Talking Lizards with Geoff Smith
The unique ecosystem of Southwestern Utah includes bits of the Mojave Desert, the Colorado Plateau, and the Great Basin. Here you can find 18 of the 23 species of lizards in the state of Utah, with some species found nowhere else in the state. Dr. Geoffrey Smith, professor of physiology at Dixie State University, lives in this part of the world for this reason. We talk with him about his work with lizards, in particular the Side-blotched Lizard, which he describes as the most beautiful lizard you’ve ever seen.
Meet the Scientist: Dr. Geoffrey Smith
Dr. Geoffrey Smith is a product of the Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas public school system. Even so, he learned to read and eventually went to the University of Central Arkansas. As an undergraduate he assisted graduate students in the field and led research projects involving turtles. He did his masters project on habitat variables influencing population densities of American alligators on the edge of their range, also at the University of Central Arkansas. Ten years later, he still dreams of alligators. He began his dissertation work in 2012 on the physiological ecology of side-blotched lizards at Utah State University and earned his Ph.D. in 2017. He currently works at a public university in St. George, Utah (the soon-to-be-formerly Dixie State University), where he teaches courses on physiology, reproductive/sexual biology, and evolution. He still engages in scientific research and occasionally scientific journalism. He lives in a rural area with his family, dog, and absolutely no cats. Photo Credit: Joan Meiners
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Interview Transcript - What's Up With Lizards?
What if you came face-to-face with living, breathing dinosaurs, and could investigate their lives? That’s how Dr. Geoffrey Smith, a physiological ecologist at Dixie State University, sees his study of Utah reptiles. This week, we speak with Dr. Smith about desert adaptations, large bladders, and backyard creeks.
Science Moab: What exactly is animal physiology?
Smith: Physiology is how an organism works. Animal physiology is looking at different organ systems and how they operate with each other. With anatomy, you dissect an animal and take it all apart and see where the parts go. But with physiology, I think about live animals. What are they doing? How do animals survive in extreme places? In southwestern Utah, it’s particularly dry, and we don’t have very much cushion for big swings in temperature. So it’s not just extreme heat or cold; it’s the ability to deal with both.
It reminds me of how fragile we are as a species and how fragile life is, especially animals and plants in places like this. They’ve got to find a way to make a living and reproduce and not get eaten by something along the way.
Science Moab: What kinds of lizard species are in Utah?
Smith: We have about 57 turtle, snake, and lizard species. About 44 of them are here in Washington County in southwestern Utah. Twelve or so are only found here and are not found in the rest of the state. And that’s really special. We have the luxury of having the Mojave Desert creep up into the southwestern corner of the state. We also have a good bit of the Colorado Plateau and the Great Basin desert. So this confluence of eco-regions makes for a lot of different types of species.
Science Moab: Do most desert animals you study have similar survival strategies?
Smith: There are really different strategies. For example, I’ve been privileged to work with the Mojave desert tortoise this spring. They stay burrowed for a large proportion of the year. A lot of their lives are spent not doing very much at all.
They also have a really remarkable anatomical and physiological adaptation. They’ve got a gigantic urinary bladder that can hold about a third of their body weight, and they have this really dilute urine. They can drink a ton of water whenever that water is available, and then reabsorb it later on in the year. This is one of the reasons people are discouraged from picking up a desert tortoise, because if you pick it up, it pees all over your feet. Then you set it down, and you leave. But it could be eight weeks before it rains again. This turtle has been carrying around a Camelbak inside its body, and now that’s gone.
But they still have to deal with water, and humidity. And now there are all sorts of novel pressures, like automobiles. Those can really damage the population curve.
Science Moab: Speaking of changes, do different species have different reactions to climate change in southwestern Utah?
Smith: Climate change can have lots of different outcomes for these sorts of species. In fact, for lizards, it might increase their habitable range; they might move into Canada in a couple of decades. However, lots of really interesting things are going to be gone.
We live in a world with elephants and polar bears, and these charismatic megafauna are all on the brink. That’s going to be a loss for everyone. And lots of things probably won’t be able to be studied anymore, because the environment will be beyond what humans can deal with.
Science Moab: What interested you in animal physiology?
Smith: I grew up in Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana, where there were all sorts of lizards and snakes and turtles. So I spent a lot of time in creeks. A lot of kids do that, and a lot of kids grow out of that phase; I continued with it.
I honestly can’t understand how somebody couldn’t get jazzed about these animals. People get so excited about dinosaurs, but we have these living things that are here now, breathing right in front of us. And the question is, what are they doing?
