What Lies Beneath: The Hidden Life of Fungi

BY HEATHER ADDY

Fungi are often overlooked because many of them spend much of their lives hidden from us, and out of sight means out of mind. While all fungi share certain features, these organisms display remarkable diversity. Here, we’ll focus on fungi that form mushrooms and other large, complex fruiting bodies.

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Diminished Chorus: The Decline of Grassland Birds

BY NANCY MAHONY

Few people are lucky enough to experience the dawn chorus on Alberta’s native grasslands — a bewildering concert of ringing trills, melodious gurgles, and jumbled songs. I’ve had the good fortune to do so on many May and June mornings, as a biologist researching grassland songbirds at one of Canada’s largest remaining native prairies, the Suffield National Wildlife Area near Medicine Hat.

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Alberta Red-necks — Grebes, That Is

BY NICK CARTER

Although the courtship of red-necked grebes is one of nature’s great shows, it often goes unappreciated. The same goes for other grebe species. These birds generally do not inspire the same sense of northern majesty that loons do. Nor are they synonymous with Alberta wetlands the way ducks and geese are. But grebes are just as much a part of our lakes and ponds as all those other birds.

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Wild Boars on the March

Initially, wild boar numbers were low and they went largely unnoticed. However, their high reproductive rate is a recipe for exponential growth, which is exactly what has happened.

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