The only "eco" term Mohan K. Wali left out in his neat essay is "Ecoecology: The study of loop feedback between Ecology and Ecological Studies.”
Funny stuff aside (I hope): I'm expanding my ecotone presentation into research paper form, and thought I might share some thoughts in this forum.
From a paper on gap dynamics in northern Ontario by forest ecologist Mark Leithead:
"Climate change is expected to promote migration of species. In ecotones, areas of ecological tension, disturbances may provide opportunities for some migrating species to establish in otherwise competitive environments... The size of and time since disturbance may determine the establishment ability of these species ... We conclude that treefall gaps in this forest facilitate the establishment of northward migrating species, potentially providing a pathway for future forest migration in response to recent changes in climate."
So, as I chart the analogic realm of literature-as-ecosystem, I can't help but notice connections between for instance the pine-beetle disturbances, which I believe will create treefall gaps over the next decades in which Northern-moving plant species can take root, and the natural disturbance happening to the traditional he(d)gemony of our northern cultural landscape. There are cultural gaps, created by erosion of gender-monotone stands and shifts in utilitarian progress weather patterns, in which hitherto marginalized modes of being -- less crow-like in their aggressive insistence -- are prospering in new conditions of acceptance. Lilburn was a bird alighting in one of these gaps, and sharing nesting material with a brood of transition writers?
Love this. Is there a danger that this idea of ecological upheaval as 'healthy transition' will be used by industry to rationalize? 'Oh, but if we clear this land or move these species to make way for our megafkinproject, it will only create an opportunity for new species, an ecotone transitional zone!'
ReplyDeleteI know we logged the heck out of all the beetle pine, temporarily waiving the harvest limits to accomodate the resource grab before it decayed, and that late last year I they lowered the limit once again as the industry had glutted itself. From what I saw, we have wasted a ton of nice wood with the fall and burning (slash and burn)... So many potential log homes up in smoke! Human vs Beetle. Human as Beetle. The risk you note I am sure is real: I think it's a sort of reversed, perverted humility, industry saying: nature is far more adaptable and resilient than we give it credit for: a clear cut is merely a zerox of what would have been razed by fire regardless; climate change is a natural condition: it's like the faith in ecosystems to adapt endlessly through transitional phases is used as an excuse to proceed with extraction.
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