Billy Elliott is the most amazing musical I have ever been to. It is an international hit and it has the potential to inspire millions to reach for their dreams even in times of adversity. Futhermore, the creators of this theatrical phenomenon and its film that was released a few years ago, are true inspirations. In particular, I make reference to Eric Fellner who is a smart businessman and an entrepreneur and who is diverse in his creativity from producing films to television shows to documentaries and now to theatrical performances.
Biodiversity or biological diversity or differences in species compositions and richness are topics that I discuss on a daily basis. Recently I completed my first exam for biogeochemistry and global change. Dr. Gail Wilson asked us to defend climate change and provide examples of global change and why it is important for the public to be knowledgeable in that subject matter. As I wrote my response, I was struck with the last sentence in one of my paragraphs which was finished off as "a decrease in biodiversity is inappropriate for the future of the earth." I was left wondering how to explain to someone else what the next logical question to my response would be : why is biodiversity important? To me, as a scientist, land manager, ranch kid, outdoor enthusiast and landscape ecologist - biodiversity is what life hinges on - it's innate that it is important!
How do I explain the importance of biodiversity to a stoke broker who lives inside a concrete building and trades foreign commodities for numbers on a computer screen? Or what about to the grade 6 class at a local elementary school that I had the good fortune of giving a 1 hour long presentation to about northern Canada last month? Or what about to the beaureacratics who do not think that humans are part of the ecosystem, who think that doing nothing is a good management decision and who sit with my papers on their desks for months on end while being the final signature in order to keep fire on the land? How do I express in words how critical heterogeneity is to the future of the boreal forest - of all global ecosystems along with keeping their natural processes "functioning properly" and the system "resilient"?
How do I explain to Eric Fellner, a very smart and admirable and respected man about the need to ensure that Wood bison survive and that their critical habitat must be maintained in order for their reintroduction to be successful?
It really hit me hard yesterday as I was preparing for our weekly paper discussion group lead by Andy Crosby (MS canddiate at OSU) and Torre Hovick (PhD candidate at OSU). We read a paper by John Wiens about conservation not being black or white but rather a portrait and mosaic of tones and hues. Just like my thoughts (and that of other knowledgeable people) of the boreal as a mosaic and patchwork of different species growing in different places, at different heights, of different ages with fire, landslides, avalanches, herbivory, insect outbreaks all occurring together in chaotic succession. Just like Eric Fellner is a diverse producer of theatrical productions. Just like a person in the stockmarket would most likely not have all their eggs in one basket but rather spread out across different stocks. Just like the oil and gas companies frac more then one well at a time ... it's about production, economics, diversifying ... finacial diversity, artistic and creative diversity, biological diversity.
So in my pitiful explanation to my uncle, Eric Fellner, I tried to explain about how important fire is in maintaining habitat for Wood bison and how it is part of natural environment. That if we remove fire, we remove part of the chaotic succession that naturally has been occurring either through wildfire or the humans that ARE part of the ecosystem. To think that humans are not part of the ecosystem is a null, rejectable hypothesis that doesn't even warrant the time it took to write this sentence. Micro-management would suggest that at minute scales, humans are not part of the tippy top of the pass that goes from the Tuchodi down into the Gataga. Landscape ecologists and those who understand that scale is important spatially and temporally would suggest that as we look around the geographical area of the Tuchodi and the Gataga, humans have been in that system for many years. So why discount our impact - our influence - our dramatic part in the ecosystem?
Eric, you have inspired me even futher into the world of diversity. My world would be biological diversity and I will be forever very proud and in awe of your world of artistic and creative theatrical diversity.
Family.
