'One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.' ~ Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida
A collection of our nature observations, thoughts, and ideas
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Susan studies the interdependence between a long-tongued bumble bee, Bombus appositus (Apidae), and a perennial wildflower, Delphinium barbeyi (Ranunculaceae), at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory in Gothic, CO. Bombus appositus acquires most of its food from D. barbeyi, and in return, most of D. barbeyi's pollination services come from B. appositus. Her dissertation research tests how sensitive these species are to changes in each other's abundances. more details...
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Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens, Fouquieriaceae) plants produce hundreds of flowers, which are pollinated by hummingbirds and carpenter bees. Although the plants produce thousands of seeds each year, seedlings are incredibly rare. The seeds germinate easily in the greenhouse, but in the field, most of the seeds are probably consumed by granivores (rodents, birds, and ants), and any seedlings that sprout are probably also consumed by rodents. Finally, the diverse roles of animals in seedling recruitment are all contingent on the timing and intensity of monsoon rainfall events.
To explore the biotic and abiotic conditions necessary for effective seedling establishment, we are monitoring ocotillo seedling recruitment and survival at the Santa Rita Experimental Range, south of Tucson, AZ.
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Native bee communities fluctuate wildly in across the landscape and over time. Although we rely on these bee to pollinate native and agricultural plants, we are only beginning to understand how their populations are connected across the landscape. For example, do nesting or floral resources in one area support bee populations that pollinate plants in adjacent habitats?
To explore how native bee communties are connected across the landscape, we are monitoring native bee communities in pinon juniper habitats in Colorado. We are testing whether bees fluctuate in synchrony through time and across the landscape. We hope to identify habitats that are particularly productive for bees, and which may serve as pollinator 'source' habitats for less productive areas.
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Home gardens provide flowers for the table, tomatoes for the kitchen, homes for beneficial insects, food for visiting birds and bees, and Joy for the Gardener. Why do we love to dig in the dirt? Gardening, like all arts, is an experience that awakens the mind. Exploring why people find joy in gardening is an ongoing pursuit and pleasure of ours.
'Il faut cultiver notre jardin' ~ Candide, Voltaire
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The Art of Memory or 'method of loci' is a memory technique described by the anonymous Latin writer of the 'Ad Herennium' (~84 BC) and by Cicero in 'De oratore' in 55 BC. Both writers were describing methods for structuring memory to remember speeches, and both writers were describing an art that was already known to their listeners. Cicero says the art was invented by the Greek, Simonides of Ceos (in about 520 BC). The Art uses our mind's almost magical ability to retain images in places or locations (originally called 'loci') that we structure for subsequent recall. Our minds become 'wax tablets' for 'inner writing' where we can store, retain, and recall memories. The wax tablets are whatever we choose to create in our minds (or imagination) for holding images. These can be places of any kind we choose (buildings, houses, journeys, walks, and so on).
The Art undoubtedly has been used by every generation from antiquity to the 21st century, and its pragmatic aspects have been demonstrated in numerous works of literature and philosophy, e.g., in the Midaeval imagery of Dante, the Renaissance staging of Shakespeare, and the mnemotechnics of James Joyce in the twentieth century. In 1584, a major controversy over the Art broke out in England when the Puritans attacked it as impious because it called up absurd and obscene thoughts. While the Dominican friars (at least as far back as 1200) and later the Jesuits widely promoted it.
& most recently, the Art has become a tool used by all world class memory masters (e.g., Dominic O'Brien) to demonstrate their Art by memorizing (1) randomly shuffled decks of cards and reciting their order back in minutes (or even seconds for world champions), (2) extremely long digits of numbers (PI to thousands of places for example), and (3) 'ordinary' demonstrations of remembering the names of people filling lecture halls, a daily newspaper, a class lecture, a speech, or simply a grocery shopping or to-do list. From Greece to modern times, the Art has had both practical, literary, and even magical aspects. It works by enhancing our natural capability for retaining images that we deliberately associate with places.
Susan & I are exploring this Art, through our own practices and as a powerful and motivating force in history and literature.'Composition of place. Ignatius Loyola, make haste to help me!' ~ Joyce, Ulysses
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