What They Found

The Strategy of Ecosystem Development

This paper by Howard T. Odum, an ecologist and founding father of ecosystem ecology (itself based on General Systems Theory), looks at the principles of succession in an ecosystem, comparing qualities of “young”, uncrowded, growth-selective ecosystems and “mature”, crowded, equilibrated, quality-selective ecosystems, and the shifting forces that maintain a balance between the two in an effort to resolve conflicts with nature.  The paper is a bit technical, but the last paragraph is surprisingly salient, especially given the date of publication (1969).

“It goes without saying that the tabular model for ecosystem development which I have presented here has many parallels in the development of human society itself. In the pioneer society, as in the pioneer ecosystem, high birth rates, rapid growth, high economic profits, and exploitation of accesible and unused resources are advantageous, but, as the saturation level is approached, these drives must be shifted to considerations of symbiosis (that is, civil rights, law and order, education, and culture), birth control, and the recycling of resources.  A balance between youth and maturity in the socio-environmental system is, therefore, the really basic goal that must be achieved if man as a species is to successfully pass through the present rapid-growth stage, to which he is clearly well adapted, to the ultimate equilibrium-density stage, of which he as yet shows little understanding and to which he now shows little tendency to adapt. “

Shame on me for forgetting my source (wikipedia, I believe).