Tom Wessels: The Ecology of Coevolved Species

Please note: you are encouraged to comment and welcome to ask questions, but Tom does not monitor these posts and probably will not personally respond. -Ray

If someone told me a few years ago that when you're 20 you will be sitting in your dorm watching ecology videos for fun I would never believe it... here I am

I can’t say enough about Tom’s knowledge and his teaching capabilities. He is a natural I could listen to him all day. Kinda wish he was my neighbor so we could hang out and have a beer. The New England forests series has become one of my favorites!

The amount of knowledge in 30 minutes was more than most podcasters manage to communicate in the entire life of their podcast. I feel like I just got an undergraduate class for free. Incredible.

Love Professor Wessels he should be Secretary of the Interior..Notice; why would anyone give a thumbs down to this?$$$

that virginia creeper turning red was done beautifully this show is masterfully shot and edited

I stumbled across this video series recently and am so glad that I did. I figured when I started the first one I’d be bored and wouldn’t make it five minutes. I was dead wrong and watched them all with my full attention. It’s clear Tom is a master in his field and has forgotten more than I will ever learn. He’s a great teacher and is very easy to listen and pay attention to. Thank you for producing this series and sharing Tom with us!

We need guys like you in our forestry department. I'm surrounded by replanted forest and it's quite a shame what they've done with forests like you've shown here. The ones here are just future profits waiting to mature, no birds really to speak of, a few species I guess, some squirrels, thick mat of pine and spruce needles, very peaceful and not in a good way, nice straight rows as far as the eye can see. You only need to look at private lands and they are quite small in comparison and you see a line drawn out where the natural forest starts and finishes.

Biology from Red Green. This was great, I'm a fan. Thanks!

I don't know why I am watching this purely for fun on a Saturday night. But I love it. Our world is so beautiful.

This really is the best natural history channel on Youtube. The bits on lichens in particular were facinating. It has occured to me that the species we see in our New England forest date their origins back into the Pleistocene. They emerged in the shadows of, and coevolved with megafauna like mammoths, mastodons, ground sloths etc. Might delving into the nature of these coevolutionary relationships give ideas about how to conserve nature today?

I'm not sure how I ended up here, but I'm loving every minute of it. Tom is a great teacher. Thanks Tom and Ray for these videos.

One of the most interesting and informative talks about ecology and mutualism I have listened to. Thank you.

This is awesome. I thought it was gonna be long winded and boring at first. But this guy fires his knowledge like a tommy-gun. He goes over so many plants and the shots are super beautiful

Happy Earth day, Tom. Thank you for this important video I come back to watch year after year.

I knew a tiny bit about these interactions but my eyes have really been opened and my mind blown away, Thank you all that worked on informing us about the vast abilities and needed of the forest. Thanks You Mother Nature, God, The Great Creator for the life on our planet.

What an amazing and inspiring person. Tom seems so genuine and content with himself and his positive attitude rubs off just by hearing him teach. Thank you:)

Very happy to have found this channel.

I was just re-watching old videos the other day and thinking, "I wonder when a new one will be coming out." I'm back in New England so I get to experience the forests again! I love that you highlighted Oriental Bittersweet, it's started expanding into my yard in just the last 10 years climbing up my Eastern White Pines, White Oaks and Sugar Maples. Been quite the battle since it's usually growing next to Poison Ivy and I don't really have a lot of money for herbicides to keep them at bay. I've also found Cleary and Garlic Mustard in the last 5 years after my neighbor had truckloads of fill soil dumped into his yard and have had Glossy Buckthorn growing in my yard for as long as I can remember. A yard of invasive species. Been trying to promote the growth of several types of ferns, which has worked in some areas, as well as Jack in the Pulpits. Thanks for all the info Tom! Great work everyone!

Not sure how I came across this channel but its a absolute gold mine I enjoy these episodes tremendously