Ecosystem Parameters
1 The Baseline (pre-existing) ecosystem; (writing on this section still in progress)
The location; Hollis Center, York County, Maine.
The agricultural zone; was formerly zone 3-4. Current revision of the zones secondary to climate change suggests we may achieve zone 5. (I'll believe that when rosemary winters over successfully outside.)
The geology; glaciation was a prominent feature here. Parts of the woodlands are a jumble of granite boulders left by the retreating glacier.
The soil types. These may be found on soil survey maps. There are 11 different soil types here.
The USDA has soil surveys from present day dating back to the 1800s. In 1995 I obtained a hard copy of the soil survey for York County, Maine. The manuscript for this survey is available online from the USDA. At this time, the maps are not archived with that manuscript. I am working with other mapping software to see if the files are available on another site.
The hydrology; surface water features; Stony Brook, swamps and pine islands, likely subsurface features as suggested by plant growth patterns; springs and seeps, sinkholes.
The forest history and present characteristics; The Fire of '47, timbering history, present regrowth since 1995.
The lay of the land; drainage of watercourses, northward sloping, small amounts of upland, ledge and swamp.
The wildlife; 'home of moose and squirrel', deer, fox, coyote, wild turkeys, songbirds, crows and ravens, owls, abundant rodents (outdoors and indoors, alas). Beavers (outdoors only). Mosquitoes. Black flies.
The human history; 1667-1809 land grant map, the Pattershall head right, Amos Mason, the cemetery, The Fire of 47, recent owners (Hannaford book). Traces of previous farms; stone walls, apple trees, the old garden, old buildings, the house, old dumps, bottles, abandoned tired iron in the woods.
2. References
I want to give you two good references on this type of ecosystem analysis, although these are written on much more of a synoptic scale.
'Face of North America; the natural history of a continent' by Peter Farb, published in 1964. I read this in about 1979 or early 1980.
'Man and Nature', written by George Perkins Marsh in 1864 (no, that is not a misprint.) We had a forester (Gordon Stuart) working with us on on a forestry plan for our woodlot. He lent me a copy of this book. It was a 'must-have, so I went to Borders and bought a copy, which is now on my bookshelf.
I had gone on Wikipedia at the time of this writing to get more information. I found a link to Google books which has all 559 pages of this book up and readable. Evidently it is in the public domain. I just downloaded it from Google as a PDF. (NB, this is present day when technology is available, but there is no substitute for being able to 'download' the knowledge to your own understanding. We need a 'world wide web' of a collective consciousness.) The link to it is;
http://books.google.com/books?id=MtZ-AAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
Please, read this book. A look at Clark University's website finds both a good writeup on the author, as well as their 'George Perkins Marsh Institute', supporting active research into environmental issues.
Addendum in 2013; there was a story today about the purchase of the Greek island of Skorpios. This island had been previously owned by Aristotle Onassis and the article mentioned in passing that he had reforested it with over 200 species of trees resulting in its being heavily wooded at the time of his writing. So off I went to do a search- because Marsh's book emphasized (and earlier writings in the late 20th century had concurred); that lack of trees and consequent erosion plagued the Mediterranean region. I was unable to find much in specifics of Onassis' project, but I found the following;
''Deforestation / Reforestation in Mediterranean Europe: The Case of Greece'
Published on: 11-21-2011 by Olga G. Christopoulou, University of Thessaly, Greece
http://cdn.intechopen.com/pdfs/23110/InTech-Deforestation_reforestation_in_mediterranean_europe_the_case_of_greece.pdf
It is worth reading. I feel reforestation is a worldwide priority.
The location; Hollis Center, York County, Maine.
The agricultural zone; was formerly zone 3-4. Current revision of the zones secondary to climate change suggests we may achieve zone 5. (I'll believe that when rosemary winters over successfully outside.)
The geology; glaciation was a prominent feature here. Parts of the woodlands are a jumble of granite boulders left by the retreating glacier.
The soil types. These may be found on soil survey maps. There are 11 different soil types here.
The USDA has soil surveys from present day dating back to the 1800s. In 1995 I obtained a hard copy of the soil survey for York County, Maine. The manuscript for this survey is available online from the USDA. At this time, the maps are not archived with that manuscript. I am working with other mapping software to see if the files are available on another site.
The hydrology; surface water features; Stony Brook, swamps and pine islands, likely subsurface features as suggested by plant growth patterns; springs and seeps, sinkholes.
The forest history and present characteristics; The Fire of '47, timbering history, present regrowth since 1995.
The lay of the land; drainage of watercourses, northward sloping, small amounts of upland, ledge and swamp.
The wildlife; 'home of moose and squirrel', deer, fox, coyote, wild turkeys, songbirds, crows and ravens, owls, abundant rodents (outdoors and indoors, alas). Beavers (outdoors only). Mosquitoes. Black flies.
The human history; 1667-1809 land grant map, the Pattershall head right, Amos Mason, the cemetery, The Fire of 47, recent owners (Hannaford book). Traces of previous farms; stone walls, apple trees, the old garden, old buildings, the house, old dumps, bottles, abandoned tired iron in the woods.
2. References
I want to give you two good references on this type of ecosystem analysis, although these are written on much more of a synoptic scale.
'Face of North America; the natural history of a continent' by Peter Farb, published in 1964. I read this in about 1979 or early 1980.
