Human Ecology - in a couple parts

I keep my ecologist hat on most days. I think it’s a cool way to look at the world, perhaps even an invaluable way to look deeper into the nature of things. Like yesterday, I walked by a display case of men’s ties in many bright colors. Let’s pretend they were top-notch and made of silk. That silk came from silk worms; those worms lived and grew and matured and made silk because they were fed mulberry leaves. Those leaves were built from atmospheric carbon dioxide, full sunlight, water, and trace soil minerals, by a mulberry tree growing somewhere on this earth. Soil – leaves – worms – ties - those men’s ties contain the mineral profile and soil signature of some far-off plot of land. Oh, the mystery. And that was just from a moment of window-shopping.

Let’s make an assumption – don’t worry, we’ll question it later. Let’s apply the label “natural” to all non-human creatures. Let’s apply it also to those habitats in which obvious signs of human influence are absent. In other words, let’s call nature “natural” for a little while.

Imagine some natural world – I tend to picture forests, since the places where I live were once thickly forested and perhaps could be so again. I like to picture a healthy diversity of life: trees, bugs, birds, a bunch of small mammals, a few big mammals, herbs, shrubs, soil fungi, soil microorganisms. Rocks. Periodic rain. And then I look deeper – what’s it all made of? The plants are mostly carbon, having built themselves from the air and water and sunshine and some cocktail of soil minerals. All those other living creatures, however, aren’t lucky enough to have DIY bodies – they only grow if they eat.

Which brings me to the question I’m always asking: what is growing here, and what is it eating, and where is that coming from?

More tomorrow.