I Scream, You Scream, We All Scream for Isoprene

Plants are well known for absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and replacing it with oxygen as part of the photosynthesis process. But that’s not the only thing they put into the air. Trees emit tons of a chemical known as isoprene every year, mostly during summer months. It’s surprising to learn that plants contribute to air pollution. 

An abundance of isoprene can lead to formation of greater amounts of ozone by combining with nitrogen in the form of NO and NO2. Ozone in higher levels of the atmosphere is good because it blocks harmful UV rays from the sun, but at our level it’s a major pollutant.  

The current theory is that plants produce isoprene as a method of heat resistance. Like water vapor and oxygen, it is emitted through the pores in a plant’s leaf. Not every plant produces isoprene, but the biggest producers in the US are oaks and poplars.  

Shenandoah National Park (NPS)

Isoprene is what gives the Blue Ridge Mountains their blue appearance. The chemical haze scatters blue light, which makes the mountains appear blue from a distance. It also gives the Smoky Mountains their smoky appearance. 

Great Smoky Mountains (NPS)

We learn such shocking things about nature. I had no idea before today that plants are polluting the air with volatile organic compounds, which when man-made seem to be about the worst thing under the sun. Yet here they are, also giving some of our national parks their distinguishing features and even namesakes. 

Information comes from National Center for Biotechnology Information and Department of Energy Office of Science.

Crater Lake

This month is six years since my visit to fabulous Crater Lake National Park in Oregon. America's deepest lake at nearly 2000 feet in depth, it sits inside the collapsed caldera of an ancient volcano. Wizard Island near the west side of the lake is a volcano within a volcano. The lake is fed entirely by rain and snow. The amount falling in each year is nearly equal to what evaporates of leaks out the bottom. Crater Lake is what I can only describe as being impossibly blue. Pictures don't do it justice.

Crater Lake seen from West Rim Drive

In addition to the lake, the park also features forests, wildflower meadows, waterfalls, pumice deserts, cinder cones, and formations called pinnacles. The pumice deserts were formed by volcanic eruptions depositing pumice. Like sand, it drains very well so there is little moisture retained in the ground. Like in a true desert, only the hardiest plants can scratch out a living. 

Pumice desert

The pinnacles were originally volcanic steam vents. As gas and steam were released, moisture mixed with the surrounding ash and formed a thick cement. Mount Mazama, the ancient volcano that formed Crater Lake, had its last major eruption 7700 years ago. Following a massive eruption of ash and pumice, a huge explosion caused the mountain to collapse into itself. 

Wizard Island, a caldera within a caldera

Red Cinder Cone, a shadow of the volcanic past

While visiting Crater Lake, I got to do a bit of exploring. I started a sunset hike up The Watchman, one of the peaks along the crater's rim. I got turned around by an incoming thunderstorm. On another hike across the pumice prairie and through a burned forest, I turned around when I lost sight of the horizon with more storms in the forecast. I went down into a canyon along a mountain stream and back up, saw the pinnacles, a waterfall, and small meadow with varying degrees of wetness. Different wildflowers were growing in different areas due to elevation, soil, and moisture levels- a great example of zonation.

Some of the wildlife in the park includes Clark's nutcracker, golden mantled ground squirrels, mule deer, black bears, foxes, bobcats, and pika. I was lucky enough to see the ground squirrel, deer, gray jays, and a tiny frog.

After leaving Crater Lake, I headed to the coast and stayed at the Oregon Dunes. There was no activity at the Sea Lion Caves nearby. The next stop before going home was a quick visit to Mount Hood. I stank after a week in the woods without showers, but the adventure was worth it. This week's information comes from USGS and NPS. All photos are my own. I'll be taking a break for vacation and will return in September with a look at some hard workers, just in time for Labor Day.

