What’s in an Ecotone? Lichens living on the edge…
An ecotone is a transition zone between two ecological systems. Ecotones can range in size: in some places ecotones are wide (e.g. forest – grassland ecotones), in other places they are quite narrow (e.g. riparian – arid shrub steppe). In the ecotone, habitats from each ecosystem form a mixed patchy mosaic, often with species assemblages […]
Northern Mojave Lichens: Part I — Interesting notes and Yucca People
Last April, Jason and I surveyed lichens in the northern Mojave. It’s the second field season of a three year study involving lichen biodiversity along the ecotone of the Great Basin and Mojave Deserts in Southern Nevada. And what did we find? Lichens, yucca people, bizarre geology, and a new rock climbing area that’s being […]
Open Source GIS software and Remote Sensing for Ecologists
Why remote sensing? Sure there’s something odd about satellites looking down on us everyday, a bit unsettling from a socio-political perspective. But from an ecological perspective, its a game changer, in a very good way. Since the 1970s, NASA has been recording the earths surface at a resolution of about 1km. Thats large enough to […]
