsurprisingly, the three main temples had few stone reliefs, perhaps using painting instead. Painted terracotta was for some detailed parts of the structure. The large pieces of terracotta that have survived are in the museum.
The whole ancient city of Paestum covered an area of approximately 120 hectares. Only the 25 hectares that contain the three main temples and the other main buildings have been excavated. The other 95 hectares remain on private land and have not been studied.
The ancient city was surrounded by defensive walls, which are largely intact. The walls are approximately long in its polygonal perimeter, typically high, and thick. Corresponding with the cardinal points, there were four main openings in the wall: Porta Sirena (east to the hills); Porta Giustizia (south, now to the modern village Paestum); Porta Marina (west to the sea); and Porta Aurea (north), which was later destroyed. Positioned along the wall were 24 square or round towers. There may have been as many as 28, but some of them (and Porta Aurea) were destroyed during the construction of a highway during the 18th century that effectively cut the ancient site in two.
The central area is completely clear of modern buildings and always has been largely so, since the Middle Ages. Although much stone has been stripped from the site, large numbers of buildings remain detectable by their footings or the lower parts of their walls, and the main roads remain paved. A low-built heroon or shrine memorial to an unknown local hero survived intact; the contents are in the museum. Numerous tombs have been excavated outside the walls.
The three Greek Temples.
The first Temple of Hera, built around 550 BC by the Greek colonists, is the oldest surviving temple in Paestum and the one furthest south. 18th-century archaeologists named it "the Basilica" because some mistakenly believed it to be a Roman building. (The original Roman basilica was essentially a civic form of building, before the basilica plan was adopted by the Early Christians for churches.)
Inscriptions and terracotta statuettes revealed that the goddess worshiped here was Hera. Later, an altar was unearthed in front of the temple, in the open-air site usual for a Greek altar. The faithful could attend rites and sacrifices without entering the "cella" or inner sanctuary.
The columns have a very strong entasis or curvature down their length, an indication of an early date of construction. Some of the capitals still retain visible traces of their original paint. The temple is wider than most Greek temples, probably because there are two doors and a row of seven columns running centrally inside the cella, an unusual feature. This may reflect a dual dedication of the temple. Having an odd number of columns, here nine, across the shorter sides also is very unusual; there are eighteen columns along the longer sides. This was possible, or necessary, because of the two doors, so that neither has a view blocked by a column.
The second Temple of Hera was built around 460–450 BC, just north of the first Hera Temple. It was once mistakenly thought to be dedicated to Poseidon. Instead of the typical 20 flutes on each column, they have 24 flutes. The Temple of Hera II also has a wider column size and smaller intervals between columns. The temple was also used to worship Zeus and another deity, whose identity is unknown. There are visible on the east side the remains of two altars, one large and one smaller. The smaller one is a Roman addition, built when a road leading to a Roman forum was cut through the larger one. It also is possible that the temple originally was dedicated to both Hera and Poseidon; some offertory statues found around the larger altar are thought to demonstrate this identification.
On the highest point of the town, some way from the Hera Temples and north of the center of the ancient settlement, is the Temple of Athena. It was built around 500 BC, and was for some time incorrectly thought to have been dedicated to Ceres. The architecture is transitional, being mainly built in early Doric style and partially Ionic. Three medieval Christian tombs in the floor show that the temple was at one time used as a Christian church.
Other archaeological features.
In the central part of the complex is the Roman Forum, thought to have been built on the site of the preceding Greek agora. On the north side of the forum is a small Roman temple, dated to 200 BC. It was dedicated to the Capitoline Triad, Jupiter, Juno and Minerva.
To the north-east of the forum is the amphitheater. This is of normal Roman pattern, although much smaller than later examples. Only the western half is visible; in 1930 AD, a road was built across the site, burying the eastern half. It is said by local inhabitants that the civil engineer responsible was tried, convicted and received a prison sentence for what was described as wanton destruction of a historic site. There is also a small circular council hall ("bouleuterion") or assembly space ("ekklesiasterion"), with seats in tiers. It was probably never roofed, but had a wall around it, perhaps with a small arcade round the inside. This ceased to have a role in Roman times and was filled over.
