Nature, the Original Conservationist

Nature: The Original Conservationist

Ecological Balance in a Closed Loop System

Ants composting Ice Cream

 

There I was walking down the sidewalk on a hot summer day and I saw these ants working feverishly on what was left of somebody’s ice cream lying on the sidewalk.  Regardless of the fact that the consumer did not care to properly discard of the container, there were still all of these ants.  Of the earth’s entire surface only about 29% of it is land , which totals about 149 million square kilometers (Coffey); and of that only about 2% is inhabited.  Now statistically taking all of the available inhabited land mass on earth, and divide that into about 100 square meter blocks (or probably a rough guess for the distance an ant colony would forage) and it leaves you with a 1 in 1,490,000 chance that the ice cream container would land in the foraging area of those ants—random chance or design?

 

At this point, we cannot call it merely a coin toss.  Rather, looking at the fact that this was a crowded East Coast suburban area means that the probability is much higher than in an outlying corner of an abandoned rural lot.  Moving past the probability leaves us with the fact that the natural order has “closed loop” systems, in other words it is very hard to find an example in nature where things are wasted.  Take this guerilla compost pile that I started a long time ago on a forested lot—the insects are making quick work of what was once “waste.” 

 

guerrilla composting

 

 Of course if you have been reading this blog, you know that we strongly encourage composting because it is harvesting otherwise discarded inputs.  The best of someone else’s farm exported to your house can be reclaimed by you in your compost heap/bin.  Whereas free radicals wreak havoc on living things, they are absolutely critical in the decaying process.  “Decay is a free radical mediated process returning matter back to its simplest inorganic form” (Reams, 1978).

 Carbon, Nitrogen, Oxygen

 

“Nature does not move carbon around very much” (Joel Salatin), and this is true, but in the natural order we find many clever rearrangements of carbon, nitrogen and oxygen.  That list pretty much chemically sums up the major constituencies of any living thing or a compost pile (formerly living things).  The cycling of carbon on a homestead or farm is a sure sign that the land’s true value is being realized.  To that end, there is no better expression of self-sufficiency than the harmony between perennials and herbivores.  In all reality, any other method is (in the true sense of the word) unsustainable and not being totally honest with oneself. 

 

Cows in Closed Loop

 

Take for instance the precious gift of soil that we have in the Great Plains.  I have heard some credit that wonderful soil to centuries of being “pulsed” by bison (herbivores) eating the prairie grasses (perennials).  I always think of this beautiful relationship when I drive down through Wyoming and see the ruminants eating grass (not corn).  Yet the grass growing there is not a waste product and the cows are not scavengers.  It is hard to see the grazing cattle as anything else other than opportunistically eating what was growing there.  Yet the cows eating the grass and leaving cow patties is what makes the grass grow back healthier still all the while providing rich nutrients to the cow’s meat, namely Vitamin B12

 

Scavenger

 

Living grass will continue to thrive whether or not something eats it (it is resilient stuff, overall). What about something that is truly wasted?  I immediately thought of that when I saw this picture of a Ruddy Turnstone eating a dead crab.  This small shoreline wading bird is making the best of a bad situation.  Not that the crab has any say in the matter, but we see that in the natural order nothing is wasted.  We are reminded of this in Montana, where the deer outnumber people.  It is not uncommon to see extremely large populations of scavengers (of which only the eagles are beautiful) having a roadside feast.  Throw an apple core into the wood line and some chipmunk or deer will eat it for sure.  Hopefully, the seeds will be either buried and forgotten about (read: planted) or deposited in a scat pile somewhere thus bringing about a new apple tree (assuming that those were not hybrid apples). 

 

The next time you see pesky autumn leaves around the base of a hardwood tree, note that those leaves are not wasted—the tree self-mulches!  That is the tree protecting itself and in some sense recycling all that carbon, nitrogen and oxygen again for next year.  And in the natural order, carbon (e.g. the leaves) does not move around a whole lot—unless your neighbor did not rake up his/her leaves and they are now in your yard.    


Did you ever hear of Mao’s Four Pests Campaign in China?  Bizaare piece of history.  Basically, he sent the people on a mission to kill sparrows, mosquitos, flies, and rats.  The ecological balance was so disrupted that the campaign is credited by almost every scholar on the subject as the primary cause for the massive starvation resulting in the death of millions of people.  Along with the near-extinction of sparrows and the subsequently unchecked population of crop-eating insects,  compost-waste was piling up for lack of natural consumers!  You see, even the pests serve a purpose in the closed loop.

We do not like certain obnoxious creatures—scavenger birds, ants marching one-by-one, or even those annoying flies—but remember that they have a very important role to play in the cycle that ultimately provides us with fertile soil, lush fields, and food for the table. 

 

 

Wilson

Pro Deo et Patria

 


 

Works Cited:

Coffey, J. (18 February 2009). Retrieved from http://www.universetoday.com/25756/surface-area-of-the-earth/

Hadley, D. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://insects.about.com/od/antsbeeswasps/a/10-cool-facts-about-ants.htm   

Reams, C. (1978). (p. 8). Spencer: Nutritional Counselors of America Holistic Wholesalers, LLC.

 

 

Photo Credits:

Ruddy Turnstone by Rob Graff

All other photos by Pantry Paratus

 

For Further Reading:

Nauta, P. (2012). Building soils naturally. Austin: Acres, USA.

 

Proviso:

Nothing in this blog constitutes medical advice.  You should consult your own physician before making any dietary changes.  Statements in this blog may or may not be congruent with current USDA or FDA guidance.

 

 

 

 


 

www.Hypersmash.com

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