Species of the Month

Introduction: Summer is road trip season, and many people do a road trip through any of
the western national parks. Most folks have a goal of seeing some wildlife, and one of the
iconic animals of the west is the bighorn sheep. They can be seen picking their way along
sheer cliffs in an amazing feat of agility, but I think more people are impressed by rams
crashing into each other head first as they battle for mating rights.

Scientific name: Ovis canadensis

Kingdom: Animalia (animals)

Bighorn ewe enjoying the view

Class: Mammalia (mammals)

Order: Artiodactyla (even-toed ungulates)

Range: Southern Canada south to Mexico, as far east as Texas

Habitat: Mountain meadows, rocky cliffs, deserts

Bighorn rams

Lifespan: 6-15 years, depending on population status

Diet: Grasses, sedges, forbs

Predators: Mountain lions, wolves, coyotes, bears, lynx

Conservation Status: California bighorn sheep subspecies is listed as endangered.

Bighorn lamb taking a break from frolicking

Other Information: There are three subspecies of bighorn sheep: Rocky Mountain, the most numerous
and widespread; California, which is endangered and can be found in the Sierras; and desert bighorn,
which live in the deserts of the US Southwest and Mexico.

Bighorns use rocky slopes and cliffs to avoid and evade predators. Specially built toes allow them to
navigate along ledges that are only inches wide, and excellent depth perception allows them to
accurately leap from one to another.

Bighorns have a shorter lifespan in dynamic populations with a high birth rate, on average 6 or 7 years.
Those in a more stable population with a lower birth rate tend to live longer, to longer than 10 years.

Ewes lounging at the top of a slope

Bighorns live in segregated herds, males in a smaller herd, while females and lambs (male and female)
form larger herds. The herds mingle during the rut, which takes place in fall and early winter. Lambing
occurs in spring, and newborns are able to keep pace with mom almost immediately.

Sparring for mating rights involves males ramming head first into each other at speeds of up to 20
miles per hour. Horns can weigh up to 30 pounds. The force generated is enough to kill a human. Ram
skulls are made of several plates, like human skulls, but the rams' do not fuse into a single solid piece
of bone. That design lets the plates shift to absorb the shock of the repeated blows. The curl of the
horns might also deflect some of the shock away from the head, while a large tendon connecting the
head and neck helps the head recoil.

Rams battling for a mate (Smithsonian)

This week's information comes from University of Michigan's Animal Diversity Web and
Indiana Public Media. Next week wraps up the energy series with a look at the elephant in the room,
nuclear.

Sound of the Wild

Think about the sounds you typically hear over the course of a  normal day. It starts with the alarm clock and quickly fills with noise. The toaster, the hairdryer, the microwave, cars, cars, and more cars, people talking and shouting, buses, trucks, trains, planes, and of course your phone. If you're lucky you heard some birds singing on the way out the door. Other than the lawnmower, popcorn, and a log on the fire, my favorite sounds come from a land far from modern conveniences.
Next time you are out and about pay attention to what you hear. Insects buzzing, birds singing and calling, the wind in the trees (or your ears). In the mountains you might hear pikas and marmots barking, or larger animals like coyotes or wolves howling in the distance. In the fall, you might be treated to the eerie sound of bugling elk.

A not-so-distant coyote, not howling

Water is life, and it also provides a great soundtrack. I can listen to crashing ocean waves or a gurgling river all day long. Rain falling on surfaces other than pavement is a wonderful experience. The pattering on a tree canopy is soothing enough to forget about being soaked, and rain falling in a pond is a magical sound. In a naturally quiet environment like a cave, there's a good chance you'll hear only a single drop of water at a time, maybe a few seconds apart, maybe a few minutes. Even better than rain is the sound of thunder in the distance. This can be a bit worrisome if you're a long way from shelter.

The soothing sounds of the Firehole River

Late summer nights, if there is no thunder, fall asleep to the sound of the crickets. In the spring, fall asleep to the sound of the tree frogs. Another special spring sound, which I've only heard once, is the knocking sound the trees make after the thaw when they start absorbing water and their sap is flowing again. It took a while to figure that one out.

