Biodiversity and You
Published by Spinsheet - February 2016
Wetlands are considered one of our Earth’s most productive ecosystems. The Chesapeake Bay watershed and all states involved not only add to that productivity, but more so this precious ecosystem hangs on their support. In 1963 JFK coined the well-known phrase “a rising tide lifts all boats”. Likely, and sadly more pessimistic I fear a lowering tide grounds all boats. However, I don’t interpret Kennedy’s meaning as applying simply to ups and downs but more so our critical interconnectedness. He’s saying that with the tide of life we all are intrinsically connected.
Each state plays into Bay health equally and is interconnected even in times when we may feel greatly separated. Not only do we encounter this on the human level but equally in the natural world. We individually rely on the Bay, and the Bay relies on us. This intertwined fabric of life dives equally into all species big and small. We are all deeply interconnected in all ways. Here we set the stage for demands of biodiversity or what some call our ‘natural heritage’.
Biodiversity is a chic catchphrase that is being tossed around these days in the environmental world with much more than chic impacts. Both the needs for biodiversity as well as the pressure from a developing world are being weighed and measured in the natural system. We are now aware that the clear interconnectedness of species, including the human, is being negatively affected by the monocultural ideology we’ve developed in recent history. Unfortunately, my own discipline in Agriculture is one of the greatest contributors. It’s more economic to grow a single crop, eliminating all pests or difficult steps that get in the way and increasing mechanization for a faster more consistent product.
Bill Hubick painted the problem with this ideology and the biodiversity conundrum best this way, “It is like a game of Jenga. If you take too many things out of the system, it collapses.” Is it silly to think that if a butterfly or small flower in the Appalachians struggles it somehow impacts our sailing pleasures? But, it does.
Folk like Bill Hubuck and Jim Brighton, founders of the Maryland Biodiversity Project, not only are helping us understand how these pieces fit together but they are doing something about it. A refreshing refrain to say the least. In a culture where we see so many problems being addressed “down stream” for once we are seeing an up stream approach. It’s never our first choice to clean up our natural system after we have dumped in it when we can stop dumping in it to begin with. And, that’s what they are doing.
Through education, awareness and active jaunts in nature Bill, Jim and others are promoting the biodiversity in our region by setting out to catalogue every species in the state of Maryland. This includes everything from trees and birds to fish and aquatics. Dozens of participants log into their website and post pictures and sightings all over the state. They currently have over 233,000 records with over 42,000 photos. Through this they are creating an active culture of educated responsible neighbors who get out on the water and appreciate it for what it is, a diverse dynamic system of creepy crawlies.
As much as Bill and Jim focus on Maryland, every state has something similar in place. Delaware in 2013 had the Nature Conservancy give them a biodiversity assessment with program objective reaching into governmental policy. Virginia has a fledgling project with over a thousand species now logged. Through the Pennsylvania Natural Heritage Program the aquatic community is on center stage putting even a greater focus on our water health. These are all fun positive opportunities for each of us. We don’t have to give it individual fulltime attention to be amateur naturalists and still make an impact on the whole. It’s a 12-month outlet, so on days when we can’t sail, we can still spend time connecting to the natural world.
http://www.marylandbiodiversity.com
http://www.inaturalist.org/projects/virginia-biodiversity-project
