Ed, I don't mean to get too far off topic here, but is autopoiesis a term that is being used often in the forestry and/or ecology literature? I was introduced to the term a few years ago in studying cognitive science through reading the work of Evan Thompson and Francisco Varela... I didn't realize it had come to be used more broadly. Are you using it to mean a self-sustaining, self-creating system, or just simply a natural/undisturbed patch of forest?
Mike On Oct 25, 11:32 am, "Edward Frank" <[email protected]> wrote: > Gary, > > I wonder if when looking at these systems if there should not be a > distinction made between your autopoietic(natural) systems and artificial > (managed) and systems that have been impacted or disturbed indirectly by > outside human activities, but are not actually being managed by humans. For > example consider some of the islands in the Allegheny River Islands > Wilderness. Most are nearly pristine in terms of development and timbering, > but they are otherwise severely disturbed in terms of the ecosystem. Instead > of the normal trajectory you are envisioning, this path has been replaced by > massive growths of invasive species. On Thompson Island the southern end of > the island in the ate summer of fall is a impassable mass of Japanese > knotweed, large areas are covered by multiflora roses, former native > grasslands have been replaced by reed canary grass. I think these types of > impacts are different in character fro those found in actively managed lands > and different from natural systems that have not been so severely impacted > and are exhibiting an ecosystem dominated by native plants and animals. Other > examples of non-managed impacts can be cited. > > Edward Frank > > "Oh, I call myself a scientist. I wear a white coat and probe a monkey every > now and then, but if I put monetary gain ahead of preserving nature...I > couldn't live with myself." - Professor Hubert Farnsworth > By the way, I consider NATURE to be the collective genome of all living > systems and their environment. NATURE is self-creating and self-regulating. > We distinguish humans from nature because NATURE is a complex, dynamic system > controlled by unconscious processes, by natural selection. We appreciate > NATURE because it is NOT controlled by us...it is "WILD". I wouldn't > consider a ZOO to be an expression of nature or a natural place since humans > decide which animal reproduces with which other and humans are controlling > the environment of these animals. All of us on this list intuitively know > the difference between a zoo and nature, a natural forest and a managed > plantation. The difficulty comes in placing each forest on the > NATURAL.............................ARTIFICIAL continuum. > > Gary A. Beluzo > Professor of Environmental Science > Division of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics > Holyoke Community College > 303 Homestead Avenue > Holyoke, MA 01040 --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Eastern Native Tree Society http://www.nativetreesociety.org Send email to [email protected] Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/entstrees?hl=en To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
