In recent decades, populations of important pollinators have been declining throughout much of North America. Beekeepers in the U.S. have been suffering from unusually high rates of colony loss of the domesticated honey bee (Apis mellifera). The abundance of several bumblebee species in the western U.S. has declined dramatically, with at least one species now…
Tag: native plants
The Many Colors of Desert Museum Conservation
As our visitors quickly realize after spending a day at the Desert Museum, we are much more than a museum, or a zoo, or any one thing! Our diverse approach to education and conservation allows for a variety of ways for our community to engage in the work we do and deepen their understanding and…
Bees, Barcodes, and Biodiversity
Desert Museum Volunteers Build Barcode Reference Library of Native Bees By Kim Franklin Eight years ago I launched a small study of the native bee diversity in Las Mipiltas de Cottonwood, a small urban farm in Tucson, Arizona. With the help of a few intrepid volunteers, we began sampling bees every two weeks with pan…
Opo: Olneya tesota
This post is part four of an ongoing series exploring the science and ethnobotany of plants found throughout the Sonoran Desert region. The first four plants in this series are the Mexican trees Taxodium mucronatum (ahuehuete/Montezuma cypress), Randia echinocarpa (papache/papachi), Forchhammeria watsonii (jito), and Olneya tesota (opo/ironwood). For each plant, we are sharing a blog…
Community, Collaboration, and Conservation at the Desert Museum
As we wrap up another year and orient toward a new season, we are happy to share major highlights and exciting developments from our diverse range of conservation projects here at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. It’s been a year packed with community partnerships, collaborative conservation initiatives, and innovative research. Invasive Species and Save Our Saguaros Month ‘Tis the season … to Save…
El Jito: Forchhammeria watsonii
This post is part three of an ongoing series exploring the science and ethnobotany of plants found throughout the Sonoran Desert region. The first four plants in this series are the Mexican trees Taxodium mucronatum (ahuehuete/Montezuma cypress), Randia echinocarpa (papache/papachi), Forchhammeria watsonii (jito), and Olneya tesota (opo/ironwood). For each plant, we are sharing a blog…
Papachi: Randia echinocarpa
This post is part two of an ongoing series exploring the science and ethnobotany of plants found throughout the Sonoran Desert region. The first four plants in this series are the Mexican trees Taxodium mucronatum (ahuehuete/Montezuma cypress), Randia echinocarpa (papache/papachi), Forchhammeria watsonii (jito), and Olneya tesota (opo/ironwood). For each plant, we are sharing a blog…
Ahuehuete: Taxodium mucronatum
This post is part one of an ongoing series exploring the science and ethnobotany of plants found throughout the Sonoran Desert region. The first four plants in this series are the Mexican trees Taxodium mucronatum (ahuehuete/Montezuma cypress), Randia echinocarpa (papache/papachi), Forchhammeria watsonii (jito), and Olneya tesota (opo/ironwood). For each plant, we are sharing a blog…
Desert Mycorrhizae: A Plantiful Partnership
By Jack Dash In a previous blog post we discussed some of the mushrooms commonly encountered in the Sonoran Desert. Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of fungi (think of an apple on an apple tree) and are often visible above ground. But not all fungi produce visible mushrooms like macrofungi do. In this post we’ll…
Mushrooms of the Tucson Basin
By Jack Dash The Sonoran Desert is known for its strange and wonderful organisms like giant saguaro cacti, resilient desert tortoises, scavenging vultures, venomous Gila monsters and rattlesnakes, and so many more. But did you know the desert is also home to a variety of fungi? In fact, you’ll find fungi everywhere, from deserts to…
Desert Diaries 