Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature School on Blog

Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly C Tenorio
738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday

What makes a garden an ideal place for the relaxation may miss the eye. Beyond the beauty of flowers, of the diversity of life forms, and the coolness it brings to a tired soul, there is still one more thing a nature lover must not miss: a night of a music, courtesy of nature’s miniature musicians.

Katydid, (below) a long horned grasshopper (Phaneroptera furcifera), and the field cricket (Acheta bimaculata) are the world's most popular fiddlers in the insect world.

I refer to these principal singers, the cricket (Acheta domesticus and Gryllus sp.) and the long-horned grasshopper or katydid (Microcentrum rhombifolium), all belonging to a large group, Order Orthoptera, in which the grasshopper is a typical member.

Since childhood I have always been fascinated by insect music. Stealthily, in many attempts, I tried to look for the singer; but on getting nearer to the source of the music, the singer abruptly stopped. I learned later that these insects are ventriloquists and a slight turn of their wings or bodies would deceive the hunter.

But not until I finally succeeded in pinning down with a flashlight the little Caruso in the middle of his performance.

He is well hidden behind a leaf, brown to black, compact and sturdy, nearly two inches long, with a long tail and a pair of antennae. His front wings are raised 45 degrees above his abdomen on which the hind wings are folded. This is the cricket’s fiddling position. Now he rubs the two leathery wings against each other in a back and forth motions, a process called stridulating, which inspired man to invent the violin. On closer examination the base of the front in lined with sharp edge, the scrapper, while the ventral side has a file like ridge, the file, which represents the bow of the violin.

And what about the stereoscopic sound effect? A pair of tympana, which are drum-like organs, found at the base of the front tibia, are actually ears which, together with the raised wings, serve as resonator, sending the sound to as far as a mile away on a still night.

Now let us analyze the music produced or is it only a sound, mistaken for some music qualities? A sound produced by a single stroke called pulse. Each pulse is composed of a number of individual tooth strokes of the scraper and file. Pulse rate is from four to five per second, but on warm summer night the rate becomes faster; thus, cricket are not only watchdogs (they stop when they sense an intruder), they are also indicator of temperature – and perhaps the coming of bad weather. It is for these reasons, other than their music, that the Chinese and the Japanese love them as pets.

The pulses of cricket are relatively musical; that is, they can usually be assigned a definite pitch, varying from 1,500 to 10,000 hertz, depending on the species. Those of the long-horned grasshopper or katydid are more noise like; that is, they contain a wide band of frequencies, including clicking and lapsing, and cannot be assigned to a definite pitch. The monotony of its sound must have led to the coining of the insect’s name, katydid-katydid-katydid…

There are three musical pieces the cricket play. Calling songs are clear crisp, and loud, which, of course, suit the intention when a female comes around and nudges the singing male, his music becomes soft and romantic, lasting for many minute to hours, and he forgets his role of warning of an intruder or telling of the coming of storm. Anyone who is love- struck is like that.

But worse can come all of a sudden. This sentinel falls silent as he takes the bride. And when another suitor is around, this Valentino takes a fighting stance and sings the Storm the Bastille, a battle song.

I came across studies on insect music. I began to take interest, imitating it with the violin. It is impossible and the audiospectrogram tells why. Biologically, only the members of the same species understand one another. No two species can communicate vis-à-vis this auditory means. This is one area in development biology, which has not been fully explored. How did this mechanism of species communication evolve? With computers today, can it be explored as an alternative and safe means of controlling destructive species? Maybe we can mimic the music a species produces to lure its members, then trap or eliminate them.

As the garden meets sunrise with fluttering butterflies, so does it enters the night with an array of concerto and orchestra music, and the garden becomes a place for meditation. I say that the music produced by this insect –whatever is the interpretation - is a sound of peace and a chant of praise for life itself. The chores of the day vanish easily, and I find the evening so relaxing and conducive to good sleep - and dreams.

The great Charles Darwin himself expressed his deep feelings for these night’s musicians in his book, “Cricket at the Heart”. He said, “I love it for the many times I have heard it, and the many thoughts its harmless music has given me.”

Carolus Linneaus was more affected by these insects. He kept them to send him to sleep. Japanese children delight in collecting them, as American children trap fireflies. Caged crickets are sold in shops. Haven’t I found a battery- operated caged cricket lately? Computer age! Poet David McCord laments, “The cricket’s gone. We only hear machinery.”

As for me, I still find peace with these humble companions in the night. x x x

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature School on Blog

Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly C Tenorio
738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday

Mangosteen. Just demonstrate how to crack the fruit

and pick the soft flesh with the finger.

Watermelon or pakwan. Serve liberally with style. Bite to the

rind and spit seeds.

Camito or star apple. Cut cross wise to show how the fruit

got its name. Scoop with spoon.

Banana, Serve whole "palm". It's thrilling to pick one of
your choice, peel, eat, then pick another.

Sineguelas. A little salt at the corner of the plate is an option.

Duhat. Just serve the very ripe. Others add salt over the fruit,

cover it with another plate and shake, then serve.

Buko. "Don't accept if seal is broken." That is, the nut must be intact.

Punch two holes on the soft flesh with straw, one for air to enter as

you draw in the fresh coco water. Split empty nut, scoop the flesh

with spoon and eat it directly sans plate.

Guava is best when picked from the tree before it is fully
ripe. Otherwise the fruit will simply drop to the ground,
or a bat comes and harvest it in the night. Green guava
if not mature will simply go to waste.

Fresh sugarcane cane juice is extracted with a mechanical juicer in a fruit juice stand. While waiting for your order, you can see the process. Don't settle for bottled cane juice; it ferments easily, and it's not good to the stomach. There is no substitute to chewing the cane; it's also good for the teeth and gums.

Fresh fruits are packed and chilled for convenience. Here watermelon is cut into desired sizes, packed in plastic and chilled overnight. Carrot sticks, sliced papaya, pineapple chunks, scooped buko, among other fruits, are sold this way in fruit stands in malls and supermarkets.

chico, cucumber, etc.

Atis (Anona squamosa) The crack widens, the color becomes
light green. Press and open the fruit, eat with the fingers,
and spit the seeds like a blowgun. To kids this is fun.

Goodbye to kamachili (Pithecolobium dulce). Although it is
not commercially sold, it is very popular to children on the
farm and pasture. It's good for diabetic persons.

Tiesa (Lucuma nervosa) bears plenty of these bright
colored fruits which drop to the ground when fully
ripe. Its fruiting season is summer.

Dragon fruit. Slice lengthwise into six or eight pieces.
Eat with the fingers, peeling it in the process.

Local and imported fruits

Other fruits grown on the backyard, and in orchards

Mango
Guyabano
Macopa
Dalandan
Nangka
Avocado
Sampalok
Papaya, solo variety
Balimbing
Strawberry

And many other fruits. Why don't you add to the list?

Ebola virus disease (EVD), Ebola hemorrhagic fever (EHF), or simply Ebola is a disease of humans and other primates caused by an ebolavirus. Symptoms start two days to three weeks after contracting the virus, with a fever, sore throat, muscle pain and headaches. Typically, vomiting, diarrhea and rash follow, along with decreased functioning of the liver and kidneys. Around this time, affected people may begin to bleed both within the body and externally. The virus may be acquired upon contact with blood or bodily fluids of an infected animal.

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature School on Blog

Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly C Tenorio

738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday

Poxvirus

Binding of virus with host cell,
initial step

Adenovirus,

Ebola virus

1. Viruses are as old as mankind.

2. A(H1N1) virus is transmitted between swine and human, and human and human.

3. Symptoms of swine flu and chicken flu (H5N1) and SARS may be mistaken for seasonal flu.

4. Virus is the smallest disease-causing contagion – nothing smaller.

5. Wearing mask gives total protection against flu virus and other viruses.

6. Viruses are like bacteria in size, that’s why they can easily attack them.

7. Viruses are considered living things, and they occupy the lowest rung of the evolutionary ladder, and base of the phylogeny tree.

8. Viruses can mutate continuously, but under natural condition humans can also develop the needed resistance.

9. Virus of tobacco can live for a hundred years in dormant stage – then resurrect, inspiring humans of the possibility of resurrection.

10. Viruses are obligate parasites, that is, they can’t live outside the body of their host.

11. Viral diseases of plants include blight of rice, rust of coffee and smut of corn.

12. At the incipient stage of flu, take antibiotics to arrest its spread.

13. Viral disease in plants (grapes, pechay, tomato) may be mistaken for soil nutrient deficiency.

14. You can prune out the infected branch to save viral infected citrus (psorosis)
Do this also to papaya and the new shoot will be free of the virus.

15. Seeds of viral infected plants are virus-free, thanks to Nature. She is kind after all.

16. Viral epidemic stops when finally it “burns itself” no more host left, or its hosts have developed resistance.

17. The most destructive insects that those that carry viral diseases – rather than those that are voracious eaters.

18. Cigarette smokers are viral disease carriers – they can transmit viruses of potato, tomato, cucumber, squash, and pepper.

19. Most viruses of plants are isometric, spindle or rod-shape, animal and human viruses are spherical like sputnik or pollen.

20. Obesity is caused by viruses that invade the fat cells and stimulate them into giant cells. This is how obesity epidemic is spreading in the US where one out of five individual are suspectedly obese.

21. Viruses can not be “killed” or destroyed even at extreme heat – and even if they are separated, they have the ability to reassemble and resume virulence.

