tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794707197741156865.comments2023-04-16T11:10:52.918-04:00Lost in DCJesshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12247736025298518449noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794707197741156865.post-21587114082619370432012-11-19T18:01:59.948-05:002012-11-19T18:01:59.948-05:00alcove beds! seriously...alcove beds! seriously...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794707197741156865.post-34600812378029120472012-11-06T18:02:20.608-05:002012-11-06T18:02:20.608-05:00that is really sweet! love it.that is really sweet! love it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794707197741156865.post-900160248902229062012-09-04T20:09:07.234-04:002012-09-04T20:09:07.234-04:00I have a feeling there's more to it, as well. ...I have a feeling there's more to it, as well. Come visit and we'll explore it together!Jesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12247736025298518449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794707197741156865.post-52104050068858503952012-09-03T17:32:25.728-04:002012-09-03T17:32:25.728-04:00so gorgeous!!so gorgeous!!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794707197741156865.post-41732039096433948082012-05-21T16:03:58.860-04:002012-05-21T16:03:58.860-04:00I promise Jessie's got some good ones for you!...I promise Jessie's got some good ones for you! We were hoping to get the one of the tiger in the water, but no dice.Jesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12247736025298518449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794707197741156865.post-60054126635756519482012-05-21T15:49:10.005-04:002012-05-21T15:49:10.005-04:00what a fun event!!! i need pictures of the cats!!...what a fun event!!! i need pictures of the cats!! MORE BIG CATS!!meganhttp://nonpareilmusic.tumblr.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794707197741156865.post-61662675052917132402012-05-09T22:26:27.890-04:002012-05-09T22:26:27.890-04:00I had a hell of a time trying to remember everythi...I had a hell of a time trying to remember everything. The comb jellies were killing me - I remember you saying they're not really jellyfish, but I couldn't figure out what the heck they were! Husk sounds grosser, but I did in fact completely forget the word "molt" when I wrote the post. Still creeped out by that, by the way. I was a little relieved that all the photos of the cockroaches didn't turn out well... Can't wait to get out there again and actually see the entire zoo!Jesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12247736025298518449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794707197741156865.post-33348603654808243742012-05-09T21:07:11.922-04:002012-05-09T21:07:11.922-04:00Pretty great job for a mini-trip. The teensy anem...Pretty great job for a mini-trip. The teensy anemones are tube anemones. The comb jellies are not really jellies, (hey, I dont make the rules), and the word molt (for the tarantula) is a more common description than husk... Although husk certainly gets the point across! <br /><br />Love the video of Murphy!!! <br /><br />Can't Wait till your next visit!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794707197741156865.post-44937249761739131902012-05-04T18:33:11.676-04:002012-05-04T18:33:11.676-04:00And from Seth himself: "Good question. The ch...And from Seth himself: "Good question. The chestnut blight was caused by an Asian fungus, which destroyed the cambium of the American trees. In the early 1900s, very little was known about this particular fungus. Unfortunately, the fungus reproduces by forming many spores which are then blown by the wind to any chestnut trees in the vicinity of the infected tree, spreading the fungus throughout the forest. Since the American chestnut tree had no resistance to the Asian fungus, and since the trees were concentrated in the southern Appalachians, they were annihilated (in that area). That the American tree had no resistance suggests that the American trees might never have been exposed to this fungus, prior to 1900. Asian trees had some resistance, which mght be because they had been exposed to it, and over time had developed resistance, eons ago. Later research on breeding a resistant American Chestnut tree began by isolating a tree (presumably a mutant) with some resistance from a stand of surviving American chestnut trees in another area, which had been far from the infected eastern trees and thus not within the wind-spread radius of the Asian fungus spores. Unfortunately, the trees that were then produced, in addition to having some resistance to the fungus, failed to grow to the size of the American Chestnut trees that had been annihilated. Genetic engineering would seem to be the best remedy to the problem of regenerating the massive American Chestnut trees,,but this will require identifying the mutation to the gene(s) which can confer resistance to the Asian fungus and also identifying the genes which govern the tree growth. The latter may be a whole complex of genes. None of this is well understood at the moment. Most government funding of genomics research has been devoted to understanding the human genome and the genomes of the microorganisms which cause major diseases in humans, not leaving much funding for the forest service research needs. Since the current administration appears to like trees more than people, there is hope." Yup. Just liking discussing politics and biology at the dinner table when I was a kid. Oh, nostalgia. Thanks, Dad.Jesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12247736025298518449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794707197741156865.post-17331513145870948142012-05-02T23:41:57.999-04:002012-05-02T23:41:57.999-04:00Excellent question! And it led me to do a little ...Excellent question! And it led me to do a little more research, which is how I found that there is a foundation at Virginia Tech called the American Chestnut Cooperators' Foundation or ACCF (http://ipm.ppws.vt.edu/griffin/accf.html) which is trying to restore American Chestnuts (not the hybrid, blight-resistant kind that American Chestnut Foundation or ACF is working with) to the forests of Virginia. It also looks like the National Park guide did not have it completely correct - the American Chestnut population was devastated and all of those huge trees are gone, but some trees did survive, at the "heart of the natural range" (http://www.accf-online.org/Blight/Control/integrat.html). I wasn't immediately able to figure out what the forestry service did or didn't do when they found out about the blight, but several sites said that they believe "panic logging" occurred when people found out what was happening and that may have been a major contribution to this particular environmental disaster. It looks like it was a nasty combination of man and nature, but these foundations are doing a lot of research to help the recovery.Jesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12247736025298518449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1794707197741156865.post-87737393700029834592012-05-02T22:53:05.063-04:002012-05-02T22:53:05.063-04:00Very informative and great pictures. I like the f...Very informative and great pictures. I like the fog! Did the forest service do anything to try to stop the blight/beetle, or did they recognize the problem too late?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com