'Man and Nature', written by George Perkins Marsh in 1864 (no, that is not a misprint.) We had a forester (Gordon Stuart) working with us on on a forestry plan for our woodlot. He lent me a copy of this book. It was a 'must-have, so I went to Borders and bought a copy, which is now on my bookshelf.
I had gone on Wikipedia at the time of this writing to get more information. I found a link to Google books which has all 559 pages of this book up and readable. Evidently it is in the public domain. I just downloaded it from Google as a PDF. (NB, this is present day when technology is available, but there is no substitute for being able to 'download' the knowledge to your own understanding. We need a 'world wide web' of a collective consciousness.) The link to it is;
http://books.google.com/books?id=MtZ-AAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
Please, read this book. A look at Clark University's website finds both a good writeup on the author, as well as their 'George Perkins Marsh Institute', supporting active research into environmental issues.
Addendum in 2013; there was a story today about the purchase of the Greek island of Skorpios. This island had been previously owned by Aristotle Onassis and the article mentioned in passing that he had reforested it with over 200 species of trees resulting in its being heavily wooded at the time of his writing. So off I went to do a search- because Marsh's book emphasized (and earlier writings in the late 20th century had concurred); that lack of trees and consequent erosion plagued the Mediterranean region. I was unable to find much in specifics of Onassis' project, but I found the following;
''Deforestation / Reforestation in Mediterranean Europe: The Case of Greece'
Published on: 11-21-2011 by Olga G. Christopoulou, University of Thessaly, Greece
http://cdn.intechopen.com/pdfs/23110/InTech-Deforestation_reforestation_in_mediterranean_europe_the_case_of_greece.pdf
It is worth reading. I feel reforestation is a worldwide priority.
3. What goes on; The Perspective of Permaculture (much more on Permaculture under 'Gardens')
"...Permaculture; a philosophy of working with, rather than against nature; of protracted and thoughtful observation rather than protracted and thoughtless labor; and of looking at plants and animals in all their functions, rather than treating any area as a single project system' (from Mollison)
'...Permaculture Zones; which divide the area under consideration by functional and management (or interactive criteria
'Zone 0 is the house
'Zone 1 contains all the most visited areas of your garden. Usually it's the area closest to your house.
'Zone 2 in a permaculture design also receives a lot of attention, but less than zone 1. Zone 2 is usually fully irrigated - if your climate requires it, that is - and mulched. It contains your smaller fruit trees, shrubs and trellised fruit, bramble berries, hedges, ponds or windbreaks; anything that will do well even if you don't check it every day.
'Zone 3 is still a managed growing zone, but not as intensely managed. It would not be mulched and not visited on a regular basis. This growing zone features your large fruit or nut trees. On farms it would include your main crop areas and the large pastures.
'Zone4 is only semi-managed. This is an area for gathering wild foods and for growing timber.
'Zone 5 is your unmanaged 'wildland'.
For an example, see the illustration below, copied with permission from the 'Lammas' website
http://www.lammas.org.uk/
From the 'Lammas' website http://www.lammas.org.uk/ (see the description below)
4. Planning; the Concept of 'Eco-Criteria'
I had listed the ecosystem parameters (above) shortly before I found the Low Impact Living Institute (LILI) website. ( http://lowimpact.org/index.htm ) They set forth the concept of 'eco-criteria' which provide a parallel but 'human-focused' set of parameters to look at the interactions of humans with the ecosystem. I include here their list of 7 'eco-criteria for
'...setting up a land-based project consisting of small plots (5 acres or less), leased or sold to plot-holders, with planning permission to build a home, but with very strict eco-criteria regarding the building and the use of land.'
'...eco-criteria
As I review these 2 lists with their very different focus, I realize my mental picture of the 'baseline parameters' is very much that of my woodlot and fields as I first met them; walking the terrain and 'asking it' how it is and what it wants. My mental picture of the 'eco-criteria', in contrast, is inescapably that of human habitation; Power, water, sewage, buildings, vehicles.
I like the idea of the '20 trees per acre' to look at as a guideline. However, I don't like the idea of inflicting the detritus of human habitation on the entire ecosystem. Permaculture maps are divided into zones (see # 3, above). I feel LILI's 'list of eco-criteria need to be strictly those for the zone of human habitation, not of the woodland.
'...setting up a land-based project consisting of small plots (5 acres or less), leased or sold to plot-holders, with planning permission to build a home, but with very strict eco-criteria regarding the building and the use of land.'
'...eco-criteria
- land: must be used productively; organic; 20 trees planted per acre
- buildings: controls on size, height and appearance; local / natural materials; no cement
- electricity: off-grid - wind & solar
- heating: wood stoves, solar hot water, passive solar / thermal mass design, ground source heat pumps
- water: rainwater harvesting, springs
- sewage: compost toilets, reed beds, ponds, waste water for irrigation
- plus other conditions on waste, vehicles, and occupation of dwellings'.
As I review these 2 lists with their very different focus, I realize my mental picture of the 'baseline parameters' is very much that of my woodlot and fields as I first met them; walking the terrain and 'asking it' how it is and what it wants. My mental picture of the 'eco-criteria', in contrast, is inescapably that of human habitation; Power, water, sewage, buildings, vehicles.
I like the idea of the '20 trees per acre' to look at as a guideline. However, I don't like the idea of inflicting the detritus of human habitation on the entire ecosystem. Permaculture maps are divided into zones (see # 3, above). I feel LILI's 'list of eco-criteria need to be strictly those for the zone of human habitation, not of the woodland.