The Benefits of Backyard Exploration

Katrina Williams

Anthropology Major - University of North Texas

David Haskell, in The Forest Unseen, explains that a mandala is a lens through which ecological stories are revealed. Haskell describes his mandala as a “small contemplative window of leaves, rocks, and water” where the truth of the forest may be revealed (pg.12). My mandala occupies a small area in my mom’s backyard, which encompasses clusters of leafy plants, a large woody shrub, three towering mature trees, two large bird baths, and a large pile of firewood. Soft, loamy soil at the base of one of the trees is covered by leaf litter and wood chips. I had a very good view of my neighbor’s yard to the right of my house, and with a little climbing I could see the yards of my neighbors to the left and behind me. While my own mandala is not as grand as Haskell’s and has less historical significance, it is important to the animals, plants, and people that use it. The bit of green space is perhaps not as botanically diverse as Haskell’s section of Tennessee forest, nor does it have many of the animal species he describes, but it is a reflection, in miniature, of the ecosystem that I live in. In this post I describe my experiences with and observations of the mandala, some of the human-nature interactions that occurred, and ways in which my own and Haskell’s mandala observations, within the framework of ecological understanding, are beneficial. 
 

On my first visit to my mandala I tried to familiarize myself with my surroundings. I took pictures of ant hills, rocks, tree trunks, tree limbs, leaves and berries and everything else. A few things became apparent after that first visit: 1) I could not identify any of the plants I was seeing, 2) the weather was ideal for mosquitos, gnats and midges, and 3) it is difficult to make detailed observations when there are dogs demanding attention. While kneeling down to look at the base of a tree both of my dogs would rush over, upsetting the dirt, stepping on ants, beetles, and snail shells, and generally making nuisances of themselves. My intention on my first visit was to take pictures of the many different types of leafy plants, note any evidence of insects on leaves and on the ground, and write about any animals seen and their behaviors. My first visit occurred around 6:30 pm, just before sunset. A cloud of gnats swarmed around my porch light and I had to wave off a few persistent mosquitos. Of interest were a number of snail shells that lay in almost pristine condition at the edge of the mandala and right underneath a dense web of tree limbs. I also noted a few fallen leaves that appeared to have abnormal growths on them that I initially thought might be a peculiar looking fungus or even evidence of disease. 

 

On my second visit, and armed with a little more knowledge than before, I recognized the strange growths for what they were: galls. Galls are defined on the University of Minnesota’s website as “abnormal plant growths caused by various organisms (insects, mites, nematodes, fungi, bacteria, and viruses).” These particular galls were identified as nipple galls, which are often caused by psyllids and are found on the surface of leaves. I also noticed a brown papery ball very close to these leaves and almost completely obscured by the leaf litter. Warily, I approached it and took a picture. I noticed a rather large opening and, after finding a small twig, decided to tip it to get a look inside. Inside was a dried mass of what looked like hair or spider webs. This too was a type of gall, an oak apple gall caused by wasps as they feed and lay their eggs. Having seen a few wasps on more than one occasion on previous visits this was not surprising. The snail shells I had observed before were still there and none of them had been cracked or smashed, which is what I would expect if birds had gotten hold of them. 

 

My third and fourth visits were very similar in that they both occurred on a slightly chilly, cloudy day. The trees, though it is fall, were still green and full, even though the ground was covered with brown leaves. There were fewer mosquitos and gnats to bother me and I noticed that I was not the only one happy about this. Though my yard is surrounded by trees and bushes that obscure my view of my neighbor’s yards, it also lies on a gentle incline which means the closer I go to my backdoor the more visible the back and sides of my house become. My neighbor to the right of me, an older man in his early 70s was doing work in his garage on my third visit and my mom came out of the house to appreciate the cool weather and smoke. People walked their dogs up and down the street on my fourth visit to the mandala and I can hear owners clicking their tongues and whistling to call their dogs. From my position just outside of my mandala and close to my backdoor, there was a small bench where I usually sat during my visits. From this vantage I could see well-attended lawns, buckets, workbenches, and various miscellaneous items that indicated outside activity. In my neighbor’s yard to the right I saw that he had cut down a tree recently and was, on my fourth visit to my mandala, sawing off thick branches and sorting them into piles to use as kindling. I noticed on my final visit that my neighbor had added still more wood to his wood pile in preparation for winter. On my fourth visit to the mandala I heard my neighbor to the back of me talking loudly with a few friends while his dog, a large husky, barked and ran animatedly from tree to tree, chasing squirrels and birds no doubt. My mom came out every now and again to observe me observing and to call out helpful hints for finding what she called bugs and weeds. My mom told me how she once saw a rabbit near her shrub roses and how, back in August, hummingbirds and woodpeckers would fly around the largest tree in the yard, the center of my mandala. Perhaps it was the weather, but all I saw during my visits (the fifth and last visit) was one dragonfly zooming back and forth along the upper branches. Maybe this winter I will note more drastic changes, as mild fall weather becomes colder and more severe. 

