Advantages and disadvantages of thorns
Anna:
After spending some time
in Monteverde's
cloud forest, I
returned to the lower elevation of the town with new questions on my
mind. For example --- why were thorny trunks prevalent on trees
lower down, but not up in the cloud forest?
Although epiphytes
can benefit the host tree, too many epiphytes put the
host in real danger of splitting or falling under the added
weight. A cloud forest tree has to perform a constant juggling
act --- a few epiphytes are a nice addition to its canopy ecosystem,
but the tree doesn't want to make its surface too conducive to epiphyte
growth. And the latter is precisely what thorns would do.
Just imagine how easy it would be for falling leaves to be 
snagged by thorns and rot into dirt, providing
the perfect niche for epiphyte seeds to germinate. Cloud forest
trees just can't risk thorny trunks.
At lower elevations,
though, ecosystem variables shift in favor of thorns. The
extended dry season makes it difficult for epiphytes to survive, but
also means that trees have more to lose if they are munched by hungry
predators. As a result, many trees in the seasonal forest grow
thorns, while those in the cloud forest do not.
Maggie:
3-22-01
We set off to the
library with our empty bookbags 5 minutes away walking. We picked up an
old version of the Fanny Farmer
cookbook, told our
news about the house, and departed for the
supercoop. We had piled several potatoes and some fruit in my hat
before realizing that there are baskets. 
With
thorough price
comparisons, we took the basics of the kitchen for only 26 bucks.
When we got home we
merrily put away the groceries. Then I started supper while Anna
assembled a bookshelf in her room. Supper was served: spaghetti with
vegetables and our $1 pineapple for desert. Which brings me here to
the living room where the sun is just almost disappared from view. Only
with time, the warm orange ball will rise again.
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