Nature

Scientists and bee experts discuss the crucial role that honeybees, a "keystone species," play in our economy and ecosystems, as well as bees' fascinating social organization and what we can do to reverse the decline of nature's pollinators.

This pledge period special airs throughout December, 2014 and contains segments from 16 of Nature's films about birds.

Join Lisa Dabek and her team with Woodland Park Zoo’s Tree Kangaroo Conservation Program as they journey into the remote cloud forests of Papua New Guinea. Meet one of the most elusive creatures you will ever see in the wild – the Matschie’s tree kangaroo. See how the local people are helping to protect this rare marsupial and its forest home.

Following the path of the condor, whose ten-foot wingspan enables it to soar effortlessly over the peaks of the Andes mountains, this film starts at the storm beaten rocks of Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America and journeys north to the highest peak in the Americas - Aconcagua. Along the way, we see exotic animals and birds such as the penguin, hummingbird, sea otter, guanaco, ostrich-like rhea, and puma.

While the cold waters of the Pacific Coast of South America are among the richest in the world, the shore is the driest desert in the world. Yet it is not at all devoid of life. Lizards snatch morsels from the waves, and seagulls fly 40 miles into the desert to nest. The condor searches for carrion and vampire bats feed on the blood of sleeping sea lions. This is a beautiful portrait of a giant land.

The third part of the series is a spectacular visual trip down the fabled river. From the snow-clad summit of the volcano Cotopaxi and others comes the greatest river in the world as melting ice creates a torrent that drops three miles in its first short distance. The river is fed by magnificent waterfalls and is channeled through gorges out into the tropical rain forest where there are more species of birds than anywhere.

The vast areas of kelp growing on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean provide a vital food source for countless creatures.

As an agent of decay, fungi performs a function essential to life on earth.

A great variety of wildlife species live in and around the thorny acacia trees on the African plains.

An examination of the Indonesian volcanic island Krakatoa, focusing on the global effects of the disastrous 1883 eruption that was heard 3,000 miles away and killed 36,000 people.

How the war between Iran and Iraq is threatening the fragile ecology of the Persian Gulf.

How various species of plant life lure insects and animals to effect the pollination process.

Torrential rains flood Kenya’s Tsavo Plain triggering a cycle of animal and plant regeneration that flowers in the short period before the next drought.

How plants and their leaves adapt to different climates, predatory animals and man.

A five-year chronicle of India’s endangered gharial crocodile.

Examines how the plants and animals of Alaska’s Alyeska wilderness have adapted to the regions harsh climate.

An examination of the plants and animals that make their home in a shallow lagoon found on the Western coast of Mexico’s Baja Peninsula.

This exploration of the Galapagos Islands, located in the Pacific Ocean West of Ecuador, examines theories explaining the arrival of wildlife to the archipelago.

Wildlife flourishes in Nevada's desert landscape because of one narrow river covering less than 1% of the land.

Attempts to protect the unique animals and plants of Brazil threatened by development of the Amazon jungle.

The lemur, an agile nocturnal primate of Madagascar, so-named because of its secretive habits and haunting cries.

An exploration of the Spanish Pyrenees mountains and the bearded "bonebreaker" vulture that lives in this harsh environment.

Explores Spain's Extremadura, an oak forest and wilderness plain, home to griffin vultures, imperial eagles, genets and other animals native to Africa.

Former Vietnam medic Doug Peacock lives as a firewatcher and conservationist in Montana's Glacier National Park.

The area's evolutionary roots opens this look at the African valley.

The wildlife that lives on the Great Rift's ash plains.

Examines the Red Sea, the island of Madagascar and East Africa.

Sharks, rays, squids and blue whales live in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast.

Three species of monkeys, the muriqui, the golden lion tamarin and the buffy-headed marmoset struggle for survival in Brazil's coastal Atlantic Forest.

A look at how Norway and Sweden are affected by eight months of winter.

This program features the Kogi tribe who live in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta in Columbia. They are pre-Columbian peoples, and consider themselves as the elder brothers of humankind. They insist that it is the modern world, the younger brothers, who are destroying the harmony of life on earth.

Vietnam's wildlife is reappearing after the great losses suffered during the war.

Simon King films a lioness and her pride during winter on Africa's Serengeti plain.

This miniseries starts off by exploring the abundance of wildlife around the Volga Delta in Russia’s Astrakhan region.

An exploration of the wildlife of the Russian Arctic, and in particular Wrangle Island, featuring polar bears, musk oxen, Ross’s Gulls, reindeer, foxes, walruses, and the Red-breasted Goose.

A focus on the wildlife of the Central Asian deserts.

Timothy Dalton searches for wolf habitats in North America to learn more about the animal

The history of llamas, alpacas, vicunas and guanacos in South America.

The two-hundred-foot walls of ice in Glacier Bay overwhelm the senses, but they also surround the most beautiful sights Alaska has to offer — the Northern Lights, the roaming grizzly bears, and the humpback whales. The glacier itself is also creating new life — it has retreated some 70 miles up the bay, wiping the ecological slate clean, allowing new plants and animals to start again from scratch.

Following Anthony Hopkins to Tanzania to study lions. Included: an encounter with Masai warriors; the lioness's role in the hunt; footage of zebras and wildebeests.

