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<p> In a nutshell, he has devis
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Hi All,
I think John Muir touched on this question with his observation
that "Everything is connected."
The notion that some 'useless' plant may contain the cure for some
disease is a cop out because it implies that, if it were not to contain
some cure then it would indeed be useless. Rare plants or animals may be
on the road to oblivion, waiting for a break or about to become more
common if conditions were to change.
When in doubt about values it helps to read a few passages in "A
Sand County Almanac." and reflect. Or examine the stigma of a Luzula
with a 6x hand lens. Or reflect that arrangement of only four bases on
DNA describes precisely all possible life from day one to eternity.
They all have a story to tell and sometimes one can guess the
essence; ability to disperse propagules to naturally cultivated soil,
ability to survive where other plants can not....ability to conserve
water blown in as snow and make it last a year. But I digress.
I recently came across an example of the unlikely magic which can
surface in nature (American Scientist March April, 1977 The plant animal
interface in freshwater ecosystems. Karen G. Porter:159-170). In one
study, using algae containing radioactive tracer and a closed test
chamber immersed in a eutrophic lake during periods of peak zooplankton
abundance, the grazer zooplankton filtered the test sample 4.69 times
during one day (469%). This rate was I gather measured by the rate at
which radioactive algae became radioactive grazer zooplankton.
And the short answer, less personal than the "What are you good for
?" is "What is anything good for".
Or one could refer to the Ancient Mariner; "He prayeth best who
lovest best All things both great and small; For the good Lord who
loveth us, He made and loveth all."
Dave Webster, Kentville
On 6/18/2019 11:19 AM, John and Nhung wrote:
>
> My response to the “What good are they?” (They being Atlantic Coastal
> plains flora.) was that you never know what sort of medically
> beneficial chemicals are waiting to be discovered in some plant
> species and that the rare lants around our lakes are a tourist
> attraction. (True, eh?)
>
> But I’m slow on the draw. We do need to marshal more arguments.
>
> Re. Brazil and Balsonaro, I cringe. Then I listen to some of the
> complaints some people in Canada make and boy, we may have problems,
> some of ‘em serious, but we had better appreciate what we have and
> we’d better not take it for granted. A lot of us need to look
> outside, and think.
>
> *From:*naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca
> [mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] *On Behalf Of *Richard Stern
> *Sent:* June 18, 2019 11:02 AM
> *To:* NatureNS
> *Subject:* Re: [NatureNS] Bird Habitats
>
> Preaching to the choir ......... I'm sure everyone in this and similar
> groups already feel as I do, that habitat is vital to migratory birds
> all along their migration route, and that I enjoy birds because
> they're interesting, beautiful, challenging to ID and photograph, are
> harbingers of environmental change, etc. etc., and that enjoying the
> great outdoors is pleasurable to middle class people like myself. So
> how do you justify/ explain their value in these terms to somebody
> whose livelihood and that of their family depends on working in a pulp
> mill, or an open pit mine, in NS, when there are no other jobs around,
> or engineering a condo block on the Gulf Coast, or growing his meagre
> crop of wild rice in Venezuela, etc. etc. - all of which are threats
> to the migratory birds that nest here in NS? I ask this because I
> recently had a conversation with someone who works in Brazil, and is a
> supporter of the new president (who is a worse environmentalist than
> Trump), but who told me that all his co-workers support him because he
> promises to improve their standard of living, and the long term
> environment somewhere else on the planet is not really relevant to
> their humdrum and poor quality daily lives, --- and I couldn't think
> of any convincing answers. How do others address this issue?
