“Nature is not competitive. It is ruthlessly collaborative” - Spencer Smith

How can responsible land stewards teach people how much more complex and sophisticated the designs found in Nature are compared to our own ?

Kew Royal Bontanic Gardens - Rhizotron Tree Museum

(Project grade 11)

Unfortunately, it's tough teaching new things to adults who have already been through an educational system where the green revolution industrial complex as mandated by the State has indoctrinated & moulded them into obedient little Soylent cracker eaters. Let's be honest, as you watch adults worldwide, they are having a tough time with the idea of "Multiculturalism" [even from it's supporters] let along understanding the true concept of biodiversity in Nature. You have to start with youth, who surprisingly grasp far more than adults give them credit for. I mean seriously, look how expert almost every child is using a computer as compared to adults ? Who are best at hacking these days ? Indeed, one of the biggest obstacles may well come from detaching kids from their electronic gadgets. But Children do love and thrive off challenges. So approaching things from a technological innovation viewpoint should help them visualize just how biological mechanisms found in the natural world actually work. Hopefully instead of hacking computer code, they won't try a hand at cracking the genetic code to find out what kind of mutated critters they can come up with. I can almost visualize the next #1 popular gift showing up under Christmas trees being a Bio-Rad GMO Starter kit. Ah yes, but I'm sure it'll be something that'll be fun for the whole family.

Image - Bio-Rad

If we look at things from a agricultural  standpoint with older generation farmers, they are old school and the saying which goes, "cannot teach an old Dog new tricks" is certainly accurate for the most part. Not too many older farmers around like Joel Salatin or Gabe Brown who actually get to change later in life and become successful. Something else came out recently about how imperative it is to pursue biodiversity with regards to agriculture as compared to monoculture. Both the University of Californa Davis and Michigan State University came out yesterday with research on how crops grown as a monoculture attract a plethora of all kinds of pests. More pests mean more synthetic inputs into the farm field system. The only winners in that are Agro-Chemical companies. But I truly believe kids would all grasp the concepts of ecology and biodiversity if exposed to the right kind of education at a young age. Now both articles were extremely interesting and informative, aside from being logical. But how do parents and teachers communicate these important grownup things to kids ? Aside from dumping the usual intellect speak, use illustrations from familar situations common in every day life that can teach. Also, absolutely use Animation and videos

Animation - Mother Earth News

Braconid Wasp -- Caterpillar

Image - Julie Johnsen

Most of what nature does goes unseen to most people. Not just kids, but adults too. Take this Braconid Wasp in the animation above. These are not the common every day better known larger wasps we see building those paper or mud nests in the rafters of our cover porches or eaves of our homes. No, these wasp are so tiny, many of them would barely would fit on a U.S. dime. This tiny wasp at left is a Mason or Potter Wasp. Most of the beneficial work they do also goes unseen. Mason wasps are a predatory insect whose young feed on the larva of other pest insects and build nest with mud but at times will dwell in holes of wood for nesting purposes. They may capture and paralyze as many at 15+ caterpillars just to feed their egg or larva before they seal the chamber inside the wooden post or tree snag. They probably use preexisting holes for their nests, but they are not particularly harmful. Teach kids that they are beneficial as they prey on critters like tent caterpillars/army worms, and other problematic larva on your garden plants. Teach your kids how important it is for you to plant a variety of flowering plants to feed these tiny wasps. Explain that though the adults capture and sting other insects, they do not eat these as food, only their babies do that. Teach the kids that adult wasps need pollen or nectar from flowers to feed upon and benefit from a good diversity of wildflowers or flowering shrubs. Here is an excellent example by insct photographer, Marc Kummel, who photographed a mating pair of beneficial parasitic wasps on a California Fuschia (Epilobium canum aka Zauschneria californica)

Image - Marc Kummel (San Marcos Pass - Oct 2016)

Here is a mating pair of tiny "parasitic wasps" (Hymenoptera) on a new
flower of California Fuschia (Epilobium canum aka Zauschneria californica)
in the Onagraceae plant family.

Chaparral hedgerows are ideal in attracting all sorts of beneficial insect pollinators & predators. Replacing disturbed invasive non-native weedy fields with the original chaparral plant community will increase predators and decrease habitat for pests who thrive on weedy areas. Now let's focus on one particular chaparral shrub, California Coffeeberry, which is plant number one at beneficial insect attraction.

Image - Pete Veilleux (2008)

One of my native favourites for attracting beneficial insects is California Coffeeberry (Rhamnus [or Frangula - whatever] californica). Favourite cultivars are "eve Case" or "Mound San Bruno." In my personal experience, from a shrub satandpoint, this is the earliest bloomer of all the native california shrubs and mostly it goes unnoticed. Why ? Well, look below.

Image - Greg a. Monroe

Flowers of California Coffeeberry are admittedly not the most showy as compared to other well known popular garden variety flowers. So how does a parent or teacher instill appreciation for something considered, perhaps, even ugly (by flawed human standards) ? I've never considered these flowers ugly, just sort of neutral from an outward appearance standpoint. Humans by nature judge almost entirely by outward appearances first. They do this to each other starting as kids in school. But the teacher and parent has to counter this by demonstrating the Coffeeberry flower's main virtues. Unseen to us, these flowers manufacture a potent powerful cologne or perfume that only insects can sense. It's a pity that back in the late 1980s, I didn't document this more with photography.

image - Brian Marlow
 Insect Paparazzi

Of course, there were no digital cameras back then, everything was expernsive and old school compared to now. But gardeners planting and documenting this most beautiful feature of Coffeeberry's usefulness in Nature could be a fun thing when it comes to gardening photos. Planting a chaparral hedgerow, then documenting just how effective these coffeeberry flowers are at attracting mostly beneficial pollinators/predators into your landscape would not only be fun, but also provide something that even the researchers have yet to provide us with. Seriously, do a google and most references to this Coffeeberry insect relationship come from Master Gardener blogs or other private individuals. They do mention the chaparral plant's importance to wildlife & domestic animal browsing, but the importance of it as a pest control component is referenced only by a few. Usage in farm field hedgerows for pest control is being more researched, but it's not the kind of good science getting as much publicity as genetic engineering or other industrial versions of  agro-chemical advances in science.

