Conservation & Extinction

Ignoring the central message of the Jurassic Park films, some "enterprising" scientists are focusing on efforts to bring back extinct species.  In my opinion, this is an unwise and inappropriate endeavor, whether the extinction occurred at the hands of humans or not.

Once we gave up our nomadic lifestyle and turned to cultivation and domestication (both about 10,000 years ago), humans have had a significant effect on the health of other animal populations.  Of course, this negative impact greatly increased during the Industrial and Technologic Revolutions as pollution and widespread development destroyed ecosystems.  Rather than reversing extinction, a natural component of evolution, we should concentrate on protecting those species that still exist; reducing our population, cutting back on personal consumption, greatly limiting pollution and protecting natural habitat are the primary tools.  Nature will heal herself if we get out of her way.

Then again, we have an American President and Administration who are anti-science; they deny climate change, are cutting back (if not eliminating) federal support for green energy industries and even talk of renewing the use of coal in power plants.  Unless we reverse the political climate, the extinction of our own species will be greatly accelerated.

Stewards of the Earth

Most religious persons believe that God placed man on Earth to oversee and protect the bounty of life that it harbors.  If so, She must be severely disappointed.

Among the last species to appear, we are surely among the most expendable.  When compared to photosynthetic plants and pollinating insects, our role is insignificant.  Indeed, for the past 10,000 years, during which we established permanent settlements and gave rise to the agricultural, industrial and technologic revolutions, we have been dismantling, polluting and otherwise destroying the intricate web of life into which our species was born.  Should humans disappear tomorrow, natural ecosystems would begin a long process of healing and the planet might just survive, at least until our sun burns out.

But we are where we are and our only hope of offering stewardship is afforded by our intelligence.  We generally know what we must do: limit our population, reduce our consumption, eliminate pollution and both protect and restore as much natural habitat as possible.  Unfortunately, greed, politics and mysticism get in the way and our professed role as stewards of the planet will not likely materialize.  In the end, it will be our species that destroys Mother Earth. 

A Generic Naturalist

Growing up with an interest in Nature, primarily instilled by my maternal grandfather, I have come to learn a great deal about the plants and animals of North America.  But, even though I graduated from college with a degree in Biology, don't quiz me about their Genus and species.  And when it comes to groups such as insects and mushrooms, my knowledge base is unimpressive, to say the least.

Rather, my enthusiasm for the great outdoors is how it all fits together, how interdependent the countless species truly are.  Having outgrown the mysticism of my youth, I now understand that we humans are part of nature, just one of the latest (and more expendable) species to evolve in Nature's 3.6 billion year-old web of life.

Now, in my waning years, my focus is on enjoying nature as I did in my youth and doing what I can to protect what we humans have not yet destroyed for future generations.  Hence this blog and my rants against the religious, political and industrial forces that threaten the welfare of our natural environment. 

Flashback Post LX

Over the 18 years of writing this Blog, I have written many posts for Thanksgiving.  Perhaps the most succinct yet meaningful of all was published on Thanksgiving Day of 2009.  Happy Thanksgiving to all!

See: Thanks to Nature 

The Erosive Force of Water

Beyond their stark beauty, the Faroe Islands demonstrate the erosive force of flowing water.  Since rifting from Greenland, 55 million years ago, this volcanic terrane has been molded by glacial ice, torrential rain, pounding waves, strong currents and numerous streams.  Due to their northern latitude, freeze-thaw cycles have also played a significant role in sculpting the islands.

Of course, most of this erosive activity persists today and is readily evident to the visitor.  Landslide scars are observed, frequent rain drenches the highlands, currents alter the course of boat transportation and powerful waves lash the rocky headlands.  Sheep and hares, both introduced by humans, are the only mammals that inhabit the steep, grass-covered slopes and countless waterfalls adorn the ridges.

This is a country of rock and water.  Though man has managed to settle along its coasts and fjords, water will eventually erode these scenic islands into the sea. 

Closer to Home

While many of us prefer the mountains to the sea and though our own species evolved in the semi-arid Rift Valley of Africa, the sea is the homeland of all life, first appearing in her waters some 3.6 billion years ago.  Indeed, life was limited to the sea until about 440 million years ago, when the first terrestrial plants and animals began to inhabit the tidal flats.

Today, many humans live far from the sea and some never visit it during their lives.  Nevertheless, she is the Mother of all life and her realm is our homeland.  Perhaps it is our subconscious awareness of this fact that makes beach vacations and sea cruises so popular.

So, for the next two weeks, I am closer to home, one that I share with every person, mountain goat, cactus and earthworm on our Planet.  Sadly, we humans keep trashing it. 

