Nature Holds Our Answers Close To Her Breast
heres a lengthy quote i got from here.
"The next design revolution will grow out of ecology. Ecological design will borrow from the teachings of such ecosystems as the forest or the coral reef. It will provide the intellectual framework for practical alternatives to the planet-destroying processes that dominate today's cultures.
I have been fortunate to be able to work in some of the Earth's great bioregions. Each has had something to teach. From the forests of north-eastern North America I have learned the meaning of soils, how they form and their central role as mediators between the plant, mineral and microbial realms. From the Great Plains has come the lesson of relationships that have developed between the different plant groups and their root systems and, equally important, the symbiotic and synergistic relationship among grazing animals, their predators and the plant life. Seen as a whole they are as a one.
From tropical rainforests I have learned the importance of light in its many filtered dimensions and of the significance of nutrients tied up in a diversity of living forms. Mangrove swamps too are unique ecosystems, having evolved where sea and land meet in a dynamic and abrupt transition. Here soil, sea and mangroves interact to build detritus-based food chains that are remarkably productive, the influence of which extends far beyond the coastal rim. Their natural history could be a template for new ways of growing foods.
The sea grass communities have taught me about biofiltration, sediment building, and food chain orchestration. These great ocean nurseries are the most significant models of design for waste treatment and purification and for the ecological culture of aquatic foods. The deserts of the world in all their starkness provide a slow-motion view of relationships between plants, soil, animals, climate and season. These brittle environments let us see ecological strategies that remain hidden in wetter and more robust regions.
The coral reefs, located in some of the ocean's most nutrient-poor waters, show a vast diversity of colourful life. That they can do so much with so little is a testimony to ecological design which emphasizes rapid exchanges and sharing resources and space. The fragile look of many corals is illusory. It camouflages the fact that huge coastal storms crash down upon them relentlessly. Their structures are brilliant at dissipating the enormous energy from ocean breakers. Coral reef architecture is without peer."
"The next design revolution will grow out of ecology. Ecological design will borrow from the teachings of such ecosystems as the forest or the coral reef. It will provide the intellectual framework for practical alternatives to the planet-destroying processes that dominate today's cultures.
I have been fortunate to be able to work in some of the Earth's great bioregions. Each has had something to teach. From the forests of north-eastern North America I have learned the meaning of soils, how they form and their central role as mediators between the plant, mineral and microbial realms. From the Great Plains has come the lesson of relationships that have developed between the different plant groups and their root systems and, equally important, the symbiotic and synergistic relationship among grazing animals, their predators and the plant life. Seen as a whole they are as a one.
From tropical rainforests I have learned the importance of light in its many filtered dimensions and of the significance of nutrients tied up in a diversity of living forms. Mangrove swamps too are unique ecosystems, having evolved where sea and land meet in a dynamic and abrupt transition. Here soil, sea and mangroves interact to build detritus-based food chains that are remarkably productive, the influence of which extends far beyond the coastal rim. Their natural history could be a template for new ways of growing foods.
The sea grass communities have taught me about biofiltration, sediment building, and food chain orchestration. These great ocean nurseries are the most significant models of design for waste treatment and purification and for the ecological culture of aquatic foods. The deserts of the world in all their starkness provide a slow-motion view of relationships between plants, soil, animals, climate and season. These brittle environments let us see ecological strategies that remain hidden in wetter and more robust regions.
The coral reefs, located in some of the ocean's most nutrient-poor waters, show a vast diversity of colourful life. That they can do so much with so little is a testimony to ecological design which emphasizes rapid exchanges and sharing resources and space. The fragile look of many corals is illusory. It camouflages the fact that huge coastal storms crash down upon them relentlessly. Their structures are brilliant at dissipating the enormous energy from ocean breakers. Coral reef architecture is without peer."
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