To whom..,
C. Jones wrote: "as Eugene Odum says, the tendency that seems to
characterize natural ecosystems is that of maximizing the quality of the
overall environment for the mutual benefit of all species within it." This
is untrue and it characterizes the problem of philosophizing ecology. All
species are in it for themselves and, where they can, dominant species
will crowd out the growth of other species and create relatively
non-diverse systems. Only if these systems are invaded by another species
that can overcome the defenses of the dominant species and/or use the
resources not maximized by the dominant species does a dominant species
fall away.
What's more, the idea of a limiting nutrient (usually phosphorus
as phosphate in most aquatic systems, then reactive nitrogen) is also
troubled. Bogs, for example, have scads of fertilizer. Their problem is
often the low pH created by the plants and animals themselves. Peat moss
fertilizes gardens but peat bogs are very bad places for plants to grow.
If there is a lesson for Marxists in ecology the lesson is evolution. If
we use the resources of human society better than capitalism does we will
win the game.
peace
