Cross-boundary subsidies are caused by organisms or materials that cross or traverse habitat patch boundaries, subsidizing the resident populations. The transferred organisms and materials may provide additional predators, prey, or nutrients to resident species, which can affect community and food web structure. Cross-boundary subsidies of materials and organisms occur in landscapes composed of different habitat patch types, and so depend on characteristics of those patches and on the boundaries in between them. Human alteration of the landscape, primarily through fragmentation, has the potential to alter important cross-boundary subsidies to increasingly isolated habitat patches. Understanding how processes that occur outside of habitat patches can affect populations within them may be important to habitat management.

On the edge of a pond, lived a salamander who had a habit of making himself invisible whenever he left his burrowed-out hole, mostly to avoid large snakes looking for food.

They have rooted great swaths from levees. They can damage wildlife habitat, ruin private food plots for deer and turkey, contaminate farm ponds and livestock watering holes. They often damage sugar cane, rice and corn fields.

First it was cigarettes. Then alcohol. Now the government wants to tax the fat in your foods. It's already been proposed in the US - and now the idea has moved across the pond. Is it fair to tax fat?

I recently drove by a ponding basin in Fresno and noticed a pair of Canada geese with their four goslings. The goslings are developing their feathers but won't be able to fly for a while.Here is the dilemma: The parents cannot leave the enclosed ponding basin because their goslings can't fly. There is not enough food for them. . .

Whole Foods makes its debut across the pond and fashionable foodie fops are eating it up. Ostrich omelette anyone?