#plant populations

[botanyshitposts]

ok this sounds insane but in 2018 i went to a few carnivorous plant talks at the botany conference in minnesota. i got caught up in conversation with one of the guys there who was a huge nepenthes guy who told me a story about another collector in the pacific northwest who'd been buying poached plants, like a huge amount, and eventually got staked out by the fish and wildlife service and arrested and had all his plants seized and went to prison for it. idk if i ever talked about this on this blog before-- i know i liveblogged a lot from that conference but cant remember what all i posted-- but ive avoided talking about it since then because i was never able to find like, news articles or anything covering it, but behold.... we now have proof it was real, and im like 80% sure this was this guy he was talking about. the raid happened in 2016 and they'd been staking them out since 2013. he had nearly 400 plants and had been sourcing many of them from poachers in indonesia and borneo.

remember folks: poaching happens with plants too! it's a huge problem not only in carnvirous plants (nepenthes especially, which this piece is dedicated to talking about) but also in native plant populations in the US, including native carnivorous plant populations (north and south carolina's venus fly traps, california's darlingtonia, and sarracenia from the east coast), native orchids (historically one of the most poached categories), desert plants/cacti/succulents, and slow-growing woody ornamentals (cycads, for example). never buy bare-root plants off ebay or facebook! your best bet is local nurseries (which usually purchase farm-raised plants that do well in a wide range of conditions, and as a result have a healthy population in the wild) or specialty greenhouses (more expensive, but at least in the case of carnivorous plants offer young plants bred from established adult plants in-house, raised in captivity).

#super sad piece fellas like this shit guts me i cant even stress it enough #stories about nepenthes poaching hit different #there are hundreds of species #some are really common and widespread all over indonesia/china/japan/oceania #and some are like. super hyperadapted to one specific ridge on one specific mountain #theyre still being recorded and stuff because theyve speciated so much #so youll have a plant that has like. a max of 15 adults in the population at any given time. literally a nightmare scenario #AND theyre diaceous (there are male plants and female plants). doesnt seem like a problem until you think about the population dynamics #there not only has to be two plants but the plants have to be a male and a female #and people living there have reason to take them. like the poacher interviewed in this article does it to supplement his income #from working at a horrifying rubber production ordeal to feed his wife and kids #and he says everyone in his village does the same for the same reasons #nightmare!! nightmare!! nightmare horrible nightmare world!!! horrible fucking nightmare!!!! #nepenethes #carnivorous plants #poaching #conservation

[achromant]

hello, I just followed for your orctober stuff and scrolled through some of your blog and wanted to ask, what is guild wars 2?

OOOH BOY HERE I GO! ahem.

Guild Wars 2 is a high fantasy MMO, similar to maybe Final Fantasy Online. Guid Wars as a series is about as old as World of Warcraft, but has a much smaller fanbase; mostly because the company behind it, ArenaNet, seems to be allergic to advertisements (it's gotten better since the last two expansions).

These days, the core game is free, with only the expansions costing money. Well, some expansions, as they just throw in older expacs for free now. Even if you start with a free account, you can technically buy an upgrade by just... using ingame currency, which is a WILD concept to me.

Most notable features of the game are probably the character customization, free dyeing of armor, and a few thousand unique armor and weapon skins. Players often joke that the true endgame of GW2 is fashion (and they are RIGHT goddamnit). All five playable races are so ridiculously detailed in lore and design, it's incredible. Sylvari for example are not plain elves, they are full on plant constructs that grow from fruits on the mother tree. Asura are not just gnomes/goblins, they are a highly educated society of geniuses that would openly strive for world domination if it werent for their inherent bureaucratic tendencies.

The mounts in GW2 are among the best you will find anywhere, so much that World of Warcraft just copied some for their Dragonflight expansion.

Guild Wars 2 has a medium sized active player base, smaller than WoW or FFXIV, but they are an amazing community. We have veteran players, including me, who routinely patrol the starter maps to offer advice and maybe some healing to newbies (supported by the ingame mentor system). You might receive random mail from players gifting some cake. There's festivals, community parties, role playing, fashion contests, races and minigames.

If you are a seasoned MMO player, GW2 offers raids and the smaller strike system, which is being constantly expanded. Extreme MMO experts might find the game a bit flat, but that's only superficial. For beginners, I'd say the story is beatifully written. You can explore the open world, meeting players along the way (every map holds around 50-80 player at a time). You can choose any class and complete any content, including endgame. Any class, any race, (almost) any playstyle is viable, and nothing about your build is permanent, you can adjust your whole build on the fly.

