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Ecotourism In The United States
Ecotourism in the United States is commonly practiced in protected areas such as national parks and nature reserves. The principles and behaviors of ecotourism are slowly becoming more widespread in the United States; for example, hotels in some regions strive to be more sustainable. Regions Northeast Environment and wildlife The Appalachian Mountains, Appalachian Mountain range and the Great Smoky Mountains, Smoky Mountain range separates the Northeast region into three different areas: the Appalachian Plateaus west of the mountain range, the Mountain ranges themselves, and the Piedmont Plateau and coastal plains. The entire region is known to have cold winters and warm summers, leading to a winter deciduous forest dominated by tall broadleaf species. The vegetation is separated into three distinct associations: Appalachian oak, pine-oak, and mixed mesophytic. The mixed mesophytic is found on the Appalachian Plateaus and has a great diversity of vegetative species, includ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ecotourism
Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel (using sustainable transport) to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people. Its purpose may be to educate the traveler, to provide funds for ecological conservation, to directly benefit the economic development and political empowerment of local communities, or to foster respect for different cultures and for human rights. Since the 1980s, ecotourism has been considered a critical endeavor by environmentalists, so that future generations may experience destinations relatively untouched by human intervention. Ecotourism may focus on educating travelers on local environments and natural surroundings with an eye to ecological conservation. Some include in the definition of ecotourism the effort to produce economic opportunities that make conservation of natural resources financially possible. Generally, ecotourism deals with interaction with biotic components of the natura ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Slash Pine
''Pinus elliottii'', commonly known as slash pine,Family, P. P. (1990). Pinus elliottii Engelm. slash pine. ''Silvics of North America: Conifers'', (654), 338. is a conifer tree native to the Southeastern United States. Slash pine is named after the "slashes" – swampy ground overgrown with trees and bushes – that constitute its habitat. Other common names include swamp pine, yellow slash pine, and southern Florida pine. Slash pine has two different varieties: ''P. e.'' var. ''elliottii'' and ''P. e.'' var. ''densa''. Historically, slash pine has been an important economic timber for naval stores, turpentine, and resin. The wood of slash pine is known for its unusually high strength, especially for a pine. It exceeds many hardwoods and is even comparable to very dense woods such as ironwood. Description and taxonomy This tree is fast-growing, but not very long-lived by pine standards (to 200 years). It reaches heights of with a trunk diameter of . The leaves are needle-like ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dogwood
''Cornus'' is a genus of about 30–60 species of woody plants in the family Cornaceae, commonly known as dogwoods, which can generally be distinguished by their blossoms, berries, and distinctive bark. Most are deciduous trees or shrubs, but a few species are nearly herbaceous perennial subshrubs, and some species are evergreen. Several species have small heads of inconspicuous flowers surrounded by an involucre of large, typically white petal-like bracts, while others have more open clusters of petal-bearing flowers. The various species of dogwood are native throughout much of temperate and boreal Eurasia and North America, with China, Japan, and the southeastern United States being particularly rich in native species. Species include the common dogwood ''Cornus sanguinea'' of Eurasia, the widely cultivated flowering dogwood ''(Cornus florida)'' of eastern North America, the Pacific dogwood ''Cornus nuttallii'' of western North America, the Kousa dogwood ''Cornus kous ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Panicum
''Panicum'' (panicgrass) is a large genus of about 450 species of grasses native throughout the tropical regions of the world, with a few species extending into the northern temperate zone. They are often large, annual or perennial grasses, growing to tall. The flowers are produced in a well-developed panicle often up to in length with numerous seeds, which are long and broad. The fruits are developed from a two-flowered spikelet. Only the upper floret of each spikelet is fertile; the lower floret is sterile or staminate. Both glumes are present and well developed. Australia has 29 native and 9 introduced species of ''Panicum''. Well-known ''Panicum'' species include ''Panicum miliaceum'' (proso millet) and ''Panicum virgatum'' (switchgrass). Selected species Formerly classified in this genus, according to The Plant List: Gallery File:Starr 020201-9001 Panicum antidotale.jpg, '' Panicum antidotale'' File:Panicum capillare NPS-1.jpg, '' Panicum capillare'' File:Panicum ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bluestem Grass ''
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Bluestem can refer to various grasses: * Little bluestem (''Schizachyrium scoparium'') * Big bluestem (''Andropogon gerardii'') and other species of the genus '' Andropogon'' * Species in the genus ''Dichanthium'' * Cane bluestem and Caucasian bluestem of the genus ''Bothriochloa ''Bothriochloa'' is a common and widespread genus of plants in the grass family native to many countries on all inhabited continents and many islands. They are often called beardgrass, bluegrass or bluestem. The etymology of the genus name ''Bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grass
Poaceae () or Gramineae () is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos and the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in lawns and pasture. The latter are commonly referred to collectively as grass. With around 780 genera and around 12,000 species, the Poaceae is the fifth-largest plant family, following the Asteraceae, Orchidaceae, Fabaceae and Rubiaceae. The Poaceae are the most economically important plant family, providing staple foods from domesticated cereal crops such as maize, wheat, rice, barley, and millet as well as feed for meat-producing animals. They provide, through direct human consumption, just over one-half (51%) of all dietary energy; rice provides 20%, wheat supplies 20%, maize (corn) 5.5%, and other grains 6%. Some members of the Poaceae are used as building materials (bamboo, thatch, and straw); others can provide a source of biofuel, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Winged Elm
