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Central Pacific coastal forests videos

	Gunnera - The Growth Of A Giant http://www.robinshomeandyard.com This "giant plant" (Gunnera) thrives On BC's "Wet Coast." It is not uncommon in size to many of the other Gunnera's growing in this area. Coastal British Columbia's wet and mild climate makes it a great show piece in any yard with a lot of water. Most years, our Gunnera has leaves up to seven feet or eight feet across and is about twelve feet high. It now takes up over a thirty foot section along the fence in our backyard bog. Robin Murray, owner of Robin's Home & Yard Care Service, a home and yard maintenance company that has been operating in the Powell River area for a number of years. The 40-50 species of Gunnera vary enormously in leaf size. They are mainly found in South America and Central America with a few in Hawaii and other South Pacific islands. In its native habitat, individual leaves can be as much as 8 feet across, making this one of the world's largest herbaceous plants. Although these dimensions are seldom seen in cultivation, 4' leaves and plants 8' high and 12' wide are not uncommon. Growth is fast if the plant is happy. They usually grow in specific places in the cloud forests, namely seepage areas where there is a constant, unlimited supply of water. These plants grow well next to streams and natural ponds, where their roots can get right into boggy soil, or else they need a lot of watering throughout the dry months. The record for the largest Gunnera Manicata leaf was eleven feet across on a plant at Narrow-water Park, County Cork, Ireland in 1903. The gunnera in our backyard was a very water-wise decision for us as we had a bog area that we couldn't use for vegetables, herbs or many flowers because it was too wet. This plant loves wet areas so it was a perfect solution for this area. You can by these plants as potted plants from a few greenhouses and gardening centers online or maybe even in your area.
	Alaska Alaska (IPA: /əˈlæskə/, Russian: Аляска) is a state in the United States of America, in the northwest of the North American continent. It is the largest U.S. state by area (by a substantial margin), and one of the wealthiest (per capita) and most racially diverse.[2][3] The area that became Alaska was purchased from the Russian Empire on March 30, 1867. The land went through several administrative changes before becoming an organized territory on May 11, 1912 and the 49th state of the U.S. on January 3, 1959. The name "Alaska" is derived from the Aleut alaxsxaq, meaning "the mainland," or more literally, "the object towards which the action of the sea is directed."[4] It is also known as Alyeska, the "great land", an Aleut word derived from the same root Geography Alaska is one of two U.S. states not bordered by another state, Hawaii being the other. Alaska has more coastline than all the other U.S. states combined.[5] It is the only non-contiguous state in the continental US; about 500 miles (800 km) of Canadian territory separate Alaska from Washington State. Alaska is thus an exclave of the United States, part of the continental U.S. but is not part of the contiguous U.S.[6] Alaska's capital city, though located on the mainland of the North American continent, is inaccessible by land — no roads connect Juneau to the rest of the North American highway system. The state is bordered by Yukon Territory and British Columbia, Canada, to the east, the Gulf of Alaska and the Pacific Ocean to the south, the Bering Sea, Bering Strait, and Chukchi Sea to the west and the Beaufort Sea and the Arctic Ocean to the north. Alaska is the largest state in the United States in land area at 570,380 square miles (1,477,277 km²), more than twice as large as Texas, the next largest state. It is larger than all but 18 sovereign nations. Near Little Port Walter in Southeast Alaska. Nushagak River in Southwest Alaska. Mount Sanford in the Wrangell Mountains. Kenai River on the Kenai Peninsula.One scheme for describing the state's geography is by labeling the regions: South Central Alaska is the southern coastal region and contains most of the state's population. Anchorage and many growing towns, such as Palmer, and Wasilla, lie within this area. Petroleum industrial plants, transportation, tourism, and two military bases form the core of the economy here. The Alaska Panhandle, also known as Southeast Alaska, is home to many of Alaska's larger towns including the state capital Juneau, tidewater glaciers and extensive forests. Tourism, fishing, forestry and state government anchor the economy. Southwest Alaska is largely coastal, bordered by both the Pacific Ocean and the Bering Sea. It is sparsely populated, and unconnected to the road system, but very important to the fishing industry. Half of all fish caught in the western U.S. come from the Bering Sea, and Bristol Bay has the world's largest sockeye salmon fishery. Southwest Alaska includes Katmai and Lake Clark national parks as well as numerous wildlife refuges. The region comprises western Cook Inlet, Bristol Bay and its watersheds, the Alaska Peninsula and the Aleutian Islands. It is known for wet and stormy weather, tundra landscapes, and large populations of salmon, brown bears, caribou, birds, and marine mammals. The Alaska Interior is home to Fairbanks. The geography is marked by large braided rivers, such as the Yukon River and the Kuskokwim River, as well as Arctic tundra lands and shorelines. The Alaskan Bush is the remote, less crowded part of the state, encompassing 380 native villages and small towns such as Nome, Bethel, Kotzebue and, most famously, Barrow, the northernmost town in the United States, as well as the northern most town on the contiguous North American continent (cities in Greenland, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut that are farther north are on islands) Alaska
