Life as we know it is utterly dependent on the earth, but strangely enough, the earth as we know it is equally dependent on life. We all know the effects man has had on our desert and, indeed, the whole earth. We sometimes forget, though, that other life has changed the world even more than we have.
The very oxygen that we require for life would be absent from our
atmosphere were it not for cyanobacteria releasing it as a waste product of
photosynthesis, starting several billion years ago. Much of the limestone so common to
our desert mountains is a direct result of marine organisms depositing their calcareous
shells on ocean floors. Even the nature of soil itself, often considered as mere dirt,
in reality is a complex mixture of minerals, remnants of dead organisms, and a host of
living things. Our mountains are besieged by the natural forces of water, sun, and
wind. These agents of erosion, however, are aided immeasurably by the activities of
plant roots, lichens, and burrowing animals. Organisms and Earth—an inseparable
joining.
Contributor: Arthur H. Harris, Laboratory for Environmental Biology, Centennial Museum, University of Texas at El Paso.
Desert Diary is a joint production of the Centennial Museum and KTEP National Public Radio at the University of Texas at El Paso.