Plant Ecology

With food prices rising, sustainability becoming an increasing concern, and a greater awareness of health and nutrition spreading throughout the population, foraging is the golden ticket to a better way of life. Despite the rise in newbie foragers, many people are hesitant because they don’t think they have the skills or knowledge to do it safely. But all of that is about to change. When you know where to look, what to look for, and how to confidently identify and harvest safe and nutritious treats, a whole world of possibility opens up

In this entertaining young readers edition of the environmental studies classic, Michael Pollan demonstrates how people and domesticated plants have formed a reciprocal relationship. He links four fundamental human desires—sweetness, beauty, energy, and control—with the plants that satisfy them: the apple, the tulip, coffee, and the potato. In telling the stories of four familiar species, Pollan illustrates how the plants have evolved to satisfy humankind’s most basic yearnings. And just as we’ve benefited from these plants, we have also helped them to thrive.

Several years ago, ecologist Lauren E. Oakes set out from California for Alaska's old-growth forests to hunt for a dying tree: the yellow-cedar. With climate change as the culprit, the death of this species meant loss for many Alaskans. Oakes and her research team wanted to chronicle how plants and people could cope with their rapidly changing world. Amidst the standing dead, she discovered the resiliency of forgotten forests, flourishing again in the wake of destruction, and a diverse community of people who persevered to create new relationships with the emerging environment.

Michael Pollan investiga tres drogas de origen vegetal, el opio, la cafeína y la mescalina, para mostrar la arbitrariedad de nuestro juicio respecto a estas sustancias, profundamente condicionado por el estigma social.

Finalmente, "La Nación de las Plantas", la nación más importante, extendida y poderosa de la Tierra, toma la palabra.

Before there even was modern era medications and its pharmacopoeia of artificial medications, there were medicinal plants. Prehistoric civilizations have widely used them for the strategic treatment of common illnesses as well as life-threatening ailments. More recently, the information about medicinal plants was handed over from one generation to the next.

Why spend countless hours indoors in front of screens when being in nature feels so good? In learning why and how to nurture our emotional connection with nature, we can also regenerate the ecosystems on which we depend for our survival. Renewal explores the science behind why being in nature makes us feel alive and helps us thrive.

Most plants can’t survive the demands of “wet feet.” Usually, too much water causes them to wilt and virtually “meltdown,” as they become bloated and soggy. But there are a few hardy plants that know exactly how to deal with this problem—in fact wetland grasses, sedges, rushes, mosses, ferns, horsetails were the first plants to evolve on Earth and are, indeed, the ancestors of the garden trees, bushes, and flowers that we grow today.

Kann man Blumen essen? Warum stinken manche Bäume? Und wer hat im Park unter der Wiese gewühlt? Natur ist überall - auch in der Stadt! Mäuse, Hummeln, Kaninchen und manchmal sogar Waschbären sind deine Nachbarn. Flechten, Moose und Blumen finden in winzigen Spalten und Asphaltrissen ihren Lebensraum. Ganz in deiner Nähe warten kleine und große Abenteuer auf dich. Eine Kürbispflanze ziehen, Übernachten im Garten oder Tiere auf dem Bahnsteig beobachten.

There is endless wisdom in the medicinal practices of ancient civilizations. People who didn't have the opportunity to rely on modern technology were not capable of the same chances at longevity and health that we are in modern times. However, it is important to remember that the drugs we are using now are still in their infancy, and may come with more problems than solutions in some cases.