Becoming a Keystone Species

[claire_58]

 We live in a time of rapid change and uncertainty. The 50 year failure of the environmental movement has left us with a tangle of interconnected problems. Ecosystem destruction;  freakishly high levels of pollution of the land, the water, and the atmosphere; and resource depletion combine to create a looming crisis of epic proportions. We are faced with increasing political and economic instability and it’s clear that there will be no large scale co-ordinated efforts to address any of it.

 

This blog is about what we can do, as ordinary people in families and small groups, to create lives worth living; to build a future worth having; and to be a force for renewal and regeneration in our much depleted world. I hope to provide some possibilities based on our universal human strengths and the strategies that have allowed us to thrive in the past. 

 

If you care about this planet; the future; and your own ability to make your way in these crazy times this blog is for you. 

 

This blog is the outline of an ambitious project. We have the skills, tools, and most importantly the natural abilities that will allow us to transform our relationship to the ecosystems we inhabit. We have the potential to become a beneficial presence in our much damaged world. We can become a keystone species. 

 

Becoming a keystone species, that is, becoming a stabilizing and regenerative influence, means working with succession and allowing ourselves to become part of the process of change over time until we achieve a level of ecological stability. This is not something we can do immediately or even quickly. Just as there is a clear series of transitional stages of growth and renewal before a clearcut can become a climax forest, there is inevitably a transitional period between the way we live now and a fully sustainable future. 

 

If we just slide down the long rocky slope of decline it will probably take 8 -10 generations to hit rock bottom. Leaning into our strengths, practicing systems thinking, and taking strategic steps to shift our patterns, we can, with awareness and intention, create lives that will allow us to glide a little more smoothly over the rough patches, survive the periods of crisis, and possibly even land gracefully as part of a vibrant thriving ecosystem.

 

Keystone species don’t necessarily do anything other than just live their lives. Wild salmon are a keystone species in the mountainous coastal regions of the Pacific North West (PNW). Torrential winter rain and steep mountainsides make soil erosion a constant issue. Wild salmon spend several years feeding in the ocean before fighting their way back up the river to its source to find their home stream where they were spawned, to spawn and die in their turn. 

 

According to the US Geological Survey Chinook salmon, the largest species can weigh up to 126 lb. (over 57 kg). That’s a big chunk of biomass. Bears and eagles feeding on the salmon complete the cycle and the nutrient is returned to the forest in the high mountains. It’s safe to say that without wild salmon, bears, and eagles, that is without wilderness, the coastline of the PNW would be bare rock without forests or fertile valleys.  

 

Another example is the north American Beaver. Unlike wolves whose presence changes the behaviour of the large herbivores they prey on; or salmon whose relentless pursuit of their natal waters for breeding sets off a whole trophic cascade that benefits the entire ecosystem; beavers actively modify the land to create habitat for themselves.  

 

Beavers are “ecosystem engineers”. Building wetlands is their superpower. Their dams slow the flow of water to create pools where aquatic life can thrive. The rich life in beaver ponds feeds the bio-diversity of the land around it too. This eco-system service is so important to the regeneration of the land that in Australian, where there are no beavers, permaculturists have developed sophisticated earthworks strategies to create wetlands and to control and manage the flow of water. 

 

Humans are not only the ultimate generalists, we are niche hoppers too. When there is a gap, an ecosystem function that is not being served, we are able to step in to fill the gap. Niche hopping is another trait that makes us uniquely well equipped to do ecosystem repair and restoration.

 

The point here is that it is not enough for us to just live our lives. Like beavers we actively modify the land to create habitat for ourselves. Learning to think differently about ourselves and our place in the ecology of the land we inhabit is key. Accepting that we are part of the ecosystem, we can provide abundantly for ourselves and, with careful, thoughtful interventions speed up the regeneration of our land, water and atmosphere too. 

 

Next: Finding Your Niche

Comments

Beavers and Substitute Beavers

[mystical_mountain_9]

I love the concept of keystone species. A couple of thoughts come to my mind.

One is beavers. I smile whenever I remember my father's best friend from childhood, Mr. McGeachie, who owned 300 acres of wilderness and the family homestead up in rugged Madawaska Highlands in eastern Ontario. The property included a creek that was the outlet of the local lake. Oh, how Mr. McGeachie used to hate the beavers, who joyfully turned the creek into wetlands each and every year. Even in advanced age he would wage his annual war with the beavers; he never won. Mr. McGeachie was an engineer by profession - go figure!

The other thought is about a remote drought-prone upland in central India that I lived in for the better part of one year. The native vegetation of the region was teak forest -- but little of the forest was left by the time I was living there in the 1990s (don't blame the local tribal people; British industry and later Indian industry profited greatly by felling the trees). Things were pretty bleak. Nearly all the topsoil had washed away from the hills due to the heavy rains of the rainy season. The water table had dropped. And the climate had become drier. The dirt-poor locals could grow only one crop per year (for their own consumption) and then had to migrate to the cities to work as construction labour in order to survive.

But things had started to turn around when I got there. A decent NGO paid the locals to plant an enormous number of trees in the hills and in their villages, and built series of small dams along the course of streams and small rivers in the region. The ponds created by the dams recharged the ground water and allowed the locals to irrigate their fields a couple of times each winter (the cool, dry season) which was excellent for growing wheat. After I left, the local economy diversified with the growing of cash crops (vegetables and flowers for cities and towns within a couple of hours' drive). Sometimes humans can be good substitute beavers. Keep the scale small. Use local materials and local labour. Increase local know-how. In many parts of the world, water is like love: a little bit can go a long way!

Looking forward to the next installment.

Ron M

Re: Beavers and Substitute Beavers

[claire_58]

Great stories!

I saw a YouTube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sojlw-BkEFE) about a wetland dam project that was stalled for lack of funding. The $1.2 million dollar project was going to take 7 years to complete. The beavers did it in about 2 days.
The thing that struck me is that they built dams in the exact places the engineers had planned. I felt like the human engineers got an A+ for design.