22. There are three basic parts of the virus: RNA, protein coat, and cell wall.

23. Mad Cow disease or BSE is cause by a virus, and the virus also infects man (CJD) with same symptoms.

24. While there is no general or overall immunization to flu, science has developed antiviral drugs to suppress viruses at the onset of its attack.

25. Our global concerted effort to contain the spread of A(H1N1) stems form the fact that pandemic is like explosion – once it explodes they is no way of controlling this devastation. Take the case of the 1918 -20 Spanish flu: an estimated 100 million people died of the pandemic, killing 1 out of 6 people on earth. In the US alone, average age plunged to 12 years old.

ANSWERS: 1F(They came very much ahead, probably as early as 1 to 3 billion years ago.) 2T, 3T (also Leptospirosis), 4F, 5F, 6F, 7F, 8T, 9T, 10T, 11F(these are fungal diseases), 12F, 13T, 14F, 15F, 16T, 17T, 18F (cucumber and squash not included - they are crucifers, only solanaceous plants are infected), 19T, 20T(Adenovirus 36), 21F, 22F, 23F, 24T (ex. Tamiflu) 25T.

Acknowledgment: Lesson on Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid, DZRB 738 KHz 8 to 90 pm Monday to Friday; Photos from Principles of Molecular Virology, Fourth Edition by Alan J Cann

On-the-spot photography test. September 11, 2014 (after the written test). Bring your own camera, preferably with high Mega Pixels, say 5 to 10 MP.
Dr Abe V Rotor
Professor

Living with Nature School on Blog

Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly C Tenorio
738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday

Know your camera. Befriend it, and you will go places together, and "conquer" the world of photography.

1. Subjects are everywhere. But you have to look for your subject. See new angles, dimensions, perspectives, and many other ways to make the most of each subject. Use all senses possible, draw out subjects from imagination. More than a "nose for news" approach or "gut feel", imagine, re-create, and feel your subject.

Emotion is difficult to capture.

2. Camera cannot discriminate. "You and I may lie, but the camera does not lie." The camera captures all within its vision. But you can focus only on a particular object or part of it. You can script. Be sure a scripted picture is not obvious.

3. Power of colors. It means appropriate colors for your subject tuned to the occasion, ambiance, purpose - with the sense of moderation and fine taste. Colors are all around. Discern colors to attract, harmonize, create moods, contrast, emphasis. To make your subject look real. Use color schemes to add coherence to your picture, to interpret expressively. Use warm and cool colors properly. Strong colors do not always attract, maybe you need distorted colors like reflection on water. Be guided in color harmony using the Color Chart.

Samples of photographs of children.

4. Exposure setting. Even with an automatic camera, you need to check and apply the proper exposure. Otherwise you get over exposed or under exposed results. Too high DIN/ASA/ISO under the sun results to granulated photo. (Pointillism effect). Practice bracketing: make a series of shots of the same subject with different modes (aperture, shutter, ISO), and at variable distance. Compare and choose, edit (if necessary), arrange or collage

5. Use lines properly. Lines lead the eye. Lines create moods, emphasis, direction. Break monotony, repetition, prosaic impression. Lines give a sense of measurement like distance, volume, height.

6. Focus to make clear, sharp image. Even with automatic cameras, be sure you get the best focus. The light meter measures light - not necessarily the subject.Use focus for emphasis and viewpoint, and differential focus (sharp and soft). Focus guides you in editing, specially cropping. It emphasizes the value of the picture, its newsworthiness and artistic quality.

7. Shutter freezes action. Or creates mood. Movement is a difficult subject. Split of a second. Passing view. Fast cars, winning shot, fired bullet. Yet a little blur or haze gives a special touch to the picture.

8. Aperture or lens opening. Depth of field must be well defined, unless you have another objective, like eliminating undesirable background. Shallow depth of field makes a particular person to stand out in a crowd. General rule is that the smaller the aperture, the deeper is the depth of field. Infinity mode is usually set on smaller aperture or lens opening just like how the pupil of the eye works.

9. Exposure setting. Even with an automatic camera, you need to check and apply the proper exposure. Otherwise you get over exposed or under exposed results. Too high DIN/ASA/ISO under the sun results to granulated photo. (Pointillism effect). Practice bracketing: make a series of shots of the same subject with different modes (aperture, shutter, ISO), and at variable distance.

10. Composition. This is basic in writing a song or theme, in painting, in architecture, and the like. Adopt necessary format - horizontal, vertical, or square - to the final picture, either with the camera or by editing, or both. Composition is the key to a masterpiece, it tells a story, it leads to the message, it presents a holistic view. It removes the wasteland, so to speak.

11. Viewpoint. This element has a great impact on composition. Is it at the left or right? How close should the subject appear? Close-up? Is it a low or high viewpoint in terms of perspective. Fill up the whole frame? Or give a breathing space? Often we ask, "What's your viewpoint?" You may mean, "How do you see the thing?"

12. Framing. It's like seeing a play. The characters are framed on the stage. In photography it may be a window, arched doorway, or an arch itself like the Arch of the Centuries. These can make a natural frame in your photo. Or you may need background framing, instead, like stained glass behind a praying person.

13. Contrast. This means subject contrast (rock and flowing water, tall and short partners). Or lighting contrast (brightness and darkness, light and shadow). Tonal differences can be subjective (simultaneous contrast, like silver lining of nimbus cloud). Use tone to simplify, or low-key tone to moderate. Contrasting tones make a silhouette effect.

14. Background. Ang ganda ang bundok! Akala mo ikaw ang sinasabing maganda. Sometimes what is beautiful is the background or backdrop, not the subject. Capitalize on the background to enrich your picture. In fact you can arrange it, if you can, to fit to your objective. The background may steal the show, so to speak. It might even ruin it. Don't allow this to happen.

15. Balance. Balance by conformity or balance by contrast. Be sure you know how to differentiate the two. Also, there's balance by position. Avoid rigid symmetry, for all you know the result is a better perception of balance. Variety leads to balance. Center is not always the rule for balance. Don't stand on the center. Have more space at the front than at its back. Move the building to one side to show, say sunset, or the road.

16. Light. Without light there can be no photography. Look at light, natural or artificial, as important element in photography. Use light on translucent object (leaves, cloth). Sunlight tells time and direction, creates repetition or twin patterns. Vary light to create moods, silhouettes, rim-lighting effect, in outlining shapes, flare and glare. Make essence of existing light, make it "spill", hide, appear like curtain or frame an object.

17. Direction refers mainly to the direction of sunlight as it strikes an object. High noon emphasizes the eye sockets, makes trees dwarf, shoulders broad. Light reveals rough surface, bares embossed figures. It's you who adjust to directional effect, you can't fix it. Certain views like buildings and landscapes are best at certain hours of the day.

18. Use lenses creatively. Standard lens can take you far and wide to a variety of subjects. But you may need special lenses. Telephoto for news coverage and bird watching. You may need

"Snapshots" from a moving vehicle

extended perspective to extend depth of field, wide angle for panoramic view, fisheye lens for circular images and to frame skyscrapers. Telezoom acts in

two ways as the term implies - reach out and crop. Mirror lens is designed to reduce the bulk and length of extreme telephoto lenses. They are used in war zone and in astronomy.

19. Filters enhance or change the look of pictures, whether color or black and white. The universal filters are Ultra Violet (UV) filter, and polarizing filter to remove reflection.
Green makes view fresher, blue makes the sea deeper, red a more dramatic sunset, yellow makes the ricefields at harvestime golden.

20. Flash. Today's cameras have built-in flash which automatically flashes when lighting is inadequate. There are cameras that have flash mode irrespective of lighting condition. This is to counteract glare. It equalizes distribution of light. Or it lights the subject without lighting the background. But flash can minimize details. In fact it leads to over exposed pictures.

Religious icon is among the most popular subjects in photography. What does this photo lack?

Key to success in photography is constant practice. Like any other skill, the ability to see and realize is not just automatic response. The skill is best absorbed and used subconsciously through constant practice.

Dr Abe V Rotor
Professor in photography

1. Choose two photos from the avrotor blog which you think are of greatest human interest. Print on one page bond the two photos, and print under each your reason to justify your choice.

2. James Foley, and now Sarmad Qeseera. What are photojournalists made of? Write a essay in your handwriting. Relate it with your course and future career.

3. What does this book teach us photojournalists? (photo). Explain the title - The Decisive Moment

4. Photo session on campus. Practical test this Thursday.

5. Advance assignment: How far have you gone downloading from avrotor.blogspot.com articles on photography with one-page reaction after each? (Don't alter the articles - content and format.) Compiled articles will serve as our class Manual in Photography. Limit articles to those with UST-AB only. Manual will be part of your finals and will be returned to you. ~

Dr Abe V Rotor
Critique these photographs, before and after editing.

Delegates to the Asian Conference of Religions for Peace 2008,
at UST. Edited version and original photo (below). Note increase
in size of frame, brightness, contrast, and cropped area.

Baptism of Christ, an old painting found in the cathedral Ho Chi

Mingh City. Edited to correct distortion and improve perspective.

The dove and angel on top were inadvertently cropped out. Such

details should be preserved, if not enhanced, in photo editing.

