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Many plants older than dinosaurs face extinction
- pvaldes 5y agoPlants are a special group. They can be common and extinct at the same time. Some because exist only in gardens and collections, but we should take in mind also that a 1 year old ash and a 500 year old ash are totally different ecosystems. the first is very common, the second is impossible to find in most areas and the very rich pool of species that the old tree support could have vanished long time ago from the area. We should treat them as different (eco?)-species or something. We need a category for that beyond the specific one. Cycas in a pot and 1000 years old Cycas are totally different things.
- totetsu 5y agoIs that the what the phrase functionally extinct is used for?
- pvaldes 5y agoFunctionally extinct is when the last remaining individuals of a species are too old to reproduce or don't have any place suitable to live anymore, or all the specimens from one sex are gone and is not a clonal species. Californian porpoise would be a good example.
- contingencies 5y agoI grew up with cycads in Australia and just contributed the first iNat photograph of a rare wild cycad[X] here in China a few months ago. Once you start looking at biology properly you will note there are endangered species in most parts of the world. It's such a shame. Please, if you have land try to protect remnant vegetation and restore endemic biodiversity. It aint coming back or hanging around unless we all put some effort in. I recommend Alba: A Wildlife Adventure[0] for kids, and iNaturalist[1] for adults. [X] https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/105791620 https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/105791620 [0] https://www.albawildlife.com/ https://www.albawildlife.com/ [1] https://www.inaturalist.org/ https://www.inaturalist.org/