BREATH (2024)

here are descriptions for the 2024 illustrations. all species are referred to with common names. though scientific names minimize confusion, common names are used here for ease of recognizing familiar plants and animals.



jan12 - feb9 - cyanobacteria + wombs

cyanobacteria are the creatures responsible for creating most of the oxygen in our atmosphere, enabling all animals to exist. they inhabit any body of water that is warmer than 41ºF/5ºC, usually in enormous numbers. cyanobacteria, and all plants, take in carbon dioxide (CO2) and produce oxygen as a byproduct of photosynthesis (the process of turning sunlight into energy). they also consume oxygen for their energy needs, and release CO2 as a byproduct of that. so their oxygen production from photosynthesis provides enough oxygen for everyone in this world, including for plants themselves.

in the womb, babies receive oxygen through their parent. inhaled oxygen travels in the blood to the uterine vessels - to the placenta - to the fetus - via the umbilical vein. this oxygenated blood does not go to the lungs which are dormant, but directly through the liver and heart. the de-oxygenated blood returns through the umbilical artery and is dispelled by the parent.

feb10-mar10 - wind, seeds, bird songs

wind as breath of earth. though it is not technically gas exchange of oxygen and CO2, it is a rhythmic airflow pattern which supports life (and sometimes threatens life). it transports seeds, spores, nutrients across land and oceans. it prunes trees and other plants. it decomposes. wind is caused by shifts in temperature on the earth’s surface, in response to the heat of the sun. changes in temperature bring shifts in atmospheric pressure. air flows from areas of high pressure to fill in areas of low pressure. that is wind. in wetter places, these shifts are often due to the different heat absorption rates of land vs water. in the desert, the sun heats the land so dramatically during the day that hot air rises and cold air flows down from the mountains or surrounding areas to replace it.

a bird’s respiratory system is fit to support the enormous needs for oxygen in flight. in addition to two small lungs, birds have nine thin-walled air sacs surrounding the lungs, which serve as bellows for extra air. this allows for a continuous stream of air to pass through their lungs in a 1-way flow. this constant flow is why some birds, like this wren, can sing high volume and for a long time. because air enters the first set of air sacs first, a bird’s inhale functions to expel breath from the lungs. upon exhale, air is pushed into the lungs from the first set of air sacs.

mar11-apr8 - pupfish + lemna + birth breath

fish breathe by taking water into an open mouth, and closing the mouth to force the water over the gills. oxygen is absorbed in the gills. blood in the gills flows countercurrent - the opposite direction of the water flowing in. this optimizes the gas exchange. CO2 is released, and the operculum opens to allow the CO2-filled water to exit. desert pupfish can “hold their breath” for up to 5 hours, which helps with existing in a dramatically fluctuating desert environment. they slowly break down inhaled oxygen, and can alternate between aerobic and anaerobic respiration.

plants use tiny stomata to breathe. many plants’ stomata are on the underside of leaves, but the stomata of duckweed are located atop the leaf. the stomata of many floating aquatic plants have stomata which are fixed open and never close, because they are not at risk of losing too much moisture through their stomata.  these plants provide much oxygen to other aquatic beings. 

we enter the world by inhaling. at birth, the lungs, heart, brain, and chest muscles must instantaneously shift from living in fluid to living in air. the shift is the most dramatic for the lungs. the lungs have been dormant, saturated sponge-like and floating in amniotic fluid, as blood has been going directly to the liver and heart. at the moment of birth, these ducts to the liver and heart close, and blood is redirected to the lungs to pick up oxygen. the brain must immediately send the first signal to the muscles to inhale. with the first breath, the alveoli of the lungs pop open, suck up the amniotic fluid in the lungs, and immediately begin extracting oxygen from the atmosphere. this epic transition happens in the first few seconds after birth.

apr9-may8 - chrysalis + eggs

the egg has thousands of pores allowing diffusion of oxygen in and CO2 out, and the chick to breathe. the oxygen collects in a membranous sac called the allantois which connects to the inner surface of the egg and to the chick’s gut. 

the gulf fritillary butterfly (whose life is intertwined with the passionflower vine) breathes through spiracles in the chrysalis. these pores (discussed more in cycle of july 6) open and close, and oxygen diffuses directly into organs around the body. 

may9-jun6 - stomata + roots + snail

breathing in plants happens via stomata - pores on the surface surrounded by two cells (guard cells) that open and close like lips, allowing air in and out. stoma is greek for mouth. desert plants open their stomata only at night, to avoid water evaporation in the daylight. during this time they must save up enough CO2 to use for photosynthesis during the day, when stomata are closed. the CO2 is stored in large sacs called vacuoles. this gives cacti and succulents their thick, fleshy stems. at night they are also intaking oxygen, as needed for growth/energy, and releasing CO2. these gases move by diffusion - movement from an area of high concentration to one of low concentration. plants have loosely packed cells with large air spaces, to facilitate this flow. on the left, opuntia’s stomata are closed during daylight. on the right, jojoba’s stomata open for night breathing.

beyond the stomata, plants also take in oxygen at roots, from underground air pockets. 

snail respiration varies across snails. talus snails (land snails of the desert) have a pneumostome– an opening near the front of their body which connects to a single lung, near the top of their shell. a muscle opens and closes this valve.

jun7-jul5 - roadrunner + kangaroo rat 

when roadrunners and many other birds breathe with an open mouth, they are cooling themselves off by “gular fluttering”.  they flutter the moist tissue in the throat, and the unfeathered area beneath the chin, and rapidly breathe. the moisture evaporates with the breath, which cools the bird, swamp cooler style.

