More alpine.subalpine

Well, you're gonna get more NZ because it's the best stuff TPP has for posting. In general TPP found NZ a bit off-putting.  In many places it has been deforested to within an inch of its life; all those hills upon which sheep now graze were forested. And there are virtually no land mammals, and not even much insect life, so very unlike the tropical forests TPP loves so much.  However now and again they have a winner.  And so it is with the Kea, a largish, alpine/subalpine parrot and much like the Gray Jay in the USA's Rocky mtns, this bird is not even slightly shy.  They have a certain beguiling quality about them, maybe its the way they try to take the rearview mirrors off your car, or how they chortle to themselves in a language seemingly akin to minions.  So it was great to see a few of these birds, close up, and at home so to speak at the top of Arthur's pass parading around like they own the place, and they do.  After the hike down, it was time to have lunch and a drink at the Wobbly Kea Bar & Café.

Dear Flat-landers

Hello, flat-landers. TPP here in British Columbia, Whistler to be exact. The weather has taken a turn to the sunny side, and right now it's hard to say how much sunshine, clear air, alpine hiking, and mountains a man (or woman) can take. It has been quite awhile since the Phactors were hiking in a high alpine zone, and then it was the Swiss Alps. There are a lot of handsome views, including this one, but they do get so mountainous. Unfortunately this time of year the alpine flora is done flowering but fall color is in fine form. Still some of the scenery is just great. You just can't see something like this in the upper midwest except maybe the the NW most corner of Lincolnland (joking). Sooner or later, our return to the maize and soybean desert will have to occur, but at this point, even though resorty things are now closing down until the snow begins to fall, our departure will not be rushed. The F1 reports that the home area has cooled off and some rain has provided relief to our late summer drought. Maybe it will be safe to return, but not until all the Whiskey Jack (nickname of gray jays) beer is gone. 

No escaping upward

Talk about timely; no sooner does the Phactor mention that global warming will cause the extinction of alpine species who cannot migrate any higher to escape the increasing warmth and an article on that topic appears in the NYTimes. As the article highlights this will be particularly a problem in the tropics. My colleagues, the Clarks, have established new study plots in cloud forests atop some of Costa Rica's highest peaks for the very depressing purpose of recording their demise. And atop some of Thailand's highest peaks are very temperate looking "oak" forests, and again they got no where to go to. Sad.

Islands in the sky

Islands have many biological oddities because the organisms there are isolated from those on the mainland and this can have many consequences. Unless you are a biologist you probably don't think about mountains tops and the species living there as islands yet they are. One question of interest is determining how much gene flow exists between populations on different islands, and one of my colleagues, Andrea Kramer, has been examining this by looking at bumblebee (see image) and hummingbird pollinated penstemons, and she found that the bee-pollinated species were more distinct mountain to mountain. This means as you may suspect that birds are better at moving genes greater distances than bees. Genetic diversity on mountain top islands is a particularly critical thing to study because a warming climate pushes alpine species higher, and if the mountain isn't tall enough, that population become extinct, and the islands getter smaller, fewer, and farther apart. Islands in the sky may be one of the places where climate change results in the loss of a lot biological diversity especially those that are highest, the inhabitants of alpine tundra. As a change of pace, alpine tundra will be featured in a few upcoming blogs.

I don't think I'm in Lincoln Land any more.

The Land of Lincoln has many things but topography isn’t one of them. From its lowest point to its highest point, it only differs by 282 m, and since the lowest point is only 85 m above sea level at Karo, the highest point is hardly a hill. Perhaps so many tall buildings were constructed in our largest city as a means of compensating for this topographic inadequacy.

Having lived in these flat lands for some 30 years I have gotten used to the terrain. But I now take extra special pleasure in visiting places with some real topography. Only two hours from Zurich is the alpine tourist village of Braunwald, which is accessible only by a steeply inclined funicular rail from the valley below. While I am certain the walk up would be nice, if not a bit taxing on the legs, it would be worth it for the view. You simply cannot come this far to do research, and not take the time to see the Alps. The domed peak to the right is Piz Russein at 3614 m. So if you stack up 10 of the highest point in LoL on top of each other, the entire stack would just barely exceed this peak.

Of course botanist are always conflicted in such places. We love the scenery, but we keep looking down to spot the alpine flowers that have started to bloom, including the native Crocus albiflorus, which in spite of its name comes in two color morphs.

Now I’m certain that I’m not in LoL anymore.