Three edited versions of World War II Memorial, St. Paul University QC
Each version exudes an aura that touches emotion, revives memories or simply stirs imagination about war, although the message may only be secondary to the artistic interpretation of the viewer. The versions are poetic in different ways, and may be closely identified with romanticism, rather than realism or abstractionism. Today's photography offers techniques to explore the virtually limitless potentials of photography as an art and apply them with the other disciplines of knowledge and fields of human endeavor.

NOTE: Photo editing uses many tools, but it has limitations, too. There are basic defects which can only be corrected by sacrificing originality and authenticity, and when done to the extreme, a photograph leads to what artists call "computer art."

Indeed, the versatility of the computer can result to unimaginable versions of editing leading to abstract and composite images - which may no longer belong to the realm of photography. Thus, belying the adage, "You and I may lie, but the camera does not lie." ~

Humanities: Characteristics of Baroque Art
Critique these photographs, before and after editing.

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature - School on Blog
Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio
738 DZRB AM, 8-9 evening class Monday to Friday

This is a series of photographs taken by a palm-size digital camera, with "point-and-shoot" ease and convenience. And pronto! you can check on the monitor screen. This is how photos are taken today with the proliferation of digital cameras.

This article is a simple reference not so much on the technical aspect of photography, but on creativity, considering that photography is a tool and expression of art. And like art and its various forms, the elements are basically the same: perspective, contrast, unity, balance, harmony, color, and such aspects as naturalness and adequacy or completeness.

And the most important which is often missed by amateur artists and photographers are: specific subject, theme, and message.

Suggestion: Describe each photo using as criteria the elements of art as mentioned.

Questions to answer:

1. After studying these photos, what are the characteristics of Baroque architecture as compared to Gothic architecture? What are the commonalities of Baroque churches in the Philippines and in Renaissance Europe?

2. How would you relate Baroque architecture with Baroque music as in Four Seasons by Antonio Vivaldi? How about Gothic architecture with the music of Chopin and Mozart?

3. Describe Baroque and Gothic arts in our present era of Postmodernism.

NOTE: These photos were taken by the author on April 26, 2014. They were minimally edited using the Adobe Photoshop.

Morong is a third class municipality in the province of Bataan, Philippines. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 26,171 people. It is home to the Subic Bay International Airport, the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, and the former Philippine Refugee Processing Center. Morong was formerly known as Moron.
The municipality is accessible via the Bataan Provincial Expressway, off Exit 65. (Wikipedia)

The mullet is called in the Ilocos and Cagayan regions where it is endemic in three names according to size:

sisiao when juvenile,
purong when mature, and
ludong when it reaches a size of two kilos or more, and migrates to the sea to spawn.

Ludong is perhaps the most elusive local species, as it migrates to sea to spawn and surreptitiously returns sometime from October to November. No wonder it is also the most expensive fish in the country.

Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature School on Blog

Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly C Tenorio
738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday

The mullet in the photos is classified under the category of purong, with three to four pieces to a kilo. The fish is cooked into paksiw, spiced with onions, tomato, ginger, and green pepper. The fish is cleaned, removing its silvery thick scale, gills and entrails, and cooked in a claypot lined with banana leaves. under low fire. Another way of cooking mullet is sinigang, using the same ingredient, with a lot of broth (sabaw). Mullet is perhaps the tastiest fish in the world.

The Ludong or Lobed river mullet is a freshwater mullet endemic to Cagayan River and its tributaries and watershed of the Cagayan Valley and the Santa-Abra River Systems of Ilocos Sur and Abra provinces. It is also found in the Celebes, New Caledonia, New Hebrides and Fiji.

Ludong is herbivorous, eating only filamentous algae. Ludong commands a lucrative price of P5,000 a kilo and up, making it the most expensive fish in the country. It is highly seasonal and difficult to catch being catadromous in nature, that is, it migrates to the ocean to breed. It swims to salt water to spawn from October to December and returns to upstream ponds after. It undergoes upstream migration during December, January, and February, and this coincides with the “ipon-run phenomenon" wherein different species of fish fry also undergo upstream migration. After the ludong had undergone downstream migration, it can be caught in Cagayan River and tributaries. (BFAR)

The mullet is now a threatened species due to overfishing. Annual catch is fast declining, so with the size of the fish. To protect the species, particularly the highly prized spawing ludong, BFAR issued Fisheries Administrative Order (FAO) No. 31 aimed at conserving the banak or ludong in Northern Luzon.

Specifically, FAO 31 prohibits the capture, purchase, sale, preparation, and serving of ludong for private or public consumption during its seasonal migration (October to January). It also prohibits the use of tabukol (a cast net of large meshes), tabak (small drag seine for river fishing) or pateng (cylindrical fish pot for catching mullet) in the Cagayan River and its tributaries and in the Santa-Abra River System during these months.

I used to fish mullet in my hometown, along the historic Bantaoay River, (battle site of the Basi Wine Revolt of 1807 in San Vicente, Ilocos Sur).

Because the fish is strictly herbivore and feeding on filamentous green algae, we kids in our time would gather the fresh alga and slightly roast it on charcoal to make it aromatic, then skillfully wind it as bait around a tiny fishhook. With a long bamboo pole we would sit quietly and motionless on the riverbank, almost hiding from the fish view.

To know if the fish was biting, we had a floater made of twig as indicator and at the same time depth regulator. The fish nibbles our bait at first, and when the floater submerges we know the fish had taken a bite. Ureka! It's the purong! It's a beautiful fish sparkling in the sunlight as it is hauled out of the water splashing.

A whole day fishing would yield up to a dozen for each fisher, that is, if we were lucky and the fish were aggressively biting. That would be a good two kilos in all. At other times a catch of two or three is fair enough. And what a picnic on the bank of the river! There was no better way to enjoy boyhood, reminiscent of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, the principal boy actors in Mark Twain novels.

To this date I have not known of any similar way to lure the mullet with roasted alga. We learned of the technique from the old folks, who would gladly share their knowledge and skills and its benefits as well. The test of technology (if you call it that way then), is its functionality and fulfillment, and if if I may add, its contribution to us kids becoming grownups.

When I became a university professor at the graduate school, I came across a masteral thesis on raising mullet in captivity. The lady candidate monitored the growth rate of mullets grown in fishpond, if it is feasible. Her data was not convincing. The panel of examiners in which I was a member was about to turn down the results, which means, it is not feasible to grow mullet in fishponds like, say the bangos or milkfish.

On closer look at her graphical presentation, I saw a general trend, though incipient, that the fish had not reached maturity. Which means that they were still growing given a month or two extension - and they would reach marketable size. Indeed mullet can be cultured.

But I would rather have the mullet I caught many years ago on the bank of Bantaoay river with a fishing pole and a bait of the only kind I know in the whole world, the bait that caught the biggest fish ever - LIFE! ~

Here are 14 styles of management observed in various organizations: governmental (GO), non-governmental (NGO), business (BO), community and civic organizations (CCO), condensed into illustrations for purposes of instruction, from the book of the late Dr. Ernesto Franco, Pinoy Management. Dr Franco was my professor in college and for some time we worked together in a Foundation advocating environmental protection and functional literacy.

There are no clear cut boundaries between and among these styles (other styles notwithstanding), but there is a trend or inclination a manager is likely to adhere, or drawn into. Sometimes two or more styles characterize a manager's way of running his organization, and these may vary according to the needs of the times.

This articles may serve as self-evaluation using two methods: The Likert scale of 4 (1 never, 2 seldom, 3 occasional, 4 often, 5 very often); and the other is simply to check those that may apply to person as manager.

Living with Nature School on Blog

Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly C Tenorio
738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday

Take a break. Here is a matrix of comparison between Western
and Pinoy management.

Here is the ideal management style applying Filipino values of ugnayan (reconciliation), bayanihan (cooperation) and damayan (compassion)

The result of this self-evaluation is important in individual effort for self improvement, likewise, in improving organizational efficiency.

Dr Abe V Rotor

Entrance to UPLB Los Baños Laguna

What is Development Communication?

Development Communication is recognizing the power of communication as a catalyst for social development. it is also the utilization of existent communication tools and applicable theories for result-driven strategies for the advancement of society.
Development Communication is a type of marketing and public opinion research that is used specifically to develop effective communication or as the use of communication to promote social development.
Purposive communication intended for a specific target audience that allows for the translation of information into action resulting in a higher quality of life.
The improvement of a community using information and technology and the community's ability to maintain the created ideal state without compromising its environment and resources.
It is the voluntary involvement of a group of people in a development activity with full knowledge of its purpose that will allow them to grow individually and as a community.
The process of eliciting positive change (social, political, economic, moral, environmental, etc) through an effective exchange of pertinent information in order to induce people to action.
Development communication extends to include: information dissemination on developmental schemes/projects, communication for eliciting positive change, interactivity, feedback on developmental issues, feedback/reverse communication for eliciting change. On development side, sustainability issues need to be given proper importance vis-a-vis economic development.
The practice of systematically applying the processes, strategies, and principles of communication to bring about positive social change.

The term "Development Communication" was first coined in 1972 by Nora C. Quebral, who defines the field as "the art and science of human communication linked to a society's planned transformation from a state of poverty to one of dynamic socio-economic growth that makes for greater equity and the larger unfolding of individual potential."

Some approaches include:
• information dissemination and education,
• behavior change,
• social marketing,
• social mobilization,
• media advocacy,
• communication for social change, and
• participatory development communication.

Different schools of development communication have arisen in different places.

