THE "RULE OF TENS" AND THE IMPORTANCE OF RARITY
TL;DR
The plant above is common chickory. Pretty common, with characteristic blue flowers and a bitter root harvested for a substitute of coffee. But sometimes, instead of being distinctly pale blue become white. Why and how? It could be a different variety, a small mutation in some flower buds, maybe not enough enzyme to produce the colour? Sadly, I don't know.
It makes me think about the rarity of events and how big are the chances that a small thing will cause a great havoc. Lately, I heard about the rule of tens, a rule of thumb to invasiveness of the species: "about 10% of the non-native species will find their way into the wild, 10% of those refuge species will form stable colonies, and 10% of those stable colonies will become invasive". So the chances of a specie being invasive are about 1 in 1000.
Relating to the Summer Camp, this gives me several ideas. First of all, the chances are low, which means most of the time the rule can be understood in a don't worry matter: 999 species out of 1000 are harmless. Maybe a person bringing souvenir flowers, fruits or vegetables from voyages abroad? Or maybe an animal, which either became invasive or ate a potentially invasive plant before being captured. From rabits and foxes in Australia, through zebra mussels and kudzu in United States, to Sosnowsky's hogweed and american mink in Poland...
But these needn't be animals, plants or fungi. Ideas and cultures could spread similarly. Some last a season and pass, but some stick for a while longer, maybe even becoming part of the culture. Food, drink, clothes, weapons, language... Rarity is always relative. Something common in one place can be rare in another. And often with rarity comes the feeling of uniqueness, especially if there is a good story to back it up.
Comments