the worms were bigger back then.
Posted on 10/28/2017 3:25:51 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Christopher Doughty, faculty member in the School of Informatics, Computing and Cyber Systems at Northern Arizona University... "Theory suggests that large animals are disproportionately important to the spread of fertility across the planet... What better way to test this than to compare fertility in the world during the Cretaceous period -- where sauropods, the largest herbivores to exist, roamed freely -- to the Carboniferous period -- a time in Earth's history before four-legged erbivores evolved." During these two periods, plants were buried faster than they could decompose. As a result, coal was formed. Doughty gathered coal samples from mines throughout the U.S. By measuring the coal elemental concentrations, he found elements needed by plants, like phosphorus, were more abundant and much better distributed during the era of the dinosaurs than the Carboniferous. The data also revealed that elements not needed by plants and animals, such as aluminum, showed no difference, suggesting the herbivores contributed to increased global fertility. According to Doughty, these large animals are important not for the quantity of dung they produce, but for their ability to move long distances across landscapes, effectively mixing the nutrients. By increasing the abundance and distribution of elements like phosphorus, plants grow faster, meaning large herbivores are responsible for producing their own food and contributing to their lush habitats... Simply put, fewer large animals may mean less plant growth."
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
That was also Darwin’s take on it, there’s more at the, uh, third link up near the top.
Earthworms survived the K-T extinction, and all the other mass extinctions that mark the paleontological era boundaries. Plus, they won’t hunt and eat us, which is an endearing quality.
LOL...a six-year-old student of mine who has a big dog told me yesterday that she wants a HORSE for Christmas. Although there are horses in my community, her home is not on a lot appropriate for horses. So I said to her...”When you walk Bella, do you pick up her poops like you are supposed to?”
“Eyew” she said “Yes!”
“Well”, I said, “If you have a horse, you have to go to his stable every night with boots and a shovel, ‘cuz their poops are YUGE!”
From the expression on her face, I think I just did Santa a big favor. He OWES me!
LOL!
Yum! :)
Does that mean the 4 large hogs I put in the garden will ensure LARGER tomatoes next year?
Wow!
Nice termite mound! (No trees nearby, so they have been busy!)
“Plus, they won’t hunt and eat us, which is an endearing quality.”
Very much So! I know that I could not win a footrace with a velocrapter.
Were would we be without Bees and Worms!
While its sad to think that saber tooth tigers are extinct, it would be sadder to be eaten by one. My thanks go out to nameless generations of aboriginal hunters!
I have heard that a pasture is healthiest when there are lots of vegetarian animals grazing and pooping on the land. The poop and urine are perfect for soil enrichment. Vegetarian animals, not dogs or humans.
Welcome back!!!
According to some ‘garden experts’ peeing on your garden, or on your landscape trees and shrubs is the BEST thing you can do. (Pure Nitrogen, Baby!)
I’m not going THAT far; my Mule makes loads of lovely compost for me. :)
the worms were bigger back then.
Except for... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj7R_2WWdKs
For thousands of years earthworms were the earth movers in he US south. They turned the soil more than any other creature...until now. The invasive Red Fire Ant that entered the US at the port of Mobile in the 1930's are everywhere now and doing the majority of earth moving.
Great Caesar’s ghost! Idiots with a doctorate had to do research to determine that dung is fertilizer. Dear Scotty, we implore you! Please beam us up!
Some of these ideas are a load of fertilizer, but they won’t help the plants.
The CO2 levels at the time of the dinosaurs was 5 times greater than today. CO2 is plant food. Plants were abundant and lush. Plant eating dinosaurs ate them and meat eating dinosaurs ate the plant eaters and as a result a lot of dinosaur crap was abundant.
I did not even need a federal grant to figure this out.
According to the article, you’re full of it...
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