Image- Town Mouse & Country Mouse

California Coffeeberry: Biodiverse Insect Magnet for Pollinators & Predators (Think Hedgerows)

I've created this link above to an article I finished yesterday which further illuminates California Coffeeberry's insect magnet attracting  abilities.. I've taken time to research as many beneficial insect photographs as possible linked to California Coffeeberry. I've also included some research being done by researchers from California State Berkerley's Kremen Lab Group on the potential for pest control by beneficial insects on a commercial farming scale by the creation of California Chaparral Hedgerows along all farm fields. Much like the one in the photo below.

Image - University of California - Agricultural Division & Natural Resources

This post and information above should go along well with the latest research news below on using biodiversity as an insect pest control. Children and all youth in general need to understand just how successful Nature has been for 10s of 1000s of years prior to humans coming along. Biomimicry should be considered a normal scientific pursuit. The articifical industrial conventional way of practicing agriculture with it's chemicals and genetic engineering should be the view as it truly is, abnormal. None of this junk was ever needed in the first place. Kids need to understand that and will with parent's and teacher's guidance.

BioDiversity as a Natural Pesticide

“Farm fields can create monocultures where pests may find the perfect nutrition to be healthy and reproduce,” said Wetzel, who conducted the research during his doctoral work at the University of California, Davis. “Planting fields with higher plant nutrient variability could contribute to sustainable pest control.”

Rather than my further elaborating on this subject at length, these two links below should be enough to get you started. Then in your mind's eye, simplfy the language to a point where a child would understand the biodiversity concept. It may be a challenge for you as most adults globally are often unaware themselves. If the majority were aware, our planet would look totally different.

Michigan State University: Plant Diversity could provide natural repellent for crop pests

UC Davis: Why Insect Pests Love Monocultures, and How Plant Diversity Could Change That

Teaching kids these days is always easiest with video animation. Seriously, since I was a kid in the 1960s, cartoons and animated films shown at elementary school always captured my attention. So such  animated video instructive technology can and should be used when teaching kids about the importance of biodiversity over the ecologically failed choice mankind's failed leadership has been mandating for over the past 50 years. Take a look below.

Actually photographs are yet another venue to provide good teaching points and should also be used. I've written about these Chaparral Hedgerow and Biodiverse pollinator/predator strategies previously in these three posts below. This first one deals with the reasons why planting a biodiverse flower presence is so important to honey bee health. All plants create different types of pollen with unique chemical properties. These differing pollens are used by specialized nurse bees in the hive who apparently have a built sense of what pollen medicine to feed the sick worker bees with specific illnesses. Can kids really comprehend such scientific findings ? Absolutely, if you make the right real world illustrative comparisons that we humans can relate to:

Diversity of Flowering Plants Imperative to Pollinator & Predator Health

This next link deals with actual planning, designs and construction of Chaparral Hedgerows along California's agricultural fields to provide habitat living quarters and variety of important food sources for pollinators/predators which would act an an important insurance policy against crop pests. The potential here is for greatly reduced or total elimination of synthetic (or so-called Organic) chemical pesticides. Could kids really grasp this reality ? Absolutely, especially with the beautiful colour photographs provided by the Xerces Society:

Image - Xerces Society

How to construct the best Insurance Policy for your Agricultural Business Venture

This final link deals with strategies in attracting good pollinators/predators to the landscape and commercial farming and how such strategies are not only a good business model, but also a good insurance policy. Can kids graps this concept of bugs being something good ? Absolutely, but then need adult attitudes to change and lead by example. Again the photos from the Xerces Society are very helpful in this learning process:

Image - Xerces Society

Attracting Wild Bees & Wasps to Landscapes & Farms is the best Insurance Policy

Aside from planting a diverse variety of  native shrubs & wildflowers, here is a project parents or teachers can do with kids. 

(This kind of stuff gets burned into young memories)

photo credit - Donald C. Drife (2016)

June 20-26, 2016 has been designated National Pollinator Week by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of the Interior. Our yard is pollinator friendly. We use no insecticides. We provide plants that produce pollen and attract pollinators to our vegetable garden.   

This year, we put up a bee hotel now called the “Buzz Inn.”  Our plans came from a helpful guide, Managing Alternative Pollinators: A Handbook for Beekeepers, Growers and Conservationists, SARE Handbook 11, NRAES-186 by Eric Mader, Marla Spivak, and Elaine Evans.

Donald C. Drife

Michigan Nature Guy's Blog: National Pollinator Week

"No one will protect what they don't care about, and no one will care about what they have never experienced."

David Attenborough, conservationist 

One final teaching point from your friendly neighbourhood Home Depot

Image - Susan Harris of  Garden Rant

Home Depot front door display as you enter Garden Center

If you aren't teaching and illustrating at a hands on level with your children, then someone else will. The photograph above was take by Master Gardener author, Susan Harris, from the journal Garden Rant. The visual teaching going on here is their marketing strategy for indoctrinating their customers that for a beautiful successful garden, you need synthetic Chemical weed and insect killers to eliminate Nature's flaws. Here is what Susan Harris wrote about Home Depot's front entrance killer chemical display:

"The other day I walked into the Home Depot near me and noticed this enticement to enter the gardening part of the store – Kill, kill, kill those plants and bugs!  Not a plant in sight but plenty of plant-killers.  And this photo hardly conveys the impressive array of killing products extending as far as the eye could see."