Back in the Sunshine

After a month of frigid air, cloudy skies and various forms of precipitation across most of the country, brilliant sunshine and dry, crystal-clear air bathes the Colorado Front Range today.  We expect an afternoon high near 60 degrees F; even better, the mild conditions are expected to last through the week.

Of course, such warm winter respites are common here, often developing a day or two after heavy snowstorms.  Indeed, an alternating pattern of snow and mild, sunny weather often persists into early May along the Front Range urban corridor.

We all welcome sunshine in winter but tend to tire of it quickly during the heat of summer.  Though the sun has fueled the evolution of almost all life on Earth (humans included), its intensity is often falsely blamed for global warming.  In fact, global sunshine has not changed; rather, it is our pollution of the atmosphere, leading to heat retention, that is responsible for climate change.

 

Garden of Eden

The Bible declares that man is the pinnacle of God's creation.  Metaphorically, this may be true (at least with regard to brain power), though the six-day time frame is a bit short.

Life first appeared in the primordial seas of Earth some 3.6 billion years ago and would not come ashore until 450 million years ago; humans did not evolve until 130,000 years ago.  Our species spread beyond Africa about 80,000 years ago, encountering the diverse, pristine ecosystems of our home planet.  For most of our time on Earth, humans were components of those ecosystems, just another species in nature's web of life.

Then, about 10,000 years ago, we bit into the proverbial apple and our Garden of Eden began to disintegrate.  Cultivation and domestication were our initial assaults on nature, occurring in concert with the development of permanent settlements.  Eventually, the Industrial Revolution greatly accelerated our impact on the planet and, today, we struggle to remedy the damage that we have wrought.  To paraphrase Joni Mitchell, returning to the Garden may be our only means of salvation.

The De-Socialization of Dogs

Dogs evolved from wild canines and were bred into a wide variety of species for their appearance or for special skills.  Yet, they are inherently pack animals.

When I was young, dogs ran free in our neighborhood, forming small packs and interacting with us as we played in the yard or wandered into the woods.  For a variety of reasons (sanitation, safety, property rights) that does not happen today.  On the other hand, they are now allowed in stores, restaurants, gyms and airplanes, among other human spaces, under the control of their owner.

Unfortunately, most dogs in Western Society now lead rather solitary lives, often confined to condos or apartments for most of the day.  Having not been socialized, they are defensive, reactionary creatures that must be tightly constrained or even muzzled when in public areas.  While dog parks and dog walkers offer some socialization, these experiences are limited.  Tiny breeds may do well indoors but, in my opinion, most dogs need plenty of outdoor space and at least one companion. 

Non-Natives

There seems to be increasing attention paid to "non-natives" these days, driven by ecologic purists and by those who oppose immigration of any kind.  But what does native mean?

The short answer is that the native individual or species was born in or first evolved in a given area.  But while a person might be a native of New York, for example, his/her ancestors may have come from multiple Eurasian countries and, of course, humans evolved in Africa.  Native Americans did not likely reach the American Continents until 25-30 thousand years ago, some 100 thousand years after our species first evolved.  The great majority of non-native plants and animals found in the Americas today were brought in from Eurasia and Africa by humans (purposefully or inadvertently).

To attempt to rid our Continent of non-natives is thus pure folly; indeed, we would have to leave ourselves.  It seems more appropriate to acknowledge that all ecosystems have evolved over time and, in concert, non-native species have entered the mix.  All species (ourselves included) are natives of Earth and their/our welfare is dependent on protecting the planet as a whole. 

First Phoebe

Yesterday, while driving along a country road east of Columbia, Missouri, I encountered an eastern phoebe, perched on a fence.  It was the first I have seen this year and may be the earliest sighting of this species in my long birding career.

Known for its early spring and late fall migrations, despite the fact that it feeds primarily on insects, this distinctive flycatcher is a common summer resident across Canada, the Great Plains, the Midwest and the Northeastern quadrant of the U.S.; over the past decade, they have also been observed in Metro Denver.  Eastern phoebes winter in the Southeastern U.S. and Mexico.

The instinctual behavior of this phoebe and other early spring insectivores (such as tree swallows) raises interesting questions about the evolution of avian migration.  Most dedicated insectivores winter in the Tropics or Subtropics and do not arrive in Temperate Zones until mid-late spring, when the risk of a freeze has passed.  While eastern phoebes are known to feed on berries when necessary, their early return to central latitudes seems to tempt fate.  On the other hand, as our climate warms, they might just become permanent residents in Missouri.

