He and his students conducted extensive field research in this region, and his dedication to deciphering its bewildering diversity of plant life led to the naming of Cowles Bog in his honor. Thanks to the Ice Age, environments collided and deposited their remnants here at Indiana Dunes. The resulting strange combinations of neighboring plants attracted Cowles' interest. Arctic bearberry grows next to prickly pear cactus, and southern dogwoods grow just over a dune from northern jack pines. Something else puzzled Cowles.
Plant life differs dramatically from dune ridge to dune ridge.
Plants growing near the lake front are not usually found farther inland, and inland trees cannot be found on dunes near the beach. He wondered why. Cowles observed that as plants grow on a site they change it. When pioneer plants have changed the site sufficiently, the way is prepared for other plant species. New plants can now be more successful, so they crowd out the pioneers.