(Source - Garden Rant) 

Pollinators - Beneficial Insects - Native Plants

Michigan State University: Native Plants and Ecosystem Services

Mother Earth News: Enlist Beneficial Insects for Natural Pest Control

University of Minnesota: Scholars team up to show forest biodiversity is green in more ways than one

See Google Images of Mason & Potter Wasps

http://bugoftheweek.com/mason-wasps-imonobiai-and-ipseudodynerusi

A Pisolithus tinctorius truffle collecting hotspot @ CSUSB's parking lot Carob Trees

For three short years I visited California State University in San Bernardino, California on and off while I worked for Campus Dimensions. We promoted financial services and AT&T communications products to the students there. But every time I pulled into the public main Parking Lot, something amazing and incredible always captured my attention. Something was associated with the Parking Lot landscape island's Carob Trees.

Panoramic view of the CSUSB campus against the San Bernardino Mountains. (Amerique 2009)

image - CSUSB

That attention capturing phenomena was the association of Pisolithus tinctorius mycorrhizal truffle formation on the parking area's numerous Carob Trees (Ceratonia siliqua). An amazing tree in in that it is extremely resistence to dry heat and even extreme drought conditions. Also interesting since as a parking lot landscape choice the environmental conditions are increased greatly in the temperature department. All that asphalt baking under an already historically hot geographical location. But Carob Tree toughness alone is not enough. As with many hot and dry climate plants, there are those biological symbiotc associations which further increase survivability. The problem for me was, even though I saw it with my own eyes, I had never read about Ceratonia siliqua being a host specific associate of Pisolithus tinctorius mycorrhizal fungi on any of the official hosts lists inside any of the Scientific Literature. 

image - Marcus Wallenberg Prize

My only connection back then in the  middle 1990s as far as education and technical understanding regarding the mycorrhizal world [aside from years previous personal observation & practices] was Dr Donald Marx of Frogmore, South Carolina who eventually became chief scientist for Plant Health Care Inc. He won a Marcus Wallenberg Prize award for his groundbreaking development of a process for the selective mycorrhizal inoculation of tree nursery soils which greatly increases the growth and survival rates of conifer seedlings used in the reforestation of inhospitable soils like those of abandon mines sites. In particular he was an expert on Pisolithus tinctorius. Don was even skeptical when I informed him of Pisolithus tinctorius  colonization of an Alligator Juniper (Juniperus deppeana) I brought over from Arizona one summer and inoculated after planting. But getting back to the CSUSB Parking Lot. I once collected three medium sized plastic bags of the mature dried PT Truffles under these Carob trees for my own spore inoculum at home on my acreage in Anza California. I was however in the beginning puzzled and at that time attributed their existence to the Eucalypts also present in the parking landscape islands. But it wasn't until a study by researchers associated with the University Mohammed Premier in Oujda, Morocco that the host association I observed made any sense. There is often a feeling when you pour over many science research papers and journals today, that the only good and accurate science findings come only from the good'ol USA or perhaps Europe. It does however make sense that such findings come from researchers from the North African region of Morocco where Carob Trees are native and often farmed for various products. Here is what one reference describes as to tree distribution and uses.

"Ceratonia siliqua is native to the eastern Mediterranean and Middle East and is commonly cultivated in California. Spanish missionaries first introduced the carob tree into Mexico and southern California. In 1856, seedlings were distributed from Spain to the southern states of the US. In 1859, more seeds were brought from Israel. Many carobs were planted as ornamentals and street trees during this time in Texas, Arizona, California, and in Florida. The trees are also used for erosion control and the pods for stock feed, human consumption, commercial thickeners, pet foods, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals."

So from that brief description we see how these Carob Trees  arrived via the Spanish colonists and the uses in it's own native range. So it is logical researchers from North Africa and the Middle East would have a close vested personal interest in the cultural and economic value of this tree and potential for improved farming methods in understanding many of the natural mechanical components which can be replicated on a commercial scale. But of course I never read any of this until 2012 when it was first published. I've written about this study before, but only from the perspective of Pisolithus tinctorius mycorrhizae colonizing Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera). (HERE)

Image - CSUSB - Parking Lot

image - Global Journals Inc

The truffles I collected at the parking area above were identical to the ones referenced here from the research article done by the scientists at University Mohamed Permier. It's just a pity it took so long to understand the truth of Carob Tree P.T. Mycorrhizal associations. When I tried explaining what I found, it was always explained away by the so-called experts. I was delusional and they were correct. Still, I would imagine the area of the CSUSB parking lot is still a hotbed of truffle collecting for those who know what to look for. So I'm apparently giving up all my former secret Pisolithus tinctorius Ectomycorrhizal truffle collecting site locations >>>  (Like Here)

Image - PlantPoints.com

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

The photograph above is of a typical Carob Tree (Ceratonia siliqua). When I went to El Cajon Valley High School in the early 1970s, they were everywhere lining the streets. They were never even watered as far as I could tell and still aren't by the Google Maps App. The CSUSB parking lot landscape trees had many of them along with Eucalyptus trees. Pisolithus tinctorius colonizes the root systems of both trees. But the majority of truffles I always found at CSUSB's parking lots were in the hard hot baked soil beneath the Carob Trees within the narrow parking lot landscape islands. I'm also fascinated by the fact that in some locations, even south of CSUSB at UC Riverside, the Carob Tree is in fact a weedy invasive. Fascinating read on underutilized uses and production of Carob trees in one of the links I've provided down below. Again, as the report brings out below, this Carob Tree and it's economic potential is little understood:

"Carob has been neglected with respect to both cultural practices and research and development. Apart from a few classic works written by interested scientists, references on this crop are scarce. We have tried to review most of the work published over the last 100 years and make useful information available to producers, processors, students, scientists and amateurs."

