This thread often employs 'natural' and 'ecological' as proxies for 'good' or 'proper' or 'appropriate' or 'desirable'. Using some past condition to exemplify a desired future is commonplace, but that past is always poorly documented and most of our 'knowledge' of past conditions is selectively conjectural or inferred. That is the standard recipe for nostalgic yearning.
It is also clear that 'sequestering' carbon as biomass does not override concerns the commenters have about belonging, structure and longevity, also invoked – again vaguely – as proxies for 'good' or 'proper' or 'appropriate' or 'desirable'. It remains arguable whether ecological communities are much more than an instantaneous reflection of the contingencies of the story of life on earth so far. That story from here on out will likewise entail whatever happens next. But apply any metaphor you like (restoration, turning the clock back, putting the toothpaste back into the tube, putting Humpty Dumpty back together again) what happens next is not going to be a repeat of what happened before, and we can never look forward with clarity or confidence beyond simple, proximate causes and effects. To paraphrase a non-ecologist, life is happening while we make other plans. Meanwhile, ESA's finest minds make plans framed primarily by fear and loathing of certain change in uncertain directions. To paraphrase another non-ecologist, how's that workin' for ya? Matthew K Chew Assistant Research Professor Arizona State University School of Life Sciences ASU Center for Biology & Society PO Box 873301 Tempe, AZ 85287-3301 USA Tel 480.965.8422 Fax 480.965.8330 mc...@asu.edu or anek...@gmail.com http://cbs.asu.edu/people/profiles/chew.php http://asu.academia.edu/MattChew
