Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn From: arsmith@lamar.ColoState.EDU (Alan Smith) Subject: [Green] The report of Palandun Lintesul Message-ID: Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1993 05:58:05 GMT Persuant to the request of 27th ultimo, I joined the group led by Professor Professor Bowwin studying the forest in Kron park. This is the second part of the report of thefindings, dealing with the ecology of the park. A: The Producers: all species in this group (see appendix A for a list of species) are unique to the park, and extensive search has not found analogs anywhere else on nexus. These producers have a highly efficent spread, maximising sun capture exactly according to the current theories. They seem to support more fruit mass than one would expect, fruits which, in chemical composition, correspond to their eater's tastes almost perfectly. An example of this is the banana from Krondii arbor, which even beats out the bananas of my native Bismania. Behavioral choice tests between a Kron fruit and a normal fruit, and surveys of the humans visiting the park tend to bear this up for other species and persons as well. Oddly, not all the fruits are seeded, and some seem to be made specifically for the feeding of the visiting animal life. B: First order consumers: The animal species found in the park are wholly general and do not differ markedly from those found outside the parks boundries. Behavioral tests on those individuals with cellular anomolies (See Report of Elanor Underhill, part I of this report) revealed no differnce on a macroscopic or ecolgical/behavioral level. The consumers in the park tend to confine themselves to the fleshy parts of the plants they eat, leaving the more profitable (to the plant) thin leaves, bark, and buds alone. C: Second order consumers: Again, all these animals were indegenous before the park moved in, and none of them were found to have cellular anomolies. There were fewer of them than may be expected, but this may be due to the short study period or the high concentration of visiting humans. D: Decomposers: The species-survey of this turned up some anamoulus results. A microscope and spade search of the soil turned up none of the usual animal decomposers, and the only things that seemed to decompose anything were fungi. Furthermore, these fungi were proved to have a mycorhizzal atatchment to the nearby plant life. Another test on the rate of decay showed a dead mouse (Mus musculus) decaying in a matter of two hours, and a twig going in fifteen minutes. There˙are no broken sticks in Kron park, nor dead animals. E: Miscelaneous: I have several bitsof evidence that lead me to belive that all the plant life in the park is connected, and may actually have an information processing system. 1) Several psionics and more than a few scry-detectors have detected watching in the park, and no watcher conventional or magical could be found. 2) The soil in Hyrexes' battleground was very dry with a high metallic content in places where large amounts of blood were spilt, but there is a good supply of water at a fair distance below. Soil samples of places where the iron content was known to be high showed normal iron levels. Furthermore, the whole plant life requires more water than can be obtained without tapping into the deep supplies, something only the Krondii arbor and related trees could reach. 3) I have seen bushes growning fruits only found on trees, and trees growing fruits only found on bushes. 4) the sun-capture is more efficent than found in other forests. 5) a high-frequency communications band is in use in the ether of the park (see the report of Withold Farsinger, Part III of this report) inaccesable to known intellegent species. This band is able to carry a high volume of iformation, though, and may serve as an infromation network for the forest. 6) An attempted rape was reported to the city guard, but of the perpetrator only the inorganic parts of his costume were found. The victim escaped, and an examination by the physics at the temple of Ilmater showed her with a blood sugar level higher than could be accounted for by recent ingestion (she had been fasting for the past several days) 7) A man was found who claimed to be able to talk to the forest, but I have not fully explored that yet.