Place Project blog assignment #2
February 29, 2016 by hbrandei
Limits/signs of resource use:
- Some kind of land marker
- Mysterious land marker missing half of its plack is a sign that humans to create resources in the past used the area. Cattle were once grazed and driven where the forest now grows. There were also possibly crops grown in the area at one point in time. The simultaneous nutrient detraction and addition that occurred during this time in the lands history has most definitely had an effect on the ecosystem and the way it works today.
- Large stone wall
- A large stonewall covered in graffiti casts a large area of shade keeping plants from growing and is also an eyesore depreciating from the overall value of the environment
- Wall could also divert water flow, detracting from the naturally occurring events of the ecosystem.
- Cut down trees
- Culling older larger trees can make for an easier early life for saplings helping them to grow and become a new part of the over story by filling in the gap that the old tree left when it was cut down
- Wide foot path/foot traffic
- Our spot on the food chain means our mere presence might have a profound effect on the behavior of the organisms in the area
- The footpath creates a barrier and can limit the connectivity/continuity of the ecosystem
- Noise pollution
- Proximity of my spot to the road and to parking lots could have an effect on the behavior of the ecosystems beings in a similar way to the presence of humans on the area
Institutions and their effect on human behavior:
- Farming community
- The old institution of growing crops and graising cows on the land that centennial woods natural area now occupies is long gone. But it once decided the face of the landscape almost entirely. Grass, crops and manure were all that there was to be found for miles so that farming could take place on the land. These practices ran the early economy of Vermont.
- Research/natural area
- An area for research, and teaching of ecosystem science and education, centennial woods is now being used by the institution of the University of Vermont as a tool that perpetrates the advancement of the environmentalist movement that we may need to save our natural world.
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