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Native Plants in Urban Yards Offer Birds “Mini-Refuges”

By Guest PostAugust 24, 2012Environment, Natureaberts towhee, arizona birds, behavior, biodiversity, bird, coral reef, curve billed thrasher, desert, doug levey, ecosystem, eyal shochat, forest, grassland, gud, hilary gan, house sparrow, lter, mini refuges, native plant, paige warren, residential landscape, sonoran desert, susannah lerman, urban yard, xeric

Landscaping with native vegetation helps local bird species

Yards with plants that mimic native vegetation offer birds “mini-refuges” and help to offset losses of biodiversity in cities, according to results of a study published on August 22, 2012 in the journal PLOS ONE.

“Native” yards support birds better than those with traditional grass lawns and non-native plantings.

Researchers conducted the study through the National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Central Arizona-Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site, one of 26 such sites around the globe in ecosystems from coral reefs to deserts, from forests to grasslands. (more…)

Humans Have Love-Hate Relationship With the Environment

By Guest PostJune 26, 2012Environmentanthropologist, canal irrigation, climate changes, Environment, environmental change, environmental trend, geomorphological characteristics, global warming, hominid ancestors, human pollution, humans, industrial revolution, interaction, irrigation agriculture, james watson, la playa site, local landscape, love hate, methane, mother nature, natural disaster, North America, northern mexico, northern sonora, relationship, soil deposition, sonoran desert, southern arizona, steep slope, toxic gases, village settlement

James Watson, a UA anthropologist, has published chapters describing how long-term environmental trends encourage stable adaptations within local environments.

Human/environment interactions have a history as long as the existence of our species on the planet.

Hominid ancestors began polluting their environment nearly 700,000 years ago with the control of fire, and humans have not looked back since.

The modern phenomenon of global warming is very likely the direct result of human pollution and destruction of the environment, said James Watson, a University of Arizona assistant professor in the School of Anthropology. (more…)

Scientists, Public Team Up to Discover Biodiversity

By Guest PostOctober 30, 2011Sciencebiodiversity, biodiversity collections, desert plants, natural world, sonoran desert

During the 2011 BioBlitz at Saguaro National Park Oct. 21-22, school children and volunteers teamed up with experts to embark on a 24-hour race to discover and tally as many of the park’s living creatures as possible in an effort to better understand the ecology and biodiversity of the Sonoran Desert.

Under an afternoon sun that is beating down much too relentlessly for this time of year, our group of eleven is scrambling up a hillside in Saguaro National Park just west of Tucson. (more…)

Tag Archives: sonoran desert

Native Plants in Urban Yards Offer Birds “Mini-Refuges”

Humans Have Love-Hate Relationship With the Environment

Scientists, Public Team Up to Discover Biodiversity