I’m no expert, but plants could all begin growing at the same time in nature thanks to things like wildfires, landslides, etc.
Comment on No touchy
unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 9 months ago
This shouldnt happen in nature should it? Just talking out of my ass here but i feel like this only happens because they are all the same height because they were planted by humans at the same time. Or maybe only in mono culture forests, because i have never seen this simply because there is always overlap from smaller or different trees where i have been.
essteeyou@lemmy.world 9 months ago
MotoAsh@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Not only should it happen in nature, but nature causes this behavior. They evolved that way because they survive better than a species that gets tangled up in itself. That’s it. That’s the whole reason, start to finish. There are a multitude of reasons why not getting tangled up in your neighbors is good, but the tree simply has to survive better, and that is all that is required for the behavior to become the new natural norm.
mozz@mbin.grits.dev 9 months ago
Correct
Natural selection happens at the genotype level, not the individual level. Having a species that likes to combat with other individuals with, essentially, the exact same genotype, at the expense of both individuals, is rarely a winning strategy.
(There are exceptions and caveats of course -- e.g. Fisher's Principle which explains why the ratio of males to females is roughly 50:50 in most species, even though that's often not what would be optimal for the species as a whole).
PilferJynx@lemmy.world 9 months ago
Man, that’s some crazy logic. I’ll take occams razor and state that wind movement abrades the leaves/limbs on one another.
MotoAsh@lemmy.world 9 months ago
It’s not crazy logic to describe natural selection.
PilferJynx@lemmy.world 9 months ago
I’m just saying you’re adding too much complexity in this particular phenomenon. Evolution by natural selection is a very robust model that has remarkable predictive power. It only works if you’re not assuming too many inputs.
Fuck_u_spez_@sh.itjust.works 9 months ago
And isn’t it advantageous to the whole forest if the mature trees are the same height? Doesn’t that happen naturally all over the place? Something about equal sunlight, hydraulic pressure, hydration, and… I forget.
threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works 9 months ago
It’s advantageous to be a taller tree than your neighbours, since you get more sun. That turned into an arms race to the top, and now we have tall forests.