For two slow hours we climbed up a steep rocky slope, and then we reached the foot of the glacier. (si.com)
Pikas — tennis ball - sized critters that whistle at passing hikers and scamper over loose, rocky slopes of the High Sierra and the Rocky Mountains — have disappeared from nearly 30 % of the areas where they were common in the early parts of the 20th century, according to a study released Tuesday. (pikaworks.com)
While the Garry oak meadows on rocky slopes may have looked after themselves, conservation managers have found it difficult to keep conifers from taking over Garry oak savannas on good soils. (scientificamerican.com)