(Source)

Images by Noureddine Elmtili

Note the Carob on the left colonized by Pisolithus
tinctorius. Note on the right no fungal inoculation.

Effects of ectomycorrhizal fungal inoculation on growth and rooting of carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua L.)

Quick References to this subject of Ectomycorrhizal Truffle formation on new found 'Host Plants'

Ectomycorrhization of Date Palm and Carob Plants

When Mycorrhizae debunks the Scientific Orthodoxy on what & who they'll colonize

Adenostoma fasciculatum (chamise or greasewood): Worthless Brush or potential Nurse Plant ???

DiscoverLife.org - Ceratonia siliqua

Carob tree. Ceratonia siliqua - Promoting the conservation and use of underutilized and neglected crops 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Conclusions 

Of course in the historical past, neither the Date Palm nor the Carob Tree would have ever been found on any of the approved Host Plant lists for Pisolithus tinctorius or any other Ecto-Mycorrhizzas as provided by most American Mycology records. Much the same with P.T. ectomycorrhizal fungal colonization of (Adenostoma fasciculatum) otherwise known as Greasewood or Chamise or even it's cousin (Ademostoma sparsifolium) Redshank or Ribbonwood. Both generally being endo-mycorrhizal with the exception of heavy wet rainy years such as El Niño events. Neither shrubs are generally popular as landscape fare nor respected as far as a major foundational chaparral shrub as nurse maids to Forest trees which is probably why the Scientific Orthodoxy has ignored them for so long. And yet knowledge of the environmental cues which can trigger an epigenetic responses within Chamise to switch on the manufacture of chemical signaling messages to soil fungal partners plant's root exudates to inform nearby fungal spores or mycelium like PT ectomycorrhizae to form a mutualistic bonds during periods of heavier than normal wet rainy seasons (El Nino Events) could have been a sort of restoration alert to humans to get off their backsides and get busy with reforestation projects. The plethora of lost opportunities in furthering increases in forest ecosystem habitat spread by means of mutual cooperation between Chamise or Redshank and Pines/Oaks is now lost forever. Our present climate change and global extreme drought dilemma is a testament to the inept global scientific leadership we are all forced to be subjected under. Very little is written about these interactions and beneficial phenomena. The very nature of the average scientific animal is that the Lay Person is incapable of teaching them anything. Not all scientists conduct business as usual, but their numbers are very few. While there are some who are enthusiastic about mutualisms and practical applications on a potentially commercial scale, much of their work gets shelved away or appears on few websites where small groups take a real hands on interest. If this were not true, our planet Earth would look like a much different place than it is now. Fortunately many do recognize the value of what they call citizen scientists who are nothing more than folks with a heart felt passion for the natural world around them. They have no vested interest in corporate business profits. So their helpful input is often employed in some research works. Frankly, the present scientiific orthodoxy are beginning to remind me more and more of that fictional headmistress, Miss Agatha Trunchbull of the Trunchem Hall Primary School.

We really are living in the spooky End Times

Plants considered parasitic actually have positive impacts on greater increases in biodiversity

Okay, so the original title of the University of York's research study wasn't exactly so flowery. The original title was: " ‘Vampire’ plants can have positive impacts up the food chain. " Okay so I dislike terms like ‘Vampire’, ‘Devil’, ‘Hell’, etc being applied to kool things in Nature. I predict one day mankind globally will rename many natural wonders which have been shackled to derogatory descriptions because of certain perceived spooky characteristics. Hopefully this will be happening sooner than we all think.

Rhinanthus, Castle Hill National Nature Reserve in Sussex

"New research has revealed that parasitic 'vampire' plants that attach onto and derive nutrients from another living plant could benefit the abundance and diversity of surrounding vegetation and animal life."

(Source - University of York)

The Plant celebrity in the published article from the University of York in Great Britain is an annual root-hemiparasite of nutrient-poor grasslands called Rhinanthus minor or commonly known as Yellow Rattle. It is also found in permanent pastures, hay meadows, the drier parts of fens, flushes in lowland and upland grasslands, and on montane ledges; also on roadsides and waste ground. It's classified as what is known as a hemi-parasitic which means it draws nutrition from it's host, but also from Chlorophyll, just like other familiar better known hemi-parasitic plants who also have a host and draw nutrition from the sun through photosynthesis, the common Mistletoe. Life benefits from such associations which in our modern times have been discovered with Mistletoe and trees or shrubs. So too has great importance been discovered with the presence of Yellow Rattle (Rhinanthus minor) to the biodiversity of fields and meadows in not only holding back more aggressive plants which would proliferate in the absence of Yellow Rattle, but also the unexpected abundance of biodiverse populations of all manner of insects, [butterflies, snails, wasps, etc] animals and birds. 

"Lead author, Professor Sue Hartley, of the Department of Biology at York and Director of the York Environmental Sustainability Institute, said “This was a really unexpected finding. Although hemi-parasites are known to increase the diversity of other plants in the community by suppressing the dominant species they parasitize and so allowing other plants to flourish, none of us predicted there would be such dramatic and positive impacts on other components of the grassland community."

“Rhinanthus minor (Yellow Rattle) increased the abundance of all sorts of animals including snails, woodlice, butterflies, wasps and spiders. This is an important finding for the conservation and management of these chalk grassland communities, which are exceptionally species rich but also rare and threatened.”

