Eagle & Condor. Well done taking the infinite and boiling it down for rational minded folk to better understand. It's impossible, yet critically important work. The negative/positive labels might be a distraction given all their baggage. I understand what you're saying but the labels took some time for both of us to overcome. I've been thinking in homeostasis terms and the stressors that disrupt homeostasis.
This integration of all the components works on the smallest scales as well, these are fractal dimensions. When doing ecological restoration of say a 100 acre property, we do all these activities to restore and see little progress, and then all-of-a-sudden, BOOM, transformation. That plateaus for a bit, but as long as adequate nurturing of the degraded system continues, the transformations keep coming, spaced out over a long period of steady restoration of the ecosystems components. The same is true in reverse, when degrading a site through long-term chronic mis-use.
Over the last 5 or so years I've come to realize my homeland, Missouri, USA, used to more closely resemble the Amazon, with it's once great forest and teaming biodiversity coupled with indigenous land stewards. We have recently amplified the 'water wars' here in Missouri by legislating that our water can not leave the state unless permitted by the state. The Oglala aquifer to the west is vanishing and those folks over there want to continue as if nothing matters. Missouri being their neighbor has received alot of demand on precious water. And now data centers are increasing demand at home as well.
Curious to hear your thoughts on the breakdown of the eastern forests of North America as we are just a couple hundred years ahead of the Amazon from frontier to modern economy progression. When I look at a farm in the Amazon it looks the same as home. I kept referring back to the eastern forests USA during this essay as a way to ground your perspective. Thanks for the stimulus! Well done breaking all this down for the rational thinkers.
yeah the negative feedback and positive feedback terms are not the best named. Yeah cool to hear how you see all these spaced out transformations like punctuated equilibrium..... The eastern usa forests have lost about their biomass I believe, and about 99% of their old growth virgin forests. The old growth part is really important because there is a lot of resilience that comes from old growth.
Thanks for sharing that about old-growth. We have small isolated pockets of old-growth around, not many at all. Most is found in the drought tolerant slow-growers like chinkapin oak who were skipped over by loggers due to low quality for milling. Saw a small several acre old-growth white oak stand last winter but the state/federal conservation agencies were guiding the landowner to destroy it with aggressive industrial forest management treatments so it could fit into their programs. We are cooked when the pro's lose their sensitivity. Your comment makes me think I should start collecting soils from these old-growth stands to keep the microbiota strains around. Thanks for sharing.
Great to see the emphasis on the significant role played by groundwater - which has been ignored for too long. You did mention that grassland savannas can also (like trees) transpire moisture from groundwater. Two things: We need to clarify the source of this moisture. Grasses can essentially only use moisture stored in the top two meters of soil (that which is within reach of their roots). We should call this Soil Moisture. Trees, with their much deeper roots, can not only tap into much more soil moisture, but also into the water table (where water has accumulated into free flowing underground pools and streams). The second difference between trees and grasses, is that (in the sub-tropical region that I am familiar with) our trees can come out in fresh leaves and start transpiring AHEAD of the rains (which, primarily are driven by the tilt of the Earth's Axis). This has been identified as a mechanism in the Amazon, where this early transpiration by the forest can cause the seasonal rains to start, before the arrival of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone. Grasses on the other hand, have to wait until those first rains before they can start growing and thus start contributing their transpiration to the various feed-back loops. Thus I believe adequate tree cover (and accessible groundwater) would help prolong our rainy season, by triggering earlier rains, and prolonging them after most grasses have seeded and died back after completing their growth cycle. A longer growing season is not just important for crop farming (giving crops longer time to attain higher yields) but also for more total biomass production, leading to more carbon storage in the soil, leading to more Soil Moisture . . . . available to help kick start the rains in the following season. Bruce Danckwerts Bring back the Rains on Radio4pasa.com, CHOMA, Zambia
Pure madness there isn't more protections going down for forests. Hitting 17% is nearly having 1 in 5 trees less to do the job. Any system affected this way is over taxed.
I appreciate the distillation in this sentence: "When we extract groundwater, we are not only changing aquifer levels; we are triggering a cascade of effects through soil, vegetation, rivers, and the atmosphere." It is observeable in areas (I am thinking of areas in the midwest) but also as easy to see in the woodlot of our homestead. Small glimpses in a larger frame.
You have this right on, Alpha. Systems of causal loops! Oh yeah! The Amazon flipping is just such a horrific thought. But evidently the Sahara did just that. Complexity is the key to understanding the world. Thanks for another great post, which just touches the surface of this field. Keep them coming!
Good Job Alpha, a lot of thought into this long post But we got the jist. Certainly
much more of a inter disciplinary need required to understand how the totality of our planets hydrology, physics, atmospheric conditions and terrestrial relationships work separately or in tandem depending on locations and circumstances
All this becomes even more concerning when we realize how narrow is the stability window and how thins are the margins....
The Thin Margins: How Human Activity Is Unraveling the Planetary Life-Support System
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/thin-margins-how-human-activity-unraveling-planetary-system-nasi-t2aqf?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_android&utm_campaign=share_via
Eagle & Condor. Well done taking the infinite and boiling it down for rational minded folk to better understand. It's impossible, yet critically important work. The negative/positive labels might be a distraction given all their baggage. I understand what you're saying but the labels took some time for both of us to overcome. I've been thinking in homeostasis terms and the stressors that disrupt homeostasis.
