Meadow photograph featured in BMC Ecology

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One of my images from last summer was just featured in the journal BMC Ecology, and was almost chosen for the cover . It is an honor to have a photograph recognized by a broad pool of judges. They noted,

we have selected a dazzling scene from Colorado of a subalpine flower meadow (Figure 2). Composing a photograph of this nature is surprisingly difficult, and Benjamin Blonder [7], a PhD student from University of Arizona, deserves congratulation for such a captivating portrayal of what it means to be biodiverse. The emphasis here is not on survival, but on reproduction: the dull but functional photosynthetic green seems an almost insignificant background compared to the waving of riotously coloured floral genitalia. Although it can be seen as a poster child for the beauty of our science, it is only when we force ourselves to view the picture through an ecologist’s eye that the true depths are revealed. What is it that allows such a diversity of forms and colours to coexist in an otherwise similar patch

Several of my other images are also featured in the contest, including some images of fieldwork in Puerto Rico and Panama. You can read more in a journal editorial: BMC Ecology image competition: the winning images. Be sure also to check out the winning image, which shows an impressive example of insect camouflage!

3 Comments

  1. Alaina says:

    “riotoursly coloured floral genitalia” hahahahah, very nice!

    1. bblonder says:

      I particularly enjoyed that phrase! That makes me a plant pornographer, but there are worse things to be….

  2. NJ Scientist says:

    They probably couldn’t figure out how to make a landscape orientation fit the portrait cover. Plus the added expense of a kraft paper sleeve to hide the genitalia for newsstand sales….

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