by Ibon » Wed 21 Oct 2015, 11:05:57
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I was referring to an "apparently" pristine ecosystem. The point seems to be that potentially having been through a crisis (with the loss of megafauna) the American Indians adapted their culture to a sustainable model. They didn't have the technology prior to that to destroy the ecosystems, so a transition to a more integrated lifestyle would be easier (albeit brutal in the short term). We may be violently agreeing here. I'm not sure if sustainable belief systems can ever come about spontaneously, but would tend to be the result of a crisis (whether local or broader-based).
Let's continue this line of thought and explore the resiliency present when ecosystems are largely intact. Let's stick with North America. We don't have much concrete evidence if the mega fauna extinctions during the Pleistocene lead to a crisis in the HG human population that then triggered more sustainable husbandry. Concrete evidence of this would be encouraging as it would underscore my own personal beliefs that the catalyst of consequences will hone sustainability in a surviving human population after industrial civilization suffers a modern die-off.
I am going to guess that humans did not experience a crisis after the extinction of mega fauna and that their transition toward a more sustainable husbandry was smooth because of redundancies and resiliency present in the ecosystems of the time. Mastadons and Mammoths and Giant Sloths went extinct but just consider the populations of bison in the billions, deer, antelope, moose, caribou, elk, rivers full of sturgeon, small game, and the gathering of nuts and botanical plants and then the later migration of corn and beans from Meso America northwards. The use of technology (fire and tools). Humans are a super adaptive species and when out of balance are actually invasive. ( with fossil fuels they have become Kudzu Ape)
Studies of other apex predators also reflect this resiliency and adaptability. Mountain Lions in Central America lost some important large prey like tapirs due to human disruptions and have adapted quite well moving toward prey species as small as armadillos. Wolf studies revealed adaptability in catching small rodents when large mega prey became absent.
Contrary to what many think animal extinctions in North America since the 16th century are minimal if you exclude islands which are less resilient to disruptions. What all this demonstrates is the resiliency and redundancies that are present in natural ecosystems that are left intact. Which underscores why preserving biodiversity is not some aesthetic luxury but critical for long term resiliency of future human populations. This also emphasizes something I often repeat here; human ecosystems are far more fragile than natural ecosystems to disruptions. Think of how dependent we are on such a small number of grains and the vulnerability to climate disruptions in our ability to feed ourselves or switch to an alternative resource.
All of this at the moment is only clearly understood by a small number of folks but it very well may one day become more pragmatic common knowledge once consequences start forcing human populations to once again integrate within the boundaries of natural ecosystems and bio-regions. This will accelerate when the exosomatic energy sources (fossil fuels) eventually go into steep decline and we are forced to live within the energy carrying capacity of the regions where we live.
That will be a real "crisis" not far off. Notice that the reason that we now do have a crisis is because of how fragile and dependent we are on the artificial human landscape we have created. Contrast this with our ancestors in the Pleistocene that had rich and diverse resource alternatives after eliminating the mega fauna.
Patiently awaiting the pathogens. Our resiliency resembles an invasive weed. We are the Kudzu Ape
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