1. The "Bretton Woods school of development communication" arose with the economic strategies outlined in the Marshall Plan after WW2, and the establishment of the Bretton Woods system and of the WB and IMF in 1944. Due to his pioneering influence in the field, Everett Rogers has often been termed the "father of development communication."
----------------------------------
Originally, the paradigm involved production and planting of development in indigenous and uncivilized societies. This western approach to development communication was criticized early on, especially by Latin American researchers because it tended to locate the problem in the underdeveloped nation rather than its unequal relations with powerful economies. There was also an assumption that Western models of industrial capitalism are appropriate for all parts of the world. Many projects for development communication failed to address the real underlying problems in poor countries such as lack of access to land, agricultural credits and fair market prices.
---------------------------------------

The world bank currently defines development communication as the "integration of strategic communication in development projects" based on a clear understanding of indigenous realities. Institutions associated with the Bretton Woods school include:

• UNESCO
• United Nations (FAO),
• the Rockefeller Foundation,
• the Dept of International Development of the United Kingdom, and
• the Ford Foundation.

2. Latin America
The Latin American School of Development traces its history back further than the Bretton Woods school, emerging in the 1940s with the efforts of Colombia's Radio Sutatenza and Bolivia's Radios Minera. These stations were the first to use participatory and educational rural radio approaches to empowering the marginalized. In effect, they have since served as the earliest models for participatory broadcasting efforts around the world.

3. India
The history of organized development communication in India can be traced to rural radio broadcasts in the 1940s. As is logical, the broadcasts used indigenous languages such as Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati and Kannada.

Independent India's earliest organized experiments in development communication started with Community Development projects initiated by the union government in 1950's.
Radio played an equally important role in reaching messages to the masses. Universities and other educational institutions - especially the agricultural universities, through their extension networks - and international organizations under the UN umbrella carried the dev-comm experiments further.

4. Africa
The African school of development communication sprang from the continent's post-colonial and communist movements in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Development communication in Anglophone Africa saw the use of Radio and theatre for community education, adult literacy, health and agricultural education.

5. University of the Philippines Los Baños
The systematic study and practice of Development Communication in the Philippines began in the 1970s with the pioneering work of Nora C Quebral who, in 1972 became the first to come up with the term "Development Communication." In at least some circles within the field, it is Quebral who is recognized as the "Mother" of Development Communication.

Aspects of development communication which the CDC has extensively explored include Development Broadcasting and Telecommunications, Development Journalism, Educational Communication, Science Communication, Strategic Communication, and Health Communication.

6. Cybernetics approach
Another area of exploration for the CDC at UPLB is the aspect of development communication relating to the information sciences, the decision sciences, and the field of knowledge management. In 1993, as part of the then Institute of Development Communication’s Faculty papers series, Alexander Flor wrote a paper on environmental communication that, among other things, proposed a definition of Development Communication expanded from the perspective of cybernatics and general systems theory:

If information counters entropy and societal breakdown is a type of entropy, then there must be a specific type of information that counters societal entropy. The exchange of such information – be it at the individual, group, or societal level – is called development communication.

7. The Participatory Development Communication school
Focusing the involvement of the community in development efforts, the evolution of the Participatory Development Communication School involved collaboration between First World and Third World development communication organizations.

References
1.Quebral, Nora C. (1973/72). "What Do We Mean by ‘Development Communication’". International Development Review 15 (2): 25–28.

2. Quebral, Nora (23 November 2001). "Development Communication in a Borderless World". Paper presented at the national conference-workshop on the undergraduate development communication curriculum, "New Dimensions, Bold Decisions". Continuing Education Center, UP Los Baños: Department of Science Communication, College of Development Communication, University of the Philippines Los Baños. pp. 15–28.

3.Manyoso. Linje (March 2006). "Manifesto for Development Communication: Nora C. Quebral and the Los Baños School of Development Communication". Asian Journal of Communication 16 (1): 79–99. doi:10.1080/01292980500467632

4.Avrind Singhal, Everett M. Rogers (1999). Entertainment-education: A Communication Strategy for Social Change , Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. ISBN 0805833501.

5.Flor, Alexander (1993) (Monograph). Upstream and Downstream Interventions in Environmental Communication. Institute of Development Communication.

6.Thussu, Daya Kishan 2000). International Communication: Continuity and Change. London: Arnold. ~

Dr Abe V Rotor
Living with Nature - School on Blog.
Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-n-Air)
This is our 3,069th post. Running total of pageviews worldwide is 815, 748. Welcome!

Lesson: Naturalism. Let's not just rely on our inventions, such as the barometer and seismograph. The behavior of living things can be read and interpreted, including our own feelings. Unusual observations and occurrences tell us to prepare for eventualities. Let us hone our eighth sense - naturalism.

Mosquitoes become agressive before a rain; they need blood before laying eggs in stagnant water left by the rain.

These aquarium fish (pako) at home in QC were restless before the 9.0 earthquake that struck Japan on March 11 this year.

1. Drought – Occurs in summer; landscape scorched; dry river beds and ponds; brush fires occurs; lake water recedes; crack on earth, especially areas under water in monsoon; worst scenario - flowering of bamboo usually during El Nino, a phenomenon that happens every 7 to 10 years.

2. Earthquake – Farm animals restless; horses kick and neigh; pigs snort; fowls abandon usual roost; turkey cackle; cattle seek exit from corral; dogs howl; and the like. Wild animals abandon abode – snakes come out into the open; reptile keep out of the water; elephants defy their master’s command; birds abandon nest, other emigrate.

Misty crown and ring around the moon could mean bad weather ahead

3. Typhoon – Doldrums-like calm; uneasiness to both humans and animals as barometer reading drops which means atmospheric pressure goes down; arthritis and hypertension symptoms are felt by sensitive persons. As typhoon approaches, sea becomes rough; sky overcast; clouds move fast to one direction; gusts of cold and warm wind, thunderstorms.

4. Mad dog – Its tail is tucked underneath; animal restless biting at anything within its reach; froth coming from its mouth; stealthily moves about without any apparent direction; dreads the presence of water (hydrophobia); usually occurs during hot days particularly in summer. Be keen; keep distance; notify others of danger; get help.

5. Influenza – Precipitated by alternate cold and hot weather, thunderstorms, abrupt change in season. Influenza season is usually at the onset of amihan as the habagat comes to an end. Practical signs: people coughing in church and other gatherings; sale of cold tablets and antibiotics is up; hospitals full. Epidemic starts in the family, neighborhood, local community; also, in schools, malls and markets, and may spread to cover a city or district or province. Modern transportation has made spread of flu easier and wider.

6. Pristine Environment – Abundance of lichens on trunks and branches of trees, rocks, and soil. There are three types: crustose (crust), foliose (leaf-like) and fruticose )fruiting type). They are biological indicators of clean air. The untimate test is the abundance of the fruticose type.

7. Inclement Weather – Halo around moon; gray and red sunset; a storm may be coming depending upon the intensity of these signs.

8. Rain - Dragonflies hovering; aggressive biting of mosquitoes; ants move to another place carrying their young and provisions. The latter predicts heavy continuous rainfall or siyam-siyam or nep-nep. Herons on the move heralds the monsoon.

When field crickets (Acheta bimaculata) are noisy, it's still summertime. Crickets are "watchdogs" in Chinese homes. They stop fiddling at the sligthest sound of an intruder.

9. Monsoon – Frogs croak; insects (termite, ants) swarm; lightning and thunder get frequent; first heavy rain in May vegetates the landscape, thus turning from brown to green. It comes early or late, but usually in later part of May. Global warming has brought unpredictable signs indicating that our climate is changing.

10. Ripening of Fruits – Generally from green to yellow to orange (banana, orange, apple, etc. Determined by smell: guava, jackfruit, durian, melon, etc); shiny rind (caimito, siniguelas). Dull skin (chico), enlarged ridges and furrows (atis, guayabano, anonas)

Apply Naturalism in the following: (For research and discussion)

1. Sweetness/sourness of fruit
2. Maturity and succulence of vegetables (okra, cucumber)
3. Tenderness of nut (buko, macapuno)
4. Sweetness and maturity of fruit (watermelon)
5. Time to harvest singkamas, onions, garlic, sugarbeet
6. Presence of jellyfish
7. Red tide signs
8. Coming flood (earthworm)
9. Time to harvest palay, corn, wheat.
10. Slippery walkway (presence of algae and scum, seldom used)
11. Depth of water (by color, sound of oar, current, clarity)
12. Cloud reading of weather(nimbus for rain, cirrus for fine weather)
13. Glassy eyes (deep feelings like hatred, or “wala sa sarili”)
14. Wrinkles at the corner of eyes (happy disposition)
15. Furrows on forehead (problematic)
16. Rough hand (worker, also athlete)
17. Brilliant and attentive eyes (intelligence)
18. Clumsiness, strummer (nervous, uncertain)
19. Heavy feet (angry, lazy)
20. Tight jaw (angry, restlessly active)

Research and Open Forum

1. How reliable is “gut feel”
2. How about ESP?
3. What is “aura?” How does it apply to relationships?
4. What is Biological Clock? Name how it affects your life.
5. Life starts at 40 – how do you interpret this?
6. What are prophets to you? Are there people who can see the future? Do you believe in Nostrodamus?

7. Are dreams hidden motives, indirect messages, prophesies?
8. How superstitious are you? Do you practice superstition?
9. Do you think you were once living on earth in another being or living thing? Do you believe re-incarnation?
10. How fatalistic are you – you are predestined even before you were born.

