[HN Gopher] Questions about Trees (2020)
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       Questions about Trees (2020)
        
       Author : baradhiren07
       Score  : 45 points
       Date   : 2021-08-27 05:34 UTC (17 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (bit-player.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (bit-player.org)
        
       | baradhiren07 wrote:
       | This article reminded a friend of "Zero to One" by Peter Thiel.
       | It was an interesting piece to keep in mind and to make some
       | connections while going through the article.
        
       | bee_rider wrote:
       | One note about the trees of Massachusetts is that we chopped 80%
       | of them down in the middle of the 1800's, and then for the next
       | 80 or so years managed the regrowth depending on what type of
       | tree was economically useful. The 1930's aren't that long ago
       | from a tree's point of view I think, so we should suppose they
       | are still in a fairly perturbed state (both in an emotional and a
       | 'different from steady state distribution' sense, I guess).
       | 
       | Anyway, this doesn't really impact the article, which just uses
       | the trees of MA as a framing device (narrative framing, that is,
       | rather than for example house framing). I just thought it was a
       | neat bit of trivia.
        
       | oxymoran wrote:
       | This is very interesting but what about the effects of
       | mycorrhizal networks? I could be mistaken, but I was under the
       | impression that it has been demonstrated that these networks
       | interact with the root system of trees to trade nutrients.
       | Couldn't that sort of thing level the playing field and alter the
       | typical evolutionary processes we would expect?
        
       | unearth3d wrote:
       | Thanks for posting baradhiren07, Brian Hayes is a great find as
       | so many theoretical ecologists are so model-oriented their works
       | and thoughts are not applicable in forest, field or meadow.
       | 
       | "A model is the Marie Kondo version of nature--relentlessly
       | decluttered and tidied up. Sometime important parts get tossed
       | out ... Would we learn more if all those aspects of life in the
       | woods had a place in the equations or the algorithms?"
       | 
       | I often design very large planting schemes and there are some
       | genuinely useful approaches to randomness explored here.
       | 
       | And he's written 'Foolproof, and Other Mathematical Meditations'
       | which I'll be tracking down asap.
        
         | baradhiren07 wrote:
         | I didn't know Brian Hayes has a book too. Thank you for sharing
         | that.
        
       | sillycross wrote:
       | Very interesting article. The discussion on the three models and
       | their own deficiencies are quite interesting.
       | 
       | Niche assembly: every survival must have its own unique edge of
       | advantage. I guess I'm most convinced by this. The counter-
       | argument is "how can every specie has its unique edge?", but it
       | could also be that we have not yet discovered it.
       | 
       | Natural drift: if everyone is equally fit and the system is large
       | enough, then they can all survive (for a long time). But how come
       | is everyone equally fit? The response is "since everyone survived
       | (as we observe), everyone _must_ be equally fit ".. Honestly I'm
       | not convinced by this logic.
       | 
       | Social distancing: trees practice social distancing to defend
       | enemies, so diversity comes in. If tree-killing pests are all
       | staying on one tree and kill its offsprings around it (but cannot
       | kill the original tree since it's too large), then this theory
       | seems plausible. I have no idea if this is true in the forests
       | though..
        
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