Nature Notes

By Marfa Public RadioScience Education Life Sciences Nature

Nature Notes episodes

September 10, 2020 The Making of the “Great River”: the Epic Story of the Rio Grande
It’s the lifeline of the Southwest. The Rio Grande flows for almost 2,000 miles, from the snowy San Juan Mountains to subtropical plains and the Gulf of Mexico. Yet most of its journey is through the desert, and its impact … Continue reading → Hosted by for KRTS
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September 03, 2020 Biocrusts: A Hidden World at Our Feet
Its appearance can be intimidating, but West Texas is anything but lifeless. Indeed, this land sustains diverse habitats and ecosystems. Yet there’s one ecosystem here that even seasoned desert explorers are often unaware of. Its inhabitants include the planet’s oldest … Continue reading → Hosted by for KRTS
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August 20, 2020 The Rio Grande Rift: A Tectonic Reality Shaping Landscapes and Life in West Texas
“Beauty is nothing but the beginning of terror,” the poet Rainer Marie Rilke writes, “which we are still just able to endure, and we are so awed because it serenely disdains to annihilate us.” It’s a definition that could have … Continue reading → Hosted by for KRTS
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August 06, 2020 From West Texas to Australia, Probing the Mysteries of “Gypsophilic” Plants
The white sands of the Chihuahuan Desert – which, in the U.S., are found at their namesake national park in New Mexico, and near the Guadalupe Mountains – are rightfully described as “otherworldly.” The gypsum dunes are luminous, hypnotic. But … Continue reading → Hosted by for KRTS
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July 30, 2020 Desert Vampires: Ectoparasites in West Texas
They're a maligned group of creatures, and not entirely without reason. Ticks, fleas, lice and chigger mites fasten themselves to a host to feed – on blood, or, in some cases, dead skin, hair or feathers. In the process, they can be an irritant, and worse: they're second only to mosquitoes as vectors of disease.
You might think you could do without them, but there's no gainsaying their efficiency. These blood-suckers bring remarkable adaptations to their work.
Welcome to the weird, wild world of ectoparasites.
Snakes, spiders and scorpions, sure. But ticks in West Texas?
Chris Ritzi is a Sul Ross State University biologist who specializes in ectoparasites – parasites that ... Hosted by for KRTS
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July 23, 2020 With GIS, and Painstaking Fieldwork, Archeologists Decipher Ancient Desert Trails
Painted pottery, stone tools, rock art on cave walls – these are what come to mind when we think of artifacts of our region's deep human past. But in the study of prehistory here, one of the most exciting recent finds has come in a subtler guise.
During the last decade, archeologists have begun to document trails – prehistoric routes and pathways – in the Chihuahuan Desert. The research relies on new technology – and painstaking fieldwork. And though it's new, it has the potential to shed light on the richness of social relations and ceremonial life, and the ways ancient societies related to this desert-mountain land.
Archeologists have studied ancient trails in the Southwes... Hosted by for KRTS
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July 09, 2020 In West Texas, Summer Brings the Tarantula “Swarm”
Henry Thoreau is a touchstone in environmental thinking, and he pioneered a form of political resistance still employed today. But for the last decade of his life, he was devoted to a quieter endeavor: “phenology,” the study of cyclic and seasonal natural phenomena. If he were living in West Texas, he'd be on the lookout now for one of the region's strangest natural spectacles.
For this episode, we're teaming up with “West Texas Wonders” – a reporting series where listeners ask questions and Marfa Public Radio finds answers. This question comes from listener Liz Lambert, of Marfa and Austin.
“I've noticed a lot of times, particularly in the summer after a rain, you can be... Hosted by for KRTS
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June 18, 2020 Scorpion Stings and Spider Bites in West Texas
There's an old saying that everything in Texas either sticks, pricks, stings or bites you. It's an exaggeration, but West Texas is a thorny land, and, from cacti to tarantulas, our region's iconic inhabitants tend to have a certain edge to them. For many, it's part of the region's appeal.
Bites and stings from spiders and scorpions generally aren't a serious hazard here. But these creatures can trigger a visceral fear, and we can't help but wonder about them. Dr. Sarah Watkins is a professor at El Paso's Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. From the medical vantage, she's the source on all things creepy-crawly.
“I have always been interested in toxicology,” Watkins said. ... Hosted by for KRTS
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June 04, 2020 The Jornada Mogollon: Shedding New Light on an Ancient Chihuahuan Desert Civilization
In the last pages of The Great Gatsby, Nick Carraway, F. Scott Fitzgerald's narrator, imagines North America as first seen through European eyes. For a moment, he imagines, that early sailor “must have held his breath in the presence of this continent... face to face for the last time in history with something commensurate to his capacity for wonder.”
Central to that wonder was the land as blank slate, without history – “a fresh, green breast of the new world,” in Fitzgerald's words. Yet that story was never accurate. People have thrived in every part of the Americas for more than 10,000 years.
West Texas is no exception. Diverse societies have developed, flourished and fade... Hosted by for KRTS
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May 28, 2020 Respect the Rattler: In Rural West Texas, Rattlesnake Awareness is a Must
The human response to potential risk is a complex thing. We can go to extremes – either of panic or denial. Resisting those extremes – being mindful of a hazard, while not being paralyzed by it – is challenging.
Rattlesnakes are far from the greatest West Texas hazard – we're at much greater risk behind the wheel of a vehicle. Even in the desert outback, dehydration and inclement weather are far greater dangers. But rattlers are real, and being snake-bit can be a harrowing, and, in rare cases, life-threatening experience. Educating ourselves is just good sense.
“I got to admit I got no use for rattlers,” Edward Abbey writes in a comic essay. “Like my daddy always sai... Hosted by for KRTS
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Why do rattlesnakes rattle and hummingbirds hum? How do flowers market themselves to pollinators? Why do tarantulas cross the road? Nature Notes investigates questions like these about the natural…