The heroön, close to the forum and the Temple of Athena, probably celebrated the founder of the city, though constructed around a century after the death of this unnamed figure. It was a low tumulus with a walled rectangular enclosure faced with large stones around it. When it was excavated in 1954 a low stone chamber with a pitched roof was discovered at the centre, half below the surrounding ground leval and half above. This contained several large, rare, and splendid bronze vessels, perhaps not locally-made, and a large Athenian pottery black-figure amphora of about 520–500 BC. The bronze vessels had traces of honey inside. These are all now in the museum.
Just south of the city walls, at a site still called Santa Venera, a series of small terracotta offertory molded statuettes of a standing nude woman wearing the "polos" headdress of Anatolian and Syrian goddesses, which were dated to the first half of the sixth century BC, were found in the sanctuary. Other similar ones have been excavated at other Paestum sanctuaries during excavations in the 1980s. The figure is highly unusual in the Western Mediterranean. The open-air "temenos" was established at the start of Greek occupation: a temple on the site was not built until the early fifth century BC. A nude goddess is a figure alien to Greek culture before the famous Cnidian Aphrodite by Praxiteles in the fourth century: iconographic analogies must be sought in Phoenician Astarte and the Cypriote Aphrodite. "In places where the Greeks and Phoenicians came in contact with one another, there is often an overlapping in the persona of the two deities."
Inscriptions make clear that during Roman times the cult was reserved to Venus.
Painted tombs.
Paestum also is renowned for its painted tombs, mainly belonging to the Lucanian period, while only one of them dates to the Greek period. However, this is the Tomb of the Diver (Italian: "Tomba del tuffatore"), which is the most famous. It is named after the enigmatic scene, depicted on the underside of the covering slab, of a young man diving into a stream of water. It dates to the first half of the fifth century BC (about 470 BC), the Golden Age of the Greek town. It was found, on 3 June 1968, in a small necropolis some 1.5 km south of the ancient walls. The paintings have now been transferred to the museum. The tomb is painted with the "true fresco" technique and its importance lies in being "the only example of Greek painting with figured scenes dating from the Orientalizing, Archaic, or Classical periods to survive in its entirety. Among the thousands of Greek tombs known from this time (roughly 700–400 BC), this is the only one found to have been decorated with frescoes of human subjects."
The remaining four walls of the tomb are occupied by symposium-related scenes, an iconography far more familiar from Greek pottery than the diving scene. All the five frescoes are displayed in the museum, together with other cycles from Lucanian painted tombs. In contrast to earlier Greek tomb paintings, these later scenes have many figures and a high proportion of scenes including horses and equestrian sports.
Sele complex.
A few kilometres from Paestum there was a temple complex at the mouth of the Sele river ("Foce del Sele" in Italian) dedicated to Hera. The temple is now all but destroyed, and little remains of several other buildings. About 70 of the sixth-century BC Archaic metope relief panels on the temple and another building at the site were recovered, however. These fall into two groups, the earlier of which shows the story of the life of Heracles in 38 surviving reliefs; the later group, of about 510 BC, shows pairs of running women. The earlier cycle forms the centrepiece of the Paestum museum, set in place around walls of the original height. At the site there is a "museo narrante" with video displays, but no original artefacts.
Art from Paestum.
The Paestum archaeological museum holds the largest collection, but there are many significant pieces that were removed from the site before modern controls, and they are in a number of collections around the world. The National Archaeological Museum of Spain in Madrid has especially rich holdings, with two important Imperial Roman statues and many, very fine vases (see below). Other pieces, mostly painted pottery, are in the Louvre, the Antikensammlung Berlin, and other museums in Europe and America.
In the case of painted pottery, a number of individual artists, especially from the fourth century BC, have been identified and given notnames whose work has been found in tombs around the city and the region, and sometimes further afield. It has been presumed that these artists were based in the city.
National Archaeological Museum.
The highlights of the national museum at Paestum are mentioned above: the Sele metopes, the Tomb of the Diver, and the contents of the Heroon. The displays also show a number of large painted terracotta architectural fragments from the temples and other buildings, many Greek terracotta figurines, and incomplete larger terracotta statues, and pottery including painted vases.
History.
Foundation.
According to Strabo, the city was founded as Poseidonia (named after the Greek deity of the sea) by Greek Achaeans from Sybaris. The colonists had built fortifications close to the sea, but then decided to found the city farther inland at a higher elevation. The fortifications might have been built to the south of Poseidonia on the promontory where Agropoli is now. According to the historical tradition the sanctuary to Poseidon was located there, after which the city would have been named. The date of Poseidonia's founding is not given by ancient sources, but the archaeological evidence gives a date of approximately 600 BC.