Living with Nature, AVR
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mad dog – Its tail is tucked underneath; animal is restless biting at anything within its reach; froth coming from its mouth; stealthily moves about without any apparent direction; dreads the presence of water (hydrophobia); usually occurs during hot days particularly in summer. Be keen; keep distance; notify others of danger; get help.
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dogs warn before they attack. This dog at home (Kulit) warns intruders with flashy eyes. Slowly withdraw but don't show you're afraid by looking straight into the dog's eyes. On the street don't turn your back and run. The dog will run after you - and it could be the whole pack. Tell this to your children.

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature School on Blog

Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid with Ms Melly C Tenorio
738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday

It's all skin, its owner makes the loudest and longest love
song among trees - the male cicada (kuliglig). Take note of the lichens growing on the trunk of an ilang-ilang tree. They belong mainly to the foliose type. The thick dark green growth on the upper part is moss, a bryophyte. Bryophytes are the simplest member of the plant kingdom. They are indicators of good climate: abundance of rainfall and high relative humidity.

The fact is, lichens play a symbiotic role with the host tree, a relationship whereby the lichens gain foothold that enable them to reach out for the sun and to occupy space with least competition with other organisms. One the other hand, the tree is protected from pest and effects of environmental change like drought.

The lichen in itself is an interesting specimen. A lichen is actually a group of two distinct genera of different kingdoms in the phylogeny of living organisms - alga (Kingdom Protista) and fungus (Kingdom Mycophyta) or in other cases bluegreen (Cyanophyta, Kingdom Monera) - living inseparably, a relationship developed through the long and uncertain process of evolution.

Instead of each member developing its own adaptation, the two joined forces so to speak, in order for both to survive. It is a perfect example of evolution through
cooperation, instead of competition as in most cases of evolutionary success.

The alga being photosynthetic manufactures food which it shares with the fungus. The fungus on the other hand, being saprophytic, converts organic matter back into elemental forms which the alga again uses. Such a relationship consists of an enduring cycle - season in season out, year in year out, covering a span of hundreds if not a thousand years. Such a feat is among the wonders of the living world. If the
Redwood or Sequioa is the longest living individual which is estimated to be up to three thousands years, the lichen is the longest living union (mutualism).

The key to such success through mutualism lies not only in highly efficient nutrient exchange, but gas exchange principally CO2 and O2, as well. More so, for their ability to transform rocks into living mass which they share with other living things in their own time and in the future. They are the precursors of succession in the living world. Which points out to another evolutionary tool - benevolence - the sharing of resources albeit destructive competition.

More than this general knowledge there is very little we know about lichens. One thing ecologists are learning about lichens is the fact that they are a natural indicator, a sort of barometer, of environmental conditions. They thrive best where the air is clean, temperature change is moderate, so with relative humidity, the vegetative cover undisturbed, the rivers and lakes full, etc. And that lichens thrive best where man's intervention is least - if ever there is.

Yet lichens are found in the most difficult areas like the Arctic and desert, on rock cliffs, even dilapidated and abandoned structures. Their resistance as well as vulnerability to changing environment has led scientists to use the lichen as a biological indicator.

It leads us to the simple philosophy of a old man living near the summit of Mt Pulag in Benguet, reminiscent of the American philosopher Henry David Thoreau who lived by a pond (Walden Pond) deep in a woodland far away from town.

Here on the country's second highest mountain, 'Tang Ben, when asked on how Nature is kept pristine - even without first explaining to him the scientific basis of diversity and balance - simply quipped with confidence and sparkle in his eyes.

"Just leave Nature alone."

---------------------------------------
Lichens: Enduring symbiosis of algae and fungi living as one complex organism

Lichens are indicators of clean air, in the order of increasing pristine condition:
crustose, foliose, fruiticose.

How do you rate the place you are living in?

Crustose lichen with juvenile fruticose lichen (branching)

Foliose lichen (leaf-like)

Young colony of squamous-foliose type of lichen on the trunk on acacia. Note its spreading and coalescing growth that will soon carpet a large area. Lichen is a closely knit association of algae and fungi in a state of symbiosis.

Fruticose lichen (right) hangs on tree trunk. In spite of its epiphytic nature it does not harm its host because it is not parasitic. It shares however with the water and nutrients collected by the tree from rain and dust, as well as from the gradual wearing out of the bark tissues.

These are general types of lichens in increasing morphological complexity, the crustose being the simplest and the fruticose the most complex, which is often mistaken as moss and liverwort and even plant. Although governed by niches or boundaries, lichens of two kinds, or intermediate types as proposed by recent studies, are observed to be growing together in a state of dynamic balance heretofore barely understood. ~
--------------------------------------------------------
It has been estimated that 6% of the Earth's land surface is covered by lichen. Lichens are informally classified by growth form into:

· crustose (paint-like, flat), e.g., Caloplaca flavescens
· filamentous (hair-like), e.g., Ephebe lanata
· foliose (leafy), e.g., Hypogymnia physodes
· fruticose (branched), e.g., Cladonia evansii, C. subtenuis, and Usnea australis
· leprose (powdery), e.g., Lepraria incana
· squamulose (consisting of small scale-like structures, lacking a lower cortex),

e.g., Normandina pulchella
· gelatinous lichens, in which the cyanobacteria produce a polysaccharide that absorbs

and retains water.

Part 2: Bryophytes, Bridge of Evolution in the Plant Kingdom.
“Ah, but what good is rock when it loses the essence on which life rises?” - avr

Liverworts clinging on the lighted face of a rock. Like higher plant, they need sunlight to manufacture food by means of photosynthesis. The lower photo is stressed by limited moisture as summer approaches.

Mosses make a carpet of soil which is actually the weathered surface of the rock. Bryophytes produce acidic substances that break down compounds of calcium, phosphates and other materials. It is this soil layer that invites higher plants such as isang dakot na bigas at the left.

Luxuriant growth of green alga on a tree trunk which is being invaded by moss. Soon the colony will be dominated and subsequently replaced by the latter. Succession in the plant kingdom is common among simple plants, more so among higher plants in forests, swamps, grasslands, and all ecosystems.

Mature foliose type of lichen, named after its leaf-like structure, grows on the trunk of pine tree in Benguet. This is the intermediate type of lichen, crustose being the simplest, and fruticose the most advanced.

Mature colony of liverwort wear down as summer approaches, drying up in the process. But come next rainfall, a new colony develops in its place. Dried liverworts and mosses are gathered as substrate for growing seedlings and orchids.

Imagine a lowly moss as a tree, and a liverwort as a large green carpet shaped like a liver. A hornwort has pinnacles in Gothic style. It is when you are small that you see small things big, and big things present themselves as giants.

Bryophytes are the dwarfs of the plant kingdom, while the true or vascular plants are the giants. Mosses and liverworts are the early forms of plants, which botanists believe to have stopped evolving. What they were millions of years ago are what they appear today.

Observe a piece of rock covered with bryophytes. Under the magnifying lens you are looking at a miniature forest. It is thick and every space is taken by structures that look like stalks, leaves and other parts. On closer look these are not true organs because they lack vascular tissues, which in higher plants are for conduction of water and food and in providing support to the plant.

Since bryophytes are short-lived and seasonal, the soil deposit becomes thicker in each generation, while the borders extend to new frontiers. Soon whole trunks of tree, walls and rocks become covered like green carpet. As the bryophyte community reaches its peak and climax, more and more organisms become dependent on it. Insects frequent the place as a hunting ground for their prey.

Feel the softness of a carpet of mosses on the wall or rock. It is thick and spongy. Now this is important because when it rains the carpet absorbs and stores water. In the night and in the morning dew precipitates and settles down making the surroundings cool.

Months, years pass. New plants rise out in the middle of the carpet. You are witnessing plant invasion. Soon the bryophytes will lose their dominance to ferns, and ferns to tracheophytes - annuals, biennials and trees. The bryophytes have done their part.

“What good is rock when it loses the essence from which life rises?”

Ask the algae, the lichen, the moss and the liverwort. ~

The Greater Lagro Gazette

(For Vol. 7 No. 2, July to August 2014)

Special Report: Living with Nature

Dr Abe V Rotor

Ecologists are learning from lichens and mosses as natural indicators, a sort of barometer, of environmental conditions. They thrive best where the air is clean; temperature change is moderate, so with relative humidity, the vegetative cover undisturbed, the rivers and lakes full. From various observations and scientific researches, it is believed that lichens and mosses and their kind thrive best where man's intervention is least – or none at all.

Left: Lichens and mosses grow on the trunk of an ilang-ilang tree around a cast skin (exoskeleton) of cicada (kuliglig) which has just emerged. Right: A lichen-bryophyte complex found on cycad. Its species composition is unknown. It is a good subject of study. All these organisms are biological indicators of a good environment in Greater Lagro. They are Nature’s barometer of good climate and clean air.

The Lichens – Earliest and longest known model of symbiosis

A lichen is a group of two distinct genera of different kingdoms in the phylogeny of living organisms - alga (Kingdom Protista) and fungus (Kingdom Mycophyta) or in other cases bluegreen(Cyanophyta, Kingdom Monera) - living inseparably, a relationship developed through millions of years of evolution.

The key to such success through mutualism lies not only in highly efficient nutrient exchange, but gas exchange principally CO2 and O2, as well, more so, for their ability to transform rocks into living mass which they share with other living things in their own time and in the future. They are the precursors of succession in the living world. Which points out to another evolutionary tool - benevolence - the sharing of resources albeit destructive competition.