>
> Richard
>
> --
>
> #################
> Richard Stern,
> Port Williams, NS, Canada
> sternrichard@gmail.com <mailto:sternrichard@gmail.com>
> ###################
>
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<p>Hi All,</p>
<p> I think John Muir touched on this question with his
observation that "Everything is connected." <br>
</p>
<p> The notion that some 'useless' plant may contain the cure for
some disease is a cop out because it implies that, if it were not
to contain some cure then it would indeed be useless. Rare plants
or animals may be on the road to oblivion, waiting for a break or
about to become more common if conditions were to change. <br>
</p>
<p> When in doubt about values it helps to read a few passages in
"A Sand County Almanac." and reflect. Or examine the stigma of a
Luzula with a 6x hand lens. Or reflect that arrangement of only
four bases on DNA describes precisely all possible life from day
one to eternity. <br>
</p>
<p> They all have a story to tell and sometimes one can guess the
essence; ability to disperse propagules to naturally cultivated
soil, ability to survive where other plants can not....ability to
conserve water blown in as snow and make it last a year. But I
digress.</p>
<p> I recently came across an example of the unlikely magic which
can surface in nature (American Scientist March April, 1977 The
plant animal interface in freshwater ecosystems. Karen G.
Porter:159-170). In one study, using algae containing radioactive
tracer and a closed test chamber immersed in a eutrophic lake
during periods of peak zooplankton abundance, the grazer
zooplankton filtered the test sample 4.69 times during one day
(469%). This rate was I gather measured by the rate at which
radioactive algae became radioactive grazer zooplankton.</p>
<p> And the short answer, less personal than the "What are you
good for ?" is "What is anything good for".</p>
<p> Or one could refer to the Ancient Mariner; "He prayeth best
who lovest best All things both great and small; For the good Lord
who loveth us, He made and loveth all."</p>
<p>Dave Webster, Kentville<br>
</p>
<p> <br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 6/18/2019 11:19 AM, John and Nhung
wrote:<br>
</div>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">My
response to the “What good are they?” (They being Atlantic
Coastal plains flora.) was that you never know what sort of
medically beneficial chemicals are waiting to be discovered
in some plant species and that the rare lants around our
lakes are a tourist attraction. (True, eh?) <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">But
I’m slow on the draw. We do need to marshal more arguments.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Re.
Brazil and Balsonaro, I cringe. Then I listen to some of
the complaints some people in Canada make and boy, we may
have problems, some of ‘em serious, but we had better
appreciate what we have and we’d better not take it for
granted. A lot of us need to look outside, and think.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif""
lang="EN-US">From:</span></b><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif""
lang="EN-US"> naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca
[mailto:naturens-owner@chebucto.ns.ca] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Richard
Stern<br>
<b>Sent:</b> June 18, 2019 11:02 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> NatureNS<br>
<b>Subject:</b> Re: [NatureNS] Bird Habitats<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Preaching to the choir ......... I'm
sure everyone in this and similar groups already feel as
I do, that habitat is vital to migratory birds all along
their migration route, and that I enjoy birds because
they're interesting, beautiful, challenging to ID and
photograph, are harbingers of environmental change, etc.
etc., and that enjoying the great outdoors is
pleasurable to middle class people like myself. So how
do you justify/ explain their value in these terms to
somebody whose livelihood and that of their family
depends on working in a pulp mill, or an open pit mine,
in NS, when there are no other jobs around, or
engineering a condo block on the Gulf Coast, or growing
his meagre crop of wild rice in Venezuela, etc. etc. -
all of which are threats to the migratory birds that
nest here in NS? I ask this because I recently had a
conversation with someone who works in Brazil, and is a
supporter of the new president (who is a worse
environmentalist than Trump), but who told me that all
his co-workers support him because he promises to
improve their standard of living, and the long term
environment somewhere else on the planet is not really
relevant to their humdrum and poor quality daily lives,
--- and I couldn't think of any convincing answers. How
do others address this issue?<o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">Richard<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">-- <o:p></o:p></p>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal">#################<br>
Richard Stern, <br>
Port Williams, NS, Canada<br>
<a href="mailto:sternrichard@gmail.com"
target="_blank" moz-do-not-send="true">sternrichard@gmail.com</a><br>
###################<o:p></o:p></p>
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