TNRTB Archive – Retained for reference information
An American ecologist has found more evidence for the optimal design of Earth’s life for the benefit of humanity. He discovered that cicadas (of eastern North America) experience synchronized reproductive events that benefit the entire ecosystem. For 17 years cicada nymphs feed on tree xylem, incorporating into their bodies nitrogen absorbed by the trees’ roots. The nymphs emerge all at the same time to produce gigantic mating swarms. Birds feast on the mating adults but are able to consume no more than 15 percent of them. After reproduction the remainder die and fall to the forest floor. The nitrogen accumulated in their carcasses is released in the soil after a burst of activity by microbial decomposers. This spike in soil nitrogen content significantly increases nitrogen content and seed sizes for a large number of plant species. Such optimal designs of the life cycle and behavior of cicadas and of their relationships with all the other species in their ecosystem is evidence for the supernatural design of life on Earth for the maximal benefit of all life and for human beings in particular.
Louie H. Yang, “Periodical Cicadas as Resource Pulses in North American Forests,” Science 306 (2004): 1565-67.
Some scientists’ commitment to finding a naturalistic explanation for the (basically miraculous) origin of life on this Earth remains firm – but the demands...
