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| Photo credit: D. Cook and L. Jenshel (National Geographic) |
Currently New Mexico is not predicted to experience white Christmas this year, so why is tumbleweed such a super replacement?
Tumble weed is a generic name for a number of plant species however, Russian Thistle is the species that is likely to be at the heart of the MAFCA snowman. This species was first introduced in 1873 by Russian immigrants (Orloff et al., 2008). As tumble weed ages throughout the year its stem becomes increasingly brittle and decreases in flexibility until it finally snaps. It was a successful invader as its spherical shape not only makes it perfect for creating a snowman silhouette, but also for rolling in the wind! The distance tumble weed can travel is highly dependent on wind velocity, and has been found to travel up to 4069m from the original location (Stallings et al., 1995). This enables rapid seed dispersal over a very wide geographic range, making it a great invader! Until it hits a physical barrier it is practically unstoppable! Here's a photo where tumble weed has been allowed to accumulate out of control...
Despite providing a wonderful structure for the Interstate 40 snowman, it should be noted that Russian Thistle can also have a negative effect on the environment, particularly as it acts as a fire hazard. Consequently emphasis has been placed on trying to keep population size to a minimum - you can read about some of the management processes here. Whilst constructing the snowman, MAFCA may well be alerted to areas of high Russian Thistle concentration, which can then be delt with in the appropriate manner.
I want to leave you with the consideration that this invasive species creates great excitement among the daily commuters of New Mexico. Although this positive effect is not related to the environment, could it be possible that not all invasive species are bad? I'll be following this post up with a more scientific debate!
In the meantime, I hope you're getting into the festive spirit as much the population of New Mexico!
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| Photo Credit: D. Cook and L. Jenshel (National Geographic) |
Despite providing a wonderful structure for the Interstate 40 snowman, it should be noted that Russian Thistle can also have a negative effect on the environment, particularly as it acts as a fire hazard. Consequently emphasis has been placed on trying to keep population size to a minimum - you can read about some of the management processes here. Whilst constructing the snowman, MAFCA may well be alerted to areas of high Russian Thistle concentration, which can then be delt with in the appropriate manner.
I want to leave you with the consideration that this invasive species creates great excitement among the daily commuters of New Mexico. Although this positive effect is not related to the environment, could it be possible that not all invasive species are bad? I'll be following this post up with a more scientific debate!
In the meantime, I hope you're getting into the festive spirit as much the population of New Mexico!
Elena
Hi Elena,
ReplyDeleteI loved this post! Coming from Ottawa where we get loads and loads of snow around Christmas time, it's so interesting to see how original some cities are in creating the festive spirit despite the lack of snow. It was really interesting to learn that tumble weed came all the way from Russia, as it is such an iconic American plant.
Looking forward to your next post!
Katherine
Hey Katherine,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment! I know, even in England there are so many species that are not native but are assumed to be! There is a debate over what is considered to be an invasive species, and most commonly it is anything that has invaded since that last ice age!
Elena