Aside from the obvious MMO parts, GW2 also has structured PvP (5 vs 5 players) and the so called World vs World, which is a large scale week-long epic battle of three teams of around 50 players on each side (which btw is not as draining on the CPU as you'd think)

If you plan on giving it a try, I'd be more than happy to give you a more detailed overview of the game. This little chaotic hellhole of an MMO is very dear to my heart <3

This is by the way for ANYONE reading this: If any of you want to try the game, hit me up. DM me here on tumblr, or on discord (@ achromant). Even if you already play the game and are still new or just lost - ask me anything you want. I have close to 18k ingame hours.

#gw2 #guild wars 2 #ask achro #also i LOVE meeting new people ingame! #we even got furries #and elves #and gnomes #and ogres #and undead sassy lich overlords #and that one psycho pumpkin king dude #pumpkin dude and lich dude are husbands according to the fandom #also we got zombies #and plant zombies and crystal zombies and ice zombies #and dragons who are responsible for most of the zombie population to be honest #you can fight the personification of death #or kill a god

[bones-of-a-rabbit]

Pawn AU Eclipse and Reader bonding time,,

#bones of a rabbit art #bones of a rabbit au #bones of a rabbit fnaf #fnaf x y/n #fnaf au #fnaf eclipse x reader #fnaf eclipse #crimeboss eclipse #cops and crime bosses au #florist reader #doodles #sketches #future fic ideas #sometimes it do be kinda lonely being an eight foot tall infamous crime boss that’s probably killed at least a dozen people #reader- a dumb soft idiot that names their favorite plants and owns a small little known floristry shop #who accidentally feeds the local raccoon population instead of the stray cats they think they’re feeding #‘I don’t think ur scary! :3’ #eclipse immediately struck by Cupid’s grenade launcher: how do you feel about having kids

[have-you-been-here]

Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest

(Shuh-WAH-muh-guhn)

Park Falls, Wisconsin, United States

#have you been here #poll #usa #submitter notes: The Chequamegon–Nicolet National Forest is a 1 #530 #647-acre U.S. National Forest in central and eastern northern Wisconsin. #The forest consists of desiduous and coniferous trees. This includes three types each of maple‚ birch‚ and oak trees‚ as well as aspen‚ #beech‚ basswood‚ and sumac (which is related to the cashew plant). There's also 3 types of pine tree‚ white spruce‚ balsam fir‚ and eastern #hemlock. #The area is home to many forageable fruits‚ plants‚ and mushrooms‚ and has benefitted from the reintroduction of elk and wolves. #There are recent sightings of moose and pine marten in the area‚ and this is attributed to conservation efforts and native animal population #growth. #The wide variety of animals are protected from hunting in this year round recreation destination‚ where visitors can camp‚ hike‚ fish‚ cross #country ski‚ and snowmobile.

[system-threat-detected]

Hello all! For the Horizon Day of Service I decided to help out my native pollinators and maybe even some monarch butterflies! The solitary bees that frequent my garden LOVED my basil flowers when they went to flower last year, so I allowed all my basil to go to flower a bit early this year to help them out!

[ID: Two stacked planters filled with plants. The first is a green planter with calendulas, peppers, dwarf stock flowers, lanceleaf coreopsis, johnny jump ups, sweet alyssum, and basil plants which have gone to flower. The second is a tan planter with more flowering basil, marigolds, chamomile, squash, and a small melon vine. /end ID]

Then I planted even MORE basil so that when my first wave of flowers dies off, the bees have some more!

[ID: three basil plants in a white pot. Each plant is about 5 inches tall. They have not flowered yet. /end ID]

I’ve been making a valiant struggle against the grass around where I planted the milkweed, but that darn stuff sure is tenacious! Hopefully they get a bit bigger soon, and return next year!

[ID: two pictures of small milkweed plants, about 6 inches tall each. A hand is gently holding both plants, helping them to stand out against an army of grass trying to strangle them /end ID]

Finally, the bees really liked my nasturtiums in the late fall last year, so I’m starting some more sprouts to plant! Only one has sprouted so far, but I can see the others disturbing the soil! They should sprout soon.

[ID: a small nasturtium plant in a seedling tray, an inch tall. It has two leaves, and a white tag labeling it as “regular nasturtium” stuck into the soil near it. It is very cute. /end ID]

#horizon day of service #hdos #I currently am unemployed and am between freelance gigs so money is pretty tight #unfortunatley no donations from me for now #but I still have seeds I can plant and I remember what my native insect population likes! #there’s still stuff I can do for the environment :) #also my sister’s German Shepard

[starrygazingpie]

in the end all trigun plants are like the rose bride

#leave me alone with something too long and I will put an utena lens of analysis on it #i don't know what you expect from me #but like!! #the bulbs + ohtori academy #archetypes and expectations of behavior #and how that intersects with the way both knives and vash react to their trauma #and how even though vash reacts more palatably to the larger population #he is STILL singled out and blamed above any other factors in situations #the trans readings of vash and knives are just. SO MUCH #the intersections between plants and gendered violence #plants and the means of production and the denial of their personhood #there's so much there #trigun

