Notable areas of upland moorland in Britain include the Dark Peak, the Forest of Bowland, the Lake District, the Pennines, Mid Wales, the Southern Uplands of Scotland, the Scottish Highlands and a few very small pockets in western Herefordshire.
In Europe if the heather and other vegetation is left for too long, a large volume of dry and combustible material builds up. This may cause a fire which may burn out a large area. But generally moorland wildlife copes with even major fires and are easily able to recover if such intense burnings are not too frequent.
Moorland (disambiguation)
Moorland could mean:
In geography:
In other fields:
Neotropic
In context of biogeography, Neotropic or Neotropical means one of the world's eight terrestrial ecozones.
This ecozone includes South and Central America, the Mexican lowlands, the Caribbean islands, and southern Florida, because these regions share a large number of plant and animal groups.
It is sometimes used as a synonym for the tropical area of South America, although the ecozone also includes temperate southern South America.
Its fauna and flora are distinct from the Nearctic (which includes most of North America) because of the long separation of the two continents. The formation of the Isthmus of Panama joined the two continents 2 to 3 million years ago.
The Neotropic includes more tropical rainforest than any other ecozone. They extend from southern Mexico through Central America and northern South America to southern Brazil and include the Amazon Rainforest. These rainforest ecoregions are one of the most important reserves of biodiversity on Earth. Extensive deforestation in the late 20th century has reduced this diversity to a degree.
Nearctic
"For the thoroughbred racehorse see Nearctic (horse)."
The Nearctic is one of the eight terrestrial ecozones dividing the Earth's land surface.
In ecology, an ecozone is a large land mass that contains many terrestrial ecoregions, each of which has unique plants and animals.
The Nearctic ecozone covers most of North America, including Greenland and the highlands of Mexico.
Southern Mexico, southern Florida, Central America, and the Caribbean islands are part of the Neotropic ecozone, together with South America.
The World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) divides the Nearctic into four Bioregions, defined as "geographic clusters of ecoregions that may span several habitat types, but have strong biogeographic affinities, particularly at taxonomic levels higher than the species level (genus, family)."
Nearctic (horse)
Nearctic (born 1954 – died 1973) was a Canadian-bred Thoroughbred racehorse. He had his most successful season in racing at 4 years old, when he won nine races. Nearctic was retired to stand at stud at "Windfields Farm" in Canada where he became father of a "Kentucky Derby" winner and the "Northern Dancer".
He died at age 19 on July 27, 1973.
Stud
Stud could mean:
Lockerbie
Lockerbie is a small town in Scotland that was devastated on 21 December 1988 when a Pan American 747-400 aeroplane crashed after a bomb exploded on board. The bomb was hidden in a hand held radio in the rear cargo hold. It had been transferred onto the flight from a connecting flight from Amsterdam. All passengers and crew aboard the aeroplane, and 11 people in the town of Lockerbie were killed. The total number of people killed was 270. The Libyan government was found to have organized the bombing. The United Nations placed sanctions on Libya, which stopped people buying and selling items with Libya. In 2003 Libya agreed to pay compensation to the families of the people killed.
Circadian rhythm
A circadian rhythm is a rhythm that repeats about every 24 hours. Plants and animals have these built-in cycles which allow them to flower at the right time, sleep at the right time etc. The word "circadian" comes from the Latin "circa", "around", and "diem" or "dies", "day", meaning "about a day." The study of biological time-keeping rhythms such as daily, tidal, weekly, seasonal, and annual rhythms, is called chronobiology.
Circadian rhythms are "built-in" so that, without time signals from the environment, they keep time at the rate of "about" 24-hour periods. When kept in total darkness, plants and animals continue to behave by the built-in period which is "about" 24 hours. The rhythms are also affected and re-set by time signals such as daylight and the length of the day and the night. It is important that the rhythms be re-set regularly to the natural light/dark cycle. Adult humans of all ages have a circadian rhythm which averages 24 hours and 11 minutes.
The circadian rhythms, also called the "biological clock" or the "body clock", of humans and other animals, regulate many bodily functions including feeding, sleeping, body temperature and hormone production.
The primary body clock in humans and other mammals is located in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (or "nuclei") (SCN), a pair of groups of cells in the hypothalamus in the brain. Destruction of the SCN results in the complete absence of a regular sleep/wake rhythm. The SCN receives information about light through the eyes and directs the pineal gland to release the hormone melatonin at night.
Some people have circadian rhythm sleep disorders which cause them to sleep much too early (Advanced sleep-phase syndrome, ASPS), much too late (Delayed sleep-phase syndrome, DSPS) or in several bouts throughout the day and night (Irregular sleep-wake disorder). The worst circadian rhythm sleep disorder in people who can see is Non-24-hour sleep-wake disorder (Non-24); their "daily" rhythm lasts 25 hours or more so they sleep and wake up one or more hours later each day. Blind people who see no light at all can also have Non-24, but it is less serious and can usually be treated.
Stud (animal)
A stud in animal breeding is a male animal, such as a horse or dog, that is employed for breeding. The terms for the male of a given animal species (stallion, bull, rooster, etc.) usually mean that the animal is entire, that is, not castrated, and therefore capable of standing at stud. A specialized vocabulary exists for de-sexed animals.
A stud farm, in animal husbandry, is an establishment for selective breeding using stud animals.
Castration
Castration is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which a male loses the functions of the testes or a female loses the functions of the ovaries. It is also a type of anaphrodisiac.
Castration is commonly performed on domestic animals not intended for breeding.
Domestic animals are usually castrated in order to avoid unwanted or uncontrolled reproduction; to reduce or prevent other ways of sexual behaviour such as territorial behaviour or aggression (like fighting between groups of uncastrated males of a species); or to reduce other consequences of sexual behaviour that may make animal husbandry more difficult, such as fence destruction when animals try to get to nearby females of the species.
Male horses are usually castrated, because stallions are rather aggressive. The same applies to male mules, although they are sterile. Male cattle are castrated to improve docility for use as oxen.
A specialized vocabulary has arisen for neutered animals of given species: