This, and we need to reincorporate female trees in urban areas to reduce the rampant pollen pollution caused by exclusively using male trees 🤧
this post was submitted on 30 Jul 2024
607 points (97.8% liked)
Science Memes
10271 readers
2815 users here now
Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!
A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.
Rules
- Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
- Keep it rooted (on topic).
- No spam.
- Infographics welcome, get schooled.
Research Committee
Other Mander Communities
Science and Research
Biology and Life Sciences
- !abiogenesis@mander.xyz
- !animal-behavior@mander.xyz
- !anthropology@mander.xyz
- !arachnology@mander.xyz
- !balconygardening@slrpnk.net
- !biodiversity@mander.xyz
- !biology@mander.xyz
- !biophysics@mander.xyz
- !botany@mander.xyz
- !ecology@mander.xyz
- !entomology@mander.xyz
- !fermentation@mander.xyz
- !herpetology@mander.xyz
- !houseplants@mander.xyz
- !medicine@mander.xyz
- !microscopy@mander.xyz
- !mycology@mander.xyz
- !nudibranchs@mander.xyz
- !nutrition@mander.xyz
- !palaeoecology@mander.xyz
- !palaeontology@mander.xyz
- !photosynthesis@mander.xyz
- !plantid@mander.xyz
- !plants@mander.xyz
- !reptiles and amphibians@mander.xyz
Physical Sciences
- !astronomy@mander.xyz
- !chemistry@mander.xyz
- !earthscience@mander.xyz
- !geography@mander.xyz
- !geospatial@mander.xyz
- !nuclear@mander.xyz
- !physics@mander.xyz
- !quantum-computing@mander.xyz
- !spectroscopy@mander.xyz
Humanities and Social Sciences
Practical and Applied Sciences
- !exercise-and sports-science@mander.xyz
- !gardening@mander.xyz
- !self sufficiency@mander.xyz
- !soilscience@slrpnk.net
- !terrariums@mander.xyz
- !timelapse@mander.xyz
Memes
Miscellaneous
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
The cleanup cost from the fruit is what’s prohibitive about that, leaving the fruit isn’t an option since it makes the sidewalks unusable from the mess, it rots and creates mold spores, pests, rodents, etc, they all thrive.
Theres a very good argument to why they shouldn’t introduce females everywhere.
And how’s the males supposed to know if they are pollinating something or not for that matter? It would be less trees making pollen, but there will still be pollen.
Also, letting the homeless and working class forage for the fruit would be way too egalitarian and compassionate. Totally unacceptable!
Ideally the homeless wouldn’t exist in this scenario, and sure, the public can grab the bottom 8’? The public really can’t be trusted to safely use ladders, so that options right out.
I’m all for it, but realistically it’s not a feasible solution? It’s to costly, wheter it be to collect it and give to public safely, or to provide ladders and medical care for the people who inevitably fall.
My area has an entire non-profit org devoted to urban foraging, so maybe my perspective on its feasibility is a little different.
… a non profit relies on donations, needs volounteers, or other source of income, so it’s either paid through taxes like I mentioned, or through money in the end anyways…?
Sure I guess that works? Whatever makes you feel better, but it’s still the same scenario in the end.
I mean they're harvesting food I bet sales can cover ladders and fuel and whatnot. If you're short on workers ask literally any other non-profit if they wouldn't like half a ton of apples to make pie with for one of their projects, you'll get your workers. Have a general "pluck two get one" policy provided they're not selling the stuff, no other questions asked.
Basically all that's necessary is to have someone responsible for organising things, the economics are trivial as we're literally talking about distributing stuff for free.
Free food that drops out of the trees? Get the fuck outta here.
I don't think we are talking about actually edible fruits but I'm not sure
What? Trees have genders? I guess I learned something new!
News to me too... And I think it might be wrong but I don't know enough to say with confidence.
how I thought it works is that trees have male and female parts, but a single tree can have both parts. And some trees can self-pollinate.
My uneducated guess is that it depends on the species, some are sexed and some are hermaphrodite. That's how it goes in the animal kingdom.
ULPT: You can pretend your allergy is a cold and call in sick
Well, it's not that easy. Many plants have both female and male flower parts or flowers. And even if a species has individuals with only one of both sexes, then it might change over the season or over age. So there is really no way around pollen...
These days you're lucky to even get a sidewalk
All they do is increase taxes though. /s
"We would by lying, if we said that we were sorry that you don't have sidewalks. However, we don't care about pedestrians, we only care about cars and their vrooms, vrooms." - Probably some city official.
Gives me grass and trees or give me death
Tell me more about your evil master plan to make the world a better place for everyone
Tell it to my neighbors, my tree has slowly become treeless, I planted one in the middle of my front yard so that the house can stay cool in the mornings
While we're at it, cover parking lots in solar panels.
From what I've heard (and I DO NOT understand it, at all) this is cost prohibitive and impractical.
It's like a lot of things in life. It depends and it can be complicated.
Upfront costs for infrastructure besides the panels themselves is expensive and in places where electricity is already cheap companies won't bother.
You also have to conduct tests to ensure that the grid and transformers can handle more power, and if they can't then you have more infrastructure that needs upgrades.
I'm not saying we shouldn't do this. We really need to in the long run but it isn't something we can simply snap our fingers and do instantly.
Also, a lot of the unprofitability comes from VC culture in my opinion. The individuals at the top of businesses often times won't stick around with the business long enough to start see the savings from solar energy.
Not sure how this would be the case, would love to see a reference here.
Also for your urban planning nerds, this was posted a few days ago and looks great:
As a young graduate student in the late 1950s, Akira Miyawaki learned about the emergent concept of potential natural vegetation (PNV). This, along with his studies in phytosociology—the way plant species interact with each other—guided his explorations of the vegetation growing throughout his native Japan. Eventually, he began visiting Shinto sites and observing their chinju no mori, or “sacred shrine forests.” Miyawaki determined that these were time capsules, showing how indigenous forest was layered together from four categories of native plantings: main tree species, sub-species, shrubs, and ground-covering herbs.
Using this four-category system, along with his surveys of these sites and his knowledge of PNV and phytosociology, Miyawaki designed his own system for planting forests.
It works like this: the soil of a future forest site is analyzed and then improved, using locally available sustainable amendments—for example, rice husks from a nearby mill. About 50 to 100 local plant species from the above four categories are selected and planted in clumps as seedlings in a mix like you would find growing naturally in the wild. The seedlings are planted very densely—30,000 to 50,000 per hectares as opposed to 1,000 per hectare in commercial forestry. For a period of two to three years, the site is monitored, watered, and weeded, to give the nascent forest every chance to establish itself.
https://daily.jstor.org/the-miyawaki-method-a-better-way-to-build-forests/
Edit: Here's a short video about the tennis court sized forests: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9c_Zlmqcgw
deightful
We used to have them until several years ago they were deliberately removed. Their roots were destroying the roads and sidewalks, as well as infiltrating the underground infrastructure.
Time to put them back properly with new knowledge. :)
I love that I was fortunate to get a home in an old urban neighborhood in a city that's pretty good. The tree coverage in my hood is nuts. I see a few mature black walnuts and a ton of mature pines among all the other smaller trees. I can walk to the grocery store with 80% canopy coverage the entire way.
best i can do is Bradford Pear (male)