Hi Folks,
I like to gather as much information as I can on ... well weeds ... plants that volunteer their services in the whatever plot of land that you are stewarding.
Currently watching a video on Mullen "Cowboy Toilet Paper." It is termed a dynamic accumulator. I would like to see that term operationally defined, but suspect I may have to do so myself.
It is stated that Mullen "likes" compacted soil. Well, enough but Mullen does not "like" anything. In any given situation a particular plant species will have a competitive advantage over other species. In this case, Mullen reputedly has a deep tap root, also referred to as a drill root, that deals well with compacted soil. Mullen does not like compacted soil, it simply has the ability to thrive in compacted soil where other plant species would fail.
The question in my mind is whether or not, Mullen in this case, provides an ecological service. Will the species bring up minerals from deep in the soil? Does it fix carbon in biomass? Most importantly does it break up compacted soil?
The distinction is important in that we can receive the information that this plant "likes" these conditions, but that doesn't not tell us anything about other plants and how we can employ them. Observing that Mullen thirves in compacted soil leads us to look about and find other species that also have this advantage. Some of these species may have other services in theri behaviour that may make them even more approtiate to breaking up compacted soil than the fist species we considered.
posted by Y.H.N.
I like to gather as much information as I can on ... well weeds ... plants that volunteer their services in the whatever plot of land that you are stewarding.
Currently watching a video on Mullen "Cowboy Toilet Paper." It is termed a dynamic accumulator. I would like to see that term operationally defined, but suspect I may have to do so myself.
It is stated that Mullen "likes" compacted soil. Well, enough but Mullen does not "like" anything. In any given situation a particular plant species will have a competitive advantage over other species. In this case, Mullen reputedly has a deep tap root, also referred to as a drill root, that deals well with compacted soil. Mullen does not like compacted soil, it simply has the ability to thrive in compacted soil where other plant species would fail.
The question in my mind is whether or not, Mullen in this case, provides an ecological service. Will the species bring up minerals from deep in the soil? Does it fix carbon in biomass? Most importantly does it break up compacted soil?
The distinction is important in that we can receive the information that this plant "likes" these conditions, but that doesn't not tell us anything about other plants and how we can employ them. Observing that Mullen thirves in compacted soil leads us to look about and find other species that also have this advantage. Some of these species may have other services in theri behaviour that may make them even more approtiate to breaking up compacted soil than the fist species we considered.
posted by Y.H.N.
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