Biodiversity, Ecology, and Beavers

   A blog on a topic of student’s choosing



Ecological biodiversity has its implications on human life. Ecosystem services are a main component in explaining the importance of biodiversity. Humans have an interconnectedness with extra-humans, ecosystem services are the benefits we receive from such an interconnectedness. Biodiversity allows for a variety of differing aspects in the relationship between humans and extra-humans, including multifaceted benefits from the variety of extra-human resources that provide ecosystem services to humans. A lack of awareness of extra-humans can have devastating repercussions.


    One extra-human with ecosystem services benefiting humans are beavers. Beavers and moose share a similar history of being pushed out of their native habitats and surviving in small pockets of population (containing low or no human pressures) until they made a resurgence from their parallel ecosystem. I am highlighting the beaver’s story, as a result of a connection to my 2019 summer employment as a backpacking guide in New Mexico. The land where I served as a backpacking instructed suffered from a mega fire in 2018, as a result there are currently many talks as how to best assist in healing the scorched land and prevent another massive fire. One such talk involved the idea of reintroducing beavers. The beavers on the backpacking land were hunted into extinction for their pelts a long time ago. It is interesting to observe how humans  are only now seeking to understand these extra-humans and the lumber thinning ecosystem service they provide.


    The human stewards of the backing land did not realize the interconnectedness between humans and extra-humans. As a result of their failure to understand the ecosystem benefits of biodiversity and beavers,  a third of the land was burned beyond use. This illuminates one the biggest vaults in humanity,  humans are so species-centered that they do not realize their impacts until it is too late. How can we help society to feel the impacts they are making thousands of miles away and hundreds of years in the future?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Forest Bathing

  Homosapians had evolved in nature but had subsequently simultaneously diverged away from nature as modernization took place. Although the effects of evolution and urbanization have driven the species from its origin, natural spaces are still where humans are most comfortable. It has been scientifically proven that when humans spend time in nature, the brain behaves differently. It affects emotions and thoughts, which has a direct impact on immunity and healing powers. These inherent healing qualities natural systems provide are directly correlated to our neurological development and human biological ties to primates due to evolution. In the past several decades there have been many scientific studies that demonstrate the mechanisms behind the healing effects of nature immersion. Countries such as South Korea and Japan have funded extensive research for comprehending the beneficial contributions forest environments have on human mental, spiritual, and physical health. In order ...
Read more

Sabrina Ho--cities

     Many chapters in The Ecology of Eden  focused on this interplay between Mountain and Tower, and finding Arcadia in the middle of it all. A common theme in our class discussed the multiple ways we attempt to imitate true nature and wilderness in our cities' parks and backyards, but these attempts can never truly capture the boundless wilderness we may be seeking. A large part of our discussion is if it were ever possible to recreate true nature in city bounds, and--most interestingly--if that is the true intention for these parks and gardens.      Spending most of my life close to a fairly large city, as well as spending many school breaks visiting even larger cities, I found this to be really interesting. Especially in our capitalist society, it is not uncommon for someone to equate the increase in industrialization and urbanization of our land as an indication of progress and improved economy. But when city-roamers decide to take a break from the...
Read more

Danielle Hawkins- Mnt. of Spices

 After reading Hinds Feet, I picked up the sequel to read. The second book is also an allegory in that Much-Afraid who becomes Grace and Glory sees the gloom and disappear that her family is stuck in. She takes refuge with the shepherd and gets his help to show her family the fruit of the spirit which tenders their hearts to the shepherds care and they come into his service.  Before each chapter the shepherd takes Grace and Glory to 8 different mountains where the landscape was different and so beautiful on each one. As a reminder of this book and the impact it made on me, I recently got a tattoo of a lily to help remind me of the important things I learned. This book was interesting in how it had a more personal account with each individual character. It showed how each fruit of the spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, forgiveness, self-control, gentleness, faithfulness, and goodness plays out and how it impacts each individual. This book would fit beautifully within the realm...
Read more