This integration of all the components works on the smallest scales as well, these are fractal dimensions. When doing ecological restoration of say a 100 acre property, we do all these activities to restore and see little progress, and then all-of-a-sudden, BOOM, transformation. That plateaus for a bit, but as long as adequate nurturing of the degraded system continues, the transformations keep coming, spaced out over a long period of steady restoration of the ecosystems components. The same is true in reverse, when degrading a site through long-term chronic mis-use.
Over the last 5 or so years I've come to realize my homeland, Missouri, USA, used to more closely resemble the Amazon, with it's once great forest and teaming biodiversity coupled with indigenous land stewards. We have recently amplified the 'water wars' here in Missouri by legislating that our water can not leave the state unless permitted by the state. The Oglala aquifer to the west is vanishing and those folks over there want to continue as if nothing matters. Missouri being their neighbor has received alot of demand on precious water. And now data centers are increasing demand at home as well.
Curious to hear your thoughts on the breakdown of the eastern forests of North America as we are just a couple hundred years ahead of the Amazon from frontier to modern economy progression. When I look at a farm in the Amazon it looks the same as home. I kept referring back to the eastern forests USA during this essay as a way to ground your perspective. Thanks for the stimulus! Well done breaking all this down for the rational thinkers.
yeah the negative feedback and positive feedback terms are not the best named. Yeah cool to hear how you see all these spaced out transformations like punctuated equilibrium..... The eastern usa forests have lost about their biomass I believe, and about 99% of their old growth virgin forests. The old growth part is really important because there is a lot of resilience that comes from old growth.
How much biomass has been lost?
Thanks for sharing that about old-growth. We have small isolated pockets of old-growth around, not many at all. Most is found in the drought tolerant slow-growers like chinkapin oak who were skipped over by loggers due to low quality for milling. Saw a small several acre old-growth white oak stand last winter but the state/federal conservation agencies were guiding the landowner to destroy it with aggressive industrial forest management treatments so it could fit into their programs. We are cooked when the pro's lose their sensitivity. Your comment makes me think I should start collecting soils from these old-growth stands to keep the microbiota strains around. Thanks for sharing.
Great to see the emphasis on the significant role played by groundwater - which has been ignored for too long. You did mention that grassland savannas can also (like trees) transpire moisture from groundwater. Two things: We need to clarify the source of this moisture. Grasses can essentially only use moisture stored in the top two meters of soil (that which is within reach of their roots). We should call this Soil Moisture. Trees, with their much deeper roots, can not only tap into much more soil moisture, but also into the water table (where water has accumulated into free flowing underground pools and streams). The second difference between trees and grasses, is that (in the sub-tropical region that I am familiar with) our trees can come out in fresh leaves and start transpiring AHEAD of the rains (which, primarily are driven by the tilt of the Earth's Axis). This has been identified as a mechanism in the Amazon, where this early transpiration by the forest can cause the seasonal rains to start, before the arrival of the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone. Grasses on the other hand, have to wait until those first rains before they can start growing and thus start contributing their transpiration to the various feed-back loops. Thus I believe adequate tree cover (and accessible groundwater) would help prolong our rainy season, by triggering earlier rains, and prolonging them after most grasses have seeded and died back after completing their growth cycle. A longer growing season is not just important for crop farming (giving crops longer time to attain higher yields) but also for more total biomass production, leading to more carbon storage in the soil, leading to more Soil Moisture . . . . available to help kick start the rains in the following season. Bruce Danckwerts Bring back the Rains on Radio4pasa.com, CHOMA, Zambia
Yes it seems in many places trees can start transpiring ahead of seasonal rains
Pure madness there isn't more protections going down for forests. Hitting 17% is nearly having 1 in 5 trees less to do the job. Any system affected this way is over taxed.
THX! Very good job! europe,hungary,debrecen city region.
I appreciate the distillation in this sentence: "When we extract groundwater, we are not only changing aquifer levels; we are triggering a cascade of effects through soil, vegetation, rivers, and the atmosphere." It is observeable in areas (I am thinking of areas in the midwest) but also as easy to see in the woodlot of our homestead. Small glimpses in a larger frame.
Thanks, yeah I liked that sentence a bit too when writing it
I feel this sentence growing into something else that needs writing about. Thank you for your posts.
yes :)
You have this right on, Alpha. Systems of causal loops! Oh yeah! The Amazon flipping is just such a horrific thought. But evidently the Sahara did just that. Complexity is the key to understanding the world. Thanks for another great post, which just touches the surface of this field. Keep them coming!
Yeah this stuff goes much deeper
Great post, Alpha. Thank you for elucidating some of this complexity and helping make sense of it.
Thanks Rob
Good Job Alpha, a lot of thought into this long post But we got the jist. Certainly
much more of a inter disciplinary need required to understand how the totality of our planets hydrology, physics, atmospheric conditions and terrestrial relationships work separately or in tandem depending on locations and circumstances