	Eight New Natural Wonders Named Eight New Natural Wonders Named * Joggins Fossil Cliffs (Canada) Wesley Hill, IUCN * Mount Sanqingshan National Park (China) Peter Shadie, IUCN * Lagoons of New Caledonia: Reef Diversity and Associated Ecosystems (France) * Surtsey (Iceland) * Saryarka - Steppe and Lakes of Northern Kazakhstan (Kazakhstan) * Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve (Mexico) * Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona (Switzerland) * Socotra Archipelago (Yemen) (July 10) - Eight new natural wonders, including the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve in Mexico and what has been dubbed "the Galápagos of the Indian Ocean," have been added to the World Heritage List. World Heritage Sites are named by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The sites, both cultural and natural, added to the list are deemed "of outstanding value to humanity" and deserve protection and preservation, according to the UNESCO Web site. With the new additions, the World Heritage List now boasts 878 sites (679 cultural, 174 natural and 25 mixed) in 145 countries. The eight new natural sites added this year include: "These eight stunning natural sites are amongst the best of what nature has to offer," said David Sheppard, head of the IUCN's Protected Areas Program, which recommended the sites. (IUCN stands for International Union for Conservation of Nature.) Below are details on all the sites: The Socotra Archipelago is known as "the Galápagos of the Indian Ocean" and is home to 825 plant species of which 37 percent can only be found there. Ninety percent of its reptile species can be found nowhere else. Its marine life is also diverse, with 253 species of reef-building corals, 730 species of coastal fish and 300 species of crab, lobster and shrimp. Socotra is already well set up for long-term conservation, IUCN officials say, as about 75 percent of its land area is already included in natural sanctuaries and national parks. The Joggins Fossil Cliffs have also drawn a comparison to the diverse Pacific Islands made famous by Charles Darwin's work, as they are sometimes called "the Coal Age Galápagos." The cliffs are considered to be an excellent reference site to the Coal Age (about 300 million years ago). The rocks there bear witness to the first reptiles in Earth's history and preserve upright fossil trees. "This is a fascinating site where you can literally see a slice of history," said Tim Badman, World Heritage advisor of IUCN's Protected Areas Program. Surtsey, a new island formed by volcanic eruptions off the southern coast of Iceland from 1963 to 1967, is interesting for the new life forms that have settled there. The young bit of land has provided a unique scientific record of the ways in which plants and animals colonize land. The Mariposa Monarca Biosphere Reserve protects eight areas of wintering habitat of the monarch butterfly in the oyamel fir forests of central Mexico. After traveling thousands of kilometers, as many as a billion monarchs overwinter there. More than 200,000 hectares of Central Asian steppe, a vast region of open grassland, is found in Saryarka, Kazakhstan — more than half of it is pristine. The area's Korgalzhyn-Tengiz lakes provide feeding grounds to around 16 million birds and support hundreds of thousands of nesting waterfowl. "The wetlands of Korgalzhyn and Naurzum State Nature Reserves are key stopover points for migratory birds," Sheppard said. "Some of these species are globally threatened. Saryarka offers them a safe haven on their journeys from Africa, Europe and South Asia to their breeding grounds in Western and Eastern Siberia." Saryarka is also home to the critically endangered saiga antelope (Saiga tatarica). Mount Sanqingshan National Park in China was selected for its "outstanding natural beauty," the IUCN said. The park features a diverse forest and unusual granite rock formations, including shaped pillars and peaks, which can be viewed from suspended walking trails. The Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona, on the other hand, was picked for its geological value; it features a dramatic display of mountain-building, including an area called the Glarus Over thrust, where older rock overlays younger rock. The highly diverse coral reef ecosystems of the Lagoons of New Caledonia put it on the new list — they equal or possibly surpass the larger Great Barrier Reef in coral and fish diversity. These eight natural sites were accompanied by 27 cultural sites as inductees into the World Heritage program. The IUCN also helps monitor conservation at the natural sites. It has deemed several World Heritage sites as under threat, including the Galápagos Islands, in Ecuador, Machu Picchu, in Peru, and Virunga National Park, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. http://news.aol.com/story/_a/eight-new-natural-wonders-named/20080710101009990001