 

Evolution & Extinction

Since life first evolved in the sea, some 3.6 billion years ago, the balance of evolution and extinction led to a fabulous diversity of plants, animals and fungi across the globe, sustained, in part, by unicellular organisms (i.e. bacteria).  Then humans evolved.

Rather than using our large brains to sustain the natural diversity of our home planet, by 10,000 years ago we began to destroy and alter Earth's vital ecosystems.  Beginning with cultivation and domestication and accelerating with the Industrial Revolution, we have decimated natural habitat across the globe to meet the needs and desires of our ballooning population.

Having effectively shut down evolution on Earth, we have also threatened the survival of our own species.  Global warming and widespread pollution are the consequences of our unbridled growth and consumption; though we have begun to address our impact, the response may be too feeble and too late.

See also:  The Sixth Mass Extinction 

A Scene from Jurassic Park

Birding in the Lower Bonne Femme Valley this morning, I caught sight of a wild turkey flock, moving in unison as they foraged across a fallow field,  It reminded me of a scene from the blockbuster film, Jurassic Park.

Contrary to a popular assumption, dinosaurs were not reptiles though they lived in concert with some giant reptilian species.  In fact, dinosaurs were warm-blooded creatures that gave rise to ancestral birds back in the mid-late Jurassic Period.  It is thus no wonder that some modern birds harbor anatomic features and demonstrate behavior that remind us of the dinosaurs we have seen in films.

Having brought up Jurassic Park, I would be remiss not to mention that the film should have been titled Cretaceous Park.  Most of the dinosaurs that were "brought back" at the featured facility lived during the Cretaceous Period (145 to 65 MYA), the last period of the Mesozoic Era.  The Jurassic Period (200-145 MYA) preceded it but was also part of the dinosaur era. 

New, Ancient & Threatened

As spring unfolds, we celebrate the rebirth of life on our planet.  Green shoots appear, flowers bloom, insects hatch, birds nest and the young of amphibians, reptiles and mammals are born.  Only we humans, endowed with a large brain, have natural life cycles that are independent of the solar cycle.

Of course, the "newness of spring" occurs annually and has done so for hundreds of millions of years.  Primitive plants and animals first colonized the land at least 400 million years ago (MYA).  Fish evolved by 350 MYA while both ferns and flying insects appeared about 300 MYA.  Amphibians date back at least 250 million years, followed "closely" by primitive conifers and reptiles.  Flowering plants, ancestral birds and the first mammals arose during the Jurassic Period (some 150 MYA), sharing the planet with dinosaurs.

So, we must admit, there is nothing new about spring.  Nevertheless, thanks to the negative impact of human civilization, this annual renewal of life is under assault.  Following hundreds of millions of springs, the glorious explosion of life is waning by the year.  

The Hostile Universe

Since the Big Bang, some 13.7 billion years ago, countless suns have exploded or dimmed, destroying their planets or leaving them in the frigid darkness of space.  Of course, any form of life on those planets could not survive such a catastrophe.

Planets are also prone to destruction from collision with comets, asteroids or other planetoids and their life forms (if they exist at all) are threatened by a gyrating climate, courtesy of such collisions, volcanism or other natural forces (not to mention man-induced global warming).  Indeed, life on Earth, as on other planets, is fragile and transient.

As we gaze upon Earth's beautiful landscapes, they appear to be permanent until, as we have seen in recent weeks, extreme events (wildfires, floods, earthquakes) destroy that illusion.  Perhaps it is best to regularly turn our attention to the night sky to remind us how insignificant we and our home planet really are. 

Against the Wind

Another drive across the Great Plains, another battle with punishing winds.  As we drove west toward Colorado today, strong, southwest winds raked the Plains, demanding a steady grip on the steering wheel and slowing our progress.  The culprits were low pressure over Southern Colorado and high pressure over the Southern Plains, which funneled these winds across Kansas.

I often admire and sometimes pity those who live in that windswept landscape.  While the remote homes are frequently sheltered with junipers and pines, the whistles and rattles must be nearly constant.  And then, of course, the strong winds make any form of weather more severe, from the desiccating heat of summer to the life-threatening wind chill and ground blizzards of winter.

Then again, these winds are partly responsible for the development of the vast prairie ecosystem that once covered the Great Plains.  By drying the soil, dislodging seedlings and fanning wildfires, the relentless winds kept the forest at bay; combined with the trampling and grazing of massive bison herds, the prairie winds favored the evolution of a rich biome of grasses and wildflowers, home to a wide diversity of animals.  Finally, while crop fields and ranches have replaced most of the prairie, the winds now drive modern turbines, providing a clean and endless source of energy.

