Andrew, I'm not optimistic that you will find your answer. I think
some of the discussion around the semantics of your question is
unnecessary for answering it (we know you're not talking about crops,
and the question is regarding our allocation of resources in creating
imitations of natural ecosystems, not whether our imitations are
successful enough to be called "ecosystems").
However, there are at least three semantic issues that HAVE to be
addressed, as how we resolve them would probably determine the answer
to your question.
(1) What counts as a wetland?
(2) How do we categorize the other kinds of ecosystems people are creating?
(3) What is your metric for the effort we apply to creating
ecosystems? You say "numbers of projects," but how big does a project
have to be to count?
Finally, I assume that "creating" and ecosystem involves setting out
to make an imitation of a particular kind of natural community, so
that an abandoned gravel pit that happens to flood is not a created
wetland, but unless this is spelled out, I think the confusion on this
bit of terminology is legitimate.
Jim
Quoting William Silvert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>:
A question comes to mind. If an area is burned to the ground as a
result of human carelessness, would we consider it degraded or
destroyed? But if we then find that the fire was actually started by
lightning, and the natural cycle that involves the return of
nutrients to the soil and even the release of seeds that only sprout
when burnt, would we change our view?
Bill Silvert
----- Original Message ----- From: "JEREMIAH M YAHN" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <ECOLOG-L@LISTSERV.UMD.EDU>
Sent: Thursday, June 12, 2008 1:55 PM
Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Ecosystems and faux ecosystems Re:
[ECOLOG-L] Wetland creation
Although I do enjoy and agree w/ Wayne's definitions, I think
perhaps we have lost the way of the original post. I certainly do
not have the answer nor the free time to pursue the answer, but I
would imagine that there would be some value in looking into what we
have lost over the years. Find out which ecosystem we have
degraded/destroyed most over the years and you will probably find
the ecosystem most often "restored".
