"Linnaeus classified lichens as plants — a notion no one questioned until Peter Rabbit creator Beatrix Potter undertook her little-known scientific studies and made the revolutionary discovery that lichens are part algae and part fungus, with a sprinkling a bacteria"
(via @Maria Popova)

Glad to see another connoisseur of urban, and other under-appreciated, ecosystems at my favorite local slice of slag heaven!

#CrimePaysButBotanyDoesn't @joeysantore.bsky.social #WildCalumet #urbannature

Is there a killdeer cam at the Minneapolis airport? If not there should be.
urban ecology, soft fascination, bird behavior - a mesmerizing tableau.
#MSP #gateh12

articulating the critical importance of basic science and particularly model organisms, like my favorite little buddy A. thaliana, for a new generation!

Friesner, et al. 2025, In defense of funding foundational plant science. The Plant Cell. Volume 37: Issue 5, doi.org/10.1093/plce...

chatty amphibians calling while looking out over Cowles Bog wetland, in its vibrant brown winter coat.

sandhill cranes circling close overhead a copse of trees

had a joyful morning Saturday at Cowles Bog in Indiana Dunes. Sound on!

“pulsing
chanting from the tree tops
sending
forth their
booming
boisterous
joyful noise!”
-Paul Fleischman, Joyful Noise
(about cicadas, but still lovely)


#GreatNearby #WildCalumet #CowlesBog #SandhillCranes

*Extirpated species alert!* Led by botanist Nathanael Pilla, we found a plant species on the Southeast Side of Chicago last cataloged in the 1800s! The Calumet slag barrens are amazing sites of diversity.
Check it out (link in reply): The Rediscovery of Eleocharis geniculata