The Story at Corral Bluffs

Last evening, I had the good fortune to come across an episode of NOVA on PBS.  Titled The Rise of Mammals, the show focused on early mammalian fossils discovered at Corral Bluffs, a geologic preserve east of Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The bluffs are a layer cake of late Cretaceous and early Paleocene sediments, divided by the KT boundary, a band of rock that is the remnant of the asteroid impact that ended the Mesozoic Era (the Age of Dinosaurs), 65 million years ago.  The relatively soft sedimentary rocks above the boundary span 1 million years of recovery following the mass extinction and harbor a wealth of early mammal fossils coinciding with fossil evidence of vegetation recovery, from fungi to ferns to deciduous plants; during that time, the Corral Bluffs region had a climate more typical of Florida than present-day Colorado.

Mammalian fossils at the site range from small, rat-like creatures to raccoon-sized herbivores.  Since the mammal evolution is closely correlated with plant recovery, one finds dental fossils that branch from those of omnivores to early herbivores and carnivores.  Though mammals first appeared in the Triassic Period of the Mesozoic Era, the dominance of dinosaurs kept their evolution in check; as the fossils at Corral Bluffs demonstrate, the asteroid impact set the stage for mammalian diversification and eventual dominance.  We humans, of course, are part of that ongoing process.

  

Fifteen Months after the Red Tide

It has been fifteen months since a devastating red tide poisoned the waters around Longboat Key, Florida.  Having returned three days ago, I have observed promising signs of recovery but the ecosystem is not yet back to full health.

The number of brown pelicans and double-crested cormorants fishing on Sarasota Bay have increased dramatically but the populations of ospreys, waders, gulls and terns have not yet returned to pre-tide levels.  We did encounter a pod of dolphins in the Gulf but, at least to date, their numbers seem to be relatively low.

These observations, purely my own, may not hold up to scientific scrutiny but I suspect that effects of the red tide persist; of course, natural ecosystems evolve over long periods of time, too slow for the impatience of humans.  Hopefully, the recovery will gradually continue before another insult, perhaps fueled by global warming and seawater pollution, threatens this subtropical paradise.

See: Encountering the Red Tide and Benefits from a Red Tide?

Violent by Nature

Yesterday, while watching Fareed Zakaria's program on CNN, I saw his interview with Jane Goodall, the renowned primatologist who has studied the behavior of chimpanzees in their natural habitat.  She reminisced about her discoveries in the field, especially regarding the similarities between chimpanzee and human behavior; this includes maternal devotion, empathy, the use of tools and a propensity toward violence, among other characteristics.

Her findings are not surprising since the human lineage diverged from chimpanzees just 6 to 8 million years ago, very recent in the span of natural history.  Our own capacity for violence is all too evident though we like to believe that our superior intelligence protects us from such impulsive and savage behavior.

Then again, our large brains also gave birth to imagination which, in turn, led to mysticism, among the most potent triggers of hatred, discrimination, intolerance and violent behavior in human history.  Indeed, we are superior to chimpanzees in many ways, including our achievements in the fields of slavery, torture, criminality and warfare. 

Heat, Life & Survival

Wandering outside this morning, it was easy to see the toll that our hot, dry summer has taken on the foliage of our Littleton farm.  While heat and water are essential to life, the balance of these factors is crucial and this season has not been kind to the plants.

Life first evolved in warm, shallow seas and near hot smokers along mid oceanic ridges.  Even today, the vast majority of species are found in the Tropics, where moisture is abundant, placing a check on the air temperature.  In desert regions and semiarid landscapes, the low humidity results in dense air which can reach much higher (and often deadly) temperatures; of course, animals and plants that inhabit deserts have adapted to their environment in a variety of anatomic, physiologic and behavioral ways.  While birds and mammals can generate their own internal heat, the low temperatures in polar regions have also required physical and physiologic adaptations for wild residents (fat insulation, thick fur and dense plumage, to name a few).  We humans, having evolved in the Tropics, were able to colonize hot and cold landscapes due to our large brains; the use of clothing, wells, tents and air conditioning come to mind.

Humans and wildlife now face global warming, a product of fossil fuel consumption, which threatens the survival of many species.  Melting polar ice sheets and mountain glaciers are already stressing regional inhabitants and flooding coastal ecosystems (at all latitudes) as sea levels rise.  In concert, warming ocean waters are killing coral reefs, spawning deadly algal blooms and reducing the supply of plankton, vital to marine food chains.  It is imperative that we humans use our large brains once again to mitigate climate change and protect Earth's ecosystems.