Nancy Turner and Fikret Berkes state in their article “Coming to Understanding: Developing Conservation through Incremental Learning in the Pacific Northwest” that ecological understanding is a term used to refer to a set of attributes “embodied within traditional ecological knowledge systems” that include 1) the process of learning about an environment by individuals and groups through experience and observation which leads to a deep and detailed understanding of an ecosystem; 2) the development of a belief system that supports resource conservation strategies; 3) the creation of ways to communicate and transmit knowledge associated with the environment and the belief systems and ideologies that are associated with it; 4) regulation and rules that govern how individuals within a society manage their environment and resources (Turner and Berkes, pg. 497). The significance of all of these attributes of traditional knowledge systems is that all societies, and the individuals within them, can adopt them and use them, not only to conserve resources, but to gain a deeper understanding of their own role in the ecosystem in which they live.

Haskell’s mandala observations share many of the attributes of traditional ecological knowledge systems. In order to gain ecological understanding Haskell learns about his environment through observation and experience, explains how different people have developed belief systems that support resource conservation, communicates through his writings “practical aspects of incremental learning and adaptive response” (Turner and Berke, pg. 497). Together all of these things have the potential to inform the development of institutions and of laws that govern how people use their environment and resources. Haskell’s observations are more than the ramblings of a bored biologist, he strives to connect the world we live in with our technology and media preoccupations with the “natural” world that exists outside of our neighborhoods and cities. Haskell reminds people that this perceived dichotomy between humans and nature is a false one that leads to misunderstandings and misconceptions about the roles we play in the larger ecosystem. 

People that read Haskell’s book will have gained a measure of ecological understanding simply from reading about the different plants and animals that he describes. This is part of the process of learning about an environment. After reading The Forest Unseen it is very likely that someone might develop an interest in their own backyard, park, or some other green space or perhaps only an interest in learning about a specific plant or animal that might live nearby. This is beneficial for a number of reasons. One reason is that learning about the plants and animals that you live with can change the way you see them. I know that when I first ventured out into my backyard that I was impressed by how many plants I saw, but I never really stopped to look at them or note any differences among them. Observing plants, taking pictures of them, learning to identify them and sharing that knowledge, while common features in TEK systems, are not common in our own. Before this project I felt that information on plants was specialized knowledge that only gardeners, botanists and the like had or needed. And so another reason that Haskell’s observations are so important is because they (his observations) move this knowledge into the public realm where it can be used and useful to everyone. 

The interrelationships of animals, plants, and people are often overlooked and understated in our technology-and popular-culture-dominated world, but in reality humans are always acting within an ecosystem, whether they are aware of it or not, and it can only be advantageous to be aware of these interactions, especially within the context of conservation where knowledge can lead to the expansion and preservation of endangered biota and increased biodiversity. Knowing what animal and plant species you live with can lead to the application of that knowledge through conservation or it can even lead to the reduction of invasive and destructive species. Understanding the interrelationships between plants, insects and other animals, and the environment, along with a myriad of other actors, including pesticides, herbicides, and the small, seemingly inconsequential actions of people, have effects that radiate outward like ripples in a pond. This is vital for the long-term sustainability of our planet, and by extension, our species and culture.

 

References

Haskell, D. G. 2012. The Forest Unseen. Penguin Books, New York.

"Insect and Mite Galls." Insects. Regents of the University of Minnesota, n.d. Web. 10 Oct. 2013. <http://www1.extension.umn.edu/garden/insects/find/insect-and-mite-galls/#leaf>.

Turner, N. J. & F. Berkes . 2006. Coming to Understanding: Developing Conservation through Incremental Learning in the Pacific Northwest. Human Ecology 34:495-513.