Alternatively in fact, the Sybarites may have been Troezenians. Aristotle wrote that a group of Troezenians was expelled from Sybaris by the Achaeans after their joint founding of that city. Gaius Julius Solinus calls Paestum a Dorian colony and Strabo mentions that Troezen once was called Poseidonia. As a consequence it has been argued that Paestum was founded by the Troezenians referred to by Aristotle. Another hypothesis is that the Sybarites were aided by Dorians in their founding of Poseidonia.
Greek period.
Archaeological evidence from Paestum's first centuries indicates the building of roads, temples, and other features of a growing city. Coinage, architecture, and molded votive figurines all attest to close relations maintained with Metaponto in the sixth and fifth centuries.
It is presumed that Poseidonia harbored refugees from its mother city, Sybaris, when that city was conquered by Croton in 510 BC. In the early fifth century, Poseidonia's coins adopted the Achaean weight standard and the bull seen on Sybarite coins. A. J. Graham thinks it was plausible that the number of refugees was large enough for some kind of synoecism to have occurred between the Poseidonians and the Sybarites, possibly in the form of a sympolity.
Poseidonia might have had a major share in a new foundation of Sybaris, which lasted from 452/1 BC until 446/5 BC. This is suggested by the great resemblance of the coins of Sybaris to those of Poseidonia during this period. Possibly a treaty of friendship between Sybaris, its allies, and the Serdaioi (an unknown people) dates to this new foundation, because Poseidonia was the guarantor of this treaty.
Lucanian period.
It is not until the end of the fifth century BC that the city is mentioned, when according to Strabo, the city was conquered by the Lucanians. From the archaeological evidence it appears that the two cultures, Greek and Oscan, were able to thrive alongside one another.
Many tomb paintings show horses and horse-racing, a passion of the Lucanian elites.
Roman period and abandonment.
It became the Roman city of Paestum in 273 BC in the aftermath of the Pyrrhic War, in which the Graeco-Italian Poseidonians sided with king Pyrrhus of Epirus against the Roman Republic.
During the Carthaginian invasion of Italy by Hannibal, the city remained faithful to Rome and afterward, was granted special favours such as the minting of its own coinage. The city continued to prosper during the Roman imperial period and became a bishopric as the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pesto around 400 AD.
It started to go into decline between the fourth and seventh centuries AD, and was abandoned during the Middle Ages. The bishopric was suppressed in 1100. Like Naples and most of the surrounding region, the inhabitants presumably spoke a Greek dialect throughout its history. The decline and desertion were probably due to changes in local land drainage patterns, leading to swampy malarial conditions. Raids by "Saracen" pirates and slavers also may have been a deciding factor. The remaining population seems to have moved to the more easily defended cliff-top settlement at Agropoli (i.e. "acropolis" or "citadel" in Greek), a few kilometres away, although this settlement became a base for Muslim raiders for a period. The Paestum site became overgrown and largely forgotten, although some stone "spolia" were collected and used in Salerno Cathedral by Robert Guiscard (d. 1085).
Rediscovery.
Despite stray mentions such as that in the history of Pietro Summonte in 1524, who correctly identified the three Doric temples as such, its ruins only came to wide notice again in the eighteenth century, following the rediscovery of the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and during the construction of a new coastal road south from Naples. The modern settlement had begun to revive by at least the sixteenth century, to the side of the ancient ruins. After a complicated start, the rediscovery of the three relatively easily accessible, and early, Greek temples created huge interest throughout Europe. Prints of artworks by Giovanni Battista Piranesi (1778) and others were widely circulated. The complete and relatively simple form of the temples became influential in early Greek Revival architecture.
In 1740 a proposal was made, but not executed, to remove columns for the new Palace of Capodimonte in Naples. Initially, eighteenth-century savants doubted that the structures had been temples, and it was suggested variously, that they included a gymnasium, a public basilica or hall, or a "portico". There also was controversy and misunderstanding of their cultural background. Alessio Simmaco Mazzocchi, a clergyman and antiquarian, "the founder of the modern study of Magna Graecia" (the ancient Greeks in Italy), thought they were Etruscan, in line with his theories that Greek colonists merely had joined existing cultures in Italy, founded by peoples from farther east. He derived the etymology of "Poseidonia" from an invented Phoenician sea deity.
