Closer to Revealing My True Self
Chapter 373 - 272 Failed Friendship_2

Chapter 373: Chapter 272 Failed Friendship_2

But if food resources were scarce, that would be another story.

Nature’s competition is always brutal.

After an incomplete record of the bamboo forest was made, Captain Wen led the team away.

As Feng Yi and his companions left, it smacked its lips, grazing, occasionally glancing their way.

Only after Feng Yi and the others had walked quite a distance,

did it adjust to a more comfortable position to relax and enjoy today’s delicacies.

[Apart from eating, it had no other desires]

Feng Yi’s first attempt at interspecies friendship failed after entering the mountain forest.

Afterward, the four members of the task group continued on their way.

They finally reached the first targeted bamboo site.

Captain Wen looked at the blooming bamboo in front of him, which emitted an air of decay, with a serious face.

Without saying much, he had his teammates start the record.

Feng Yi was in charge of keeping watch.

So far, Feng Yi’s vigilance had won the trust of his three teammates.

From snakes hidden in rock crevices to insects behind leaves, nothing escaped his scrutiny.

With such a teammate on hand, the three members of the patrol team could focus on their work without worries.

Since Feng Yi didn’t detect any danger in the vicinity, he retracted his gaze and looked towards the blooming bamboos.

Bamboo flowering was not particularly rare; such information could be found nationwide every year, whether in rural backyards, parks, scenic or protected areas, or deep in the wilderness.

Some species bloom annually or every few years.

Other species may only bloom once every several decades or even a century, and after flowering, they die.

The type of bamboo favored by giant pandas belongs to the latter, blooming once every few decades or centuries, with most dying after the event.

There are many hypotheses about why bamboos flower, including periodicity, environmental factors, nutrition, senescence and rejuvenation, growth regulators, and so on.

But each line of research has contradictions and explanations that don’t always add up, leaving some phenomena unexplained.

For instance, many people accept the theory of cyclical flowering—

a physiological development from quantitative changes to qualitative changes within a growth cycle, culminating in senescence.

What we see above ground are individual bamboo stalks, but underground, they are all connected to a single rhizome.

The bamboo’s underground rhizome system, also called the bamboo whip system, is essentially the "main stem" of the bamboo plant. The individual stalks we see above ground are like branches of this "main stem."

When the underground rhizome system develops to a certain stage, nearing the end of its life span, all the bamboos connected to this system might bloom at the same time.

That is what creates the phenomenon of mass blooming.

However, the theory of cyclical flowering also faces evidence to the contrary, such as the occasional flowering of individual bamboos in propagation forests.

Feng Yi looked at the flowering bamboo forest, wondering how long they had been there.

Studying bamboo is not easy.

Perennial bamboos have long life cycles, and if one were to consistently observe and record them, there would be too many difficulties and inconveniences.

Outlive them, perhaps?

A bamboo stalk might emerge from the underground rhizome and survive above ground for a decade or more, but this isn’t the true age of the bamboo; one must consider the age of the underground stem.

Their true age could be fifty or sixty years, or even a century.

If it were a bamboo of over a hundred years old, Feng Yi might even feel envious.

And when he thought about possibly not outliving his great-grandmother, Feng Yi felt the atmosphere in the bamboo forest grow even more desolate.

He reached out and touched the bamboo flowers close by.

Old Yuan and the others, busy making records, were oblivious to Feng Yi’s worries.

Many people, seeing a bamboo forest in bloom, can’t help but wonder whether the massive flowering would cause giant pandas to starve to death.

The survival of these bears depends on whether there are at least two different types of bamboo available for them to eat in the area.

The foraging behavior of giant pandas is not fixed.

Hence, bamboo flowering surely has negative impacts, but whether it becomes a disaster is another matter.

Moreover, whether the flowering of vast bamboo forests will lead to an ecological disaster is the task of other researchers, not Captain Wen and his team.

What Captain Wen is concerned about is whether the large-scale flowering of bamboo forests in the mountain ranges this year is related to the minor climate fluctuations of this year?

Environmental changes could induce bamboo to flower, such as drought or other extreme weather conditions.

During the period of abnormal climate conditions in the past, there were mass flowerings of bamboo forests; even some that hadn’t reached the end of their lifespan began to flower prematurely.

If the flowering of the bamboo here is a natural end to its life, then that’s fine.

But if it’s induced by climatic environmental factors, then a response must be made swiftly.

Animals and plants are always sensitive to changes in the climate, so they need to thoroughly investigate each change, whether it might be abnormal or ordinary.

This year there’s another slight climate fluctuation, which cannot be ignored; they must take it seriously.

Captain Wen, with a heavy heart, recorded and tested the area of the flowering bamboo forest.

After a moment, Captain Wen finished a record and his gaze lightly lifted, scanning the surroundings before settling on Feng Yi.

Feng Yi was observing the bamboo flowers intently, leaning in close; if he wasn’t mistaken, Feng Yi would start nibbling on them in the next moment.

Exhaling slowly, Captain Wen’s gaze indifferently withdrew, and he continued with his work.

Forget it, let him be.

He’s uncontrollable.

#TheEccentricGeniusBehaviour#

Another moment passed.

Captain Wen packed up his tools, ready to head to another spot for recording.

He stretched his limbs and looked towards Feng Yi.

Feng Yi was chewing on something meticulously.

"Did you taste anything?" Captain Wen asked calmly, his expression cool.

Feng Yi took a moment to savor carefully before replying, "They probably just reached the end of their lifespan; it’s unrelated to the minor climate fluctuations."

Captain Wen nodded and said nothing more, moving on to another recording spot.

But before he proceeded with the next task, he noted down Feng Yi’s words in his logbook.

Old Yuan had said that Feng Yi’s intuition was very accurate and could serve as a reference.

Although they couldn’t provide solid evidence, as a reference and a form of mental comfort, it was still acceptable.

Thinking about the words Old Yuan had shared with him in private, Captain Wen indeed felt slightly relieved upon hearing Feng Yi’s remark.

Let’s hope it’s as Feng Yi says.

After finishing measurements at this spot, the four of them stood up to head to the next one.

Feng Yi adapted well to the mountain climate unfriendly to ordinary people; after several days, he showed no signs of fatigue or discomfort.

Following Captain Wen, Feng Yi also took his recording responsibilities very seriously.

Particularly regarding the monitoring with infrared cameras.

Some research institutions, in order to grasp the activity of the wildlife in these mountain forests, would install infrared cameras within a selected range.

As Captain Wen mentioned, in this area, the cameras were placed according to a kilometer grid sampling method, with a camera set up every 50~100 meters in elevation. The density of the cameras per square kilometer and detailed records were maintained.

Some cameras were fixed to tree trunks, a meter or so above the ground, while others were placed close to the ground and would be hard to find unless actively sought out.

Although Feng Yi had other methods to locate cameras, he still meticulously recorded the information provided by Captain Wen.

In the area where Feng Yi and his team were currently, a total of twelve infrared sensing cameras was installed.

Every few months, photo and video data would be collected, or the cameras would be retrieved.

As Captain Wen and his team entered the mountains, they would collect data from the cameras on their route.

The staff of the Conservation Bureau were well-informed, knowing precisely where the cameras were located along the route in the designated areas.

However, not every place would be fitted with cameras; in this mountain range, there were many areas that were difficult to monitor for various reasons.

Feng Yi was eager to record this kind of information—

I’ll secretly note all this down, wait for the mission to end, and then sneak into the mountains for a good time~~