The first thing that comes to mind when thinking about downtown Savannah is usually not a rare tortoise. But at Georgia Biodiversity Portal, you can see that a spotted tortoise (Clemmys guttata) was found near the city’s historic landmarks and famous restaurants less than five years ago.

Greg Krakow, Biodiversity Conservation Data Manager, believes becoming familiar with the at-risk wildlife in your area is important. “It gives you a personal connection to conservation,” Krakow said.

The Biodiversity Portal makes that vision clearer no matter where you are in Georgia, and for everyone from middle school students to environmental advisors. The unique website allows all to explore rare plants and animals throughout the state. Data can be sifted (筛选) by family group and species. You can select to view only federal or state protected species. Searches can be focused further by layers of location, including county, watershed (分水岭) and ecoregion.

“Most states charge money or limit access to this kind of information,” Krakow said.

“But we decided from the start that this portal would be free. This information is just too important.” Along with providing fascinating information about rare plants and animals, the portal contains identification keys and in-depth looks at many of the agency’s conservation projects, such as forest management for gopher tortoises, Georgia’s state reptile.

Clemmys guttata may be hard to find, but the Georgia Biodiversity Portal isn’t. Just go to georgia biodiversity. com/portal. You can also access it at georgia wildlife. com/educational-resources, where the portal is linked under “Teaching Resources.”

The Biodiversity Data Portal recently added a Lichens (地衣) of Georgia section. Based on years of research, this part of the portal profiles the state’s more than 920 lichen species, including lichens-by-location range maps, photos and lichen term lists. There’s also an overview of lichens in Georgia and the Lichen Atlas Project, plus a bibliography (参考书目) for those who want to dive even deeper.

It sounds like something out of Dr. Seuss, but artist Sam Van Aken is developing a tree that blooms(开花)in pink, purple and red in the spring-and that is capable of bearing 40 different kinds of fruit.

No, it's not genetic engineering. Van Aken, an associate professor in Syracuse University's art department, used an age-old technique called grafting(嫁接)to attach branches from 40 different kinds of stone fruit onto a single tree. But during the process of creation, he soon discovered that it was actually pretty hard to find so many distinct varieties of stone fruit in New York. "I realized the extend which we've created these massive monocultures(单种作物)." Most grocery stores and markets only sell a few varieties-and most of them are grown in California.

Van Aken believes our national security is dependent upon our fond security. Now that we have created these monocultures that only grow a few varieties of each crop, if something happens to just one of those varieties, it can have a dramatic impact upon our food supply. And the key to maintaining our food security is preserving our biodiversity.

100 years ago, there were far more varieties of fruit growing in the backyards of the Americans. Today, only a small part of those remain, and what is left is threatened by industrialization of agriculture, disease and climate change. Most of those threatened varieties were introduced to the US by immigrants. They cared for and cultivated them, and valued them so much that they saw them as a connection to their home. "More than just food, embedded in these fruit is our culture…In many ways these fruit is our story. And I was fortunate enough to learn about it through an artwork that I created entitled the "Tree of 40 Fruit'," Van Aken says.

During winter, when it is cold and freezing outside, all we want to do is stay wrapped up in our blankets and remain in bed. 【小题1】 During times like these, one might envy animals like bears, who doze through the coldest season and wake up fresh in the spring. But how do they go without food for such a long time?

【小题2】 Because of terrible weather and shortages of food, certain animals hibernate (冬眠) to save energy and survive. Hibernation involves a significant slowdown of the metabolism (新陈代谢) and a drop in body temperature. Reducing their metabolism allows these animals to conserve energy during those long cold months.

To understand the need for hibernation, we first must understand the difference between endothermic and ectothermic organisms. Ectotherms are those animals whose body temperatures depend on the surrounding temperature. 【小题3】 Usually, they have a body temperature that changes with the temperature of their environment. They depend on things like sunlight or the surface of heated rocks to warm up. 【小题4】 They are also known as “cold-blooded” animals, which include fish, amphibians, and reptiles.

On the contrary, endotherms can regulate their own body temperature by generating internal heat. They are capable of maintaining their physiological body temperature in a stable range, regardless of the changes in the environment. Endotherms adjust their metabolic heat production and insulation to stay warm, whereas during hot weather, they sweat to cool down. Endotherms are capable of maintaining a steady temperature as compared to their changing surroundings. They are called “warm-blooded” animals, and include mammals and birds. 【小题5】