(Source: University of York)

Interestingly, many cattle ranchers and farmers with various grazing animals period generally are looking for a monoculture in fields and meadows where they place their animals. They want grasses and nothing more. But monoculture seems to be the desired human pursuit these days, especially with regards industrial agriculture backed by horrible science which discounts the benefits of biodiversity. They are ignorant of the fact that many of these other Forbes [noxious weeds in their warped opinion] have health benefits to their livestock. Great article about field biodiversity and it's importance, but again as a recap, not only do these and other plants suppress  certain aggressive plants which would  overwhelm the ecosystem with populations of dense grasses, but it opens the field up to other lifeforms which are important to ecosystem health overall.

"The changes induced in the plant community were consistent with previous studies of the impact of  'Yellow Rattle' - Rhinanthus minor, particularly in the suppression of grasses. However, the striking enhancement of invertebrate abundance across several trophic levels has not been recorded previously."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hemiparasitic Plants of the Western United States

Image: Sprouts Greenhouse, Landers Wyoming

Indian Paintbrush Integra
(Castilleja integra/Artemesia frigida)

Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja integra)

This got me thinking of a couple of native wildflowers where I originally come from in the Western USA. Ones I am most familiar with, but also ones I come to find I should know more about. I never paid much attention to wildflowers of SoCal before other than common & Scientific names. My thing has always been chaparral and trees native to the same region. And of course the community relationship between them as an active functioning living biological machine. However, it seems like the more I discover, the more I really don't know. Human lifespans for the present just aren't long enough to find out all there is to know and benefit from. But I now wonder about such plant's roles and purpose within the ecosystems I am familiar with in SoCal. For example, when I lived in Anza California previously for over 20+ years, I was most familiar with the Indian Paintbrush  wildflower. What was interesting was that this plant was always mostly found in association with a chaparral plant called Silver Sagebrush like the one you see above in the larger photo. Now while I always knew it was partial parasitic, I knew it never harmed the Sagebrush as most people would normally have a view of things we label as parasites. Now with further information from the University of York, I am further curious as to ecosystem roles of this plant. Providing pollination for various bees, wasps and other winged insects, what else does it accomplish ? Does it keep the Silver Sagebrush (Artemesia) in check or balanced and where it's not overwhelming the entire system ? Do other things like birds or animals benefit from it's presence in the system ? Questions, Questions, Questions and more Questions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Image by Jeff Hapeman (2010)

"A field of very large Purple Owl's Clover (Castilleja exserta var. exserta ) along California highway 58 in the foothills of the Temblor Range." - Jeff Hapeman

Jeff Hapeman's Flickr page for Castilleja exserta - Purple Owl's Clover

image by Jay Beiler

The other flower I also wonder about is Purple Owl's Clover or (Castilleja exerta) which was always native where I lived up in Anza, but especially on the untouched unmolested areas of Cahuilla Indian Reservation. Mostly large swaths in Terwilliger Valley to the east. The photograph here was taken most likely in 2010 by Jay Beiler of San Diego on the western end of Cahuilla Indian Reservation. If you look closely, you'll see snow capped Mount Jacinto way in the background and the eastern edge of Cahuilla Mountain on the left, so this is looking north. You can see Owl's Clover in among TidyTips, Thistle Chia, California Poppies, Lupines and other natives. Wonder what other plants the Owl's Clover colonizes here ? What roles does it play in meadow biodiversity if any ? This plant, like the Yellow Rattle and Indian Paintbrush is a hemiparasite and like several members of the figwort family, it gains its sugars from photosynthesis but has a poorly developed root system, so it "taps" into the roots of other plants by producing nutrient-absorbing haustoria [like the hyphal strands of mycorrhizal fungi], to obtain some of its water and mineral nutrients.

image: Emmanuel Boulet (2002)

Like the mycorrhizal fungi, they don't really do damage when they send their haustoria type roots to invade within the host plant's root cells as you can see from the photo of a typical type of haustoria here where tissues have been blue stain revealing the light blue cells with the haustoria being the darker blue. Note that it goes through into the tissues, but doesn't puncture the cells. Another benefit besides water and nutrients from host plants are the specific alkaloids that may be produced by some host plants which protect Owl's Clover or Indian Painbrush from predation. lupines have a symbiotic relationship with nitrogen-fixing bacteria and any plant parasitizing them is going to get increased access to nitrogen. Studies have shown that Castilleja using lupines as host experience better growth, increased reproduction, and increased pollen output. Those Lupines in the Anza wildflower mix may even offer some protection from herbivory to Castilleja, as along with nutrients parasites also receive some of the alkaloid lupinine, which is toxic and bitter to animals. This protection may be conferred to the Castilleja, although studies have shown mixed results in whether having lupine as a host actually does decrease herbivory on Indian paintbrush or not. In any event the exchange of differing plant alkaloids between different plants through the underground mycorrhizal grid network is well documented. It's actually been tough to actually search for similar findings with Owl's Clover and Indian Paintbrush as having impacts on biodiversity like the Rhinanthus minor. Either way, it’s clear there are big benefits for these hemiparasitic plants taking advantage of host plants like lupine, and on the Cahuilla Reservation area it’s not uncommon to see the fields full of almost exclusively lupine, Owl's Clover and paintbrush. The Lupines also have their own beneficial symbiotic relationship with bacteria which fix nitrogen from the atmosphere, so nutrition from Lupine hosts is a huge possibility. 