[july-19th-club]

the major appeal of the Corn Maze is tapping into the human experience of Being Surrounded By Maize During Harvest . i love you corn and i love walking in circles under an autumn sun while you rustle gently and smell exactly as you always have for the past many hundreds of years at this same time in this same spot. effervescent

#i love where i live. at all times of the year there's always some ancient simple thing that direct-hits the timeless human experience button #me in the wintertime: wow for thousands of years we have huddled in shelters and put wood on the fire and thought about spring #me in the spring: wow for thousands of years someone has gone out and tapped the first tree of the season and saved up the sap #me in the summer: wow for thousands of years somebody has weeded squash here. beans even #me in the fall: i have GOT to be surrounded by corn so i can feel exactly the way im supposed to at this time. in this place #like it's not my ancestral experience. im not from here. we were in abruzzo until like eighty years ago. they dont have corn there #but at this time in this place there is corn and there has always been corn in this place. and i get to experience that. how COOL #at this time in this place there are maple trees and eastern white pines and there have been those trees #since as long and longer as there have been humans to look at them here. how COOL #harvest technology changes. populations change peacefully and then forcefully . the climate changes and is changing now #but for now. and for a time before me. there's corn here. and everyone who was here walked around in the corn #and if we are lucky then five hundred years from now someone can still plant and stand in and listen to the rustle of the corn

[microwaved-cheese-sandwich]

it would give me so much joy to redesign the pixie hollow fairies with cosmic horror or eldritch themes. it would heal my inner child i think

#that plant chick fr has a hivemind #and the fact that their existence is entirely contingent on the beliefs/mood of a population that doesnt even know they exist... #man #autism squeaks

[snekdood]

i need more friends that i can give the responsibility of perennial native plants and perhaps shrubs and trees to

#p sure my apartment complex would only be down with just me using like flowers n stuff...... but i got trees n shrubs here toooooooo..... #that produce fruit...... .. . . .... . . #probably why they dont want it #but goddamn thats just gonna make the squirrels worse if we deprive them of anything @-@;; #how to explain biodiversity and the cycle of life to normies who think grass is the only plant that exists @ google? or anyone?? #'theres too many squirrels' #'and that doesnt have to be a problem if we just let bushes and tall plants and more trees grow in places where theres vast expanses of #just grass' #'bc then natural predators of squirrels will be more likely to live here and naturally deal w the squirrel population till its healthy' #how do i emphasize how bad grass is to someone who probably doesnt even care that much about the env to begin with #GOOGLE HOW DO I GET PEOPLE TO CARE ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT AND QUESTION THEIR ACTIONS #BUT NOT SO MUCH THAT IT MAKES THEM GET LOST IN THEIR GUILT AND SOMEHOW TRY TO TURN IT ON ME INSTEAD #IG FOR MAKING THEM AWARE OF THE HARM THEYRE CAUSING #and then they just shut down and try not to think about it until they keep ignoring it and nothing changes and hhhhhhhhhhh #oh and how do i do this to my landlord without the risk of being hated by him and thus treated Differently #my problem is i have no filter and i say whats on my mind so idk if i can be nice about it BC THIS SHIT IS P URGENT TO ME

[rentoraanyan]

Everybody say hello to Ravioli

#fishblr #ravioli #hes my newly arrived honey gourami ! #hes living with 6 little endlers #also yeah ! fully planted tank ! havent shown that on here ! #ive had him for 5 days and so far he refuses to eat every single food i have except frozen bloodworms. hes spoiled #also i still dont know if its him or my sweet endlers but my snail populations has dipped and it seems only the bigger one remains... #somebody is snacking on my MAINTENANCE CREW

[ofdreamsanddoodles]

i keep thinking about chronica. like it makes sense that earth has their own plants who’d come with them to stop knives & whatever but the fact that domina presumably died means that she & vash could be the only plants on the planet now which has got to feel weird for the both of them. imagine spending like 150 years where you & your brother are the only ones of your species & then this woman comes along & tries to kill him & loses a friend in the process & now you’re like. it for the species. like there’s def more on earth but that’s not my point. chronica probably knows a lot about plants bc it has been like 150 years & one would assume in that time a lot has been learned about their species but also considering vash was like. one of the first & also spent basically his entire life on a different planet they’re probably completely different in some aspects but rn im just like. imagine your entire view of your species is you, your brother, & some lady you met 150 years later. there is no way that would not rock your world a bit

#aster speaks #trigun #my rough estimate of how many plants i think there are is probably around like. 300 #bc if rems ship had all the plants currently on gunsmoke & all the kids she saw were tesla & knives & vash #than its clear they arent born super frequently #esp considering as far as we know none were born on gunsmoke #(tho theres probably alternate reasons for that) #but i assume earth had more plants back on the actual planet #& the fact that they might not need to work as hard or whatnot due to differences in the planets ecosystem #so i'd say at most there are probably like. one or two born a year #which i think would place their population around like. 100 to 300 maybe? #i dont know if they can reproduce with each other. thats a different conversation

[ofseaandlandandsky]

*Fwhip watches the Titan of land and Hermes from a distance attempting to assess the situation*

⍙⊑⟒⍀⟒ ⏃⍀⟒ ⍙⟒ ☌⍜⟟⋏☌ ⍜⎎⎎ ⏁⍜ ⎎⟟⍀⌇⏁?

