Jim and Ecolog: I wanted to raise the issue for discussion because the distinction between cultural effects on ecosystems do not seem to be widely recognized as such. For example, cultivation tends to reduce diversity and replace self-sufficient ecosystems with "systems" as cultural devices that require outside inputs rather than depend upon cycling within the ecosystem "unit," as it were. Gardens that displace ecosystems increase the production of "goods" the culture prefers at the cost of reducing the items not preferred by the culture, such as the removal of the bison "system" from the Great Plains of the USA which provided "ecosystem services" to one highly social culture which largely stayed within the energy cycle of that "unit." The replacement with intensively-managed cultural system largely oriented to profit rather than sustenance is a phenomenon worth examining. This is either true or untrue, more true than untrue, or more untrue than true.
WT PS: What if the Americans had decided to manage the existing system sustainably rather than to presume that they knew better (than the ecosystem, Nature, God . . . ) largely because of cultural preference? Could the USC project profit from such a discussion? Could they be part of a transition toward a sustainable future, perhaps one that moves toward (re)cycling of nutrients and energy within ecosystem units, or would it be better to find more and more ways to "raise productivity" (by mining tropical islands, for example, to provide available phosphorous and convert petroleum into nitrogen)? These are highly simplified examples, of course, and their use is for purposes of communicating the principles with specifics rather than taking refuge in generalizations. They are not intended to start arguments that get off the subject. ----- Original Message ----- From: James Crants To: Wayne Tyson Cc: [email protected] Sent: Monday, September 27, 2010 7:17 AM Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Ecology and Gardening Re: [ECOLOG-L] Help with development of a gardening/ecology teaching tool (game) Wayne, I didn't see your statement as a put-down, but I was wondering what point you were making about the original post. Yes, there are significant differences in how gardens and ecosystems are assembled, but what does this say about USC students' efforts to design a "gardening/ecology game"? The same basic ecological processes are at work either way. In fact, since many of what we call natural communities are maintained by human intervention, including controlled burns, native species plantings, and exotic species removal, some have argued that such communities are just glorified gardens. Also, our management of fish and game populations is something like communal ranching. A game like this could be useful in showing how relevant basic ecological concepts are to at least one aspect of everyday life (gardening and landscaping), and how relevant cultivation is to many natural systems. I hope someone has offered to help Diane and her students with this project. Jim Crants Ecolog: Gardening (and all cultivation) should be seen for what it is, human culture manipulating its habitat/environment to suit humans rather than being changed/evolved by the habitat/environment/ecosystems which, by definition, are not cultivated. WT ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Inouye" <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, September 24, 2010 2:06 PM Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Help with development of a gardening/ecology teaching tool (game) Want to help the average American learn and care more about the fascinating phenomena, behaviors, and inter-relationships of the natural world that prompted you to become an ecologist in the first place? A student team from University of Southern California graduate schools is designing a gesture-based gardening/ecology game in which the game-play and logics are founded on the mechanics, behaviors and interrelationships of real-world animals, birds, insects and plants. We're seeking specialists from fields including (but not limited to) botany, ornithology, and entomology willing to collaborate with us and to help us design a fun, high-quality game that teaches, entertains and heightens players' interest in - and commitment to -- the natural world all at once. While this is a student project, some games (e.g. The Adventures of PB Winterbottom, Reflection) developed through this route at USC have received commercial contracts and become commercial games. Thus, work with us might help both your research and you, as an individual, to obtain more attention from broad, non-specialist audiences than they would otherwise receive. Interested in contributing to and/or in learning more about the game? Contact Diane Tucker at diane dot tucker at usc dot edu -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 8.5.445 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/3160 - Release Date: 09/26/10 07:01:00
