Duncan & Duncan Wetland and Endangered Species Training (D&D WEST)

10/28/2025

JOIN US IN PROTECTING BATS AROUND THE GLOBE * indicates required Email Address * First Name * Last Name *…

08/19/2025

https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/us-proposes-zero-new-protections-for-traded-wildlife-at-upcoming-cites-cop/

At the end of 2025, representatives from 185 countries will convene in Uzbekistan to discuss the fate of sharks, African hornbills, hyenas, vultures, palm trees and other threatened species. The group’s decisions will, in part, decide the survival and the future of widely traded fauna and flora as...

08/10/2025

Fall hawk migration will be here before you know it - time to study up!

04/07/2025

09/26/2024

The birds know!

09/24/2024

Beautiful sunset

09/24/2024

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08/22/2024

Very cool plant

The ghost pipe (Monotropa uniflora) is not a smoking utensil used by spooky spirits. It's actually a really cool native plant found throughout most of the country.

Don't be fooled. The ghost pipe is not a fungus. Sure, it lacks chlorophyll and every time if steps into a bar it shouts "I'm a fun guy," but that's just ghost pipe trying to be funny. This mushroomy looking plant isn't dependent on light for photosynthesis. So how does it get nutrients and survive?

It's a heterotrophic organism, meaning it has to get its food from an outside source. Ghost pipe saps nutrients and carbohydrates from tree roots through an intermediate source, myccorhizal fungi. So even though ghost pipe isn't a fungi, it uses fungi to get it's nutrients! Brilliant.

Look for this ghostly flower when it blooms from June through September.

Photo at Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge by Dana M. Schelling/USFWS