Conservation biologist Priscilla Crawford moved to Oklahoma more than two decades ago to study grasslands. As a scientist with the Oklahoma Biological Survey, she also discovered the state's mountains, forests and rivers.
Now, she's inviting others to go outside.
StateImpact's Chloe Bennett-Steele spoke with Crawford about her book, "A Naturalist's Guide to Oklahoma," published in May.
TRANSCRIPT
Chloe Bennett-Steele: So, first let's talk about why you wrote this book. And you write that when you moved here, between 25 and 28 years ago, you were looking for a guide that tied Oklahoma's natural world together.
Priscilla Crawford: I wrote this book because I think we needed a book in Oklahoma that really celebrated the biodiversity that we have in the state. I want to share with people the amazing plants and animals and landscapes that we have in this state. Because I think a lot of people don't recognize that we have this amazing diversity, I think there’s an unfounded reputation that Oklahoma is boring.
Chloe Bennett-Steele: Oklahoma has 12 EPA-recognized ecoregions. And you write that there aren't clear boundaries between them. They're kind of gradual transitions. Can you talk about Oklahoma's central location and how that position kind of allows us to experience those ecoregions?
Priscilla Crawford: We are in the transition from the eastern deciduous forest to the southwestern grasslands and mesas. The reason why we have the transition is because of a couple of different kinds of meteorological things. Both the precipitation changes from east to west, and then also from the south to the north, we have that temperature gradient, so that helps make this whole area biodiverse.
Chloe Bennett-Steele: In each chapter, you explain how humans have shaped the natural environment. Why was that important for you to include in this book?
Priscilla Crawford: I think it's important to include because humans have impacted the natural world everywhere, all across the globe, and Oklahoma is no exception. And a lot of the books like this that talk about the plants and animals and the landscapes just completely disregard the human impact. But there's a lot of interesting history related to how people have interacted with the landscape in Oklahoma. Before European colonization, there are lots of studies that have shown the interaction of people thousands of years ago, and then the most recent history has impacted the landscape too — agriculture, the city growth — all of those things impact what we're seeing, and it was important to me to include that because so many of these books don't.
Chloe Bennett-Steele: Readers will also learn about their own neighborhoods in this book. So how did you decide to include urban areas in this book about the natural world?
Priscilla Crawford: Well, I think that urban areas are part of our natural world. I don't see a difference between us and the natural world, we are part of it, we are within it, we create our human landscapes, but that's still part of the natural world. And I think that's the first step for people to see the really interesting biodiversity that's like right outside their back door or their front door or in their neighborhood park. I think people have stopped looking at the outside world, sometimes, and disregard what they see. But there's a lot of cool biodiversity that people can find in their own neighborhoods. But then they can also improve the biodiversity with a few simple practices, which I kind of hint at in the book. But there are lots of other great resources out there to encourage people to increase the biodiversity in their yard.
Chloe Bennett-Steele: Is there anything in particular in this book that you think readers who live in Oklahoma might find surprising?
Priscilla Crawford: Almost everybody that I talk to is surprised that we have breeding alligators in the state and that, technically, that very southeastern part of the state is part of the Gulf Coastal Plain, so much more like Louisiana and East Texas than the rest of the state. In general, I think people are surprised at how diverse the state is, because we have over 2,000 plant species in the state. And I guess I'm hoping that this book is, you know, an invitation for people to get out and see cool things, and that's why I put in the back of each chapter, like, where you can go to experience some of these cool ecoregions and places to see some of the plants and animals that I talk about. I want people to appreciate the state more. I mean, I think even people who've lived here a long time are kind of down on Oklahoma occasionally, and I really want this to be a celebration of the biodiversity and really an invitation to people to get out.
Chloe Bennett-Steele: Priscilla Crawford, thank you so much for speaking with me.
Priscilla Crawford: Thank you so much for asking.
This transcript has been edited for clarity and length.
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