Yet lichens are found in the most difficult areas like the Arctic and desert, on rock cliffs, even dilapidated and abandoned structures. Their resistance as well as vulnerability to changing environment has led scientists to use the lichen not only as environmental indicator, but as pioneer organisms of a young ecosystem.

Leave Nature Alone
There is a simple old man living a hermit’s life close to the summit of Mt Pulag in Benguet. It is reminiscent of the American philosopher Henry David Thoreau who lived by a pond (Walden Pond) deep in a woodland far away from town. Here on the country's second highest mountain, 'Tang Ben, when asked on how Nature is kept pristine, simply quipped with confidence and sparkle in his eyes. "Just leave Nature alone." ~

---------------------------------------
Lichens are indicators of clean air, in the order of increasing pristine condition:
crustose, foliose, fruiticose. How do you rate the place you are living in?

--------------------------------------------------------
It has been estimated that 6% of the Earth's land surface is covered by lichen. Lichens are informally classified by growth form into:

· crustose (paint-like, flat), e.g., Caloplaca flavescens
· filamentous (hair-like), e.g., Ephebe lanata
· foliose (leafy), e.g., Hypogymnia physodes
· fruticose (branched), e.g., Cladonia evansii, C. subtenuis, and Usnea australis
· leprose (powdery), e.g., Lepraria incana
· squamulose (consisting of small scale-like structures, lacking a lower cortex),

e.g., Normandina pulchella
· gelatinous lichens, in which the cyanobacteria produce a polysaccharide that absorbs and retains water.
-----------------------------------------------------------

Bryophytes, Bridge of Evolution in the Plant Kingdom.
“Ah, but what good is a rock when it loses the essence on which life arises?” avr

Months, years pass. New plants rise out in the middle of the carpet. You are witnessing plant invasion. Soon the bryophytes will lose their dominance to ferns, and ferns to tracheophytes - annuals, biennials and trees. This is how an ecosystem is made together with its biodiversity. This is how the La Mesa reservoir complex was made through thousands of years – a part of which is Lagro, the community in which we live today.

“What good is rock when it loses the essence from which life rises?” Ask the lichen and the moss, et al. ~

Luxuriant growth of green alga and moss on a tree trunk. Close-up of dewdrops clinging on moss.

Fruticose lichen hangs on tree trunk. In spite of its epiphytic nature it does not harm its host because it is not parasitic. It shares however with the water and nutrients collected by the tree from rain and dust, as well as from the gradual wearing of the bark tissues.

Crustose lichen with juvenile fruticose lichen (branching). Young colony of squamous-foliose type of lichen on the trunk of acacia. Note the spreading and coalescing growth that will soon carpet a large area.

phosphates and other materials. Through time with the process continuously repeated, soil builds up to the advantage of invading plants. A prototype ecosystem arises with the lichens and bryophytes taking the back seat. Biologist, Dr Anselmo S Cabigan examines lichens and brophytes growing on trees.

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature School on Blog

Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio

738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class Monday to Friday

Painting and Verse by Abe V Rotor

Midas touches all – from the grains to the sun sinking,
And the grains become beads of jewels, heavy, gleaming,
In October amihan where children with kites meet,
Bringing all life forms together in retreat.

Music - the rustling of the grains and the singing
Of the harvesters and flocks of maya birds flying,
While haystacks, like giant mushrooms, grow big and tall,
Living symbols of the Good Life for all.

Of all the seasons, Amihan creates the greatest view,
When the colors of the rainbow come sweetly low.

Vivaldi, Rembrandt and Amorsolo – they were touched-
In their hearts, their lives, and their art. ~

The best thing we kids on the farm look up to, is the tail end of the habagat season, and the arrival of the amihan season when the water in rice fields recedes into small ponds and pockets of pools. These are waterholes like oases in the desert. There is no place the trapped fish can go. With a bucket or can to empty the remaining water we then picked up the these trapped creatures - catfish (hito) snakehead (dalag) gurami, martiniko, tilapia, crayfish (ulang), shrimps, bagsang, kuhol and suso. And we would take them home to the delight of our old folks. Meantime we had our kites ready on the field among harvesters and the haystacks.

Paintings and Story by Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature School on Blog

Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio

738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class Monday to Friday

Amihan - kite flying season

Family picnic by a running stream

When I was a child I anticipated most of all the arrival of the first strong rain of May. It comes as a downpour, and we boys would scoop the falling rain and rub our navel to prevent "kabag," so says our old folks. We would rush out to the road and field shouting for joy in the deafening sound of rain, wearing the barest - or none at all. Actually the thunderstorm is brief and we run back home to take anything hot - soup, rice coffee or chocolate.

Acid rain was unheard of then. There was no need to take a shower. Old folks would tell us while rubbing our body dry, that the first rain tempers the body and makes us grow faster.

The next best thing we kids on the farm monitor is the tail end of the habagat season when the water in rice fields recedes into small ponds and pockets of pools. These are waterholes like oases in the desert. There is no place the trapped fish can go. With a bucket or can to empty the remaining water we then picked up the these trapped creatures - catfish (hito) snakehead (dalag) gurami, martiniko, tilapia, crayfish (ulang), shrimps, bagsang, kuhol and suso. And we would take them home to the delight of our old folks.

Harvestime

By October the Amihan season starts. It's the cold Siberian wind that blows in all the way from the north sweeping the ripening rice field. How willing we kids were in lending a hand to the rice harvesters. But really we had another agenda - kite flying! We would whistle while we work, and our old folks knew we were calling for the wind to come. All of a sudden we would abandon work. There were no such thing as unfair labor practices and child labor laws then. Things would come and go so naturally, a frown turns to smile. Because the harvesters were once kite-flying boys.

Summer is when the spring is at its clearest, gently flowing down the river to the estuary where fish from the sea and river meet. Fishing is the name of the game here - the biggest, the most catch, the rarest kind. Along Bantaoay river we caught mullet (banak or purong Ilk), and sidingan (single spotted fish) and the strong baraongan. Summer and fiesta are inseparable. Our gang of kids in the neighborhood woulkd "invade" town after town. We participated in slingshot target, palo sebo (climbing greased pole), tug-of-war, break the pot, sack race, sipa, breaking the egg, and a host of indigenous games. It was summer Olympics of sort, rural style.

When you are a child time flies, and before you know it summer is over. Our old folk would then prepare us for the next schoolyear. They often wonder how come we had outgrown our clothes and shoes in so short a time. And where have all the pen and paper and books gone?

Catching fish on the terraces

One time I came across an article, What is the Happiest Season of Life? I treasure this article because it talks beyond the level experience. It is philosophy - philosophy of man - a subject I took up in the graduate school under Dr Florentino H Hornedo, a well known social scientist and writer. Here is an excerpt.

A wise old man, who had lived buoyantly through four score years, was asked, “Which is the happiest season of life?” He replied thoughtfully.

“When spring comes, and in the soft air the buds are breaking on the trees, and they are covered with blossoms. I think, how beautiful is Spring!

And when the summer comes, and covers the trees and bushes with heavy foliage, and singing birds mingle with branches, I think, how beautiful is Summer!

When autumn loads them with golden fruit, and their leaves bear the gorgeous tint of frost, I think, how beautiful is Autumn!

And when it is sore winter, and there is neither foliage nor fruit, then when I look up through the leafless branches and see, as I can see in no other season, the shining stars of heaven, I think, how beautiful is the Winter of life!

Now that I am old I look back at those childhood years. Those were beautiful, nostalgic years. They are still part of me. I make kite for my youngest son, fish with my eldest, play music with Anna, cook with Cecille and the whole family. And I write about the old folks that taught me all these.

And when the leaves of the talisay tree turn to yellow, then to orange and purple, I know the Amihan has arrived. The Siberian wind blows, and one by one the leaves fall, revealing one or two kites flying in the sky. How beautiful are the seasons coming one after the other making a wholesome Life Cycle.

x x x

"There is no way to escape pesky creatures. Conflict arises where their populations overrun our crops, spoil or stored products, and threaten our health and welfare. We have set thresholds of co-existence. As long as they do not cross this line, I think it is all right to be living with them, to ponder at the beauty of their wings, the fire they carry, the song they make, the magnitude of numbers, or simply to marvel at the mystery of their existence." avr

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature School on Blog

Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio

738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class Monday to Friday

It is a common practice to remove unsightly cobwebs. But come to think of it. We are destroying natural insect traps built by spiders. Inside warehouses spiders prey on weevils and moths that destroy grains and other commodities.

Ducks feed on golden kuhol which became a major pest of rice. They also feed on insects and weeds for which they are important as biological agents in controlling pests.

So with mosquitoes and flies at some corners of the house. No radar system or other echolocation instruments can detect the fine web, which makes this indigenous trapping devise.

On plants stalk the preying mantis that snatches its victim with one deadly grasp. The spotted ladybug overruns a colony of aphids and has its fill, unless the red ants guarding the aphids come to the rescue. A nest of hantik up in the tree has an army by the thousands. They swarm on intruders and large preys such as caterpillars.

Under the microscope one could examine the unsuspecting Trichogramma. Mass culture and dispersal of this parasite wasp has benefited sugar and corn planters since its discovery in the fifties.

