Cultivation of plants and animals, by definition, replaces complex,
self-sustaining ecosystems with monocultures or "polycultures."
WT
----- Original Message -----
From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, September 01, 2013 3:11 AM
Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Human-assembled ecosystem
Very interesting article and subject considering we are in a terrible
urgency to restore so much degraded land and to start producing food in a
more sustainable way.
It is not about advocating for replacing a native forest with a
human-assembled ecosystem of course, but starting replacing monoculture
agricultural fields, pastures, degraded abandoned lands with a forested
ecosystem assembled by humans with the purpose to provide food is probably
the future of our species and a step towards real sustainability.
Yes, unfortunately "applied projects" hardly are ever published but in the
world of permaculture, edible forest gardening and the alike people are
trying to create diverse self-maintaining forested ecosystems that provide
for human needs (food, fuel, fodder, fiber, timber) in a sustainable manner.
This approach might allow humans to contribute positively to life on this
planet rather than negatively as we have been historically accustomed to do.
Here a list of institutes I am aware of that research on and promote this
type of approach to agriculture and human sustenance:
Temperate:
http://www.edibleforestgardens.com/about_gardening
http://www.apiosinstitute.org/
http://www.agroforestry.co.uk/forgndg.html
Subtropical:
http://www.permaculturenews.org/about-permaculture-and-the-pri/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca3SRjHfMX8
I hope to see the scientific community putting more effort in this type of
urgently needed research and projects.
Francesca
________________________________
From: Richard Boyce <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Thursday, August 29, 2013 5:01 PM
Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Human-assembled ecosystem
Here's a *very* interesting story on the human-assembled ecosystems of
Ascension Island in the tropical South Atlantic:
http://e360.yale.edu/feature/on_a_remote_island_lessons__in_how_ecosystems_function/2683/
I suspect that further research here may challenge our ideas regarding
community assembly.
================================
Richard L. Boyce, Ph.D.
Director, Environmental Science Program
Professor
Department of Biological Sciences, SC 150
Northern Kentucky University
Nunn Drive
Highland Heights, KY 41099 USA
859-572-1407 (tel.)
859-572-5639 (fax)
[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>
http://www.nku.edu/~boycer/
=================================
"One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making
exciting discoveries." - A.A. Milne
