flowers

Alcove columbines thrive on vertical stone walls

June 15, 2023

My hope for this expedition to the San Rafael Swell was to find flowers on scarlet monkeyflower, which grows in hanging gardens on vertical walls.

Image of white buffaloes

What the White Buffalo Calf tells us about Indigenous history

May 11, 2023

Native Americans have been associated with bison in North America for more than 15,000 years.

Image of the Colorado Plateau

Mormon tea has no flowers or leaves but lots of history

March 3, 2023

Mormons used the plant to make a caffeine-free hot drink, and Native Americans used it to relieve congestion.

big shroom

On the trail of big, ugly mushrooms

Feb. 7, 2023

Aspen boletes build physical connections for mutualistic exchanges with quaking aspen.

A beautiful male swallowtail butterfly.

The Darwin Award goes to a male black swallowtail butterfly

Jan. 5, 2023

The beautiful male emerged in October, eager to mate but destined for disappointment because he emerged too late in the season, just an example of natural selection at work I received an invitation to photograph a black swallowtail butterfly that had just emerged. It would linger only a short while...

aspen

Mysterious lumps and swollen bands on aspen

Dec. 9, 2022

One puzzle leads to another question, as yet unanswered, about the cause.

dam

Beavers have become established in Boulder Canyon

Nov. 23, 2022

Beavers may appear to be one of the most sedentary of species, living in a secure den or lodge in a pond with all of their food within a short waddle, but now, in Boulder Canyon and in Alaska, it is evident that they are on the move.

temple sun

Saltbush evolved to filter dust from wind to form mounds

Sept. 28, 2022

The wind that sculpts the stones also conspires with plants to transform a valley floor to a landscape of mounds with embedded plants.

moth

Achemon sphinx moths' range is shrinking

Aug. 9, 2022

No doubt about it, sphinx moths are extraordinary; extinction is forever, and it would be tragic to lose such a remarkable group of moths.

paintbrush

Downy paintedcup adapts to changes in pollinators and root hosts across its range

July 8, 2022

The communities of pollinators and potential root hosts respond to climate change and the ever-increasing impact of humans on natural habitats.

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