“ That which we call a rose by any other name would smell just as sweet. ” — William Shakespeare By DR. CAMERON BARROWS Granted, it would smell just as sweet, but calling it a daisy or a lupine would sow no end of confusion. Names are important means of conveying information, of ensuring we...
“T he value of biodiversity is that it makes our ecosystems more resilient, …. its wanton destruction is akin to setting fire to our lifeboat.” — Johan Rockstrom By DR. CAMERON BARROWS The value of biodiversity, of landscapes filled with a wide variety of species, is a value held across cultural and economic divides. Gazing...
By DR. CAMERON BARROWS “There are no historical records of large fires ... in the Southern California deserts before the invasion of non-native grasses. Now, such fires are becoming increasingly frequent, endangering the continued existence of native desert ecosystems.” This quote was in reference to the Sawtooth Fire which burned a large area of the...
Refugium, plural Refugia: def. "An area in which a population of organisms can survive through a periof of unfavorable conditions." By DR. CAMERON BARROWS Our earth’s long history has been punctuated with climate shifts, many of which have resulted in massive extinction events. Sometimes those climate shifts were the result of orbital changes, tilting us...
“No one definition has satisfied all naturalists, yet every naturalist knows what they mean when they speak of a species” — Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species By DR. CAMERON BARROWS What is a species? Species are the currency by which we measure biodiversity, how we make decisions about conservation priorities, and how we add...
"Maybe it's animal-ness that will make the world right again: the wisdom of elephants, the enthusiasm of canines, the grace of snakes, the mildness of anteaters. Perhaps being human needs some diluting." — Carol Emshwiller By DR. CAMERON BARROWS Saint Patrick is celebrated (in part) in mid-March for allegedly ridding Ireland of all its snakes...
"There is no way anything of value can be done without some framework. It might wqell be that the framework is discarded, or the rules opposed; that is not important. What is essential is that they exist so that one knows when one is in opposition to them." — Margot Fonteyn "You don't have to...
“ As the cold came on, and each of the more southern zones became fitted for arctic beings and ill-fitted for their former more temperate inhabitants, the later would be supplanted and the arctic species would take their places…. As warmth returned, the arctic forms would retreat northward, closely followed up in their retreat by...
“A flower blooming in the desert proves to the world that adversity, no matter how great, can be overcome.” ― Matshona Dhliwayo By DR. CAMERON BARROWS Hidden among the grains of desert sands are countless species of bacteria and fungi, minute fossorial arthropods, and the seeds of every kind of wildflower found in a given...
“...everyone knew that all islands were worlds unto themselves, that to come to an island was to come to another world.” ― Guy Gavriel Kay By DR. CAMERON BARROWS Looking from the sea toward a desert island, it could be easy to imagine a landscape nearly devoid of life. You couldn’t be more wrong. Desert...
"Look closely at nature. Every species is a masterpiece, exquisitely adapted to the particular environment in which it has survived. Who are we to destroy or even diminish biodiversity?" - E.O. Wilson By DR. CAMERON BARROWS (This essay includes paraphrased portions of an essay originally written by Dr. Michael Allen, a retired University of California...
"A cactus is a desert’s rose." — Matshona Dhliwayo By DR. CAMERON BARROWS When I think of desert plants, those plants that are superbly adapted to the harsh aridity and temperature fluctuations of deserts, I think of cacti. Except for one species, all of the other nearly 2000 species of cacti are restricted to the...
“I have always loved the desert. One sits down on a desert sand dune, sees nothing, hears nothing. Yet through the silence something throbs, and gleams." — Antoine de Saint-Exupery By DR. CAMERON BARROWS For many who have not explored our deserts, their mental images of deserts have become intertwined with sand dunes. There are...
“The desert tells a different story every time one ventures on it.” — Robert Edison Fulton Jr. By DR. CAMERON BARROWS If time travel was possible, how thrilling would it be to be able to watch the passage of time, to see the rise and fall of mountains, the intrusion and retreat of oceans across...
“ Ecology is not rocket science. It’s way more complicated.” — Armel Castellan, Michael Allen, and others By DR. CAMERON BARROWS Not to demean rocket science, but to get a rocket into space, the primary variables are thrust, mass, and trajectory. Control those three variables and you can send a rocket almost anywhere. My dad...
“ If you feel like a fish out of water, just go back in the water.” — Tamerlan Kuzgov Imagining the cornucopia of species which contribute to the rich natural biodiversity of the North American deserts, fish probably are not what come to mind. Yet, fish are here. The Mojave Desert provides habitat for at...
“All amphibians are tethered to the pond by their evolutionary history, the most primitive vertebrates to make the transition from the aquatic life of their ancestors to life on land.” — Robin Wall Kimmerer While not all amphibians, toads, frogs, newts, salamanders, and the like, are tethered to ponds, most are tied to water in...
“ Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge.” — Carl Sagan The major deserts of North America are defined by climate and vegetation. There are some plants that ignore individual desert boundaries. Creosote bushes are found in the Mojave, Colorado, Sonoran, and Chihuahuan Deserts. Ocotillo occur in...
" The best scientists are open to the possibility that they may be wrong, and they are willing to change their minds in the face of new evidence." — Richard Feynman " Science is …. about being willing to ask … questions and follow the evidence wherever it leads." — Neil deGrasse Tyson What separates...
“ Change is the very nature of Nature. If there's one thing that doesn't change, it is the fact that everything changes.” — Ilchi Lee "Our dilemma is that we hate change and love it at the same time; what we really want is for things to remain the same but get better." — Sydney...