By: Autumn Ricksecker When you think of Southern California, what plants come to mind? Perhaps it’s palm trees lining the streets of Los Angeles, citrus orchards cascading across Orange County, or eucalyptus groves offering a fragrant canopy on college campuses. However, these trees are not …
Ecosystems
Creature Feature: Get to Know the American Horseshoe Crab
By: Hannah Gillespie American Horseshoe Crab (Limulus polyphemus) Range: Maine to Mexico Habitat: Marine, coast to continental shelf Physical Characteristics: Horseshoe Crabs are generally olive green or brown, with a brown underside. Males are typically one-third smaller than …
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Small-Scale Fisheries, Fishers, and Marine Biodiversity
By: Allison Cutting We are all connected through one ocean. The sea is teeming with life of incredible diversity -- from blue whales being the largest animal to have ever lived to microscopic phytoplankton which produce half of the world’s oxygen. Bodies of saltwater link continents and …
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Marine Conservation in the Indian River Lagoon
By: Michaela Stenerson Titusville is a town on the east coast of Florida. At its eastern-most point you will not be looking out onto the Atlantic Ocean, you will be looking onto the Indian River Lagoon (IRL), a 156-mile long estuary which is a key biological highway for migratory birds and a hub of …
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When it Comes to Our Ocean, We Must Till and Keep It
By Rev. Dr. Mark McReynolds, A Rocha USA SoCal Project Director Reposted with permission from Healthy Ocean Coalition. Original post found here. When I was 8 years old, my family moved to southern California, where the San Gabriel Mountains became my backyard. Since then, I have been hooked on …
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Let’s Talk About Nurdles
By Autumn Ayers What in the World is a Nurdle? That’s the first question I hear from beachgoers when I attend one of A Rocha’s nurdle cleanup events. They wonder if it’s a baby turtle, or maybe an exotic candy; sadly, the truth is much less cute. When I first began volunteering with A Rocha USA in …
What does resurrection look like for the Indian River Lagoon?
Rejoice! Here at the ARUSA blog, we’ve done a series or two on waiting, because our two seasons of waiting – Lent and Advent – are important parts of the Christian year. They call us inward, to reflect on the processes of the earth and our roles within them. However, we haven’t yet done a …
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On the Importance of Habitat
by Jessica M Tinklenberg Habitat. We’ve all heard the word, and most likely we all have a different idea of what it means. To most people, it’s just another vocabulary word learned in elementary school biology, with just a vague concept of what it implies. I study wildlife ecology, and for me, …
Profiles in Stewardship: Dave Timmer
Dave Timmer (Au Sable Alum '98; Grad Fellow '04-'05) serves as Stewardship Director for A Rocha USA in Northwest Washington. Timmer's talents and demands are many, as evidenced by the three-part exchange between him and Brook Wilke on the role of farmers markets in sustainability agriculture. His …
Linking Healthy Farms and Gardens with Healthy Natural Ecosystems
By A Rocha Canada Pollinators, such as bees, beetles, butterflies, and other insects, have a role in the production of one out of every three foods we eat. The ecological service they provide is necessary for the reproduction of nearly 70 percent of the world’s flowering plants, including …
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