The first modern published account of the ruins was "Les Ruines de Paestum" in 1764, by G. P. M. Dumont, who had been taken to the site in 1750, along with the architect Jacques-Germain Soufflot, by Count Gazzola, an engineer for the government in Naples. Gazzola had drawn or commissioned measured drawings, to which Dumont added his own, as well as, more artistic plates. There was an expanded edition in 1769, the same year when a still more extensive account was published by the Englishman Thomas Major. By 1774 there were nine different illustrated publications on the site.
Second World War.
On September 9, 1943, Paestum was the location of the landing beaches of the U.S. 36th Infantry Division during the Allied invasion of Italy. German forces resisted the landings from the outset, causing heavy fighting within and around the town. Combat persisted around the town for nine days before the Germans withdrew to the north. The Allied forces set up their Red Cross first aid tents in, and around, the temples since the Temples were "off limits" to bombing by both sides.
Coins.
The coins of Paestum begin about 550 BC. These early issues were perhaps all festival coins. They usually have Poseidon with upraised trident. Issues continue until the reign of Tiberius. For unknown reasons Paestum alone of all the smaller Italian mints, was allowed to continue minting bronze coins by a Senatorial decree of about 89 BC, after this had been centralized. Later coins carry "P. S. S. C.", standing for "Paesti Signatum Senatus Consulto" to reflect this.


Gan HaShlosha National Park

Gan HaShlosha National Park (, literally: "Park of the three"), also known by its Arabic name Sakhne (, literally: "The hot [pool]"), is a national park in Israel. Located between kibbutzim Beit Alfa and Nir David, it has naturally warm water where visitors can swim all year. It is named in memory of three Jewish pioneers who came to survey the land on behalf of the Jewish National Fund in 1938, when their car rode over a land mine and all three were killed.
The spring water that emerges in the western part of the park maintains a constant, year-round temperature of 28 degrees Celsius. Amal Stream, which crosses the park, has been widened into pools.
An old water-powered mill operates at the site and an adjacent madafeh, or Arab hospitality room, has been restored. A 1:1 reconstruction of Tel Amal, one of the first "Tower and Stockade" settlements set up by Jewish pioneers during the 1936-39 Arab Revolt - in this case on 10 December 1936 - is located in the park.
The Museum of Regional and Mediterranean Archaeology is located on the grounds of the park. It houses a display of rare Greek tools, artifacts from excavations in the Beit She’an Valley and an exhibit about the Etruscans.
The park is also home to the Israeli Juggling Convention, the second largest juggling convention in the world, drawing in over 2,000 jugglers each year.
In popular culture.
"The Garden of Eden," a film about Gan HaShlosha, premiered at the Jerusalem Film Festival in July 2012 and won Israeli filmmaker Ran Tal an award for best director of a documentary. The film was screened at the DocAviv Galilee festival in Ma'alot-Tarshiha in November 2012.


Soutpansberg Conservancy

Soutpansberg Conservancy, also known as Western Soutpansberg Conservancy, is a protected area situated in the northern part of the Limpopo province of South Africa. The reserve has an area of about 90,000 Ha and consists mostly in the mountainous terrain of the western part of the Soutpansberg Range. The Brak River, a tributary of the Sand River, flows beyond the western end of the Soutpansberg Conservancy. The Waterpoort, the deep gorge cut by the Sand River across the range is located in the central part of the protected area.
The Soutpansberg or “Tha vhani ya muno” (mountain of salt) is in the traditional area of the Venda people. It is rich in plant diversity with yellowwood trees, twelve acacia species, including fever trees, giant cabbage trees, proteas and ancient tree ferns. The rocky summits are a haven for birds of prey and large mammals such as leopards are found in some areas.


Conservation in New Zealand

Conservation in New Zealand has a history associated with both Māori and Europeans. Both groups of people caused a loss of species and both altered their behaviour to a degree after realising their effect on indigenous flora and fauna.
Protected areas.
New Zealand has thirteen national parks, forty four marine reserves and many other protected areas for the conservation of biodiversity. The introduction of many invasive species is threatening the indigenous biodiversity, since the geographical isolation of New Zealand led to the evolution of plants and animals that did not have traits to protect against predation. New Zealand has a high proportion of endemic species, so pest control is generally regarded as a high priority.