If anything further arises as far as more information on this subject, I will come back and add to the post here

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Further Reading References of Interest

http://www.calflora.org/Plant Family of OROBANCHACEAE

The Population Dynamics and Community Ecology of Root Hemiparasitic Plants. The American naturalist, D. Smith

HOST SPECIES AFFECTS HERBIVORY, POLLINATION, AND REPRODUCTION IN EXPERIMENTS WITH PARASITIC CASTILLEJA

What happens to Earth's Mycorrhizal Community when their Hosts fail above ground ?

"You don't have to inoculate because spores are  found everywhere in the Air."  Oh but I beg to differ, yes it does matter!

image: John Upton

Discover magazine published an excerpt from biologist Edward O. Wilson’s recent book The Diversity of Life, in which he listed the extinction of thousands of species of birds, fish, and insects, as well as species usually dismissed as unimportant: 

“Many of the vanished species are mycorrhizal fungi, symbiotic forms that enhance the absorption of nutrients by the root systems of plants. Ecologists have long wondered what would happen to land ecosystems if these fungi were removed, and we will soon find out.”

A pine seedling roots flush with mycorrhizal fungi,allowing the plant to
obtain nutrients from a bigger volume of soil.
Image from David Read, author of Mycorrhizal Symbiosis.

It's almost impossible to believe that mycorrhizal Fungi themselves are in danger of massive deterioration and possibly extinction in some areas of the Earth, especially when the prevailing faith affirmation is that "Fungal spores are just everywhere in the air". In other words, don't worry, it'll be fine. I often hear this [mainly by native plant nursery experts who are supposed to be in the know] when I reveal to them that I always inoculate even when I suspect microbial life in the ground is healthy. I just refuse to not take a chance, and besides, there are some species of fungi which are superior in starting a plant out successfully than others do. I'm not trying to be cute here, but there's more to the story. Like everything else, Micro-organisms are not immune to human idiocy. So no it's not invincible as we once thought, or at least not anymore. Does it stand to reason that if plant life above the ground earth wide is suffering and in severe cases failing, that the conditions underground, just possibly the microbial community isn't doing so hot as well ? More and more there is scientific evidence that this just may be the case. It's always been a given that for the most part, where ever in the world's cities , Humans use massive amounts of science-based chemical Fertilizer solutions and other deep tilling practices have been employed, the microbial community is either limited or entirely gone. Further, when areas of an agricultural landscape are plowed up near the surface, this will often kill off the mycorrhizal network, and made even worse with the chemical fertilizer applications. In the post I did on the habitat restoration project at Thousand Palms oasis where it was necessary to physically remove Tamarisk trees, two types of method were employed in the removal and as noted, there were two stark contrasts in results of plant community response.

"Most areas were cut by hand, thereby selectively cutting out the tamarisk while leaving the native shrubs unharmed. Only a 7.5 acre (3 ha) section that was heavily infested (> 95%) was cleared using a bulldozer." 

"In the 7.5 acres (3 ha) that was bulldozed, natives established much more slowly than in the hand-cleared areas." 

(Source) "A Success Story Tamarisk Control at Coachella Valley Preserve, Southern California" 

Did you notice that the method in which the crews hand removed the invasive vegetation, but left the other native shrubs intact ? These regions were reported to have recovered faster. The Bulldozed land which was stripped entirely and replanted recovered far more slowly. This method is often employed by the US Forest Service in replanting Timber species Pine trees and success is much slower than leaving some chaparral intact. While they make no mention of the mycorrhizal grid, no doubt this was obliterated at the Bulldozed location at the time of disking and scraping. I also found this in my own case where I always hand removed only a handful of chaparral when planting trees and leaving much of the ecosystem intact. But something else is going on now that is causing the mycorrhizal network to fail in many areas. The really scary thing now is that this disappearance phenomena may also be happening in many of the Earth's wildland areas and not limited to those regions disrupted by Humans. But why is this ? 

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Major Groundwater Deficit Out West Might Hold Some Clues

image: Earth Observatory - NASA

The people at NASA came out with a map just a couple of days ago referencing groundwater deficits especially out in the western states. Here is what they said:

"Long-term drought and aggressive seasonal wildfires have consumed property, lives, and farmland in the American West. The dry weather and blazes are battering regional economies and putting residents and agricultural businesses in several states on a path toward water restrictions. At least part of this story of water woes lies underground."

"The map above combines data from the satellites of the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) with other satellite and ground-based measurements to model the relative amount of water stored in underground aquifers in the continental United States. The wetness, or water content, is a depiction of the amount of groundwater on July 7, 2014, compared to the average from 1948 to 2009. Areas shown in blue have more abundant groundwater for this time of year than comparable weeks over the long-term, while shades of red depict deficits compared to this time of year." 

(source)

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Many Native wildland Plant Communities are in major decline or out right dying, Why is this ?

Anza Valley viewed north @ Thomas Mountain off
Mitchell Rd & east of Kirby Rd next to Agri-Empire Well (2014)

The photograph above was taken in a northerly direction from a commercial well head owned by Agri-Empire just north of the dirt road part of Mitchell Road and east of Kirby Road. What caught my attention here, and this had been seen elsewhere, the Parry Pinyon Pines are failing all over the place. Believe it or not I actually wrote about what was going to happen back in early 2013 before I came over that Spring. I already was aware of Parry Pinyon's decline and some of the efforts to help save these trees within the San Jacinto Mountain range. The account from the Press Enterprise falsely cursed and demonized Chaparral as hindering the successful life of Parry Pinyon. But the efforts of their chaparral clearing programs were less than successful, especially given the lack of knowledge by well meaning people who were in a position of authority to have known better how specific ecosystems [like Pinyon/Juniper woodlands] actually work. The leadership should have known better:

Little Did I Know at the Time, Parry Pinyon was only the Beginning! 

