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Ecology: Ragamuffin Earth

Nature volume 460, pages 450–453 (2009)Cite this article

A small group of ecologists is looking beyond the pristine to study the scrubby, feral and untended. Emma Marris learns to appreciate 'novel ecosystems'.

Joe Mascaro, a PhD student in a T-shirt and floral print shorts, is soaking in the diversity of the Hawaiian jungle. Above, a green canopy blocks out most of the sky. Aerial roots wend their way down past tropical trunks, tree ferns and moss-covered prop roots to an understorey of ferns and seedlings. The jungle is lush, humid and thick with mosquitoes. It is also as cosmopolitan as London's Heathrow airport.

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References

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  2. Hobbs, R. J. et al. Global Ecol. Biogeogr. 15, 1-7 (2006).

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  3. Mascaro, J., Becklund, K. K., Hughes, R. F. & Schnitzer, S. A. Forest Ecol. Manage. 256, 593-606 (2008).

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  4. Ziegler, A. Hawaiian Natural History, Ecology and Evolution 157 (University of Hawaii Press, 2002).

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Authors
  1. Emma Marris
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See Editorial, page 435

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Marris, E. Ecology: Ragamuffin Earth. Nature 460, 450–453 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/460450a

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