<div class="ck-content"><h3>Beneficial Uses of invasives</h3><p>Several months ago, Amelia joined us for the first time, to clear privet along Bolin Creek. We talked a bunch, and I learned that she liked to use invasives in all sorts of ways (food, medicine, weavings, etc.). Wow, I was impressed. I mean, I just want to cut this one and move on to the next one. :-)</p><p>But I was really intrigued by her knowledge and passion about this. Seemed like some really good information to share with others, so Amelia and I worked together to add beneficial usages on invasives to <a href="RewildEarth.net">RewildEarth.net</a>. Amelia has added the first set of usages to the site and you can check them out by visiting<a href="RewildEarth.net"> Rewild Earth,</a> Click on the Invasives button up at the top:</p><div class="raw-html-embed"><img src="https://drive.google.com/thumbnail?id=1n2VqEKbupNqP8FgbnBhJYVN1cjC16ofq&sz=w802-h261" alt="REPLACE"></div><p>Then click on the Ways to Use Invasives button on the right side of the screen:</p><div class="raw-html-embed"><img src="https://drive.google.com/thumbnail?id=1LV3PJ00s_GlmNZ2HVXg5uaKDcTH3enfQ&sz=w790-h153" alt="REPLACE"></div><p>and take a look!</p><div class="raw-html-embed"><img src="https://drive.google.com/thumbnail?id=1OQa3ugK4BzN__uEAgoITaiutw6_gryyk&sz=w600-h400" alt="beneficial uses"></div><p>Thanks again to Amelia. You are much appreciated!</p><p>And to everyone else: if you have a suggestion for a way to use an invasive, I'd love to hear it. Just click on About in the top right corner of the website, select Contact Us and select the right category:</p><div class="raw-html-embed"><img src="https://drive.google.com/thumbnail?id=1EwK-AoiNYXsxH-BZ-4-Or6PA47I3RUAJ&sz=w450-h350" alt="REPLACE"></div><h3>Saving white oaks: priority #1</h3><p>I've heard about <a href="https://homegrownnationalpark.org/doug-tallamy/">Doug Tallamy</a> for a while, but never read his books or met him or watched his videos. Too busy removing invasives. Anyway, he was in Cary on September 20th to do a talk on “The Nature of Oaks”. One of my favorite planet healers told me about it, and I joined her for an evening of facts, wonder, and love (that is, Doug expressing his love for our planet). Doug's primary focus these days is <a href="https://homegrownnationalpark.org/">Homegrown National Park</a>, which “<span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(0,0,0);">raises awareness and urgently inspires everyone to address the biodiversity crisis by adding native plants and removing invasive ones where we live, work, learn, pray, and play.”</span></p><p><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(0,0,0);">He published a </span><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-nature-of-oaks-the-rich-ecology-of-our-most-essential-native-trees-douglas-w-tallamy/15880784?ean=9781643260440&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fhomegrownnationalpark.org%2F&source=IndieBound&title="><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(0,0,0);">book</span></a><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(0,0,0);"> with the same name as his talk, and I encourage you to check it out. I learned so much, and was so very inspired. A few tidbits to pass along:</span></p><ul><li><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(0,0,0);">There is now convincing evidence that Jays (the birds) and Oaks have been co-evolving for 50M+ years! Jays love the acorns, as do many birds and other animals. Plus, they will fly upwards of a mile away from where they picked up the acorn, in order to plant it. A single jay plans over 3,000 acorns a year. And the word “plant” is the perfect word for what they do. Well, <i>they</i> think they're storing the nut to eat it later, during the winter. But they only find about ¼ of all they bury, so in effect each jay can be planting upwards of 2000 baby oaks a year! And since they are planted so far away from momma, oaks spread more widely than many other trees.</span></li><li><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(0,0,0);">White oaks is the keystone tree in a keystone genus (or family? Sorry, I am not that well educated on taxonomy). More, and more varied, species of life depend on white oaks, than any other tree (at least in our region). </span></li></ul><p>Doug urges everyone to plant trees on their property, no matter how small. And most important of all, plant white oaks.</p><p>I agree. If I had a yard I would do so. And when I did have a yard here in Chapel Hill (2018-2023), I didn't plant white oaks, but I nurtured the babies already growing in the yard, ensuring they got sun and were not covered by invasives. They grew quickly!</p><p>But…but…the call to <i>plant</i> trees always sticks in my craw (a very apt <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stick%20in%20one's%20craw">saying</a>, I would say). Yes, we must plant new, baby trees in areas where they are not able to grow of their own accord.</p><p>But, surely, we can also agree that it is even <i>more</i> important to <i><strong>save every mature white oak we can find</strong></i>? </p><p>White oaks, by the way, are the ones with rounded lobes, while red oaks generally have pointed lobes (some red oaks have rounded-looking lobes, but also have a little point sticking out of them - it's a red!). The <a href="https://www.plantmegreen.com/blogs/news/white-oak-vs-red-oak-trees-what-are-the-differences">PlantMeGreen website</a> offers a nice summary:</p><ul><li>Leaf shape: White oaks have soft, rounded edges on their leaves, whereas red oaks have a more striking and pointy leaf shape.