Pacific tree frogs, a sure sign of spring

Here is a link to a short video of some sounds recorded at Yellowstone National Park. Note that the pictures don't necessarily correspond to the sounds. See how many sounds you can figure out!

Species Recovery

The  Endangered Species Act of 1973 was passed to protect plants and animals that are considered at risk of extinction. The ultimate goal is to recover populations to a sustainable level. How is this achieved?
The first step is to study the situation. Without knowing why a species is in decline, it may be difficult to figure out how to save it. The end result of studying would be a recovery plan.
Recovery plans outline what needs to be done and how to go about doing it. One key component is identifying and protecting critical habitat. Without having adequate habitat there is no way to protect the species.

Rare California condor, flying in the wild again since 1996
(NPS)

There are a few ways to recover a species. The most obvious is to prohibit killing it. Putting a stop to human-caused deaths is the first step in halting population decline.
Captive breeding programs allow for populations to increase in a controlled environment, free of the hazards found in the wild. The trick is not letting the critters you're raising become accustomed to humans. In the case of whooping cranes.

A human disguised as a whooping crane teaching actual
whooping cranes raised in captivity how to be cranes
(Reedsburg Times)

Sometimes removing the entire species from the wild is necessary. This happened with California condors and black-footed ferrets, which have both since been reintroduced to the wild, and mountain caribou and red wolves, which are nearly all currently in captivity while populations recover.
Mountain caribou were rounded up last year and placed in a great outdoor holding own where they are safe from wolf attacks. Red wolves have been reintroduced a few times, but those populations failed to survive. The majority of them are living in captivity while biologists figure out what went wrong.

Red wolf (https://www.fws.gov/southeast/wildlife/mammals/red-wolf/)

Another method is translocation, where members of one population are moved to another location to establish a population there. This usually happens to reintroduce reintroduce a species to an area where it has been wiped out. Wolves at Yellowstone, and a current project bringing fishers back to the Cascades, are two examples.
Once you've started on the path to recovery, monitoring is necessary to make sure targets are being met. Is habitat adequate? Are populations increasing? If not, what needs to be done to ensure success?
Many species have been listed as threatened or endangered for decades, leading some people to believe that the Endangered Species Act doesn't work. However, populations don't increase overnight, especially to a sustainable level.  Several species have been delisted, so while recovery is a long and winding road, in the end it has proven to be successful for the most part.
This week's information comes from USFWS, another USFWS page, and the Reedsburg Times of Wisconsin.

Summer Vacation Guide

Spring just started, but it's not too early to start thinking about summer vacation. National parks have figured into vacation plans ever since the invention of national parks. They are great places to see amazing scenery- and crowds, or have a chance encounter with wildlife- and crowds. Here are a few lesser-known parks with fewer visitors. Just be careful getting there- some are very remote with little or no road access, which always makes for a better adventure.
By taking these roads less travelled, you'll get to experience more than the stereotypical majestic mountains and sweeping desert vistas. Our national parks have so much to offer!
Kobuk Valley National Park, Alaska

Great Kobuk Sand Dunes

Surrounded by mountains, this park is home to a vast caribou herd and extensive sand dunes. Yes, sand dunes North of the Arctic Circle! The sand is the result of glaciers grinding the mountains down. Also found in the park is the boreal treeline, where forest yields to tundra. Be prepared to fly in; there are no roads leading to Kobuk Valley and no services, either.

Tundra fire

National Park of American Samoa, American Samoa

Tutuila Rainforest

This is America's only national park south of the Equator. Full of white sandy beaches and coral reefs, it's a rare ecosystem in the park service holdings. The mountains and rainforests host fruit bats and several species of virds, including a beautiful blue kingfisher. Aside from natural splendor, you can also learn about traditional Samoan culture. Travelling there can be expensive, as American Samoa can only be reached by a long flight or a long ship voyage.

