ENTS When did we humans decide to become separated from the natural scheme of things?--we, or our predecessors, have been here as long as there has been life on Earth, in a continuum.Perhaps as Pogo said"We've met the enemy, and they is us", but we are as much a part of nature as any other creature; plant, bacteria, fungus, etc. Earth can't "recover' from us because we are as much part of Earth as Earth is a part of us. Deep down I feel all these alien species intrusions are just natural range expansions, optimizing whatever method is available to the organism.
Steve On Tue, Oct 27, 2009 at 10:12 PM, Barry Caselli <[email protected]>wrote: > That's already been explained. > > --- On *Sun, 10/25/09, [email protected] < > [email protected]>* wrote: > > > From: [email protected] <[email protected]> > > Subject: [ENTS] Re: Autopoietic Forests and Forest Patch Management > To: "ENTSTrees" <[email protected]> > Date: Sunday, October 25, 2009, 8:04 AM > > > > 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]<http://us.mc544.mail.yahoo.com/mc/[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 native grasslands have been replaced by reed canary grass.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] -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
