Corey and the Raven

 By Richard B. Primack with help from ChatGPT

Over the past few months, my colleagues and I have consulted with Corey Callaghan (University of Florida) on statistical techniques for combining eBird citizen science data with historical data from Thoreau and others to detect the effects of climate change on the timing of migratory bird spring arrival in Concord. The following is a poem about our decision to invite Corey to join our group. The first draft was written by ChatGPT and then revised by me. 

 

In confused thought, 'neath COVID's hazy cloud,

I climbed Seminary Hill, where gloom enshrouds,

A dusk of gathering tempest, rain's threat unfurls,

Mind entwined with mysteries, Thoreau's dark twirls.

 

A spring bird enigma, warblers concealed in shade,

Migratory notes sought, a riddle displayed,

Observers like Brewster, Griscom and more,

Birds seen centuries past, records to explore.

 

Photo 1: Henry David Thoreau recorded bird arrival times in the 1850s. Source – National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

Rosey Corey, from recent decades now gone,

And now eBird's chorus, a modern song,

Could all combine, both present and yore,

Showing how time changed Concord birds’ travel chore?

 

Photo 2: eBird observers are making modern observations. 

 

In shadows I pondered, the statistical abyss,

Seeking insight, a guide in the mist,

Perhaps Corey Callaghan, with methods so bold,

Using subsampling lists, climate’s keys could unfold.

 

Photo 3: Corey Callaghan from the University of Florida.

 

Or another modeler, with stochastic grace,

Climate change effects, might better embrace?

Questions arose, trust hung in the air,

Seeking a savant, to unravel the snare.

 

As church spire neared, atop that steep knoll,

A sight gripped my soul, a tale to extol,

A raven, solitary, on steeple it swayed,

Wind's fierce caress, in dance it displayed.

 

Photo 4: A raven provides the answer. 

Midst tempest's lull, a mournful refrain,

Answering my quandary, a voice to explain,

"Caw!" it crooned, a spectral reply,

"Corey!" it whispered, the enigma unveiled nigh.

“Corey!” again, secrets since Thoreau’s Concord of yore,

Unlock and reveal evermore.

Echoes of Walden: A Climate Chronicle Version

 By Richard B. Primack with help from Chat AI and Willow E. Primack

[This poem was written largely by Chat AI based on a short essay by Richard and using prompts from Willow. Richard spent some time polishing the poem.]

 

In the warming world's embrace,
Unfolding petals rush to face
A sun too eager in its climb.
Wildflowers in Concord's heart,
Bloom early—nature's art
Distorted by a clock unseen.

Photo 1: Pink lady’s slipper orchid (source - gardenia.net)

Red maples, white oaks stretch

New leaves to skies, a net to catch
Time lost, fourteen days erased.
The forest floor, once bathed in spring light,
Now shaded, in the relentless night
From canopies formed too soon.

Photo 2: Red Maples (source -- ohio.edu).

The birds, unswayed, keep their course,

Arriving as if by some ancient force,
Unaware of the disrupted tune.
Insects, on the other hand,
Dance to a warmer land's command,
A symphony of disarray.

Photo 3: American Redstart (source - © Evan Lipton eBird S29730553).

Halfway through this tale of change,

I ponder on the range
Of Thoreau’s words, a guide, a boon.
How much of what we see is real?
Is there more we can reveal
In this ceaseless quest, our plight?

To be awake is to be alive,
But in this truth, do we contrive
To see the world in Thoreau's light?
Can we follow his simple lead,
In word, in thought, in deed,
As the planet warms, as species flee?

Live simply, so others simply live,
To nature’s call, attention give,
Reduce, reuse, our creed.
Let's tread softly where we roam,
For this Earth, our only home,
Needs guardians of its fragile dream.

 

In the echoes of Walden's shore,
We find a task worth fighting for:
To restore the rhythm of the natural theme.

A Few Common Tree Species Make Up Half of Tropical Rainforests

 By Richard B. Primack

“This winter they are cutting down our woods more seriously than ever….Thank God they cannot cut down the clouds!” Henry David Thoreau in his Journal.

A recently published study of over one million trees from 1,568 locations found that just 2% of tree species make up 50% of the total number of trees in tropical forests across Africa, the Amazon, and Southeast Asia. Each continent’s forests consist of the same proportions of a few common species and many rare species. 

Figure 1: Dots show the locations of forest plots used in the study. 

The study scientists estimate that just 1,053 species account for half of the planet’s 800 billion tropical forest trees. The other half are comprised of 46,000 tree species, many of which are rare. 

Photo 1: Measuring trees at Bako National Park, Malaysia.

 

These findings suggest that by focusing attention on these relatively few common tree species, we can probably predict how the whole forest will respond to global climate change. This is especially important because tropical forests contain a tremendous amount of stored carbon, and are a globally important carbon sink.

Photo 2: Lainie Qie records data in the field.

 

The study is also significant because it involved hundreds of scientists cooperating to assemble a gigantic international data base.

Here is the citation to the paper and a LINK:

Declan Cooper, Simon Lewis ... RB Primack, et. al, 2024. Consistent patterns of common species across tropical tree communities. Nature

 

Persistent Dead Leaves on Winter Trees

 By Richard Primack 

 

“The death scenes of great men are agreeable to consider only when they make another and harmonious chapter of their lives.” Henry David Thoreau in Early Essays and Miscellanies.

 

Many trees retain dead leaves on their branches during cold winter months, in a phenomenon known as leaf marcescence (LM). Theses leaves typically fall off during the late winter or early spring.  

Photo 1: White oak tree with marcescent leaves.

 

Photo 2: Close up of persistent white oak leaves.

Many theories have been advanced to explain LM. For example, persistent leaves may protect the buds against grazing by animals or give the growing plants a burst of mineral nutrients when they fall to the ground and decay in spring. But none of these have been proven so far. 

Photo 3: American beech shows LM on its lower branches. 

There has never been a systematic survey of the plant kingdom to determine the extent of LM. To remedy this, in 2024, an international network of 18 botanical gardens will investigate the occurrence of LM in their collections using a standard protocol. 

Photo 4: Surveying LM at the Arnold Arboretum.

Some plants show persisting green leaves that fall off in the winter, and these species are being included in the survey. 

Photo 5: Persistent drooping green leaves of Viburnum veitchii.

A recent article reviewed theories regarding the advantages of LM: LINK

Research Needed on China’s Threatened Plants

 By Richard B. Primack

 

“Knowledge is to be acquired only by a corresponding experience. How can we know what we are told merely? Each man can interpret another’s experience only by his own.” Henry David Thoreau in A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers.

 

The Chinese government is placing greater emphasis on the conservation of threatened species in the process of seeking to achieve a sustainable ecological civilization. Obtaining knowledge of these species is a necessary first step in protecting them. 

 

However, a new study shows that 41% of China's 2117 endemic threatened angiosperm species are not mentioned in any Chinese-language or English-language scientific publication. 

 

Photo 1: Panax stipuleanatus is a rare medicinal species of ginseng found in China. 

Further, only 2% of the 44,383 publications that mention threatened plant species are related to conservation research, and over 75% of these conservation publications are found behind a paywall. This means that there is very little accessible information about ecology and conservation for most of China’s endangered plant species.  

 

Photo 2. Camellia micrantha is an endangered Camellia species found in China.

 

The authors of a recent article in Biological Conservation (see link below) propose improving and increasing long-term and comprehensive research on the conservation and management of endemic threatened plants in China. This should include promoting inter-governmental communication and cooperation in plant conservation, and applying new technologies and methods to conservation studies and practices. 

Here is a link to the article: LINK