''Ulmus alata'', the winged elm or wahoo, is a small- to medium-sized deciduous tree endemic to the woodlands of the southeastern and south-central United States. The species is tolerant of a wide range of soils, and of ponding, but is the least shade-tolerant of the North American elms. Its growth rate is often very slow, the trunk increasing in diameter by less than per year. The tree is occasionally considered a nuisance as it readily invades old fields, forest clearings, and rangelands, proving particularly difficult to eradicate with herbicides.University of Florida, Environmental Horticulture Department (1994). ''Fact Sheet ST-648''. Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Description As its common and scientific names imply, winged elm is most easily recognized by the very broad, thin pair of corky wings that form along the branchlets after a couple of years. The tree generally grows to a maximum height and breadth of about , ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Red Maple
''Acer rubrum'', the red maple, also known as swamp maple, water maple, or soft maple, is one of the most common and widespread deciduous trees of eastern and central North America. The U.S. Forest Service recognizes it as the most abundant native tree in eastern North America. The red maple ranges from southeastern Manitoba around the Lake of the Woods on the border with Ontario and Minnesota, east to Newfoundland, south to Florida, and southwest to East Texas. Many of its features, especially its leaves, are quite variable in form. At maturity, it often attains a height around . Its flowers, petioles, twigs, and seeds are all red to varying degrees. Among these features, however, it is best known for its brilliant deep scarlet foliage in autumn. Over most of its range, red maple is adaptable to a very wide range of site conditions, perhaps more so than any other tree in eastern North America. It can be found growing in swamps, on poor, dry soils, and almost anywhere in between. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blackgum
''Nyssa sylvatica'', commonly known as tupelo, black tupelo, black gum or sour gum, is a medium-sized deciduous tree native to eastern North America from the coastal Northeastern United States and southern Ontario south to central Florida and eastern Texas, as well as Mexico. Names ''Nyssa sylvatica'' genus name, ''Nyssa'', refers to a Greek water nymph; the species epithet ''sylvatica'' refers to its woodland habitat. The species' common name, tupelo, is of Native American origin, coming from the Creek words ''ito'' "tree" and ''opilwa'' "swamp"; it was in use by the mid-18th century. While these trees are often known as simply "tupelo", the fuller name, black tupelo, helps distinguish it from the other species of the tupelo genus ''Nyssa'', some of which have overlapping ranges, such as water tupelo (''N. aquatica'') and swamp tupelo (''N. biflora''). The name "tupelo" is used primarily in the American South; northward and in Appalachia, the tree is more commonly called t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sweetgum
''Liquidambar'', commonly called sweetgum (star gum in the UK), gum, redgum, satin-walnut, or American storax, is the only genus in the flowering plant family Altingiaceae and has 15 species. They were formerly often treated in Hamamelidaceae. They are native to Southeast and east Asia, the eastern Mediterranean and eastern North America. They are decorative deciduous trees that are used in the wood industry and for ornamental purposes. Etymology Both the scientific and common names refer to the sweet resinous sap (''liquid amber'') exuded by the trunk when cut. Species Extant species Fossils * †'' Liquidambar changii'' - Miocene (Washington state, North America) Description They are all large, deciduous trees, tall, with palmately 3- to 7-lobed leaves arranged spirally on the stems and length of , having a pleasant aroma when crushed. Their leaves can be many colors such as bright red, orange, yellow, and even purple. Mature bark is grayish and vertically groove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hickory
Hickory is a common name for trees composing the genus ''Carya'', which includes around 18 species. Five or six species are native to China, Indochina, and India (Assam), as many as twelve are native to the United States, four are found in Mexico, and two to four are native to Canada. A number of hickory species are used for products like edible nuts or wood. Hickories are temperate forest trees with pinnately compound leaves and large nuts. Hickory flowers are small, yellow-green catkins produced in spring. They are wind-pollinated and self-incompatible. The fruit is a globose or oval nut, long and diameter, enclosed in a four-valved husk, which splits open at maturity. The nut shell is thick and bony in most species, and thin in a few, notably the pecan (''C. illinoinensis''); it is divided into two halves, which split apart when the seed germinates. Etymology The name "hickory" derives from a Native American word in an Algonquian language (perhaps Powhatan). It is a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Deciduous Forest
In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, after flowering; and to the shedding of ripe fruit. The antonym of ''deciduous'' in the botanical sense is evergreen. Generally, the term "deciduous" means "the dropping of a part that is no longer needed or useful" and the "falling away after its purpose is finished". In plants, it is the result of natural processes. "Deciduous" has a similar meaning when referring to animal parts, such as deciduous antlers in deer, deciduous teeth (baby teeth) in some mammals (including humans); or decidua, the uterine lining that sheds off after birth. Botany In botany and horticulture, deciduous plants, including trees, shrubs and herbaceous perennials, are those that lose all of their leaves for part of the year. This process is called abscission. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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