Pola Islands

Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota

North Woods winter

This northern Minnesota park is a kayaker's dream. About 40% of the park is water. This system of interconnected lakes, streams, and wetlands was named after the voyageurs, or four traders, who used this area to transport their wares from the interior to civilization on the Great Lakes. Today, the park preserves water quality, ancient rock formations, boreal and hardwood forests, and endangered species like wolves. While not as remote as Alaska and American Samoa, it's a long drive from the Twin Cities and getting around without a boat of some sort is limited.

Loons on a lake

Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado

Sand dunes with Sangre de Cristo Mountains

Off the beaten path in the Rockies, but not too far off, this park features alpine tundra, subalpine meadows, wetlands, forests, mountain streams, lakes, and of course sand. Such a diverse landscape attracts an equally diverse array of flora and fauna. Thousand year old trees share the park with prairie grasses, wildflowers, and scrub sage. Animal life ranges from dung beetles to horned toads to pronghorn, elk, and bear. There is only one road in, but it's an easy drive from Pueblo.

Elk with snowy sand

Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota

Cave boxwork

If you're looking for a good time above or below ground, Wind Cave is the place for you. Upstairs is a convergence of short and tall grass prairies and forest, right on the edge of the Black Hills. Downstairs is one of the world's longest cave systems. Sacred as the birthplace of the Sioux Indians in their origin stories, the cave gets its name from the wind blowing in or out of the small natural opening. Wind direction changes based on barometric pressure and is a good indicator of weather. While rare formations like boxwork can be found in the cave, rare animals like bison and black-footed ferrets are found above. This park is also easy to reach, about an hour south of Rapid City.

Prairie and forest

This week's information and all pictures comes from the National Park Service. Great Sand Dunes pictures come from their Flickr page.

Geysers and Dolls

Geysers are a rare manifestation of the powerful volcanic forces that originate deep within Earth’s mantle. While volcanoes are widespread, geysers are more limited in where they can be found. There are about a thousand worldwide, with the highest concentration- roughly half- found in Yellowstone National Park.

Geyser at Yellowstone's Fountain Paint Pot

A volcano is sort of an opening to the mantle. Molten rock (magma) from the mantle is forced up to the surface by pressure periodically. Magma is also the driving force behind a geyser. Surface water trickles down through the soil and rock and collects in deep underground hot spots. Magma beneath the hot spot is what makes the spot hot. It superheats the water that collects there. Steam, heat, and pressure force the water back to the surface. After blasting to the surface, the water and steam continue surging up into the air. You’ve just witnessed a geyser erupting. The water falls back to the ground and percolates into the soil, starting the process over again. Most geysers erupt randomly, but a few run on a fairly predictable schedule. Most famous is Old Faithful, which erupts every 50 to 100 minutes, depending on local water conditions.

Geyser erupting at Yellowstone

Not all groundwater is forced to the surface so violently. Many times is flows gently as either a hot spring or the hotter boiling spring. If it is sufficiently dirty, you’ll see a bubbling mud pot. Sometimes only steam, not liquid water, hisses from the ground as a fumarole. Yellowstone has all of these geothermal features. Yellowstone is considered an active volcano, with the last eruption occurring about 600,000 years ago. Like the Hawaiian Islands, it sits over leaking magma in the middle of a tectonic plate. 

Fountain Paint Pot, a mud pot

Boiling spring at Yellowstone

Fumarole at Yellowstone

Dragon's Mouth hot spring at Yellowstone

Did you know? Some of Yellowstone's boiling springs are home to bacteria known as extremophiles that are adapted to live in extreme conditions. This week’s information comes from National Geographic and USGS.

Everglades Flora and Fauna

Last week we explored some of the different habitats in the Everglades. This week we’ll look at some the plant and animal residents, then wrap up with some of the many challenges facing the region.