Any Pinyon and especially the Parry Pinyon,  has always been one tough tree. But like other living things, this tree also has limits as to what it will endure. Historically they have always germinated newer trees with great ease, especially on a steep southern facing slopes of Thomas Mountain to the Anza Valley floor which is dominated by Chamise or otherwise known as Greasewood. Not many trees would tolerate such a habitat. These trees in this area for example have always produced 1000s of pine nuts per year and it could be observed that 100s of seedlings emerged successfully after germination over Winter, whether they made it through the first year or not. The above photo isn't the best close up shot I could get, but I had a delicate Rental Car that was never made for the offroad. From a distance however you could see numerous skeletal outlines of the Parry Pinyon tree silhouettes. Many Pine trees will normally shed leaves or needles from oldest years to the newest during times of drought stress. Most of the pines at my old place still contain needles which go back 5 or 6 years, but many of these Parry Pinyon trees had only two years worth of needles which reveals their present drought stressed struggle for life. Some were outright dead which can be seen from a drive along Hwy 371 leaving Anza Valley heading to Paradise Corners. This unfortunate observation is just not normal, especially for these Pinyons up there around Anza. Of course all the Coulter and Jeffrey Pine are being effected as well. That entire southern face of the eastern end of the Thomas Mountain chain had always attracted my attention because the trees always stood out in stark contrast to the surrounding Chaparral plants. Now you can't even tell the difference. But one wonders what has happened to the mycorrhizal fungi community under the ground which normally is the foundational support of the above ground ecosystem. Why isn't it not up to the task of it's assigned  job ? Let's see how it works when all pistons are firing.

The foundation of every single ecosystem on Earth is the fungi community. Depending on the system, the variety of plants and animals living within that system are determined by the health of the microbial system of the fungi along with the right kind of beneficial bacteria. The foliage mechanisms of all plants that are above the ground act as factories which produce energy from the sun, manufacture food and allow the plant to reproduce. The mycorrhizal community under the ground draw off the nutrition the plant manufactures in the form of simple sugars or carbohydrates which the fungi are incapable of producing on their own. Obviously the Fungi provide generous amounts of raw materials in the form of water and nutrients in exchange for the food the trees and shrubs generously provide. An important factor in all of this working together and cooperation is available moisture which provide the major support in this cooperation. Look at any shrub or tree this way, think in terms of purchasing a factory stock muscle car from the 1960s. Certainly the vehicle has many outstanding qualities on it's own and will perform just fine. But this vehicle can be further enhanced by modification of the cars various mechanical components which relate to higher performance. The fungal community under the ground acts as just such a modification partner. They provide an energy performance to helping out the plants during the rougher  times. They provide an antibiotic system which protects plants root infrastructure from diseases which would otherwise wear down it's mechanical components. They create a sharing interconnection exchange of nutrients and moisture between the entire the plant community, and create a much larger resource base by which further moisture and nutrients can be drawn from a greater area. If any of the modified components shut down for any reason, then the entire system can be effected negatively.

It is the same with any vehicle. If the  header exhaust system, gears, or the high performance carburetor starts to fail for any reason, the entire system suffers. With the plant world, we are now seeing complete failure in many places. This is true for example in Anza California. Off hand I'd say it's the inconsistent rainfall totals I have been following throughout Southern California over the past couple of years. Totals are extremely uneven with some areas getting doused with rain and others receiving only a trace. This past rainy season especially, most totals are extremely way down throughout California and this downward trend has been getting worse over the last few years. Seasonal rainwater and other forms of moisture to an ecosystem are like what gasoline is to a car. Lack of water will also create and cause total shutdown in most plant ecosystems, and all other life will be likewise effected. People aren't the only ones with a stake in this water crisis emergency.

What I noticed this past rainy season is that even if an area was officially recorded as receiving an inch of rain, other storms that followed were few and far between. An inch of rain doesn't soak very deep, especially when it's not followed up by other rain amounts. The sun and wind dry up what was made available and the pores in the soils seizes up tight once again. No amount of moisture build up is allowed, which explains why invasive weeds didn't even do well in these areas this past year. The ground water availability chart above provided by NASA bears this out. Most of the chaparral I saw on my trip hadn't even put on a new season's growth, which tells me they are in survival mode at any cost. When this happens, plants and trees will either restrict or hinder altogether giving any carbohydrates to their mycorrhizal partners in life. The plants right now are in extreme survival mode when they shut down and don't produce. Many go drought stress deciduous. For the past decade I have not once found PT Mycorrhizal Truffles in either my favourite wild collecting spots not specific places within cities which were colonized.

image: Roger Gosden

In every ecosystem around the globe there are ecological switches that exist which push the system through a succession of changes until maturity is reached, and the same could be true in reverse when the ecosystem begins to collapse as a result of disturbance from the norm. Reverse engineer anything and you notice a gradual breakdown. Seriously, look at Earth's Climate mechanisms. If we go back to our automobile comparisons, fast forward to our present computerized run modern cars which are loaded with sensors which send instantaneous signals to the computer's programming brain which continually monitors temperature, timing, fluid levels, etc, etc, etc, this mimics beautifully what goes on in the plant world deep down inside on a very molecular level which is controlled by sophisticated sensors & on/off switches on the genes located within the plant's DNA which constantly monitor the surrounding environment for change. The signals the plant genes receive from this feedback by means of chemical signaling which require a response for the organism's next move. This makes more sense to me now, given the info I read a while back from the 2005 report by the US Forest Service which came out admitting that Pisolithus tinctorius does work within chaparral plant community & likes to colonize Chamise. Note the quoted text below where Chamise will allow itself to be colonized, but only & especially during wet years like the El Nino event of 1978 thru 1984. This would also account for the Parry Pinyon's healthy establishment successes within the Thomas Mountain ranges above Anza California which were always productive truffle collection hot spots for me for over two decades. From 2003 onward however I found no truffles [even signs of older mummified ones] in all areas north of hwy 371 on the old Dune Ranch now owned by Agri-Empire. If even the Chamise or Redshank are under stress as a result of drought conditions, it makes sense that certain sensing mechanisms detect environmental ques picked up by the plant's epi-genome, then this must certainly require a disconnecting signal which means the chemical that allows and encourages the colonization process with mycorrhizae must be shut down and may be a survival strategy for these chaparral. Even this year was a bust when I visited Anza, UNTIL => my Julian visit June 30th 2014. Below here is a paragraph explaining & documenting the Chamise PT Truffle association.

