Forest Restoration/Restoration Ecology - Charlie Smallshaw

One of the main takeaways from the lecture on forest restoration is that human activity in nature almost always in essence means that things are being taken away. One of the most important things being taken away from an ecosystem is biodiversity and in turn its overall complexity. Given that complexity allows an ecosystem to remain vigilant against disturbances, it made me think about how vulnerable agriculture can be to things like droughts or pests, and I’m sure much of that can be attributed to the emphasis on monocultures in farming. Restoration ecology is the effort to bring back ecosystems to where they were prior to human activity. It made me wonder if there are practical ways to incorporate agriculture naturally into the natural environment with minimal damage to biodiversity or complexity. I looked online and found results about natural agriculture/natural farming, but I feel this would not be as productive as commercial agriculture and would be trumped by emphasis on optimized outputs.

Comments

  1. Emily SutherlinDecember 3, 2024 at 12:45 PM

    Good job Mr. Smallshaw

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    Replies
    1. Charlie SmallshawDecember 3, 2024 at 12:51 PM

      Thank you so much Emileigh, you don't know how much this means to me. I've been going through a really rough patch lately and your comment has given me the energy to keep going and keep a smile on my face. I hope you live a long and fruitful life kind stranger. God bless you, God bless our troops, and God bless the United States of America ;p

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