Importance of riparian vegetation for water bodies
Biology environment

Importance of riparian vegetation for water bodies

Riparian area is a transitional semiterrestrial/semiaquatic biome, the interface between land and river or stream extending from the edges of water bodies to the edges of upland regions. This area includes flood plains and landscapes closely surrounding streams, rivers, vernal pools, ephemeral streams, ponds and lakes. Plant habitat along water bodies is riparian vegetation, consisted of hydrophilic …

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Venomous caterpillars
Biology

Venomous caterpillars, the effects and usage of their venom

Caterpillar is the larval stage of butterflies and moths. These animals are widespread in various ecosystems. Upon contact with the skin, some caterpillars release venoms and cause reactions, such as itching, pain, even a systemic response. Actual symptoms depend on the species, the amount of toxin that enters the body and the victim’s physical condition …

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Bioluminescence
Biology

Everything about bioluminescence

Bioluminescence is light produced by a chemical reaction. This reaction is a type chemiluminescence that runs inside a living organism. As all metabolic activities running in a cell, this process is precisely coordinated and controlled. Thus it is a cold light, this means that it’s more than 80 % effective and less than 20 % of the …

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vitamin D sources
Biology Health Nutrition

Vitamin D source in plants, algae and mushrooms

Vitamins are organic compounds essential for normal physiological and metabolic functioning of the body in small quantities. Vitamins are a large group of micronutrients, mostly derived from diets with a few exceptions. These micronutrients usually exist in complexes and thus cannot be obtained from a single dietary source. Functionally, vitamins are involved in various metabolic …

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Fungi in ecosystems
Biology environment

Fungi in ecosystems

Fungi have existed roughly 5/6 of the earth’s existance. They have had a lot of time to adapt to every environment on earth. For comparison, the humanoid species has existed 0,01 % of earth’s time (from the first speciments of the genus to Homo sapiens). Fungi are everywhere – they are so widespread, they make …

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TOXOPLASMOSIS
Biology Health

Toxoplasmosis – facts we should all know

This post was inspired by the book Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Under-Rated Organ by Giulia Enders. Toxoplasma parasite Toxoplasma gondii is a a widespread neurotropic protozoan parasite which reproduces in cats’ intestine. It infects about one third of the population worldwide. The probability of a human being infeced is in percents …

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