Brutkey

David Bender
@Bender@ecoevo.social
David Bender
@Bender@ecoevo.social
TW: the great equalizer

@lifewithtrees@mstdn.social
Agree with the biological truth that our bodies decompose and, for a time, become less orderly. But over thousands, millions, and billions of years, the atoms that are currently in our bodies will become parts of countless other living creatures, even rock, mountains, and then weather into sand and clay, and back into other living creatures. Eventually, we'll become part of the expanding sun. Then explode into a nebula and start over. A grand adventure!

David Bender
@Bender@ecoevo.social

HAPPY #SWAMPTEMBER!

#Wetlands are the most unappreciated & reviled of ecosystems. But wetlands are amazing sponges which soak up #stormwater to prevent flooding, are home to rare #plants, & are the largest #carbon sinks of any ecosystem, acre for acre.

Celebrate the #beauty of swamps, their #ecological value, & their #economic benefits all month long - & get ready to celebrate #Bogtober, #Fenuary, & #MarshMadness.

Photos of Bloedel Reserve, WA.

#Swamp #Bog #Fen #Marsh #Nature
#Restoration

The Moss Garden at Bloedel Reserve, designed by Richard Haag. A thin, gentle stream winds through a sparse woodland of Birch and Hemlock underlain by a thick carpet of emerald green moss, punctuated occasionally by ferns, small shrubs, and trailing ground covers. The Moss Garden at Bloedel Reserve, designed by Richard Haag. An angular, stepped boardwalk levitates above a mossy, wet shrubland and disappears into an evergreen woodland in the distance. The Bird Marsh at Bloedel Reserve, designed by Richard Haag. While called a marsh, sections of this wetland are more swamp-like with trees growing out of open water. The islands in these small ponds were created to provide nesting habitat for native waterfowl species. The Moss Garden at Bloedel Reserve, designed by Richard Haag. A cross-frame wooden pedestrian bridge connects two steep streambanks over a winding stream covered in duckweed. Large, leafy wetland plants emerge from the banks under a dappled canopy of trees.
David Bender
@Bender@ecoevo.social

Got to enjoy some time hiking along the Appalachian Trail the other weekend when in Gettysburg, PA for the PA-DE American Society of Land Architects (ASLA) annual conference.

Lovely trails and natural-design staircases, each one managing stormwater (to reduce erosion) differently. Details in photo descriptions (alt-text).

#Nature #Hiking #Trail #Design #Landscape #Land #Architecture #Stairs

A gravel stairway with 6x6 log risers winds up and around a steep slope into the distance. A small wooden bridge traverses a gentle, wide stormwater swale in the foreground that allows water to gently flow off the stairs, down the hill to its side, then under the bridge before joining a stream at the bottom of the hill. A rugged, rocky staircase covered in leaves from last autumn mounts a steep, jagged slope. Steps are made of compacted earth with risers made of 2-4 stones each, set slightly lower in the middle of the tread allowing stormwater to cascade over the stairs and through the cracks between them during heavy rain events, dispersing the water's velocity and reducing rutting along the staircase. A narrow, raised trail made of gravel nestled between parallel logs abuts a small, low wetland. The raised trail keeps hikers out of the sensitive, muddy habitat while allowing water to seep through and under the trail - ensuring the wetland isn't cut off from its source or destination. A staircase made of solid dry-laid stone descends a narrow pathway shaded by giant Rhododendrons and Mountain Laurels. A deep gutter next to the staircase is lined with stones to reduce erosion and curves away from the trail at regular intervals (off to the left where the stone steps stop, then again further down the dirt trail) to let stormwater spread out over a wide hill immediately to the side of the trail, preventing the water from gaining too much velocity as it travels down the side of the trail.
David Bender
@Bender@ecoevo.social

#Ecosystem #Restoration focused Master of #Landscape #Architecture graduate from #Temple University in #Philly who loves #woodland #wetlands, #aquatic ecosystems, #camping, #hiking, + INDOOR #cats (please keep your cats inside - they decimate native birds + mammals).

Background: Exhibition Design • Educational Programs • Theatre + Puppetry • B.Sc. Industrial Design

Proud union member 💪💪 Join one today - it's worth the cost! (we won a 40% raise + 25% child insurance subsidy)

A section of the Moss Garden at Bloedel Reserve in Seattle, Washington - designed by Richard Haag. A thin steam winds through fluffy moss mounds in a dark, mature woodland. Ferns and native shrubs frolick in the dappled understory of the tall trees. Photo from: http://www.intercontinentalgardener.com/2011/03/bloedel-reserve-revisited.html
David Bender
@Bender@ecoevo.social

Alright, all you #wetland lovers - I'm digging all the #MarshMadness photos you're sharing, but I hope you're also preparing for #Swamptember and #Bogtober this fall and #Fenuary early next year!

Let's make this happen.

#Mosstodon #Ecology #Nature #NaturePhotography #Landscape #Plants #Marsh #Swamp #Bog #Fen

A lovely bog in autumn, with light brown sedge stalks fluttering above a base of cranberry-red Sphagnum peat moss. Some fluffy, white seed heads dance in the foreground atop spindly stalks as a flank of evergreen trees stand watch over the entire domain from behind.