The circle of life

[waterboy 2.0]

So in my wisdom , with a self inflicted sore head.... I decide today is the day for annual pilgrimage - one that started before I could walk.

The destination up into the central highlands, magic country.

The event of interest the spawing of brown trout in the cool crystal waters - the circle of life at work

Reality hits hard, when with a sore head...

I drive along and it hits me , the Miena Cider Gum (E.gunni ssp.divarcata) that I spent many an hour staring at as a child are fcked, truly fcked...heartbreaking - verging on grief I again ponder the circle of life. I doubt my son will get to see a living stag cider gum and remember.... RIP my friends.

WTF are we doing to this place, I ask whatever you folk do in life - think about it the ramifications of it for the future....

Edited May 20, 2012 by waterboy

[Max Cady]

What do you reckon has caused this WB? did you see any thriving?

[space cadet swami]

Very sad WB...the reality is that if we as a species continue to rape & pillage Gaia in the current format, she will eventually do to us, as we do to her.

[waterboy 2.0]

Hey Max,

the subspecies has been listed as Threatened for a few years now.

"Drought" is the main area that gets pointed out, as well as stock damage to seedlings, and browsing by rabbits etc.

There is some serious consideration of climate change effects and "drought" affecting highland areas.

(I see some issue with the term "drought", I see this more as hydrological change...I know pedantic...)

There are a few smaller ones that look OK, but the stag age, seed bearing trees are gone from this stand.

From a quick search " In 2003 there were 10,000 individuals, however only 2000 were setting seed" , "The species is not known in any reserve area", "it is only known within a 40k x 40k area ...". This stand is roughly 8K x 5k and all the stags are dead, standing like soldiers....

Me,myself and I am seeing this as a climate change predictor, among others I am noting....(particularly flowering times)

WB

Edited May 20, 2012 by waterboy

[Heretic]

Tragic . Is this in Tassie or mainland ? Do you know if it is caused by phytopthera [ sic ] fungus ? [ " Cinnamon fungus " ] . " Dieback " was ravaging forests in WA and NSW , and probably elsewhere decades ago . I can't recall whether or not the fungus is a quarantine incursion or native to Oz .

[waterboy 2.0]

Tasmania Tom, not affected by phytophora here (soil is too cold), but affects other lowland areas.

[Jox]

Hey WB,

This is devastating to see & the saddest thing is its happening everywhere to multitude of flora & fauna all over the world.

I catch & relocate reptiles in QLD & have worked closely with Australian native fauna, I have always taken meticulous notes & records.

Things are defiantly changing & at a quicker pace than ever which makes me fell quite depressed, the best way for me to deal with this is to look at the so called big picture or like you say WB the circle of life or like Eddie Vedder says it's evolution baby!!

There are native fauna spp. making a come back without mans help.

Our lovely mother earth will not tolerate us for much longer & when shes done with us, I'm sure the circle of life will keep on going, its just sad we've f#cked our chances to watch

Life will go on!! Just without you or me.

[waterboy 2.0]

Hey Jox,

true mate .. I can show many of similar things from the "clean, green Island" (yeah right...).

This one has hit hard, the childhood memories are strong....

Myself I like the term adaption, those that can adapt will survive, those like these grand tree that have a very narrow niche will perish in their natural environments. Humans among the most adaptable animals will keep on having influence in many undesirable ways.

I am sure the earth is not far from shitting on us...and I cannot lay any blame for that.

Hey Jox, come and catch all our Tiger snakes, and maybe a few Copperheads...

Cheers

WB

[PositiveHAL]

Sorry to point out the irony of your post waterboy but

the brown trout you speak fondly of are an introduced species in oz

and bring their own form of environmental destruction.

they are good to eat though

dont worry the sun will destroy the earth soon enough

[waterboy 2.0]

I am aware of the "fox of freshwater" dave, but they have not wiped anything off the map in tassie ...yet

Ecosystem imbalance yes definitely, destruction is a bit over the top. Nothing like carp.... and some dumb fck brought them down to us.

Trout not killing off the trees maybe its niribu or whatever the death star is.

[qualia]

i saw a catalyst report the other day, apparently trees are dying all over the globe, not sure if this is related, but just reminded me of

it,,

http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/3488105.htm

Life will go on!! Just without you or me.

and a whole lot of other species, unfortunately.....

[Jox]

Hi WB

Adaption is a good word to use & I see this happening with certain species of fauna & the BASTARD cane toad.

Species plummet when this toad rocks up & it has defiantly wiped some out for ever, but there is native fauna making a comeback & the toad is still here?

The questions & possible answers run through my mind.

Are Aussie animals smarter than we give em credit for? Can they communicate with each other?Do they watch there mate die & then run,slide,fly,swim away & tell there other mates??

Is is survival of the fittest, are the majority dieing but a small number able to deal with toads venom? Are they now breeding & producing offspring that can deal with the venom? I like this possibility as it would mean the toads natural predators would be on the rise.

There are many possibility's.

Anyway this is positive news.

Cheers

jox.

PS. I'd love to get down to Tassie & check it out. The most awesome tiger snakes I've played with have come for Tassie & its surrounding islands.

( "Playing" with venomous snakes is not recommended )

[dionysus]

I am aware of the "fox of freshwater" dave, but they have not wiped anything off the map in tassie ...yet

Ecosystem imbalance yes definitely, destruction is a bit over the top. Nothing like carp.... and some dumb fck brought them down to us.

Trout not killing off the trees maybe its niribu or whatever the death star is.

 

at least no one brought us silver carp, those things are a complete menace wherever they have made it too (US etc).

 

 

 

the faster you go the more jump out and the higher they jump, people have died from boating along and being hit in the face by a flying carp. plus, at least our carp are easy to see for the people who are working towards getting rid of them or controling their population.

also, dont those silver carp look bizarre? like a pokemon or something.

edit: added second video, shows them a bit better

Edited May 22, 2012 by dionysus

[waterboy 2.0]

If you want to play with an awesome tiger Jox, Chappel Island ones are hard to beat. Actually fairly placid ,bigger , but more venomous (serious mutton bird eaters).

I am seeing less adaption of natives (flora and fauna), and invasives which naturally have better adaption taking over. Then there is the sad tale of the Tassie Devil, with the facial tumour disease.Once they have it, its game over..... a decade ago I could have 15+ feeding on carcasses - today not one.

Yeah its odd how a mystery cancer than can be spread via biting between animals suddenly appears..... a cancer that can be directly spread...mmmmm

Frogs are getting wiped out by chytrid fungus infection, platypus are getting mucor fungal infections, common wombats with mange so bad they can barely function and eat.....

The signs are there, but very few are looking at the big picture....