4 ms·
1000 wild ones. There's much more in captivity than in the wild. They evolved to be quite dependent on the unique agricultural islands in the Valley of Mexico
by culi 6mo ago
1000 wild ones. There's much more in captivity than in the wild.
They evolved to be quite dependent on the unique agricultural islands in the Valley of Mexico called Chinampas. These were drained by the colonizers. Which is why Mexico City is now facing a severe water crisis and also why these creatures are endangered
- mikestew 6mo agoThanks, that's the clarification I was not getting from TFA.
- ZeWaka 6mo agoAlso why the whole region has so many sinkhole and similar drainage problems - it's literally built on a lake.
- culi 6mo agoYup. A lake that used to fuel the single most productive agricultural system humans have ever practiced. It's sad but there is a strong indigenous movement to bring them back. The axolotl actually became a major symbol of indigenous resistance because of this movement
- trhway 6mo agoHow it was (a great interactive 3d reconstruction) https://tenochtitlan.thomaskole.nl/ https://tenochtitlan.thomaskole.nl/
- culi 6mo agoThis is awesome, thanks for sharing. Andrew Wilson, who works with the United Nations World Food Program, also made an in-depth minidoc on them: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86gyW0vUmVs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86gyW0vUmVs
- palata 6mo agoWow this is amazing. Thank you!
- trhway 6mo agoThanks to the author and HN - it was posted here sometime ago, and being that impressive it naturally stuck in my memory like i'm sure now it will in yours :)
- deleted 6mo ago[deleted]
- ch4s3 6mo ago> the single most productive agricultural system humans have ever practiced This is simply not true. The highiest maize yield per hectare I can find anywhere online for chinampas is less than half the 13.5 metric tons per hectare that farmers get in Iowa. The more reputable numbers are less than 1/4 of that. It's probably true that they were among the most productive pre-modern agricultural plots which is a great achievement, but there's no need to make things up.
- zeckalpha 6mo agoHow much fertilizer does the Iowan farmer need to add to their field to achieve that? How many years can they maintain that yield without eroding the soil?
- UncleOxidant 6mo agoHow many years can they maintain that without petroleum inputs?
- ch4s3 6mo agoAmmonia can be generated through electrolysis as feed-stock for Haber-Bosch to get nitrogen, so literally forever. The reason we use petroleum is because it's currently cheaper than solar PV electrolysis.
- UncleOxidant 6mo agoSure, but it would take some time to transition to ramp up production to the scale required by world-scale agriculture. We're using petroleum for this because it was cheap & easy. Not saying we can't transition, but it will take time.
- ch4s3 6mo agoRight, but it's possible with existing tech and there's no scenario where oil disappears all at once. Its a highly geographically distributed resource.
- kitsune1 6mo ago[dead]
- ch4s3 6mo agoLake Texcoco was only partially drained by the Spanish. The big project to drain the lake was undertaken by President Porfirio Díaz in the early 1900s. > Which is why Mexico City is now facing a severe water crisis No it isn't. Mexico city has over extracted ground water for domestic and industrial use and is facing a drought, that's why they have a water crisis. It has nothing to do with the Spanish in the 17th century. You're spouting a lot of a historical nonsense in this thread.