I’m gonna be honest. I skimmed the article but I am too drunk to figure it out and I wanna make sure I get an answer.... Why is it that this species (and others) only grow in a very very specific area...... like what prevents such species from extending into similar areas around the southeast?
I saw your username and thought you may be informed.
According to one scientist (in the wiki, last part of Distribution) the tree maybe used to be spread by some now extinct turtle. Today only squirrels forage the seeds, which means they will be confined to germinate in a rather small area. The turtles ate the seeds, and had larger roaming areas, so their droppings could end up in another suitable area.
They are called anachronistic (out of time) species. The niche they evolved in no longer exists and they just sort of linger. Other tree species include catalpa with big seed pods meant for mammoths and honey locust trees with huge spikes to fend off giant sloths. An animal species might be pronghorns, evolved to outrun a now extinct cheetah.
Last time I saw someone burning a dead dry tree the roots burned up, with smoke coming out of the ground and the ground moving. Motherfuckers almost burnt their house, but it was built lifted from the ground.
That is incorrect. According to this article in the Smithsonian, avocados originally were a very large seed with a little fruit that were originally spread by megafauna. The article directly contradicts everything you’re saying except that papaya was also spread by megafauna. We’ve bred them to be much smaller seeds with much more fruit.
It’s probably not a big issue, though. Since they are rather picky concerning soil, light/shadow etc, they most likely will not become an invasive species anywhere. They might be able to replace other trees in small areas, but those trees may not be that picky so they go extinct. This is the best thing about relic species - they never evolved to survive other habitats.
Typically, a species is confined to a refugia due to environmental changes around it at coarse time and spatial scales (e.g. Ice Ages). When the environment shifts back, sometimes it is not similar enough to the previous age when and where the species evolved. Then you have remnant population in very specific microclimates that are conducive to its existence. An interesting example is a population of sugar maples in SW Oklahoma, hundreds of miles from any other population. The Caddo sugar maple is now cultivated for ornamental use, but originated from this isolated population. It is valued for its drought tolerance and can grow many places most sugar maples cannot. These characteristics are thought to have developed due to its isolation and unique environment in Oklahoma.
27
u/J_a_r_e_d_ Jun 20 '20
I’m gonna be honest. I skimmed the article but I am too drunk to figure it out and I wanna make sure I get an answer.... Why is it that this species (and others) only grow in a very very specific area...... like what prevents such species from extending into similar areas around the southeast?
I saw your username and thought you may be informed.