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Epidalea
The natterjack toad (''Epidalea calamita'') is a toad native to sandy and heathland areas of Europe. Adults are 60–70 mm in length, and are distinguished from common toads by a yellow line down the middle of the back and parallel paratoid glands. They have relatively short legs, which gives them a distinctive gait, contrasting with the hopping movement of many other toad species. Natterjacks have a very loud and distinctive mating call amplified by the single vocal sac found under the chin of the male. Life history Natterjacks live for up to 15 years, and feed mainly on insects, especially beetles. At night, they move around open terrain with sparse vegetation, and their tracks can often be seen in loose sand. They move considerable distances each night, enabling the species to colonize new habitats very quickly. Reproduction The natterjack toad spawns between the end of April and July, laying strings of eggs in shallow, warm pools. Because the natterjack toad is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Natterjack Toads Calling
The natterjack toad (''Epidalea calamita'') is a toad native to sandy and heathland areas of Europe. Adults are 60–70 mm in length, and are distinguished from common toads by a yellow line down the middle of the back and parallel paratoid glands. They have relatively short legs, which gives them a distinctive gait, contrasting with the hopping movement of many other toad species. Natterjacks have a very loud and distinctive mating call amplified by the single vocal sac found under the chin of the male. Life history Natterjacks live for up to 15 years, and feed mainly on insects, especially beetles. At night, they move around open terrain with sparse vegetation, and their tracks can often be seen in loose sand. They move considerable distances each night, enabling the species to colonize new habitats very quickly. Reproduction The natterjack toad spawns between the end of April and July, laying strings of eggs in shallow, warm pools. Because the natterjack toad is oft ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edward Drinker Cope
Edward Drinker Cope (July 28, 1840 – April 12, 1897) was an American zoologist, paleontologist, comparative anatomist, herpetologist, and ichthyologist. Born to a wealthy Quaker family, Cope distinguished himself as a child prodigy interested in science; he published his first scientific paper at the age of 19. Though his father tried to raise Cope as a gentleman farmer, he eventually acquiesced to his son's scientific aspirations. Cope married his cousin and had one child; the family moved from Philadelphia to Haddonfield, New Jersey, although Cope would maintain a residence and museum in Philadelphia in his later years. Cope had little formal scientific training, and he eschewed a teaching position for field work. He made regular trips to the American West, prospecting in the 1870s and 1880s, often as a member of United States Geological Survey teams. A personal feud between Cope and paleontologist Othniel Charles Marsh led to a period of intense fossil-finding competition ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
County Wexford
County Wexford ( ga, Contae Loch Garman) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region. Named after the town of Wexford, it was based on the historic Gaelic territory of Hy Kinsella (''Uí Ceinnsealaigh''), whose capital was Ferns. Wexford County Council is the local authority for the county. The population of the county was 149,722 at the 2016 census. History The county is rich in evidence of early human habitation.Stout, Geraldine. "Essay 1: Wexford in Prehistory 5000 B.C. to 300 AD" in ''Wexford: History and Society'', pp 1 - 39. ''Portal tombs'' (sometimes called dolmens) exist at Ballybrittas (on Bree Hill) and at Newbawn — and date from the Neolithic period or earlier. Remains from the Bronze Age period are far more widespread. Early Irish tribes formed the Kingdom of Uí Cheinnsealaig, an area that was slightly larger than the current County Wexford. County Wexford was one of the earliest areas of Ireland to be C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Solway Firth
The Solway Firth ( gd, Tràchd Romhra) is a firth that forms part of the border between England and Scotland, between Cumbria (including the Solway Plain) and Dumfries and Galloway. It stretches from St Bees Head, just south of Whitehaven in Cumbria, to the Mull of Galloway, on the western end of Dumfries and Galloway. The Isle of Man is also very near to the firth. The firth comprises part of the Irish Sea. The firth’s coastline is characterised by lowland hills and small mountains. It is a mainly rural area, with mostly small villages and settlements (such as Powfoot). Fishing, hill farming, and some arable farming play a large part in the local economy, although tourism is increasing. The northern part of the English coast of the Solway Firth was designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, known as the Solway Coast, in 1964. Construction of the Robin Rigg Wind Farm in the firth began in 2007. Within the firth, there are some salt flats and mud flats that can b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sandscale Haws
Sandscale Haws is a national nature reserve on the Duddon Estuary, Cumbria, England. It is managed by the National Trust. Resident species include the natterjack toad. Industrial history Sandscale brick and tile works appears on the 1850 Ordnance Survey map. The Sandscale Mining Company was formed in 1877 by members of the Millom & Askham Company. The lease was signed by the then landowner Thomas Woodburne. Thomas Woodburne also built Sandscale cottages in 1882, which were rented to the mine captains. The mines were taken over by Kennedy Brothers in 1893 and worked until 1905 but the pumps were kept running at Sandscale No2 to assist at Roanhead. The steam pumping engine was replaced by an electric pump in 1928. The headgear was removed and the shaft covered in 1937.CRO, Barrow BD/BUC/58/1 Myles Burton Kennedy trained the local yeomanry here, the range can be seen on the 1905 OS map. During the war, the dunes were used as a decoy site and several brick structures remain f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Walney Nature Reserve