The New Zealand Department of Conservation administers approximately 30% of New Zealand's land, along with less than 1% of the country's marine environment, for conservation and recreational purposes. It has published lists, under the New Zealand Threat Classification System, of flora and fauna that is at risk or declining, which are included in national and regional plans.
Legislation.
The Conservation Act 1987 is New Zealand's principal legislation concerning the conservation of indigenous biodiversity. The Act established the Department of Conservation, Fish and Game, and complements the National Parks Act 1980 and the Reserves Act 1977.
The Wildlife Act 1953 covers the protection and control of wild animals, and provides for wildlife sanctuaries, refuges and management reserves.
Conservation successes.
The black robin ("Petroica traversi") was saved from the brink of extinction by a conservation effort led by Don Merton of the New Zealand Wildlife Service. However all black robins that survive today are descended from a single female, therefore the species has little genetic diversity.
The two species of saddleback had each been reduced to a small population on a single island: Hen Island for the North Island saddleback, and Big South Cape Island off Stewart Island for the South Island saddleback. After a programme of translocation to other predator-free island reserves, the population of the South Island saddleback has increased from 36 birds to over 1,200 birds on 15 islands. The North Island subspecies had increased from 500 birds to over 6,000 birds on 12 islands. This has taken both subspecies from critically endangered on the IUCN Red List to near threatened for the South Island saddleback and least concern for the North Island saddleback.
The brown teal ("Anas chlorotis") recovery program has successfully improved the population status from endangered to near threatened on the IUCN Red List.
The North Island kōkako population has increased from a low point of around 350 pairs to over 1600 pairs in 23 populations around the North Island.
Conservation issues.
Deforestation.
Most of the current 11.9 million hectares of agricultural land had been cleared, representing around 44% of the total land area of New Zealand. Initial attempts to decrease the scale of further deforestation, such as Forestry Rights Registration Act 1983 that created 'forestry rights', have been argued to only be moderately successful. However, they created world class structures of data collection and property rights that made way first for an amendment to the 1949 Forests Act in 1993 and later to the Climate Change Response Act 2002. New Zealand's patterns of greenhouse gas emissions are similar to Scandinavian countries, in that land use and land use change and forestry are amongst the most significant contributors. Forestry came to be seen as main tool in meeting New Zealand's Kyoto Protocol targets. Accordingly, REDD programmes (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) were implemented, whereby reforestation and deforestation was tied carbon emissions credits and traded (ETS) and commercial carbon-sink forests were planted. Perhaps due to the government's initial control over REDD and the trade in carbon credits there was initially an increase in deforestation and it was not until private forestry owners gained access to the trading scheme and to carbon credits that the scheme started to produce reductions in deforestation.
Endangered native species.
During the relatively short occupation of New Zealand by humans a large number of species have been made extinct due to predation by introduced species, hunting, and the loss of habitat. Many extant species are under threat because of past and ongoing human activities.
One example is the Cromwell chafer beetle ("Prodontria lewisi"), which is on the IUCN Red List of critically endangered species. A reserve was created in 1983 to protect its habitat. More recent examples are the Hector's and Maui's dolphins, which are under threat from the fishing industry.
1080 pesticide.
The use of 1080 (sodium fluoroacetate) as a pesticide is a contentious issue. 1080 is used with carrots and cereal pellets to control the common brushtail possum, an introduced animal pest.
Funding.
As well as government funding for conservation efforts money also comes from numerous NGOs and private individuals. The Nature Heritage Fund and the Community Conservation Fund are both government funded.
Conservation organisations.
Conservation organisations began to form from the 19th century. Scenery Preservation Societies formed in some of the Provinces.
An early conservation lobby group was the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand, which is now the foremost environmental organisation involved in conservation advocacy in New Zealand. In recent years numerous conservation, landcare and activist groups have formed including:


Chapel of St. Catherine

The Chapel of St. Catherine is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Old Goa in the same compound as Se Cathedral and the Church and Convent of St. Francis of Assisi. It was built in 1510 in the Baroque architectural style, and has a brown and white facade. It faces the Mandovi River and is part of the World Heritage Site, Churches and convents of Goa. The chapel is not functional.
History.
It was erected by Afonso de Albuquerque, Portuguese conqueror, in 1510 to commemorate his victorious entry to the city of Goa on St Catherine's Day. Pope Paul III granted it status of cathedral in 1534 and it was rebuilt. The chapel was expanded in 1550 at the order of the governor Jorge Cabral, and a new altarpiece was installed as well.