Somethings Change
Driving from Mankato to Northfield after a volleyball tournament, my wife and I stopped, briefly, at Lily Lake. I've stopped at this small lake many times in the past, finding it somewhat idyllic. There were water lilies, great beds of them. And sedges along the shore. And, surprisingly, a haze of wild rice. All combined to give this small southern Minnesota lake a northern Minnesota feel. The dragonfly productivity was extremely high, especially compared to the larger more compromised lakes. On one memorable occasion in 2010, I found hundreds of teneral Autumn Meadowhawks. It also supported a population of Elegant Spreadwings. It was an enjoyable place to visit.
Today, when we stopped, looking out from the boat landing dock, no sedge, no wild rice, a few stands of dead cattail, and the blackened remains of water lily beds. And the water reeked like a feed lot. It was not a pleasant sight.
Hopefully this is only a temporary condition due to heat and recent rains. Even still, perched in the trees surrounding the parking lot, a few Autumn Meadowhawks were to be found. A little reminder that not everything has changed.
Observações
Fotos / Sons
What
Género MeloeObservador
scottkingDescrição
Oil Beetle
found on sidewalk
Northfield, Minnesota
Fotos / Sons
What
Sympetrum vicinumObservador
scottkingDescrição
Autumn Meadowhawk, male
Lily Lake public access
Elysian, Minnesota
Fotos / Sons
What
Linaria vulgarisObservador
scottkingDescrição
Butter and Eggs
Lily Lake public access
Elysian, Minnesota
Comentários
I've recently seen some habitats deteriorate (my estimation) or become null for my general purposes and have spent some time wondering.
Is it better to be away a while and come back and see things in a drastically different state or to be able to visit the area while being powerless to stop the gradual alteration?
I've been having trouble enjoying certain spots and seeing their decline as productive habitats, mostly due to "improvements" and increased human traffic. Other people laugh when I bring this up like it is a trivial matter, as if I were commenting on a television show or something.
Their idea is that more people/usage/attention will create leverage to add more man-made structures to an already small area. The increased traffic from promoting the park has already taken a toll on the condition of the park. I feel like they will not understand their "success" for what it is until it's too late.
Have you experienced this sort of thing before?
Yes, unfortunately, yes. And I've heard truly depressing stories from people who have done work in the tropics, discovering a new species along a forested stream, returning years later to find the whole watershed deforested and the species gone.
But, as disheartening as continual and "progressive" habitat loss is, linked to population growth, climate change and the economy, I've experienced its opposite. Sometimes amidst all the non-stop natural changes due to weather and succession of plants and trees and cyclical increases and decreases in animal populations, I've felt some habitats are doing well, carrying on. Usually these are neglected areas or protected areas and certainly not on an equal scale to the anthropogenic alterations of the land. I suppose these places must be considered as important refugia for many species.
Do you know that beautiful song by the Pretenders, "Hymn to Her"? A kind of love song for the earth perhaps. Anyway, I was hearing a few lines from the chorus yesterday when I wrote this post:
"And she will always carry on
Something is lost
But something is found
They will keep on speaking her name
Somethings change
Some stay the same"
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