thesis take 7 part 2

human agriculture, which is central to human ecological dominance, in fact relies upon ecosystem disturbance.

as humans stabilize niches against disturbance, characteristic changes in species abundance and guild specialization may be expected. using two model guild strategies for exploiting disturbance (fire and flood), i aim to characterize the effect of disturbance supression. negotiation of abiotic and intra-guild constraints are the primary mechanisms of ecological prosperity that are considered.

thesis topic take 7

environmental disturbance is a key ecological determinant of species composition. long lives and lack of motility in woody plants can lead to characteristic relationships to disturbance, either through close life-cycle coupling to dominant abiotic disturbance (i.e. flooding), or through biotic forcing of disturbance (i.e. fire).
these relationships to disturbance are mediated by nutrient and organism cycling, yielding causal, fitness-driven mechanisms of species abundance in woody plants. woody plants provide a fundamental, irreplacable ecosystem service of energy production. driven by intra-guild competition and abiotic limitations such as water, nitrogen, and phosporus, many woody plants have adapted to exploit a priori disturbance, or to drive new disturbance.

contrary to contemporary memes, many terrestrial ecosystems have been subject forceful stabilization as a result of human activity. humans supression of fire and flooding has ecological consequences, especially for woody plan

biking and pixing and blogging

dont try this at home, kids. weird downtown industrial scene, not much traffic.

bonus pic - tincture making

this is percolation, michael moore (the herbalist) style, easily the most irritating method imaginable, but the man is right. it works. well. this is a ridiculous amount of coltsfoot. if you got lung issues, lemme know...

the herb is soaked for some time, and then packed into the cut bottle with a coffee filter below and above, not too tight, not too loose, then alcohol is poured on top, and it seeps through and carries the goodness away with it. the cap on the bottom is screwed just so, such that one or two drops a second leave one bottle asnd enter the other.

this particular batch is pretty bitter. the color tells me that it more-or-less worked as advertised. one outstanding question is whether "waste" of alcohol or plant matter by using excess of each is preferable. tincture-making is a fine line between the two. depends on the plant (and the booze), i suppose...

baseline

the sg of water should be 1.0000000. it's close enough. sanitizer water in the pot in the background. the decidedly unsexy part of brewing - keeping everything clean. ive got some strange strains living down here...

it floats!

here's the sweet-and-sour water getting tested with the hydrometer in the test tube. the higher the hydrom floats, the denser the liquid, the more sugar is dissolved in it... specific gravity, s.g. = 1.15... that's a *lot* of sugar. my fingres are sticky nasty now.

my new favorite toy

it's a laser thermometer - some real star trek shit! im cooling the honey water in a sink of cold water. it's not perfect, but pointing the magic yellow thing at the surface and pressing the button gives me the temp within a few degrees. 90 degF is definitely too high for the yeasties.

scales how i love thee

measuring out acid blend - 2.5 g tartaric, 4 g malic acid, conservative for 2+ gallons, but more can always be added later. the acid is tasty in it's own right, but it gives the yeasties a leg-up during the ferment.

more sugar == more alcohol

some extra honey that was crystallized (~500g) and some priming sugar (corn, 140g) into a quart of water). need ~12% alcohol for it to be delf preserving. honey makes tasty brew, in any case. this is the last of my *easy* fermentables. time to buy a new bag of sugar...

This message has been sent using the picture and Video service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, Quicktime@ 6.5 or higher is required.

prickly pear wine from the student ghetto

1 gallon fresh prickly pear juice, 1 gallon water, 1kg sugar (good stuff, not the ghetto smiths bleached shit), a pinch of vitamin c (1.5g), a few dashes of diammonium phosphate (8g), some yeast energizer (1g), all cooled to 25 degC. bubbled in oxygen for 2 minutes. specific gravity is 1.065... potential alcohol @ 9%, way too low. must add more sugar.

This message has been sent using the picture and Video service from Verizon Wireless!

To learn how you can snap pictures and capture videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/picture.

Note: To play video messages sent to email, Quicktime@ 6.5 or higher is required.