In my recent post Don’t mimic nature on the farm, improve it, I argued that we should cast aside the ideas of “balance of nature” and “nature knows best” in designing farming systems. There is no reason to “follow nature’s lead”…
Tag: nature
Don’t Mimic Nature on the Farm, Improve it
Behind many efforts to make agriculture more sustainable is the idea that our farming systems need to be more like nature. According to agroecologist Miguel Alteri, “By designing farming systems that mimic nature, optimal use can be made of sunlight,…
Photosynthetic Animals?
Some of our readers have heard about the many known naturally-occurring Natural GMOs out there, such as Pea Aphids. Nature, it appears is a lot more creative with the different forms of life that evolve than people might think. Well,…
Springtime is for Swarms
One of the most iconic and misunderstood behaviors of honeybees is the "swarm." People fear the swarm - it conjures up thoughts of an unstoppable venomous aerial assault - and yet ironically it is the most friendly and tame way…
Kareiva: Scientist, Conservationist, & Pragmatist.
Here is some interesting weekend reading for you. Peter Kareiva, chief scientist for the Nature Conservancy, wrote an essay questioning the strategies of environmentalists and conservationists. He argued that their movement is failing - both in its goal to protect…
Read More Kareiva: Scientist, Conservationist, & Pragmatist.