100
between the numbers of species, and the size and behavioral relations of respective
species populations.
14
In the case of bird groups living on currently insular islands (what Wallace had
originally referred to as “fragments”), Diamond extrapolated time frames: “For
almost all of the islands he studied, the relaxation time was in the realm of ten thousand years.”
15
Conversely, with respect to the known 59 avian species that have gone
extinct in New Zealand as a result of the human presence (among, no doubt many
other New Zealand avifauna disappearances science has not yet recognized) it is
estimated that the human time frame necessary to recapture such evolutionary life
force would require 50 million years.
16
But the point is, regardless of the degree of
imbalance, the premise holds to a human conception of balance, as if nature has
worked everything out, and our imperfect sciences are so much reportage, gainfully
employed observations that can predictably rely upon a cumulative bias of centuries
during which lenses of perception improve; calculations are honed; equations are
improved; outcomes achieve a level of plus-or-minus confidence always moving
closer to certitude. Certitude, in turn, depends on real individuals.
Hence, the very charming outlook driving conservation which can be ascertained
from a US forester’s memorandum, back in March, 1967, dispatched by William
Hurst to the supervisor at Kaibab National Forest, pertaining to a squirrel: “The
Forest service has a moral, as well as a legal, obligation to protect this animal…
every activity undertaken within his range should be carefully evaluated, giving the
needs of the squirrel prime consideration. Coupled with this, we should search out
all the information we can on his habitat requirements. If this information is inadequate, which I suspect it is, we should give leadership to a research program to learn
more about the squirrel…”
17
All of conservation biology comes down to this basic
protocol, predicated on the historical realities that can be discerned throughout the
history of human interactions with other individuals, biographical subjects worthy
of our profound admiration; creatures who mirror us, and whom we mirror. From
life within caves and cliffsides, to the huge density of parks and royal forests
throughout thirteenth-century England that served as private grounds for hunting
and forest product extraction,
18
to the very “languages of landscape,” as Mark
14 See Brose, U., A. Ostling, K. Harrison, and N.D. Martinez. 2004. Unified spatial scaling of species and their trophic interactions. Nature 428:167–171.
15 See Noah’s Choice – The Future Of Endangered Species, by Charles C. Mann and Mark
L. Plummer, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1995, p. 71.
16 See “Deep Macroevolutionary Impact of Humans on New Zealand’s Unique Avifauna,” by Louis
Valente, Rampal S. Etienne, and Juan C. Garcia-R., Current Biology, Volume 29, ISSUE 15,
P2563–2569.e4, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.06.058, https://www.cell.com/currentbiology/fulltext/S0960-9822%2819%2930785-7?_returnURL=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/
retrieve/pii/S0960982219307857?showall=true, Accessed June 5, 2020. And, the Authors write, in
general, “If threatened species go extinct, up to 10 Ma [million years are] needed to return to
today’s levels.” From their “Highlights”.
17 Quoted from Sylvester Allred’s The Natural History of Tassel-Eared Squirrels, University of
New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 2010, p. 123.
18 See The English Medieval Landscape, Edited by Leonard Cantor, University of Pennsylvania
10 Ecological Contradiction, Antinomy, and Counter-Intuition
between the numbers of species, and the size and behavioral relations of respective
species populations.
14
In the case of bird groups living on currently insular islands (what Wallace had
originally referred to as “fragments”), Diamond extrapolated time frames: “For
almost all of the islands he studied, the relaxation time was in the realm of ten thousand years.”
15
Conversely, with respect to the known 59 avian species that have gone
extinct in New Zealand as a result of the human presence (among, no doubt many
other New Zealand avifauna disappearances science has not yet recognized) it is
estimated that the human time frame necessary to recapture such evolutionary life
force would require 50 million years.
16
But the point is, regardless of the degree of
imbalance, the premise holds to a human conception of balance, as if nature has
worked everything out, and our imperfect sciences are so much reportage, gainfully
employed observations that can predictably rely upon a cumulative bias of centuries
during which lenses of perception improve; calculations are honed; equations are
improved; outcomes achieve a level of plus-or-minus confidence always moving
closer to certitude. Certitude, in turn, depends on real individuals.
Hence, the very charming outlook driving conservation which can be ascertained
from a US forester’s memorandum, back in March, 1967, dispatched by William
Hurst to the supervisor at Kaibab National Forest, pertaining to a squirrel: “The
Forest service has a moral, as well as a legal, obligation to protect this animal…
every activity undertaken within his range should be carefully evaluated, giving the
needs of the squirrel prime consideration. Coupled with this, we should search out
all the information we can on his habitat requirements. If this information is inadequate, which I suspect it is, we should give leadership to a research program to learn
more about the squirrel…”
17
All of conservation biology comes down to this basic
protocol, predicated on the historical realities that can be discerned throughout the
history of human interactions with other individuals, biographical subjects worthy
of our profound admiration; creatures who mirror us, and whom we mirror. From
life within caves and cliffsides, to the huge density of parks and royal forests
throughout thirteenth-century England that served as private grounds for hunting
and forest product extraction,
18
to the very “languages of landscape,” as Mark
14 See Brose, U., A. Ostling, K. Harrison, and N.D. Martinez. 2004. Unified spatial scaling of species and their trophic interactions. Nature 428:167–171.
15 See Noah’s Choice – The Future Of Endangered Species, by Charles C. Mann and Mark
L. Plummer, Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1995, p. 71.
16 See “Deep Macroevolutionary Impact of Humans on New Zealand’s Unique Avifauna,” by Louis
Valente, Rampal S. Etienne, and Juan C. Garcia-R., Current Biology, Volume 29, ISSUE 15,
P2563–2569.e4, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2019.06.058, https://www.cell.com/currentbiology/fulltext/S0960-9822%2819%2930785-7?_returnURL=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/
retrieve/pii/S0960982219307857?showall=true, Accessed June 5, 2020. And, the Authors write, in
general, “If threatened species go extinct, up to 10 Ma [million years are] needed to return to
today’s levels.” From their “Highlights”.
17 Quoted from Sylvester Allred’s The Natural History of Tassel-Eared Squirrels, University of
New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, 2010, p. 123.
18 See The English Medieval Landscape, Edited by Leonard Cantor, University of Pennsylvania
10 Ecological Contradiction, Antinomy, and Counter-Intuition