*the one of land’s eyes glow* The plants tell me that one of my brothers is in this “Rivendell”….weird, I can’t hear the plants back on the island

#one of land #she knows something’s up #but not that the entire plant population on the island has had their water drained

[berryblu-soda]

Seedling is such an interesting little story that i love, but i´d be lying if it wasnt almost completely sprouted (hehe) from the visual of those character duos that are a small child + big scary looking creature who acts as their guard, top tier trope frfr

(also huge shoutout to @ashrayus for hearing me out and adding onto the rambles so long ago, bestie the robot story wasnt working, we got plants now 🌱)

#but also said big scary creature is her brother having an identity crisis and being chased by the horrors :D #the story is 50% strangers to (step) siblings that trust each other with their life #and 50% truths of the world conspiracy with a witch hunt on plant people + aliens doing their thing (of course) #bruhh bc what if there were aliens replacing people at a young age and using them to collect data on the overall population #and “harvesting” them when said purpose was fulfilled #thing is; when the harvesting happens its supposed to be like a switch is flipped; and the seedling just up and leaves to be collected #*but* an infinite amount of things can make this process fail; which happened with the mc; who now clings to his family like a lifeline #while also knowing the general population´s view on seedlings is abyssmal #<- even if the family has no porblem w it; government or a bad neighbour catches you? you´re *gone* #anyways; fun times for lil Vera hshshahsha #seedling #oc talk #shut up sheo #edit: hey ash remember Riven? ik hes your oc can i work with thet concept perhaps? #his color scheme and character role work soooo well!!!!! #planning on making him be one of the few who escaped the harvest but could never quite shake the switch flip

[richkidcityfriends]

EXCUSE ME?????

#an górta mór #the irish famine was a GENOCIDE omfg #think for 10 seconds about why one single type of plant dying was able to decimate a population #to the point where it still hasn't recovered #but no haha funny #these were americans btw #obviously

[pokeweed-enthusiast]

I mentioned the other day doing some deep dives on pesticide impacts. Here's some links to some cool studies I found, I chose links that are less scientific-study sounding for accessibility. The first one has a link to the actual study embedded, and I think is one of the most important since it connects pesticide usage to decreased crop yields.

Originally pesticides with higher toxicity got a lot of backlash for their MUCH understated impacts on honeybees (as they should), but I really appreciate how these highlight other species which are equally important ecologically and economically in different roles.

We're seeing a massive decline in insects in recent years. And its causing a rise in pest species of insects, which in turn leads to increased insecticide usage. If the cycle can be broken and insects in general are allowed to recover, I think many more farmers could significantly reduce insecticide usage because biological pest control would become a more robust option. But there's such a culture of taking the easy way out and decimating insects in fields to protect profits, that so many people don't think about the wider impacts on local environments and other species life cycles. And in turn don't think about how their actions could be negatively impacting their economic situation.

Also implicated in this is the over use of herbicide which has significantly reduced the biodiversity surrounding farm edges. Now more than ever farm edges host invasive and higher populations of weedy pest plants because they have 1) gained herbicide resistance from overspraying and 2) they face reduced competition because native and beneficial plants have been wiped out. The weeds in turn can infest farm fields easier due to proximity and abundance at the edges. And this all of course has a massive impact on insects, as many don't have habitats to live and feed like in the past.

#Using the term pest here as it applies to agriculture #No plant or insect is inherently a pest but there's species that are particularly detrimental in large populations #I was going to organize this all more but I'm just gonna ramble in between classes instead haha #Agriculture #herbicides #pesticides #agroecology #Tagging agroecology because I think understanding where we go wrong in conventional ag is important to agroecology

[valeechtine]

I'm so excited that my isopods have started getting pregnant because like an unfortunate but necessary part of keeping bug colonies is that you Will need to do population control and I've got time before thats like a pertinent Need but as soon as it is? I can finally have carnivorous plaaaaants

#The neat plant store in town sells a bunch #and I've always loved them so I'm doing like a tonnnnnn of research rn #that way when my isopods Do start needing population control I can get a venus flytrap and nepenthes pitcher plant #chittering