Taking Action in the Colorado River Basin
The Colorado River Basin provides water for communities across the West, from the Front Range of Colorado to the coast of California. Increase in use, along with climate change, have resulted in extremely low water levels for the Colorado River Basin and its reservoirs. We speak with Brian Richter about the hazards of such low water levels and what is being done to mitigate the risks.
Meet the Scientist: Brian Richter
Brian Richter has been a global leader in water science and conservation for more than 30 years. He is the president of Sustainable Waters, a global organization focused on water scarcity challenges, where he promotes sustainable water use and management with governments, corporations, universities, and local communities. He previously served as Director of the Global Water Program of The Nature Conservancy, an international conservation organization. Brian has consulted on more than 170 water projects worldwide. He serves as a water advisor to some of the world’s largest corporations, investment banks, and the United Nations, and has testified before the U.S. Congress on multiple occasions. He teaches Water Sustainability at the University of Virginia.
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Interview Transcript - Taking Action in the Colorado River Basin
What do Colorado’s Front Range and the Californian coast have in common? They’re both fed by the Colorado River, one of the country’s most massive waterways. Despite its size, the river and its reservoirs have reached perilously low water levels due to increased use and the impacts of climate change. This week, we speak with Brian Richter, the president of Sustainable Waters, about the hazards of such limited water and how the Southwest is responding.
Science Moab: Where does Colorado River water come from, and who’s using it?
Richter: More than 90% of all the water that flows through the Colorado River comes from snowmelt in the Rocky Mountains. The biggest user by far is irrigated agriculture; they take about half of the river, and then cities take another quarter. Of the remaining quarter, part goes to Mexico, and then part of it is lost to evaporation.
This usage is partially laid out by the 1922 Colorado River Compact, which divides the water in the Colorado River between “Upper Basin” states — Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, and New Mexico — and “Lower Basin” states, which are California, Arizona, and Nevada. Moreover, the Colorado River Compact requires that the Upper Basin must send a fixed volume of water downstream from Lake Powell every year for the Lower Basin to use.
Science Moab: At the start of 2021, Lake Powell was at 41% of its capacity. Why should we be so concerned that Lake Powell levels continue to fall to all-time lows?
Richter: Lake Powell serves three really important benefits. One is that it generates hydropower from the Glen Canyon Dam, which provides electricity throughout the southwestern United States. Two, Lake Powell is important for tourism, which is impacted by falling water levels. But by far the biggest concern is that if Lake Powell drops by another 85 feet — and for reference, the lake level dropped by more than 30 feet [in 2020] — then the lake will drop below the hydropower outlets, so all the electricity production out of Glen Canyon Dam will stop. But even worse is that it will become physically impossible to move enough water into the Lower Basin states to provide for their water needs.
If we end up in that situation, it’s going to cause a crisis. It’s almost certain that the Lower Basin states would issue a “compact call,” forcing the Upper Basin states to drastically and rapidly reduce their water use to send more water downstream. And remarkably, some of the first users getting cut off in that scenario are the big cities: Denver, Colorado Springs, Albuquerque. And this cascade would all start with Lake Powell dropping too low.
Science Moab: Can you explain how climate change has accelerated this looming issue?
Richter: More than 90% of the water in the Colorado River comes from melting snow in the Rockies. But instead of melting and draining into the river, the snowpack is now evaporating to a much greater extent because of the warmer temperatures. Climate scientists are now estimating that during the past two decades, that’s caused the river flow to decrease by about 10%.
Science Moab: How do we respond?
Richter: We have to reduce how much water we’re using. It’s as simple as that. The good news is that the big cities and the Lower Basin states have been doing a terrific job in reducing their use.
The really critical problem at this point is that the Upper Basin states haven’t made any progress in reducing their use. There’s been a lot of talk about the need to do so, but there hasn’t been any action. It’s also time to substantially reduce how much water is being used for farming.
Science Moab: Given all the risks associated with Lake Powell drying up, why do you think the levels got so low before any red flags were raised?
Richter: My observation has been that people don’t seem to respond to water problems until they get hurt pretty badly. I wish that wasn’t true, and I hope the managers of the Colorado River will start acting boldly enough to avert a horrific disaster. Understandably, they’re careful not to sound the alarm too early. But now it’s very, very clear that they need to do something big and they need to do it quickly.
To learn more and listen to the rest of Brian Richter’s interview, visit sciencemoab.org/radio. This interview has been edited for clarity.