kangaroo rats have specialized nasal passages with extra large surface area that reabsorb moisture from their breath as they exhale. they aerate the soil by burrowing.

jul6-aug4 - snake + ants + gopher

snakes do not have a diaphragm, and breathe by expanding ribs and engaging other muscles. in rattlers and most snakes, the left lung is rudimentary, and the long right lung spans much of their body. inspiration is an active process (muscles contract), expiration is passive (muscles relax). air moves into the trachea through the glottis, a small opening in the lower part of the mouth. when eating, they can move the glottis outside their mouth to continue breathing while their throat is full of food.

ants (and most insects) breathe through the passive flowing of air, moving in a complex system of tubes all throughout their body. small openings called spiracles line their sides. these connect to ever branching tubes called tracheae which weave through out their entire body, delivering oxygen directly to organs and carrying CO2 away. spiracles are lined with fine hairs which filter particles from the air, and they open and close valves as needed. this system of passive breathing only works for tiny creatures. for anyone larger, the tracheae become too long for air to diffuse along them quickly enough. this is said to be why insects can not grow larger - they can not take in enough oxygen to support a larger brain.

pocket gophers, like all mammals, breathe using a diaphragm to open their chest cavity and bring in air. all mammals have a diaphragm, and no other animal has one. pocket gophers aerate the soil while burrowing. they may tunnel up to 200 feet, with their opulently long front claws and teeth.

aug5-sep3 - conifer needles + fungi + moss

ponderosa pine and most conifers breathe through stomata on the underside of needles, in neat parallel rows. stomata are sunken in the needles, and have a waxy cutinized surface for protection, to conserve water in the cold arid winter. this waxy layer is what gives some conifer needles a blue gray hue.

fungi respire like animals – they take in oxygen and release CO2 as byproduct. they absorb oxygen in underground soil pockets through thin-walled hyphae on their mycelium, and through pileipelles, the skins of the fruitbody.

mosses, such as this grimmia, are among the earliest land plants to have stomata, but the stomata are located only on the sporangium- the projecting enclosure where spores are formed. 

sep4-oct2 - algae + frogs + vagus

algae have no stomata, but are constantly breathing through their entire body. in their watery environment, they can take in all the CO2 they need for photosynthesis via simple diffusion. they have no need for stomata. algae store CO2, lessening the amount in the atmosphere. they can consume more CO2 than trees because they grow faster and cover more surface area. they are an ancient ancestor of plants, who developed stomata in order to move out of the water. 

frogs take in oxygen through permeable and delicate skin. the skin must stay moist to take in oxygen, whether by staying underwater or from their own mucus secretions. for times without water, they also have small lungs. the lungs are simple air sacs with little surface area, and are not ideal for extended breathing. they do not have ribs or a diaphragm, so to take a breath they lower the floor of the mouth, causing the throat to expand. nostrils open for air to flow in and fill the cavity in the mouth. nostrils close, the floor of the mouth contracts back up, and air is forced into the lungs. nostrils open again to release air filled with CO2. 

in the bottom right is the vagus nerve. its name means “the wandering nerve” and it is stimulated by deep breathing. it runs from the neck to the belly, innervating + connecting all the major organs. it is thought responsible for the mind/body connection. stimulating it through intentional breathing can improve gut health, lower blood pressure and heart rate, promote relaxation, reduce inflammation, and more. much is still being learned. most or all animals have this nerve.

oct3-nov1 - spiracles + lenticels

butterflies breathe through the passive flow of air through a tracheal system that flows in ever branching tubes thoughout their body. see above, july 6’s cycle describing ants. some butterflies + their favored nectar plants are shown: golden dyssodia + dainty sulfur. desert broom + great purple hairstreak. rabbitbrush + california patch. verbena + funereal duskywing.

trees breathe through their trunks as well as their leaves. the narrow, lens-shaped, horizontal figures on tree trunks (also seen on apples and potatoes), are called lenticels. lenticels, meaning “little windows”, are porous parts through which a tree trunk breathes. all trees have lenticels, but on some trees like aspen, they are more visible.

nov2-dec1 - burrow steam + seed + tortoise

on cold evenings, warm breath may be seen coming from underground burrows. seeds, lying dormant during this season, breathe at a very slow rate. only a small amount of energy is needed, just enough to keep cells alive, but dormant seeds do breathe. consider this when choosing storage containers for seeds. shown are seeds of globemallow, datura, fairy duster, and devil’s claw.

tortoises greatly slow their breath when they hibernate. they do not have a diaphragm and ribs are fused to their shell, so they use muscles inside their shell and neck to draw air into their lungs, through nostrils. the lungs are located at the top of the shell, which is why being flipped is so dangerous for them. 

dec2-dec30 - spadefoot + fire

spadefoots aerate the soil when they burrow in to hibernate. while at rest, breath rate is slower, and breathing happens mostly through the lining of the mouth and through the skin. the lungs are only occasionally filled.

does fire breathe? a poetic question. like animals and fungi, fire intakes oxygen and emits carbon dioxide. without oxygen, fire ends. unlike other life forms, which all require water to exist, water ends fire. fire uses energy and travels through the environment, and ends when there is no more source matter to sustain it. this moonth is a nice time to gaze at a flame / flames, reflect upon this thought. and the ashes too. ~ ~ ~