Word: habitat
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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...from the marsh and suffocate aquatic life at the bottom of the Everglades food chain. On shallow ponds and canals, nutrient-fed algae grow so thick that they block the sun from underwater plants. So far, most of the damage is confined to Loxahatchee National Wildlife Preserve -- an Everglades habitat abutting the farms -- and state conservation areas just north of the national park. "It's like a cancer," says park superintendent Finley, "and the cancer is moving south...
...talked to the human beings who run the zoos, Willwerth was especially impressed by the dedication that curators feel to their quite modestly paid jobs. He was also drawn into the difficult issues of animal management. Says Willwerth: "Listening to complex discussions of gene pools, habitat destruction, medical problems, immersion landscapes and zoo politics is surprisingly compelling...
Meanwhile, at Washington's National Zoo another experiment was under way: scientists wanted to acquaint their rare golden lion tamarins with a facsimile of their natural habitat, a lowland Brazilian forest. But the coddled, zoo- happy monkeys lacked some basic skills -- how, for instance, to peel a banana. Instead, they fell out of the trees and got lost in the woods...
...zoos fight back, they are pulling along the public with some shrewd tactics. Conservationists often select an irresistible, oversize crowd pleaser -- pandas are perfect, but snow leopards and black rhinos work fine -- and lead a campaign to preserve the creature's habitat. "There is a utility in the concern for the giant panda," says the National Zoo's director Michael Robinson. "Pandas are relatively stupid and uninteresting animals. But they happen to be photogenic and appealing, and they help focus people's attention." Big animals need big swatches of habitat, and so in the process a lot of less sexy...
Before such a moon base can be built, NASA will have to get some kind of space station: the massive components needed for a lunar habitat are too heavy to lift from earth and will have to be assembled in space. The station will also be needed for assembling a bulky Mars vehicle and studying the effects of long-term space flight. But a single station may not be the best option. Several experts have suggested breaking it down into smaller units. One such station, the Industrial Space Facility, has already been designed by a Houston firm, Space Industries...