De Hoge Veluwe National Park,
The Netherlands
Position:
52°1'N 5°55'E
Datemark:
May 2003
Mission:
Report on one of the few studies showing how global warming is severing links in the food chain of an ecosystem
Under Auspices of:
Whole Systems Foundation; Radio Netherlands
Results:
Radio features and documentary; magazine article
SYPNOPSIS
Biologist Marcel Visser is studying how global warming is disrupting the ecosystem of the De Hoge Veluwe Park in central Holland. Great tit birds there feed on caterpillars in oak groves. A scientist at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Visser has discovered that the caterpillars are appearing earlier in the spring but, for some reason, the tits are not keeping up. Accordingly, when the birds’ eggs hatch, the food supply is past its peak and fewer chicks are achieving maturity. I joined Visser to see him at work.
- Listen to The Penguin Barometer, distributed by Radio Netherlands
- Read Observing Those Who Observe, published in Neiman Reports