This installment of PBS's multi-award winning Nature series delves into the life and history of the highly endangered giant panda. Nature: Pandas of the Sleeping Dragon studies the habits and habitats of the giant panda throughout China's Sleeping Dragon Mountains.

"Warts and All" follows three generations of a wart-hog family over the course of a year. Observed: attacks by hyenas, leopards and flamingos; how wart-hog males fend for themselves from an early age.

"Jaguar: Year of the Cat" follows the predator in its native rain forests of Belize. Included: a pair stalk turtles, peccaries and armadillos; scenes of the habits of their animal neighbors, including toucans and ocelots.

NATURE takes you into the depths of the ocean to discover the most remarkable life still undiscovered on our planet that will certainly be found in the sea.

Considering the similarities between simian and human intelligence. Included: a chimpanzee demonstrating a sense of self, as he recognizes his own reflection; how certain chimps can use tools; a chimp species that has recreational sex.

In the NATURE program SPERM WHALES: THE REAL MOBY DICK, the efforts of Jonathan Gordon and other researchers to study the whales' physicality, modes of communication, and social interactions contribute to our understanding of the underwater world.

Charting the declining fortunes of a pride of "Crater Lions" that lives in Tanzania's Ngorongoro Crater. Included: lion attacks on buffaloes; a young cub's encounter with jackals; efforts to repopulate the pride; wildebeests, elephants

Delving into the mysteries of the colorful monkeys called mandrills, as a troupe of the creatures are followed through the West African rainforests. Included: the travails of a lead male fighting off a rival; the females' role as group leaders; hammerhead bats and river martins.

TOOTHWALKERS presents extremely rare under-the-ice footage that reveals a complex and potentially dangerous side to this huge and often mysterious mammal.

An unforgettable view. To see the Grand Canyon for the first time is an experience few people will forget. The canyon vista — with its incomprehensible size, deep color, and rich display of rock layers — is unmatched by any natural display on Earth. But while the rock formations may seem arid and lifeless, the Grand Canyon is home to an astounding variety of creatures. In its mile-deep plunge, the Grand Canyon’s terrain ranges from conifer forest to desert, with river niches in between.

The birth of a baby gorilla, the flight to freedom of a California condor, and a panda's attempt at seduction are among the stories from the San Diego Zoo. Included: a black rhino's birth; the construction of a polar-bear habitat; preparing zoo meals.

The polar bear rules the north. To the hardy native people who settled the harsh lands of the Arctic, the powerful hunter with the ghostly white coat is known as the “lonely roamer.” But most of us know the huge mammal as the polar bear. And the story of how the world’s largest land predator prospers in one of Earth’s harshest environments is the subject of the NATURE program Great White Bear.

NATURE lifts part of the veil of mystery shrouding some fascinating — and often fearsome — creatures in The Secret World of Sharks and Rays. Sharks and their biological cousins, the rays, are among the highest-profile denizens of the deep, thanks to the popularity of books and films that have cast them in leading roles — as antagonist, not protagonist.

The NATURE program American Buffalo: Spirit of a Nation tells the sad story of how the buffalo nation was destroyed nearly a century ago by greed and uncontrolled hunting — and how a few visionaries are working today to rebuild the once-great bison herds. It offers a remarkable portrait of America’s last significant wild bison herd, made up of a few thousand animals living within Montana’s Yellowstone National Park. And it highlights the efforts of Native American leaders dedicated to bringing back the animal that once gave life to their tribes. “Buffalo have to be there for our culture to exist,” says Fred DuBray, a member of the Cheyenne River Sioux tribe who appears in American Buffalo. “As we bring our herds back to health, we will also bring our people back to health.”

Documentary that explores Antarctica's weather phenomena, its rugged and adaptable wildlife and the powerful dynamics of its ever-changing icecap. Part 1 discusses the effects of the katabatic -- the relentless wind that sweeps over the Antarctic landscape, often at speeds of more than 100 mile per hour, re-sculpting the topography of the continent and affecting the climate of the entire southern hemisphere.

Part 2 investigates the icebergs, million-ton islands of ice that have broken free of glacial cliffs to become floating platforms of life. Despite the harshness of the environment, diverse eco-systems thrive. The principal wildlife includes crabeater seals and leopard seals, Adelie and emperor penguins, Minke whales, krill, snow petrals and algae.

Though their glory days may be in the past, these hoofed creatures continue to enthrall us, as the NATURE program HORSES demonstrates in sparkling detail. From the steppes of Mongolia, where children race at breakneck speeds perched on stallions ten times their size, to the fields of Georgia, where people confined to wheelchairs find new freedom in the saddle, HORSES highlights the many roles played by this multi-talented beast of burden. There are also rare glimpses of the world’s most endangered horse, and an inside look at the art of the horse whisperers, the trainers who through their gentle touch can transform a wild bucking bronco into a stately show horse.

Julia Roberts, one of the most famous and beautiful American actresses of today, lives among the nomads of Mongolia and discovers their relationship with the horse.

A new age of ocean exploration is lifting the veil of mystery shrouding a creature of legend -- the octopus.

Discover amazing birds -- from hummingbirds and peregrine falcons to parrots and barn owls -- on NATURE's "Extraordinary Birds."