3 ms·
I still think we fail to perceive entire orders of life, in the air around and above us, in the earth below us; as well as having a very tenuous grasp of the me
by h2odragon 4y ago
I still think we fail to perceive entire orders of life, in the air around and above us, in the earth below us; as well as having a very tenuous grasp of the mechanics of the ecosystems on our scales that we can observe and participate in.
Surely if we're going by weight then the bacteria rule the earth, right?
- __MatrixMan__ 4y agoYes. We're just their department of transportation.
- Mistletoe 4y agohttps://www.vox.com/platform/amp/science-and-health/2018/5/29/17386112/all-life-on-earth-chart-weight-plants-animals-pnas https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/science-and-health/2018/5/2... Looks like plants outweigh it all by a lot.
- jvm___ 4y agoLichen covers ~7% of the surface area of Earth. "They can even live inside solid rock, growing between the grains. It is estimated that 6–8% of Earth's land surface is covered by lichens. There are about 20,000 known species."
- m3047 4y agoThe fun thing about lichens is that they can carry multiple copies of DNA and switch between them at pivotal moments. I dunno how. My mother's PhD was in this many many years ago.
- h2odragon 4y ago> The fun thing about lichens I really love conversations that can include phrases like this.
- Mistletoe 4y agoThat’s neat but lichens aren’t plants.
- JoeAltmaier 4y agoApparently its anaerobic bacteria in the crust below us. Because they don't just have the thin crust to inhabit, they have miles of 3D rock.