</li><li>Size: White oaks grow to be much larger than red oaks. The former reaches up to 80 feet, while the latter rarely ever goes above 70 feet.</li><li>Growth rate: White oaks grow much more slowly than red oak species. Red oaks can grow multiple feet in a single year.</li><li>Bark texture: White oak trees have bark that features a much rougher texture than red oak trees.</li></ul><p>Please look for white oaks, and treasure them. And if you find a white oak that is under threat from invasives - in a park, along a road, in someone's property - please <span style="color:hsl(0,75%,60%);"><strong>LET ME KNOW</strong></span> and I will look into what it will take to save it.</p><p>But also: red oaks are wonderful, as well. If you see a red oak being choked out, also feel free to let me know.</p><h3>Scary article and living proof of evolution by natural selection</h3><p>I expect you are familiar with the problem of growing bacterial resistance to antibiotics. I recently read a frankly <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2024/sep/24/drug-resistant-typhoid-disease-pakistan-antibiotics-superbugs-children?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other">scary article</a> about the spread of a drug-resistant typhoid that in Pakistan. As I read it, I came across this sentence:</p><blockquote><p><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(18,18,18);">But the antibiotics used to cure typhoid are now failing. The bacteria, </span><i>Salmonella typhi</i><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(18,18,18);">, have developed resistance to the antibiotics meant to kill them. It’s a pattern repeated across the world; the problem of resistant infections is global and borderless.</span></p></blockquote><p><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(18,18,18);">And I got to thinking about that casual reference to “The bacteria….developed resistance.” It glosses over a real-time demonstration of the powerful truth that is evolution by natural selection, and I find it misleading.</span></p><p><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(18,18,18);">“The bacteria” is not doing anything. “Bacteria” is the name we give to a vast <i>domain</i> of species (humans are part of the </span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(32,33,34);">Eukaryotes domain, which evolved on Earth much later). “Bacteria” is an abstraction/categorization. There are, however, an uncountable multitude of <i>individual bacterium</i>, each of which seeks to pass on its genes to the next generation. Some of these bacteria make our lives possible, others cause disease. We try to stamp out the ones that cause disease with our antibiotics. These drugs kill many of the individuals, but - increasingly - not all of them. </span></p><p><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgb(32,33,34);">The ones that survive are the ones that have some level of immunity to the antibiotics. And so they can continue to reproduce, because now they have an adaptation that favors their survival. Over time, the successful bacterium have higher and higher levels of resistance. They dominate (drive to extinction) other bacterium, and then our drugs fail us.</span></p><p>Here's my point (finding my way back to why I brought this up in the first place): nothing “developed resistance." That makes it sound like all the bacteria got together and came up with a plan, or maybe that there is a Master Bacterium that sent out orders to resist. Which sounds silly, right? </p><p>Bacterium just kept on doing what they do (and pretty much all other organic life as well): consume, excrete, die or survive and pass on genes. Rinse and repeat (if you're one of the survivors).</p></div><div class="ck-content"><h3>Receive all my reports on tree rescues</h3><p>If you'd like to get some good news about restoring native habitats delivered straight to your brain upwards of a few times a week, sign in to <a href="https://rewildearth.net">Rewild Earth</a>, click on your name in top right, then My profile. Under Communication Preferences, switch “Send reports of all events” to ON. </p><div class="raw-html-embed"><img src="https://drive.google.com/thumbnail?id=1BeynVqu8taOGrsvi56u0mmDKuNJko22h&sz=w600-h400" alt="REPLACE" width="358" height="138"></div><h3>Resources you might find useful</h3><ul><li><a href="https://shop.naisma.org/collections/buckthorn-blaster">Buckthorn Blasters</a>: safe, easy herbicide delivery system from the North American Invasive Species Management Association. Don't start cutting without them!</li><li><a href="https://nc-ipc.weebly.com/nc-invasive-plants.html">NC Invasive Plants list</a>: recently updated by NC-IPC, the NC Invasives Plants Council.</li><li><a href="https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/AG259">Overview of different herbicides</a>: glyposphate, triclopyr and others - which should you use?</li><li>Volunteer for <a href="https://triangleland.org">Triangle Land Conservancy</a>: the biggest land conservancy group in our area. </li><li>Volunteer for <a href="https://ellerbecreek.org">Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association</a> (Durham): a wonderful group working hard to maintain contiguous natural areas along Ellerbe Creek.</li></ul></div> |