[EN]

The fragile strenght of Nature

 

Forests, steppes, mountains, rivers, deserts, lakes, dunes, oceans... diverse habitats, each with its specific characteristics and its interactions network. The laws of common sense dictate that only the strong and resilient species survive in the more arid regions, but will this really be so?

 

In the brutal pressures of the ocean trenches survive fish of such delicate forms that their bodies are transparent, in the scorching sands of the deserts we can find small and fragile lizards, in the inhospitable Chinese mountains still resists a declining population of Pikas - a small and "cute" rabbit related mammal. These, among many other examples, are the demonstration that in nature physical robustness is not determinant for survival, however rugged the habitat may be. Rudeness and delicacy coexist and often complement each other.

 

That being said, I must confess that the last thing I expected to find on top of a rocky and rugged mountain range was a fragile butterfly...

 

- Black-eyed Blue (Glaucopsyche melanops)

- Serra da Gardunha - Portugal (15-06-2017)