North Walney Nature Reserve is a national nature reserve on Walney Island, England. The reserve, which has an area of 646.5 ha, is notable as a habitat of natterjack toads. It is one of the sites in the Duddon Estuary which support one-fifth of the national population of the rare amphibian. Habitats The geology of the island is the product of erosion and reworking of glacial sediments, sometimes interpreted as an esker. The reserve protects a sand dune system along with other habitats such as salt marsh and intertidal mudflats. Protection North Walney was formerly a separate Site of Special Scientific Interest, but it has been amalgamated with other SSSIs to form the Duddon Estuary Site of Special Scientific Interest. The Duddon Estuary was designated a Special Protection Area under the Birds Directive, and is now merged with Morecambe Bay. See also There is a separate nature reserve at South Walney, managed by the Cumbria Wildlife Trust Cumbria Wildlife Trust is a wildli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ainsdale
Ainsdale is an area of Southport in Merseyside, England, situated three miles south of the centre of Southport. Originally in the Historic County of Lancashire, at the 2001 Census it had a population of 12,723. By the time of the 2011 census, only figures for Ainsdale (ward) were available. It makes up the southern edge of the town, separated from neighbouring Formby by RAF Woodvale. The village and roads leading to the beach are middle class areas, with some new modern developments around the station, including the addition of the private estate Village Row in 2006, and the Belway estate in 2013. History Prior to 1600 Ainsdale was listed in the ''Domesday Book'' as ''Einulvesdel''. Deriving from Old Norse name ''Einulfsdalr'', this apparently was the valley occupied by a Scandinavian by the name of Einulf. 1600-Present Ainsdale formed part of Sir Cuthbert Halsall of Halsall's estates during the early part of the 1600s. After financial difficulties the land containing Ainsdale ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hoylake
Hoylake is a coast, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. It is at the north west of the Wirral Peninsula, near West Kirby and where the River Dee, Wales, River Dee meets the Irish Sea. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Cheshire, the Domesday Book of 1086 recorded it within the Hundreds of Cheshire, Hundred of Wilaveston. At the 2001 United Kingdom census, 2001 census, the population of Hoylake was 5,710 of a total population of 13,042, as part of the Hoylake and Meols (ward), Hoylake and Meols local government Ward (electoral subdivision), ward. By the time of the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census specific population figures for Hoylake were no longer maintained. The total population for the Hoylake and Meols Ward at this census was 13,348. History In 1690, William III of England, William III set sail from Hoylake, then known as ''Hyle'' or ''High-lake'', with a 10,000-strong army to Ireland, where his army was to t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Nature Reserves In England
National nature reserves in England are designated by Natural England as key places for wildlife and natural features in England. They were established to protect the most significant areas of habitat and of geological formations. NNRs are managed on behalf of the nation, many by Natural England itself, but also by non-governmental organisations, including the members of The Wildlife Trusts partnership, the National Trust, and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. There are 229 NNRs in England covering . Often they contain rare species or nationally important species of plants, insects, butterflies, birds, mammals, etc. Spotlight NNRs Natural England has selected 35 as ''spotlight reserves'': Spotlight Reserves # [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dune
A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, flat regions covered with wind-swept sand or dunes with little or no vegetation are called ''ergs'' or ''sand seas''. Dunes occur in different shapes and sizes, but most kinds of dunes are longer on the stoss (upflow) side, where the sand is pushed up the dune, and have a shorter ''slip face'' in the lee side. The valley or trough between dunes is called a ''dune slack''. Dunes are most common in desert environments, where the lack of moisture hinders the growth of vegetation that would otherwise interfere with the development of dunes. However, sand deposits are not restricted to deserts, and dunes are also found along sea shores, along streams in semiarid climates, in areas of glacial outwash, and in other areas where poorly cemented sa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the components of pollution, can be either foreign substances/energies or naturally occurring contaminants. Although environmental pollution can be caused by natural events, the word pollution generally implies that the contaminants have an anthropogenic source – that is, a source created by human activities. Pollution is often classed as point source or nonpoint source pollution. In 2015, pollution killed nine million people worldwide (one in six deaths). This remained unchanged in 2019, with little real progress against pollution being identifiable. Air pollution accounted for of these earlier deaths. Major forms of pollution include air pollution, light pollution, litter, noise pollution, plastic pollution, soil contamination, radioactiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acid Rain
Acid rain is rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it has elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). Most water, including drinking water, has a neutral pH that exists between 6.5 and 8.5, but acid rain has a pH level lower than this and ranges from 4–5 on average. The more acidic the acid rain is, the lower its pH is. Acid rain can have harmful effects on plants, aquatic animals, and infrastructure. Acid rain is caused by emissions of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, which react with the water molecules in the atmosphere to produce acids. Acid rain has been shown to have adverse impacts on forests, freshwaters, soils, microbes, insects and aquatic life-forms. In ecosystems, persistent acid rain reduces tree bark durability, leaving flora more susceptible to environmental stressors such as drought, heat/cold and pest infestation. Acid rain is also capable of detrimenting soil composition by stripping it of nutrients such as ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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