TPW Magazine — The New Natives
Some things never change.
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There’s a provocative article in the July issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine I want to tell you about. In it, author Russell Roe essentially explores evolution.
He writes that the mix of plants and animals you see around you is not what people saw 100 years ago, and it won’t be what people will see 100 years from now. He asks us to consider that “99.99 percent of all species that have lived on Earth have gone extinct.”
This thought-provoking article explains how humans are accelerating ecological change by removing established species, introducing new species, and by diverting the flow of water, among other things. He writes that by doing so, humans are rapidly changing the playing field for life in Texas.
In the article The New Natives [changed to New in Town] in the July issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife Magazine, Russell Roe tells readers it’s difficult to untangle the web of cause-and-effect that led to the mix of species we see today, adding that iconic species that once defined the character of natural regions have been lost not only from the landscape, but also from the collective memory of generations of Texans.
He closes the article by putting the spotlight on three of Texas’ iconic species to illustrate how they have changed and adapted over time.
Find The New Natives in the July issue of Texas Parks and Wildlife magazine is on newsstands now.
For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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