Search
Close this search box.

Nat Wheelwright

Nature Moments: Last Chance Dance in Plants

Flowers look so innocent. But just like humans, they can be manipulative and very picky about their mates, as illustrated by ladyslippers and irises, two common bumble-bee pollinated plants. https://youtu.be/jaBsKqKcans Nature Moments are produced by Nat Wheelwright and Wilder Nicholson, with …

Continue Reading

Nature Moments: Lichen Partnerships

Those splotches on rocks, tree trunks and twigs? Lichens! Lichens are actually a symbiosis between two major divisions of life, neither of which is a plant. And you can find them everywhere, as long as the air is not polluted. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpnROtN-JhE Nature Moments are …

Continue Reading

Nature Moments: Birdsong Baby Babble

Every bird in the world makes some kind of sound. But in order to develop a proper song, explains Nat Wheelwright, some of them need to listen to adults and then practice what they hear, in the same way children learn to speak. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JymW5QXppKE Nature Moments are …

Continue Reading

Nature Moments: Packing Leaves into Buds

How do plants pack their growing leaves inside such small buds? Nat Wheelwright explains the four main methods: leaves can be folded, rolled up, coiled, or pleated. The way a particular species packs its leaves has less to do leaf size or shape than with the plant's evolutionary …

Continue Reading

Nature Moments: Faith in Trees

Trees provide us shelter, fuel, food, protection from climate change, and beauty. But they also have deep spiritual importance. In a treetop conversation with Nat Wheelwright, forest ecologist Nalini Nadkarni points out the connection between trees and …

Continue Reading

Nature Moments: Warm-Blooded Skunk Cabbages

In his latest Nature Moment, Nat Wheelwright asks: What plant has a metabolic rate as high as a hummingbird's, generates enough heat to melt its way through the snow, and has the ability to regulate its body temperature just like a warm-blooded animal? Here's a hint: they look like cabbages and …

Continue Reading