So many different kinds of animals live in the Everglades. They range from tiny biting flies to giant mosquitoes that can carry you back to their dens and every size of mosquito in between. There are also birds, reptiles, amphibians, mammals, fishes, crustaceans, and arachnids. Many threatened and endangered species call this place home. Some of the highlights: Florida panther, eastern indigo snake, American crocodile, West Indian manatee, five species of sea turtle (leatherback, loggerhead, green, hawksbill, and Atlantic ridley), snail kite, wood stork, piping plover, and red cockaded woodpecker.

Florida panther (US Fish and Wildlife Service)

West Indian manatee

Other critters you can find there include alligators, black bears, deer, marsh rabbits (which is a capable swimmer, gray foxes (which can climb trees), pilot whales, dolphins, several bat species, the gulf toadfish (which is audible to humans), roseate spoonbills, flamingoes, owls, parakeets, shore birds, waterfowl, owls, and birds of prey.

Roseate spoonbill (US Fish and Wildlife Service)

American crocodile (NPS)

Marsh rabbit (North Carolina State Parks)

Plant life in the Everglades includes sawgrass, named for its serrated edges; Simpson’s applecactus, an endangered night-blooming species; wildflowers like climbing aster, coralbean, devil’s potato, and duck potato; several species of orchids that can be found in nearly all of the Everglades habitats, including treetop canopies; and a wide variety of trees. Among the many trees are three mangrove species, West Indies mahogany, live oak, slash pine, bald cypress, gumbo-limbo, buttonwood, royal palm and sabal palm.

Sawgrass (Florida Department of State)

Applecactus (USDA)

Coralbean (NPS)

West Indies mahogany (University of Florida)

Sabal palm (USDA)

Like any other natural area, there is damage caused by humans. Some is recent, but some goes back decades. As development came to Florida, much of the water was diverted by canals. Wetlands were filled in and built over. The diminished flow and water fouled with agricultural runoff and sediment has had far-reaching effects, even today. The current red tide on Florida’s Gulf Coast is likely a result.

Invasive species, especially the Burmese python and boa constrictor, are of increasing concern. These snakes eat just about any native species in the Everglades, including the alligators. With no natural predators, their populations are able to grow unchecked. Although snake hunts are held throughout the year, they are very well camouflaged and are able to escape detection. Another species of concern is the melaleuca tree, which shades out native plants. At least a tree is easier to find than a python. Lionfish are an exotic species that eats the native populations. Increasing demand for them as a food fish is having limited success in eradicating them.

In the marine habitat, propeller scars form when boaters in shallow water mow submerged vegetation or even scrape the sea floor. Scraping bottom is far worse because it kills vegetation directly. It also kicks up sediment, which shades nearby vegetation, indirectly killing more.

The amazing biodiversity of the Everglades leaves quite a lasting impression on visitors. Unfortunately the human impact leaves an even bigger mark on the landscape and wild residential population. While government agencies from the local level up to federal are spending a lot of money to restore the ecosystems, paradoxically, those same governments are allowing more destruction in other parts of the Everglades. It’s a tragic lesson in how our lifestyle choices have consequences most of us never see or think about.

This week's information, like last week, comes from the National Park Service.

Everglades Ecosystems

This week and next we’re taking a look at the largest subtropical wilderness in America, the Everglades. What we now know as Everglades National Park is just a fraction of the original Everglades, and unfortunately, almost daily it becomes a larger percentage of what of remains today. While what remains is an incredibly diverse variety of habitats, each with their own plants and animals, it is not without its challenges. We’ll explore what’s so special about this place as well as what’s going wrong there.

In its former glory, the Everglades was a huge watershed. Water flowed south from areas north of Lake Okeechobee and drained to the east, west, and south. Some of the water flowed east and west into the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, respectively, through traditional rivers and streams. Some water flowed out through the slow-moving “River of Grass”, as the Everglades became known as. Where the water goes and how much gets there determines the many different ecosystems.

