Nature Notes

Wild tepary beans thrive in the borderland mountains – including in El Paso’s Franklin Mountains. These remarkably hardy West Texas legumes could play a role in making common beans more drought- and heat-tolerant.

Lauren Bussiere is the head of collections at the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory, or TARL. She’s investigating more than 800 fiber artifacts collected in West Texas almost a century ago. Her project could shed new light on our region’s prehistory. It’s also opening new connections between her institution, which is charged with holding prehistoric artifacts, and the descendants of the peop...

The Pecos River is the Rio Grande’s longest tributary, and it’s famously the threshold of the West. It’s also among the most endangered rivers in the United States.

In “Living with Javelinas: Multispecies Conviviality in Texas,” forthcoming from UT Press, anthropologist Adam Johnson explores how people can coexist thoughtfully with wildlife, with the iconic borderlands creatures as the case study.

Rock rattlers are small, rarely exceeding 2 ½ feet. Their coloration reflects their environment. Rock rattlers in limestone landscapes are typically light grey, while those found in the Davis Mountain are often pink.

Alpha-gal Syndrome is a potentially dangerous allergy to red meat, and it’s transmitted by the lone star tick. The tick gets its name not from our state, but from the single white spot found on the backs of females.

The American West is slowly being torn apart by tectonic forces. One element of this “extension” is the Rio Grande Rift, a growing rip in the continent, traced by the river itself, from Colorado to Big Bend.

The Trump administration’s planned 30-foot-high border wall, stretching more than 160 miles from Hudspeth County to the western boundary of Big Bend Ranch State Park, will impact a landscape as wild as any in Texas, with profound impacts for both desert wildlife and desert science.

How will the Trump administration’s new border-infrastructure projects impact these bears? Scientists at Alpine’s Borderlands Research Institute, or BRI, are seeking answers to this timely question.

In the coming months, the Trump administration’s construction of border barriers could impact hundreds, even thousands, of archeological sites in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands, where the Pecos River and Devils River join the Rio Grande

The Trump administration’s plans for an unprecedented expansion of border-policing infrastructure in Big Bend have also triggered an ambitious scientific initiative. The Big Bend Borderlands BioBlitz aims to document the biodiversity here before it’s damaged or destroyed.

Alpine geologist Jesse Kelsch is seeking insight into the groundwater that sustains the San Solomon Springs as part of her broader research into the region’s aquifers.

August 5th to 7th, the Trans-Pecos Wildlife Conference will bring together landowners and scientists – to explore practical solutions for sustaining our region’s wild creatures.

Hueco Tanks, east of El Paso, will always inspire wonder. Its red volcanic mountains create a desert oasis. And the prehistoric imagery painted on its cliffs and cave walls is deeply evocative.

Far West Texas is home to several species of azure-hued avians. Some of these bird species are full-time residents, while others are summering now in our region.

Each spring, hepatic tanagers journey from as far away as Central America to the Chisos, Davis and Guadalupe mountains, to breed in the Ponderosa pine forests of these West Texas sky-island ranges.

Scaled quail – also known as blue quail and “cottontops” – are quintessential creatures of the arid grasslands and the dominant quail species in West Texas. Researchers at Alpine’s Borderlands Research Institute are learing how adaptable these seemingly vulnerable creatures are.

Montezuma quail are an avian conundrum. They’re among the most visually stunning birds in Far West Texas: The males have sky-blue bills, black-and-white striped faces and chestnut bellies covered in white polka dots. But they’re also masters of concealment. You could spend a lifetime here and never see one.

Robert Anderson, a senior research scientist at the Canadian Museum of Nature, has journeyed from South America to Southeast Asia studying this group of insects. And in our region, he’s discovered creatures previously unknown to science, including some found nowhere else on Earth.

An interstate might seem an arbitrary boundary. But an attentive West Texas traveler driving north of Interstate 10, on Highway 54 from Van Horn to the Guadalupe Mountains, can see they’ve entered a different landscape.

How can we limit our contamination of other planets? And how can we prevent bringing potentially harmful life forms back home? To address those questions, scientists have turned to an unlikely place: Carlsbad Cavern.

On April 25th, Alpine’s Front Street Books hosts an event to celebrate the publication of “Wild Women for Good,” from Texas A&M University Press.

PJ woodlands are the Southwest’s dominant forest type, covering 100 million acres here. Pinyons typically top out at 20 feet – and alongside diverse junipers, they thrive in dry, rocky places where Ponderosas, firs and aspens can’t make it.

West Texas avians have passionate local advocates. That includes Trans-Pecos Bird Conservation, or TBC. This small but potent cadre of bird experts is cultivating the bonds between our region’s birds and its people.

Kachina dolls are an iconic Indigenous art form. Their craftsmanship is striking, and non-Native people have long admired and sought to acquire them. But they’re just one element in an encompassing religious outlook.