The current debate in ecology is over the productivity of an ecosystem.

Is
the gross primary productivity (or overall biomass of plants)responsible for eco
system health or survival,or is the net productivity. (the original native plant
and animal diversity)the actual determinate. the book"Gross Production and Evo
lution"by James Farr.www.lulu.com.press .2008 tries to answer that question. A h
uman factor needs to be applied. Supposedly mankind's input to the ecosystem div
ersity and fecundity is negative. But imagine a lone survivor on a desert islan
d. A good example of that was Charles Darwin on the Voyage of the Beagle. He was
alone in the world of religion,yet his book "Origin of Species"opened up the re
al world to millions of people. Although many parts of his theory(The theory of
natural selection"are contested today,one discovery stands out. Darwin developed
a measurement of coral atoll health. The unit measurement (called a Darwin)was
the exact point in depth in the oceans where a coral dies due to lack of light.
Thus an atoll's actual age could be determined from this measurement. Man could
save rare reef island's just by one man's observation.
Another type of measurement was in my local newspaper.The question was :How t
o you measure a tree's heighth just from its shadow.This question was posed on M
arch 21,2011.This is the time of the equinox when the sun is highest in the sky,
as opposed to the horizon. By taking a stake and sticking it in the ground at t
he end of a tree's shadow,and measuring the distance of the tree to the end of i
ts shadow,one has its height. How many old trees could be saved each Spring,by
measuring their height and then pruning them to increase the canopy size and pro
pmote photosynthesis.
Indeed the ecology of the earth includes ourselves. We too evolved here and
are nature's stewarts. The organization New Alchemy Institute first promoted th
is concept of a large scale. I had been a member of their organization. I meas
ured the productive use of methane bacteria of goat and cow manure in small pilo
t methane digesters in my backyard. I was able to repeat the New Alchemy's prev
ious experiments. I helped poor people from Africa cook their family's meals by
proving that goat manure was a good source of cooking gas.
I n my book:"Gross Production and Evolution"a non-native,extinct plant (on th
e verge of extinction)proves that global warming is a real problem we must all f
ace. It takes simple algebra, literature searches and finally a carefully planne
d quadrant study tof two remaining patches of this lost raodside daisey(thought
of as a pest)to prove the point. Where nature was fooling us,our own input has
helped us to point the way to a future stewardship of our planet.
Thus a thought for the strict preservationists.Be careful when choosing which
species to eradicate from infested ponds or roadsides.A water Lilly could prove
helpful in assimilating small oil spills in ponds near your highways.