"Greasewood or Chamise ( Adenostoma fasciculatum ) normally forms arbuscular mycorrhizae with all genera found in the region. However, during wet years (El Niño), we found EM associated with its roots and EM fungi in the stands (Allen and others 1999b). There was a high diversity of fungi ranging from Cenococcum and Balsamia spp. (ascomycetes ) to a variety of basidiomycetes such as Pisolithus species." 

When Maverick Mycorrhizae debunks the Scientific Orthodoxy on what & who they'll colonize

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Wow, what an awesome surprise before returning to Sweden. Truffles, Humbolt Lilies and more 

image: Elisabeth: Desert View Inspiration Point

It was June 30th 2014, my wife and I were returning back to El Cajon after staying at my brother's place in Ranchita, California for a few days. We stopped in Julian for a chocolate malted milk shake, then pushed on south to see what Cuyamaca State Park looked like now. This photo above is the desert view turnoff on Hwy 79 south of Julian called "Inspiration Point. Years ago someone planted Cuyamaca Cypress all around the parking area and median island. They spread out into the chaparral in the old days before fire swept through here. I recall finding seedlings everywhere in the 1970s. I know, it's faith shaking shocker when a much worshiped doctrine gets blown out of the Fire Ecology water, but life is like that. There were some small narrow unmarked trails where persons who visited have created through the chaparral so I followed a few, but something curious caught my eye as I veered off trail an in between Manzanita and Scrub Oak I found what for me is the glittering of gold, a mother load of sorts. Stone-like truffles of Pisolithus tinctorius. 

photo Mine Inspiration Point Hwy 79 south of Julian

The above image has been manicured a bit so that viewers get the full flavour of what they actually look like. Here I have pulled back some of the dry grasses, leaves, dirt and other debris for the camera. To most people hiking in the outdoors, they look rather like small stones. But I've always got my nose to the ground every time I go out, just a habit I guess.

Photo Mine: Now on my FB page

Here is the same image of the above truffle with another I've cut or broken in half to reveal what's inside of these gems. Unlike normal puffballs most folks might be familiar with which explode in a cloud of dust when opened, these have a compartmentalized interior. Mocha brown inside and gives off the scent of caramelized sugar of English Toffee in my opinion. Often referred to as the Dog Turd Truffle, it is a main pioneer fungi for most all ectomycorrhizal plants which are just getting started. Below here is a picture of a truffle which I have not removed the debris around. You can understand why most people wouldn't notice such a gem.

Image Mine

But now look below here, they do come much bigger

Image Mine

Two images of the same truffle above and below here. The lower one allows you to view the American Quarter coin much more clearly which I used for scale. Almost the same size of a Swedish Kronor. I've seen these things get much bigger before, often on my own property in Anza in the past. Once on the backside of Palomar Mountain in 1983, a friend of mine and I went up the forestry road behind Aguanga off Hwy 79 and up near the top in a previous years wildfire burns and after the monsoon Thunderstorms had dumped rain over the last several weeks, we saw large white Puffballs larger than the size of a Basket Ball all over the blacken landscape with which it contrasted beautifully. I really wished back then I had thought to carry a camera.

Image Mine

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Other things discovered at "Inspiration Point"

Image Mine

Okay now time to pay attention here for a moment. This is looking south from the "Inspiration Point" area and the hill where some trees are recovering from the 2003 Cedar Fire which took this place out almost completely. I still have nightmares of watching Ed Lenderman of KUSI over dramatizing the high winds at this spot live. As you can see there are some pines trees and even Cuyamaca Cypress growing back. Although for a recovery that is eleven years in restoration, it's clear that even rain here has not been in great abundance. Okay anyway, is there any colour that stands out place and jumps out at you in this photograph ? I'll give you some hints, it's not any shade of green, nor sky blue. It also has nothing to do with the reddish brown soil at the bottom foreground of the picture.

The chaparral here at "Inspiration Point" was the healthiest and most beautiful in all of San Diego County, something I had not seen anywhere, but a few places like Palo Colorado Canyon up in Big Sur California off of the Cabrillo Hwy 1. Okay, to the right here is a Humbolt Lily which was growing up out from a medium sized California Coffeeberry Shrub. Not what most people would consider ideal gardening conditions for any kind of Lily. But that's the native chaparral ecology. Fungi makes many things work when all pistons are firing properly. I have some more pics and more stories of things I did here. Like planting Native Plants in hot weather, inoculation and watering properly under harsh conditions. Some natives can be watered and others not. Inoculation is always a must if you want to succeed in the urban landscape or garden. However, unless things weather and climate-wise change radically, I do not believe any remote wildland area restoration will succeed, even if you inoculate with a great mycorrhizal blend. You need rain, not necessarily heavy rains, but back to normal rains will work. There is so much going wrong in the outback environment. To much to ponder. Get outdoors and discover how different Nature is from what the textbooks insist is truth. You'll be amazed.