Bacillus thuringiensis or Bt, has become the most popular entomophagous bacterium against Lepidopterous pest which include rice stem borers and corn borers. Applied as inoculums, Bt can cause widespread epidemic on these pests on the field.

Practical Pest Control at Home

Here are pest control techniques you can adopt at home.

1. To control furniture weevil and moths destroying the felt and the wood of the piano, place a dozen well dried black pepper (do not crush) in the piano chamber near the pedals. Paminta is a good repellant and has a pleasant smell.

2. Coconut trees whose shoots are being destroyed by rhinoceros beetle (Oryctis rhinoceros) can be saved with ordinary sand. If the trees are low, sprinkle sand into the leaf axils. Sand contains silica that penetrates the conjunctiva, the soft part of the body where hard chitinous plates are joined.

3. Bean weevil destroying stored beans, especially mungo, can be control by mixing a little ash of rice hull (ipa’) with the same principle as in rhinoceros beetle.

4. To get rid of nematodes in the soil, incorporate chopped or ground exoskeleton (skin) of shrimps into the soil, preferably mixing it with compost. Chitinase is formed which dissolves the cover of the egg and the body of the organism. Use poultry dropping to reduce nematode population.

5. To control cucurbit fruit fly, cover the newly formed fruits of ampalaya and cucumber with paper bag. Bagging is also practiced on mango fruits. Use newspaper (1/8 of the broadsheet) or used paper, bond size. Roll the paper, two inches in diameter, insert the young fruit, fold at the top and staple. Bagged fruits are clean, smooth and light green. Export quality mangoes were individually bag on the tree.

6. To discourage goats in nibbling the trunk of trees, paint the base and trunk with manure slurry, preferably their own. To keep termites away from mud-plastered walls, use termite soil (anthill or punso).

7. Raise ducks to eat snail pest (golden kuhol) on the farm. Chicken and birds are natural insect predators.

8. An extra size mosquito net can be made into a mini greenhouse. Here you can raise vegetables without spraying. You can conduct your own experiments such as studying the life cycle of butterflies.

9. There are plants which have repellant properties. Plant them around the garden. Examples are lantana (Lantana camara), chrysanthemum, neem tree, eucalyptus, madre de cacao (Gliricida sepium), garlic, onions, and kinchai.

10. To scare birds that compete for feeds in poultry houses, recycle old balls, plastic containers, styro and the like, by painting them with two large scary eyes, imitating the “eyes” on the wings of butterflies and months. Hang them freely where birds frequent the area. To scare off birds in the field, dress up used mannequins. They are more effective than the T-scarecrow. Cassette tapes tied along the field borders produce sound that scare maya and other pests.

Insects as Food

One practical means of insect control is by gathering them to supplement nutrition. Gathering of insects for food is not only confined among primitive societies but is still one of the practical means of controlling insects. Anyone who has tasted camaro’ (sautéed mole cricket) would tell you it is no different from a crustacean. Well, insects and shrimps belong to the same phylum – Arthropoda.

Locust may destroy crops, but in a way bring food to its victims. During a swarm, locust is gathered by the sacks and sold for food and animal feeds. So with gamu-gamu (winged termites) at the onset of the rainy season, which is also the time of emergence of salagubang, another insect delicacy. Other food insects are the grubs of kapok beetle, eggs of hantik, larvae of honeybee and cheese maggots.

When is a pest a pest?

When we see an insect, instinct tells us to kill it. It should not be. A caterpillar is a plant eater, but the beautiful butterfly that emergence from it is harmless. In fact it is an efficient pollinator. Hantik ants make harvesting of fruits very inconvenient because of their bite and sting, but they guard the trees from destructive insects. Houseflies carry germs, but without them the earth would be filled with dead bodies of organisms. They are nature’s chief decomposers working hand in hand with bacteria. Termites may cause a house to fall, but without them the forest would be a litter of fallen trees.

It is natural to see leafhoppers on rice plants, aphids on corn, bugs in the soil, grasshopper on the meadow, borers on twigs, fruit flies on ripening fruits. These organisms live with us under one biosphere. And if the rule is for us to dominate them, for all we know they have been dominating the earth for millions of years, even before mankind was born.

There is no way to escape pesky creatures. Conflict arises where their populations overrun our crops, spoil or stored products, and threaten our health and welfare. We have set thresholds of co-existence. As long as they do not cross this line, I think it is all right to be living with them, to ponder at the beauty of their wings, the fire they carry, the song they make, the magnitude of numbers, or simply to marvel at the mystery of their existence.

Green pond frog and preying mantis are friends of the farmer - they are predators of
pest attacking crops in the field.

Nest of hantik ants, another predator of insect pest. Burning is a practical way of getting rid of insect pest. Burning is however, generally discouraged because it deprives the farm of valuable organic matter, feeds for livestock, and materials for mulching and mushroom culture.

Reference: Living with Nature in Our Times,by AV Rotor, UST Publishing House, Manila.

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature School on Blog

Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio

738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class Monday to Friday

Time brings forth all things to bloom and to ripen. Time is the signature of life, the author of all authors. Time is the greatest asset, the greatest innovator, the greatest healer, the greatest redeemer, yet the greatest loss and final end.

Nothing, but nothing in this world is ours except time. With it we dream, we laugh, we love. Take it from the Ecclesiastes.

"Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, and eternity in an hour."
(William Blake, Auguries of Innocence). Google Ads screensaversky.com
To every thing there is a season, and a time of every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to cast stones, and a time to gather stones together;

A time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.Ecclesiastes iii, 1-8

"Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that's the stuff life is made of."
Benjamin Franklin - Poor Richard's Almanac

"IPM is a sustainable approach to managing pests by combining biological, cultural, physical and chemical tools in a way that minimizes economic, health and environmental risks."

Dr Abe V Rotor

Pillars of Integrated Pest Management

One of the primary missions of IPM is to help growers produce profitable crops using environmentally and economically sound approaches. These IPM tools contribute to a system that produces high-quality, safe, and affordable foods and other agriculturally related products. For many growers, IPM helps balance pest management with profitable crop production and environmental protection. IPM also reaches beyond agriculture to include pest management in landscape and home settings.

Pest management alternatives
IPM incorporates several pest management strategies to maintain crop profitability, minimize pest selection pressures, and minimize environmental impacts. Once a pest exceeds the economic threshold or reaches a threatening level, it is necessary to determine the best way to prevent unacceptable yield losses. Economic thresholds integrate the crop value and management costs with biological information on the relationship between pest injury and yield. The cost, safety, benefits, and risks of employing various management strategies are weighed and evaluated.

Cultural (agronomic practices)

Selecting plant resistant varieties (Example: Growing resistant varieties of rice reduce incidence of tungro; wheat for reducing severity of wheat stem sawfly.)

Crop rotation (Examples: rotation of rice and sweet potato crops reduces infestation of s potato beetle – Cylas formicarius. Levels of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, white mold, are reduced by crop rotation to non-susceptible hosts; common hosts of Sclerotinia in North Dakota are dry beans, sunflowers, soybeans, and canola.)

Cultivation, tillage practices (Example: Cultivating row crops reduces herbicide applications.)

Variation of planting or harvesting dates (Example: Delayed planting of sunflowers until late May or early June reduces sunflower stem weevil and sunflower beetle densities.)

Plant spacing (Example: Narrower row spacing favors development of plant diseases due to environmental conditions within the crop canopy. More moisture on plant surfaces and higher relative humidity favors conditions for infection, such as with white mold in soybeans.)

Fertilization level (Examples: A crop with balanced fertility levels has greater capacity to resist disease organisms and a greater capacity to compete with weeds. Too much nitrogen fertilizer in crucifers like cabbage and cauliflower predispose them to Pythium debaryanum and other kinds of bacterial and fungal diseases. )

Sanitation (Example: Cleaning out storage areas or grain bins helps prevent infestations of stored grain insect pests, like rice weevil – Sitophilus oryza.)

Planting pest-free seed (Example: Planting disease-free seed or using seed treatments with a fungicide will help protect germinating seed and seedlings from seedling blight.)

Planting trap crops (Example: A trap crop consists of a field margin planted to an early maturing sunflower that surrounds the remaining sunflower field area. The margins flower earlier than the remaining field interiors and attract the red sunflower seed weevil first. As a result, the trap crop concentrates the weevils in a smaller area reducing the cost of insecticide and time required for control.)

Mechanical

Cultivation (Example: Clean tillage between field rotations decreases the establishment of new weeds, especially perennials.)

Hand weeding (Example: Removing weeds by hand is only practical for use by the home gardener, organic grower or researcher, although sugar beet growers will often hire labor for hand weeding.)

Exclusion using screens or barriers (Example: Banding trees with Tanglefoot to control cankerworms.)

Trapping, suction devices, collecting machines (Example: Walk-through fly trap removes horn flies from range cattle; apple maggot trap in home orchard.)

Physical

Heat (Example: Burning surface residues, soil pasteurization.)
Cold (Example: Cold storage of potatoes to prevent storage rot.)

Biological

Augmentation of natural enemies (Example: Simple sugar solutions can be used as artificial honeydew to promote aggregation of adult lady beetles in aphid infested crops.)

Introduction of parasites or predators (Example: Releasing biocontrol agents (Aphthona flea beetles) to control noxious weeds (leafy spurge).

Propagation of diseases of pests (Example: Bacterial agents (Bacillus thuringiensis) for natural control of insect pests like Colorado potato beetle or European corn borer.)

