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A comparison of the control and reduced sand leaves showed that removing sand doubled the damage by a variety of insect and snail herbivores. Leaves with added sand had less damage than the control group. Clearly, snail and insect herbivory is reduced by increasing levels of sand on leaves and stems.

It is comfortable to expect that wilderness areas will remain unchanged forever, but that is a naïve notion inappropriate to our times.

Last May, I went to the Maze District in Canyonlands National Park to enjoy its unique scenery unusual natural history. On two epic hikes, we encountered a somewhat rare species of milkweed that has turned out to be unusual.

Biological control of pest species evokes both high hopes and deep fears. On the one hand, one might achieve a simple, efficient and economic solution to a problem. On the other hand, the control agent may switch from its intended host to one or several unintended native species.

We have been immersed in a large and prolonged migration of painted lady butterflies. On a small scale, it does not appear to be a migration, for the flight of individual butterflies appears undisciplined and erratic, unlikely to be a purposeful movement to a common destination.

I have been to the area in Utah now designated as the Bears Ears National Monument many times, and each time I was thrilled with the physical environment, for the canyons are deep and intricately sculpted by wind and water while delicate spires, immense buttes and long, high ridges create a unique, romantic landscape.

Ouray’s amphitheater is formed by walls of rich red sandstone draped with the deep green of several species of conifers, but now, the magnificent amphitheater is sullied with the red of dying white fir, Abies concolor. Another bark beetle epidemic has begun.

I had chosen a dispersed camping site on the Uncompahgre Plateau for its proximity to a small reservoir and a large meadow. But when I drove into the site, I found it was littered, not with refuse, but with tops of subalpine firs.

An amplectic pair of treehoppers, Telamona monticola, was on a CU sidewalk beneath a swamp oak tree, Quercus bicolor. I surmised that they tumbled from the tree while delicately adjusting their positions. I collected the treehoppers to photograph them and 7 hours later they were still amplectic.

Desert moss lacks many adaptations that allow plants to survive in the desert, so why is it so successful?