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Michael Parks @jurassicparks.bsky.social · 14h

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Michael Parks @jurassicparks.bsky.social · 16h

Missing an international flight from Hong Kong at a time in life when I had about $100 to my name. Very nearly became an accidental expat.

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Michael Parks @jurassicparks.bsky.social · 16h

Interesting. I've heard about sugarcane in terms of loss of the Atlantic Forest.

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Michael Parks @jurassicparks.bsky.social · 18h

Did not realize how huge and fast growing biofuels are in Brazil. Ugh. Same companies I guess?

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Reposted by Michael Parks

Lance Richardson @lancerichardson.bsky.social · 1d

Launch events next week!

NYPL: www.showclix.com/event/richar...

BPL: www.bklynlibrary.org/calendar/lan...

NWS: nationalwritersseries.org/author-event...

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Michael Parks @jurassicparks.bsky.social · 21h

Cedars are the colloquial term here. European arrivals thought our junipers looked like old world cedars so started calling them that. Agree it's strange for a scientific paper, but people in Nebraska will get it

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Michael Parks @jurassicparks.bsky.social · 22h

Articles on this topic have included some pretty great stock art

www.zmescience.com/science/dino...

Dinosaurs might have been tripping on LSD-like fungus

Millions of years before rock and roll, LSD and the new age movement, dinosaurs were having a blast in the Cretacious, nibbling on ancient ergot - a parasitic fungus known for its poisonous and potent...

www.zmescience.com

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Michael Parks @jurassicparks.bsky.social · 22h

by the way*

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Michael Parks @jurassicparks.bsky.social · 22h

Paul is joking, but yes, my grassland book currently includes references to herbivorous dinosaurs. Specifically dinosaurs tripping on LSD.

By the wall George Poinar, Jr. here is the guy who inspired Jurassic Park's amberized insect plot

science.oregonstate.edu/IMPACT/2015/...

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Michael Parks @jurassicparks.bsky.social · 22h

Everything I'm saying is incredibly generalized. Pls forgive me real grassland scientists.

Michael Parks @jurassicparks.bsky.social · 22h

I think of fire - herbivory interactions as "the three body problem" of grasslands. All sorts of fascinating interactions. For ex., in E. African savannas, various combinations can produce three alternative stable states

Do not why there's a picture of shark

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Alternate Grassy Ecosystem States Are Determined by Palatability–Flammability Trade-Offs

Fire and mammalian grazers both consume grasses, and feedbacks between grass species, their functional traits, and consumers have profound effects on …

www.sciencedirect.com

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Michael Parks @jurassicparks.bsky.social · 22h

grazers also could expand or maintain grasslands, but evidence is pretty thin.

One big caveat here is the interaction with fire. This study is on "low fire environment." Grazers can also reduce fuel loads, so bison impacts may change along a fire gradient

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Michael Parks @jurassicparks.bsky.social · 22h

Why does this matter right now? Native prairies in the U.S. (and many grasslands) are being swallowed up by trees, leading to big declines in biodiversity. Bison maybe a part of the solution.

I also think it's speculatively fascinating for paleo environments. Papers often mention well maybe

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Michael Parks @jurassicparks.bsky.social · 22h

But there's always this question: do really big grazers also hurt trees just by stomping on them / knocking up against them?

Elephants are well-known for their ability to thin or hold back woodlands by means other herbivory. This study shows that bison, despite eating grass, can do the same

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Michael Parks @jurassicparks.bsky.social · 22h

Some browse on trees, hence should help grasslands expand at expense of woodlands

Others graze on grass and so should benefit trees / shrubs over grass.

Bison (and cattle and horses) are grazers, so should benefit trees over grass

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Michael Parks @jurassicparks.bsky.social · 22h

Very interesting study.

In terms of big drivers shaping grasslands, you've often got two big-picture forces: fire and herbivory

Fire generally benefits grasses over trees. Herbivores are more diverse, though -- rabbits to elephants -- so can have diverse effects.

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Herbert Nickel @herbertnickel.bsky.social · 22h

Bison inhibits tree growth in Great Plains. We should give wisent a better chance to do the same in German national parks.
esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Native megafauna (Bison bison) act as a surprising inhibitor of cedar tree expansion in a Great Plains grassland

In the Central Great Plains of North America, fire suppression is causing transitions from grasslands to shrublands and woodlands. This woody encroachment alters plant community composition, decrease...

esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Reposted by Michael Parks

Michelle A. Rodrigues 🐒 @marspidermonkey.bsky.social · 7d

As a primatologist, Jane Goodall was a huge inspiration to me. I admired the way she describes chimpanzee behavior with such detail and empathy, and she’s inspired so many people and advocated for chimpanzee conservation and welfare.

However, I'm dismayed at what her narrative leaves out (1/10)

Photo of Jane Goodall in the center, signing a book, with three women standing slightly hunched behind her. A very young Michelle is to the right, smiling.

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Michael Parks @jurassicparks.bsky.social · 22h

I think it's actually a rule that Noble prizes cannot be given to widely read authors. Of all the awards the only ones I go for are National Book Award winners.

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Michael Parks @jurassicparks.bsky.social · 1d

Good pt

Matt Baldwin @thisbrokenwheel.bsky.social · 1d

As a paleontology enthusiast I always find it funny how pop culture constantly describes large herbivorous dinosaurs as "gentle giants" when most of our current living herbivorous megafauna are some of the most physically dangerous and temperamental creatures on the planet.

Faine Greenwood @faineg.bsky.social · 1d

horses can SERIOUSLY injure you with their jaws - do not ever antagonize enormous animals with opinions

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Michael Parks @jurassicparks.bsky.social · 1d

Thank you. That's very helpful.

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Michael Parks @jurassicparks.bsky.social · 1d

Who knows maybe it'll be a national conscious uncoupling

Julie DiCaro @juliedicaro.bsky.social · 1d

This is getting wild.

The states of Iowa, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and 14 others have just asked for permission to file THEIR amicus brief in IL v. Trump.

The States of Iowa, Montana, Oklahoma, South Carolina and 14 additional States
respectfully move for leave to submit the attached amicus curiae brief in support of Defendants
and their opposition to Plaintiffs’ requested temporary restraining order and preliminary
injunction. Proposed amici are States with a vested interest in federalism, the relationship between
States and the federal government, and deploying the National Guard. We also each have a vital
interest in supporting the President and Congress in enacting and enforcing valid immigration
laws. Every State has a responsibility to protect our citizens.
The federalization of States’ National Guard units is a matter of profound public
importance, as it directly implicates the delicate balance of power between state and federal
governments—a true cornerstone of Federalism. States generally maintain authority over their
National Guard units, allowing governors to deploy them for state-specific needs, such as disaster
response or public safety. Federalization of state National Guard units without gubernatorial

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Reposted by Michael Parks

David Roberts @volts.wtf · 11d

A fantastic guide to the current terminology & thinking of the Silicon Valley bros, who are riding high at the moment.

(I really can not exaggerate how aesthetically & morally repulsive I find every bit of this.)

are you high-agency or an NPC?

AI anxiety and the new language of silicon valley

jasmi.news

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Michael Parks @jurassicparks.bsky.social · 1d

man this is really making me miss being on twitter

Michael Parks @jurassicparks.bsky.social · 1d

technology brothers👌

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Michael Parks @jurassicparks.bsky.social · 1d

I suppose tell me all you know about how not to mess up as a first time author😂

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