|
Re: Honey Bees Dying Off!
I live close to a rainforest that has some of the longest surviving life forms in evolutionary history whre the number of species (including funghi and bacteria) is estimated to be over 400,000 types all up. The understanding we have is basically this (although it wont be formally released until its more conclusive).
The egg laying species that "self incubate", and there are many, are failing to reliably incubate because of the seasonal temperature band changes. This has caused a massive drop in regeneration rates across the board. Some species can only self incubate withing a narrow band of temperature and humidty sometimes as little as a 1 degree change is enough to cause complete failure of the that years nesting effort. The flow on effect of that is in the pollination cycles which is doubly influenced because many plant species are flowering at unusual times such that they are misaligned with their simbiotic pollinating agents. Often the simbiotic connection between plants and insects is that the flower attracts a particular species of insect and the insect and since the probabilities are highest in terms of mating chances this is where it most frequently happens. The situation we have is that the insects are at the wrong stage of their maturity when flowering occurs so less eggs are fertilised and less are hatching and this flows through to the next season when less flowers are pollinated and the viability of the host is diminished. It is now a compound problem through the simbiotic matrix and there is now evidence that even the most stable and long lasting ecosystems are now collapsing. The worry is, and this is why it has not been published a great deal yet, is that the oldest species in this rainforest (estimated to cover and represent a span of more than 110 million years of evolutionary development and history) which formed the first simbiotic relationships and so gave survival probability aid to those that followed may collapse. One of the ones in particular that is being watched is the Lepidozamia Hopei, commonly known as the Hope Cycad. This is known to be one of the earliest living represntations of the simbiotic concept. To put you in the picture there is a male and female plant. Thay they produce at most one flower each per year and they reach flowering maturity at around 600 years. The population of flowering age cycads is quite snmall. Probably less than 200 remaining since most of the host forest has now been cleared for sugar cane and housing. This species simbiotically supports its pollinator by in blunt terms creating a place for an annual orgy for a small weevil. Naturally enough both the male flower and the female flower must be in place for a cross over period of about one week when pollination can take place. So you need three parts, male flower, female flower and weevil at the smae time. Now we know that the cycads are now out of sync because of rapid fluctuations from one year to the next when once they were extremely reliable and consistent. What we dont know yet is how much the weevil has been affected yaer on year through the reduction of mating chances and incubation rates. If its population becomes unviable we are in a really serious mess because the simbiotic arrangements will then break off one by one in order of evolution..at least that is the expectation. Both directly and indirectly this affects the quality of existence that us humans can expect to enjoy really for the rest of eternity if it must be mentioned in those terms. Since that discovery funding has been virtually stopped and our primary research organisation in Australia (the CSIRO) has had its head replaced by a person who was previously the marketing manager for a major Tobacco company. Whether thats relevent or not is for you to judge but needless to say that it is not in the interests of our government lead by John Howard to have too much valid science indicating mistakes in their management of the environment because for a long time they have said that the risks were being adequately managed and we we in no danger of an ecosystem collapse. We are now probably beyond the point of facing that prospect and into the time when its happening and there is now way to prevent a more widespread collapse. Obviously its a case of wait and see because apart from expanding the size of the forest to improve its chances of survival there isnt much we can do. Expanding it is basically an impossibility because even the thought of saving the bit thats left from the elements that are degrading it is threatening to the commercial ethos which effectively rules all policy in this country. I would suggest if you want to see a collection of species that still lives as it did 100 million years ago and walk through that kind of situation you should take the opportunity within the next couple of yaers because even the CSIRO expects that in 15 years the core oldest species will be gone. Thats a tough thing for us to cope with here let me tell you. But sadly I think environmental consciousness has failed to grow fast enough and the speed of realistion too slow to change the course of history quickly enough before the ultimate decline.
|
