In the 1880s, the town of Total Wreck was home to a thriving silver mine and a few hundred people. Now, all that remains are a few stone walls and caved-in tunnels. The geology in the area is very strange: I found a bedrock cut on the side of a stream-bank, with rock mostly a…

In the news you might hear stories about carbon offsets, especially in the context of tree planting. How do scientists actually know how much carbon a forest is using? One of the major methods uses an eddy flux tower, which is what you see here. Dozens of meters above the forest floor, on a precarious…

Heavy rain in the desert today – sleet and snow where I was hiking. These rains play an important role in shaping the desert community, because they control the growth of winter annual plants. Many plants maintain a large seed bank in the soil, and only grow when conditions are good. This helps these species…

If you ever want to experience a different world, climb a mountain in the desert. Here in southern Arizona, you’ll see an immediate shift from low desert plants like saguaro, cholla, and creosote to intermediate elevation plants like yucca, juniper, and oak, all the way to high-elevation plants like Ponderosa pine and aspen. Adaptations to…