Protection of biological agents (Examples: spiders, preying mantis. Raising ducks on ricefield to control golden kuhol – Pomacea caniculata.)

Chemical

Herbicides, Insecticides, Fungicides
Miticides or Acaricides
Nematicides, Mollusicides
Rodenticides, Avicides (maya)
Biological pesticides (Examples, Bacillus thuringiensis bio-insecticide, insect molting inhibitors)
Defoliants (2-4,D Amine and 2-4,d Ester),
Desiccants

Steps of IPM

Scouting or monitoring
The purpose of scouting is to detect the presence, concentration, and type of pests. Scouting involves a regular and methodical procedure to quantify field information needed to make sound pest management decisions. Field observations are used to make immediate IPM decisions as well as record part of the field's history for making rational decisions in the future.

Identification
Properly identifying pests is an important aspect of scouting. Natural enemies that help keep pests in check are also present in fields, so it is important to recognize these friends. For example, certain insects, such as Syrphid flies, may be abundant in a field but do not cause crop damage. Knowledge of specific insects, weeds, or diseases in a field is important for IPM decision-making. Pest levels can vary greatly from one field to another. Each individual field should be scouted thoroughly without bias even though the fields may appear similar.

Pest situation assessment
In the third step, scouts analyze information obtained from scouting and pest identification and determine the need for pest control. One question is whether or not the damage potential is more costly than the control cost. The economic threshold plays an important role in IPM decisions and is defined as when there are enough pests present to warrant treating the crop. Keep in mind that economic thresholds are developed for average conditions. In unusual situations, such as drought stress, thresholds may have to be altered. Furthermore, economic thresholds may not be available for certain pests, so assessment may have to be based on general guidelines about the pest population.

Implementation
Once the management strategy (or strategies) has been selected, it should be employed in a timely manner. Cultivation or using herbicides on weeds, for example, must be done at the proper stages of development of the weed and the crop for greatest impact. IPM integrates several different pest management strategies when feasible.

Evaluation
Did IPM work? Compare the pest activity before and after implementation of IPM strategies. Review what went wrong and what went right. Was the pest properly identified? Was the field sampling unbiased? Was the choice of control based on sound judgment or outside pressure? What changes to the system would make it better?

IPM benefits

New products and innovative methods
New IPM products and methods are developed and extended to producers to maximize yields. Potato growers use a forecasting model to make accurate predictions of early and late blight development for specific potato production areas

Reduced crop loss through improved timing and efficiency of IPM strategies
For farmers this means producing high-quality, affordable products. For society, it means maintaining safe and ecologically sound environments. Calculating growing degree days and determining economic thresholds during field monitoring has resulted in successful prediction, detection and economic control of this pest.

Judicious use of pesticides decreases environmental impacts
As researchers develop environmental friendly ways to manage pests, IPM practitioners have helped farmers reduce unnecessary pesticide use. Minimized use of pesticides has allowed the return of indigenous edible species growing in ricefields like dalag, hito, martiniko, ulang, kuhol and others

Increased partnership
IPM Programs are being incorporated by growers, crop consultants, and industry into crop production systems, and have increased collaboration between private and public stakeholders. Farmers’ Cooperatives and Irrigation Associations are the best local institutions to adopt IPM. This has been shown by the Farmers Associations of Taiwan, communes in China, and Moshav in Israel.

The success of IPM depends on community awareness and action, through media such as the use of posters (left), TV-Radio, Inrternet, magazines and newsletters, and commemorative stamp (Trichogramma wasp for biological control in DPR Korea).

The Greater Lagro Gazette

(For Vol. 7 No. 2, July to August 2014)

Special Report: Living with Nature

Dr Abe V Rotor

Living with Nature School on Blog

Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio

738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class Monday to Friday

Top photo: Country lass poses with living specimens of lichens and mosses growing on ilang-ilang tree. Lower left photo: A closeup of lichens and mosses around a cast skin (exoskeleton) of cicada (kuliglig) which has just emerged. Right: A lichen-bryophyte complex found on cycad. Its species composition is unknown. It is a good subject of study. All these organisms are biological indicators of a good environment in Greater Lagro. They are Nature’s barometer of good climate and clean air.

The Lichens – Earliest and longest known model of symbiosis

A lichen is a group of two distinct genera of different kingdoms in the phylogeny of living organisms - alga (Kingdom Protista) and fungus (Kingdom Mycophyta) or in other cases bluegreen (Cyanophyta, Kingdom Monera) - living inseparably, a relationship developed through millions of years of evolution.

Left, crustose lichen; foliose lichen (leaf-like)

Leave Nature Alone There is a simple old man living a hermit’s life close to the summit of Mt Pulag in Benguet. It is reminiscent of the American philosopher Henry David Thoreau who lived by a pond (Walden Pond) deep in a woodland far away from town. Here on the country's second highest mountain, 'Tang Ben, when asked on how Nature is kept pristine, simply quipped with confidence and sparkle in his eyes. "Just leave Nature alone." ~

---------------------------------------
Lichens are indicators of clean air, in the order of increasing pristine condition: crustose, foliose, fruiticose. How do you rate the place you are living in?

--------------------------------------------------------It has been estimated that 6% of the Earth's land surface is covered by lichen. Lichens are informally classified by growth form into:

· crustose (paint-like, flat), e.g., Caloplaca flavescens
· filamentous (hair-like), e.g., Ephebe lanata
· foliose (leafy), e.g., Hypogymnia physodes
· fruticose (branched), e.g., Cladonia evansii, C. subtenuis, and Usnea australis
· leprose (powdery), e.g., Lepraria incana
· squamulose (consisting of small scale-like structures, lacking a lower cortex),

e.g., Normandina pulchella
· gelatinous lichens, in which the cyanobacteria produce a polysaccharide that absorbs and retains water.-----------------------------------------------------------

Bryophytes, Bridge of Evolution in the Plant Kingdom.

“Ah, but what good is a rock when it loses the essence on which life arises?” avr

Bryophytes are the dwarves of the plant kingdom, while the true or vascular plants are the giants. Mosses and liverworts are the early forms of plants, which botanists believe to have stopped evolving. What they were millions of years ago are what they appear today. They are living fossils.Observe a piece of rock covered with bryophytes. Under the magnifying lens you are looking at a miniature forest. It is thick and every space is taken by structures that look like stalks, leaves and other parts. On closer look these are not true organs because they lack vascular tissues, which in higher plants are for conduction of water and food and in providing support to the plant.

Close-up of moss growing on a tree trunk.

“What good is rock when it loses the essence from which life rises?” Ask the lichen and the moss, et al. ~

Luxuriant growth of moss; close-up of dewdrops clinging on moss.

Two common bryophytes, liverwort (left) and moss in their reproductive stages. Bryophytes make a carpet of soil which is actually a combination of organic matter and minerals from weathered rock surface. Bryophytes produce acidic substances that break down compounds of calcium, phosphates and other materials. Through time with the process continuously repeated, soil builds up to the advantage of invading plants. A prototype ecosystem arises with the lichens and bryophytes taking the back seat. Biologist, Dr Anselmo S Cabigan examines lichens and brophytes growing on trees.

Photo Editing exercise: Practice using Adobe Photoshop. Use one of your best shots of UST Arch of the Centuries. Convert it into sunrise, sunset setting, and black and white, all on one bond. Don't forget caption. This is in addition to the Photo Essay test-assignment. For submission on Thursday, September 18, 2014
Note: There are photo essays in this Blog which serve as model for your work, one of them is Lichens and Mosses ... (preceding article). Others: Bacarra Bell Tower. Quaintness of Living in Virac Catanduanes,
Dr Abe V Rotor*
Living with Nature School on Blog
Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio
738 DZRB AM Band, 8 to 9 evening class, Monday to Friday

Effect of Black & White

Splash of light in two tones.

Effect of bluish and golden tones

Lighting's magic creates various moods,
enigma and secret combined,

weaves a veil beauty is hidden yet seen

through the keyhole of the mind.

* Author is a professor in digital photography and photojournalism.
Model is a coed in Communication Arts, UST Faculty of Arts and Letters

A Night of Music in the Garden

Serve fruits whole and fresh - there's nothing like it.

Self –Administered Test on Viruses (True or False, 25 items)

UST-AB 20 Points in Basic Photography

UST-AB Photography Assignment: the Element of Human Interest

UST-AB Photography: Editing Photos with the Computer - Versatility and Limitations

UST-AB Photography: Editing Photos with the Computer (Morong Bataan Church)

Ludong - the tastiest fish and the most expensive, too.

Pinoy, the Manager. 14 Styles of Management.

Development Communication - Catalyst of Socio-Economic Change

Let us hone our eighth sense - naturalism.

Lichen - Nature's Barometer of Healthy Environment

Lichens and Mosses are Nature's Indicator of a Healthy Environment

It's Harvest Time!

Record the Passing of Seasons in Paintings. Prepare for the coming of the Amihan.

Controlling Pest with Other Organisms

Take time and live well

IPM (Integrated Pest Management)

"IPM is a sustainable approach to managing pests by combining biological, cultural, physical and chemical tools in a way that minimizes economic, health and environmental risks."

Dr Abe V Rotor

Steps of IPM

IPM benefits

Lichens and Mosses are Nature's Indicator of a Healthy Environment

UST-AB Photography: Photo editing with light and color tone. And reminder of your Photo Essay UST Arch of the Centuries.