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The Forum > Article Comments > On a remote island, lessons in how ecosystems function > Comments

On a remote island, lessons in how ecosystems function : Comments

By Fred Pearce, published 17/9/2013

Transformed by British sailors in the 19th century, Ascension Island in the South Atlantic has a unique tropical forest consisting almost entirely of alien species.

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“Stroud admitted that, as a conservationist and member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Species Survival Commission group for the South Atlantic, he should perhaps be rooting out all those alien species. But if he did, there would be almost nothing left.”

Notice the conservationist assumption that man is “alien”.

“Is it … a biological abomination?”

Notice the assumption that man is bad?

* * *

The article muses whether an ecosystem of species introduced by man to a bare island is bad or good, but ends with the philosophical reflection that nature does not tend to a perfect end form, and perhaps there is no need to worry after all. But he has trouble taking his thoughts to their logical conclusion, that perhaps nature doesn’t need administrators after all.

Underlying the article, we see explicit or implicit assumptions of the environmental movement worldwide: that
• man is alien to nature
• man’s use of natural resources is immoral
• “proper” ecosystems are those without any human influence
• a proper role of government is to decide and implement which species belong where
• there was a Golden Age in which ecosystems were undisturbed by man
• nature is tending towards a perfect final form, making inexorable progress, tending ever upwards
• species extinctions are morally bad.

But these assumptions do not originate from biological science. They originate from man’s inheritance of myth and religion.

Man is part of nature in the fullest sense of the word. Nature is not tending to some perfect end form. Species extinction is normal and natural, and over 99% of species are extinct. We are not stewards of a garden. It is no more immoral for man to use natural resources than it is for other species. Biological science provides no value judgments in favour of governmental conservation.

Conservationist values are just human values and must be ethically and economically justified as with any other rivalrous use of scarce resources.
Posted by Jardine K. Jardine, Tuesday, 17 September 2013 7:52:03 AM
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A very interesting well written essay.
Two references (and a website) which address the brutalism that mis-informs Jardines brutalistic ideology.
1. http://sacredcamelgardens.com/wordpress/wisdom/contemplative-state-exaltation
2. http://sacredcamelgardens.com/wordpress/wisdom/bridge-to-god

The Zoo was set up with the specific intention of re-educating the brutalistic mind-set that now rules the entire world.

Plus the the full version of the second reference.
http://www.aboutadidam.org/readings/bridge_to_god/index.html
Posted by Daffy Duck, Tuesday, 17 September 2013 9:03:31 AM
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Just goes to show how enlightened members of the British armed services got it right.
Posted by plantagenet, Tuesday, 17 September 2013 9:42:35 AM
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Great article Fred.

It is interesting to note that while the ecosystems on Ascension may be dominated by feral species, all of the natives bar a couple still live there as well…. and some of them have considerably benefitted from this invasion and massive ecological change.

If we look at the total biota – including all the insects, fungi, etc, the number of native species there probably far outweighs the number of ferals.

I am very familiar with feral ecosystems. In fact I have a great passion for weeds! There are many ecosystems in my part of the world – north Queensland - that are dominated by feral species – Rubbervine vine forest, chinee apple woodland, lantana shrubland, guineagrass grassland, hyacinth swampland, etc

There are also massively changed ecosystems which consist of ‘woody weeds’, which are native species that have proliferated to the point of becoming major pests.

We also have massive change where there are no species that can be defined as weeds. This has occurred throughout the Wet Tropics of north Queensland, with the elimination of Aboriginal fire regimes, which has allowed rainforest to spread into adjacent eucalypt forest and even into some quite dry woodlands.

We are in for a feral future! Or perhaps we should say; a massively changed ecological future, in which feral species are but one aspect.

It is all fascinating stuff.
Posted by Ludwig, Tuesday, 17 September 2013 10:00:11 AM
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Have to agree with Jardine K Jardine!
He sums it up with his usual inescapable science based logic.
At the end of the day, everything has to first come from somewhere, and then adapt to local conditions. Grass i.e., came from seaweed, via bamboo? Pine needles were once leaves.
Look the willow which now binds some of the loose surfaces on our mountainsides. An Australianised plant for which there is no better at controlling errant water flows, erosion and land slips?
I don't hear any environmental purist suggesting we root out the even more useful coconut palm, on the grounds it is also an introduced species? Or the Asian Wolf for the same purist reasons!?
Australian birds e.g., may by and large have a common single ancestor, just as primates may have.
As Australia traversed northward, it became available to migratory birds, which sometimes added to the gene pool/subspecies?
An emerging school of environmental thought is, almost everything belongs in every environment, even that which may have been introduced.
If it adapts, survives and prospers, it was always meant to be there? Migratory birds spread their pips and stones, horses spreed palatable grass seed and so on. Coral has no other choice than an annual migration!
Man started his journey from somewhere in central Africa, and now inhabits most of the planet.
Who know where this migration will end?
The stars, Galaxy, universe, parallel universe?
And will this early example of terraforming, assist that very migration?
I mean, our own planet was once nothing more than a barren rock?
Rhrosty.
Posted by Rhrosty, Tuesday, 17 September 2013 11:19:01 AM
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Since my first heart attack I have been unable to maintain my property the way I had for years. I also don't ask it to do much, with just a couple of old horses on it.

I still control the Groundsel & fireweed, as demanded by the council, but no longer slash or spray other weed infestations. This has led to an interesting discovery.

I have worried when a new type of weed has appeared, & flourished for a year or two, only to be relieved when it disappeared the next. I have seen Scottish thistle, blue top, stink weed & a few others look like taking over entirely on the river flats, only to disappear as suddenly as they appeared.

A very cold winter can eradicate some, but it appears that when the first decent rain of spring arrives dictates what will germinate each year. Right now I am worried about cobblers peg which first appeared a couple of years back, & is getting heavy. It is such a horrible thing I may have to spray.

Now I no longer irrigate, the same goes for the exotics in the house paddock left to survive or die, depending on their hardiness. Mandarins & peaches could not handle it, but apples, mulberries & a Brazilian cherry have flourished.

Some things flower prolifically one year, & not at all another. Yes frosts play a part, but Bauhinia, African tulip tree, Poinciana & Jacaranda respond to when those first rains fall. In my observation just a week or so can be the difference between nothing & a great show.

Yes we have still more to learn than what we already know, but the foolish fixation with natives is detrimental to all learning.
Posted by Hasbeen, Tuesday, 17 September 2013 11:50:47 AM
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