Ecologists Discover City Is ‘Uber-forest’ For Big Owls

source: Science Daily | Oct 18, 07 | submitted by Daniel

Charlotte, NC - Charlotte has a spooky secret: the North Carolina city is home to a robust population of very large barred owls -- a species long-believed by ornithologists to require old growth forest for survival. According to ecologists doing the most extensive field study ever done on the species, the owls see urban life as an upgrade on the old woods, and Charlotteans are not at all creeped out by the big birds that share their yards.

It may be news to its bankers, but Charlotte, the biggest city in North Carolina and a major center of the American financial industry, is actually an old growth forest.

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"If you read about barred owls in the textbooks, it says they need large stands of old-growth forest to survive...Either the barred owls in Charlotte haven't read that book or the book is wrong, because they are really here and apparently doing quite well."- Rob Bierregaard, University of North Carolina at Charlotte Ecologist and Ornithologist who has directed the six-year-old research study

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Message: Ecologists Discover City Is ‘Uber-forest’ For Big Owls Charlotte has a spooky secret: the North Carolina city is home to a robust population of very large barred owls -- a species long-believed by ornithologists to require old growth forest for survival. According to ecologists doing the most extensive field study ever done on the species, the owls see urban life as an upgrade on the old woods, and Charlotteans are not at all creeped out by the big birds that share their yards. It may be news to its bankers, but Charlotte, the biggest city in North Carolina and a major center of the American financial industry, is actually an old growth forest. "If you read about barred owls in the textbooks, it says they need large stands of old-growth forest to survive...Either the barred owls in Charlotte haven't read that book or the book is wrong, because they are really here and apparently doing quite well." - Rob Bierregaard, University of North Carolina at Charlotte Ecologist and Ornithologist who has directed the six-year-old research study Link to Article: http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org/index.php/news/article/ecologists_discover_city_is_uber_forest_for_big_owls/ -------------------- The Great News Network is a daily news center that features only positive and inspirational news stories on world events, the environment, science, health, and business. http://www.greatnewsnetwork.org "An Oasis for Optimists" submit the word you see below:

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Ecologists Discover City Is ‘Uber-forest’ For Big Owls

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