Many other factors go into building an ecosystem, including geology and climate. To me, what gives an ecosystem its character is its plant life. The Everglades has quite the cast of characters, with grasses inhabiting the freshwater sloughs and marl and coastal prairies. Marl prairie is grassland of thin soil formed on top of limestone bedrock. The soil is high in calcite and the bedrock may be exposed in some areas. Rainwater becomes acidic as it dissolves plant material, and even a weak acid can easily dissolve limestone. The bedrock here is very porous. Marl prairies drain slowly.

Marl prairie (Florida Museum of Natural History)

Freshwater sloughs are main arteries for water flowing to the sea. The water moves very slowly and is very grassy. The sloughs are dotted with “islands” of trees and are bounded by the higher and drier marl prairies.

Freshwater slough (NPS)

Mangrove forests line the channels and rivers in the coastal and estuarine areas of the Everglades. Mangroves buffer the coast from storms, collect sediment to form new land, and harbor a vast array of birds, reptiles, mammals, and fishes. See my earlier blog post for more details.

Mangroves (NPS)

Hardwood hammocks are dense wooded areas on slight rises. Temperate and tropical tree species mingle here, and because the surrounding lowlands are either wet or not land at all, fire rarely reaches here. The dense canopy creates a dark and humid environment where ferns thrive.

Hardwood hammock (NPS)

Pine rocklands form on high ground around exposed limestone bedrock. These forests are less dense than hardwood hammocks. Fire keeps the understory open and hardwoods at bay.

Pine rockland (NPS)

Marine areas of Everglades National Park also have plant communities. Seagrasses stabilize the bottom, trap sediments, provide a nursery for fishes, and feed underwater herbivores. Lobsters, crabs, shrimp, corals, and sponges are also found offshore.

Florida Bay marine habitat (NPS)

Next week we'll look more at the plants and animals of the Everglades, as well as challenges the region faces. Information and photos this week come from the National Park Service.

The Good Old Days

This week’s adventure takes a peek at the past. Earth was a vastly different place in the good old days. Dinosaurs ruled and everything was just a bigger, sabre-toothed version of the critters we have today. OK, maybe not the bigger, pointier critters. But scientists can tell us a lot about the way things used to be by looking at the fossil record.

Fossils are like prehistoric pictures. They form when dead organic material is slowly replaced by mineral material. Not everything that ever died was destined to become a fossil; only in certain conditions could the transition take place. Being in a situation without oxygen would’ve helped your cause if you were hoping to fossilize. Oxygen is a requirement for decomposition. If you’re decomposing, you won’t leave behind anything to fossilize. 

Little worm fossils imprinted on a rock

Usually when you think of fossils you think of huge dinosaur bones. There are other types of fossils too. Footprints in dried mud that later turned to stone can be found in Alaska and Africa.

Dinosaur footprint found at Denali National Park (NPS)

Imprints of shells in rock are mountains that used to be sea floor. One wound up in my back yard in Pennsylvania. One day a dead plant was buried in between layers of sediment that hardened into rock. Years later, I squeezed that rock and found black images of that plant inside the rock. Whole trees can be fossilized into petrified wood. Ancient insects trapped in tree sap that hardened into amber are also fossils.

A rock full of shells from my back yard

Plant fossils inside a piece of sedimentary rock

If you want to find some fossils, you don’t need to be a paleontologist or geologist. All it takes is a little luck and some sedimentary rock. Igneous rock is volcanic in nature, so that won’t be likely to preserve any critters. Metamorphic rock is rock that has changed from heat and pressure, so no luck there either. But sedimentary rock is just dirt that compacted into rocks. If you go on a fossil hunt, respect private property and remember not to take anything from or do any damage to national parks.

Petrified wood- looking at the rough bark

Petrified wood- look closely and you can see the grains

Ant trapped in amber (Smithsonian)