“ It is that range of biodiversity that we must care for – the whole thing – rather than just one or two stars. ” — David Attenborough By DR. CAMERON BARROWS Biodiversity, the sum of different species occurring within a specified geographic area, is often a metric for prioritizing conservation efforts. Biodiversity “hotspots” are...
“Conservation is getting nowhere because it is incompatible with our Abrahamic concept of land. We abuse land because we regard it as a commodity belonging to us. When we see land as a community to which we belong, we may begin to use it with love and respect.” ― Aldo Leopold “The last word in...
“I don't see the desert as barren at all; I see it as full and ripe. It doesn't need to be flattered by rain. It certainly needs rain, but it does with what it has and creates amazing beauty.” — Robert Edison Fulton Jr. By DR. CAMERON BARROWS That pumping carbon dioxide and methane into...
“Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception.” — Carl Sagan By DR. CAMERON BARROWS Looking back across the multitude of species of plants and animals that have existed on Earth, far more have gone extinct than exist today. Major extinction events opened the evolutionary door for the existence of new species. If there had...
" The good thing about science is that it's true whether or not you believe in it " — Neil deGrasse Tyson By DR. CAMERON BARROWS People who know me well know that as a strict practice, I stay away from politics. As central as politics are to a functioning democracy, the open willingness of...
“ The wonders of the Grand Canyon cannot be adequately represented in symbols of speech, nor by speech itself .” — John Wesley Powell, geologist “ I believe in science and evolution. I’ve been to the Grand Canyon .” — Bill Walton “ I believe in evolution. But I also believe, when I hike the...
“To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.” ― Winston S. Churchill By DR. CAMERON BARROWS My guess is that most people prefer stability in their world. Seeing the same species and abundance of plants, birds, and lizards each time you hike a trail might give a sense of healthy stability...
"While Newton seemed to draw off the veil from some of the mysteries of nature, he showed at the same time the imperfections of the mechanical philosophy; and thereby restored her secrets to that obscurity, in which they ever did and ever will remain." — David Hume There is a debate among scientists regarding which...
“ Lizard and Coyote once wrestled to determine who would be able to decide how humans would look. Ultimately Lizard won, and that’s why humans have five-fingered hands rather than paws. ” – Creation story of California’s Pomo Indians By DR. CAMERON BARROWS The original people of North America’s southwest have always held lizards in...
In Northern Arizona, the fertile volcanic soils nurture not only native plants but also invasive weeds, which threaten local biodiversity by outcompeting and overwhelming native species. Through daily efforts of pulling weeds like cheat grass and bind weed, Dr. Cameron Barrows reflects on the delicate balance of ecosystems and the challenges of maintaining native flora.
“ The best journeys are the ones that answer questions that at the outset you never even thought to ask ” — Rick Ridgeway By DR. CAMERON BARROWS In North America’s arid west, we recognize four to six major subdivisions of deserts, depending on who’s talking. The Great Basin Desert sits at the northwestern corner...
“We called him Tortoise because he taught us.” — Lewis Carroll By DR. CAMERON BARROWS When we think of iconic desert animals, species that epitomize not just survival, but the ability to thrive in a desert environment, chuckwallas, desert iguanas, fringe-toed lizards, and tortoises rise to the top of my list. One criterion would be...
“A million years is a short time - the shortest worth messing with for most problems. You begin tuning your mind to a time scale that is the planet's time scale. For me, it is almost unconscious now and is a kind of companionship with the earth.” ― John McPhee By DR. CAMERON BARROWS Perhaps...
"Lizards of every temper, style, and color dwell here, seemingly as happy and companionable as the birds and squirrels." — John Muir By DR. CAMERON BARROWS There are more species of lizards here than anywhere in the U.S., perhaps anywhere in North America. By here I mean the junction of northern Baja California, the southern...
“Preservation of our environment is not a liberal or conservative challenge; it's common sense.” — President Ronald Reagan “Good stewardship of the environment is not just a personal responsibility; it is a public value... Our duty is to use the land well, and sometimes not to use it at all. This is our responsibility as...
“One of the most neglected areas in the philosophy of perception concerns animal senses. It is surprising how many philosophers write about perception in the apparent belief that humans are the only perceivers in the world. Human senses evolved through the natural process as other animal senses, so there is no reason to regard human...
“ 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...