Flora and Fauna: Forgotten Friends

Allyn Neal
Anthropology Major - University of North Texas

Nature hidden in plain sight, Eureka Park is a popular outing for many people in and around Denton, TX. Although these people are taking the time to be outside, one has to ponder if they are really enjoying nature for what it is or enjoying the manmade playscape and running path. I frequent the running path, and there I sought an area with which I feel a strong connection to establish my mandala. My first day began on October 5th, 2013 around 11 am and I chose a mandala that lies over the hill adjacent to the finish line at the end of my runs, a place that I am in tune with where I continue to improve my physical and mental health. It was extremely important to select a location that was home to a wide variety of species, plant and animals alike. Nature, as a whole, is about the mixing and mingling of species and their relationships whether those are symbiotic, commensal, parasitic, competitive, predatory, etc. To further this focus, my mandala also includes the edge of a pond as a window into the relationship between species of the flight, land, and water. The land meets with the pond, where many people come to fish, in a gradual slope, and large reeds extending from beneath the surface stand proud with enough give for the wind to sway the tall, grasslike plant to and fro. My selection of the mandala was not random, every aspect of the prospective vicinity required a large variety of species, experiences, and visuals to create an analysis that truly encompassed what ethnobiology inspires.

 

October 6, 2013 -- 5pm: Little touches of humankind interwoven in nature are apparent all around this mandala; the groomed grass has the beginnings of unkempt charm due to rain showers the day before, and small white flowers, freshly bloomed, patiently wait to be joined by the surrounding buds prepared to blossom. Through extensive research through wildflower databases and on amateur flower photography, the conclusive species of the flowers appear to be Aphanostephus ramosissimus – plains dozedaisy. These little flowers sprinkle the growing grass in the America Southwest year round, and in Eureka Park the plains dozedaisies soak in the sun for as long as possible before the lawnmowers come to cut them down. After the first day, I never saw those little white flowers again during my other visits. The dozedaisies had barely begun to develop before their time was, literally, cut short and an inner struggle emerged within me. Nature is relished when it is convenient, I recall the itchy fifteen minutes as I sat in my mandala's scraggly grass and flowers. The second time I returned, the recently cut grass was smooth on my skin and my comfort level increased; the flowers were gone, but it is easy to dismiss the loss to value the new, soft ground. Very few people when asked will state that they dislike nature, but most people will attempt to eradicate a bug or rat infestation in their home; such “pests” are inconvenient. One then must argue if that truly is denying nature. Very similar to David George Haskell's assertion in The Forest Unseen, people cannot deny humanity's place in nature; our propensity for creating comfortable living situations can be traced back to our archaic ancestors. Humankind's survival depends on its cultural adaptation, we do not have claws, sharp teeth, fur, or tough skin; we use culture and tradition to complete these necessities. Cannot one argue that all of what humankind has developed was stemmed from our earliest ancestors and the beginning of cultural adaptation? Through our greed we seek to control and subdue nature, how much is left after the leveling, mowing, cutting, building, and maintaining? I mourn my white flowers and hope to meet again after the next big rain.

 

Similar to humans other parts of nature adapt, whether it be on the scale of evolution or of day to day events. The University of North Texas campus is heavily populated by squirrels, but these critters possess different day to day lives and habits than most scurrying, skittish squirrels. Hundreds of students across the campus feed the squirrels, which has created a population that comes in contact with humans frequently and have little fear―coming close for food. Eureka Park's population of creatures have similar experiences. The constant connection with humans at public parks has created a relationship between our species and the animals, which is expressed by the close distance and placid demeanor the animals portray around what used to be typical predators, humans. Although far less abundant than the North Texas squirrels, the ducks at Eureka Park are immensely friendly to the park visitors. I have been adopted by a flock of ducks and greeted in hopes of food whenever I return to the mandala. On October 9, 2013, the visit from the ducks was cut short at the beginning of my third trip to the mandala thanks to some friendly puppies. Public school had recently released, and Eureka Park was teeming with people, a large portion of the horde was families, children, and pets. The closest people to my location were there with a puppy, and although they attempted to remain a fair distance due to my obvious studious manner, the little pup wanted nothing more than to play with the ducks that swam a few yards from the edge. The ducks, of course, paddled away from the audacious puppy; there was nothing to gain or benefit from the dog, they knew the little guy did not have food. Urban ecological relationships date back thousands of years, it is believed humans' relationship with birds began in the Middle East perhaps ten thousand years ago and some species are “hypothesized to have become… obligate commensal species with humans because of year-round access to stored grain, and has also changed from a migratory to a sedentary lifestyle” (Niemelä 2011). Other animals often encountered by urban people, such as squirrels and sometimes deer, must have similar historical ecological mingling. Obtaining food and other necessities becomes much easier when it is provided readily by other species, whether through feeders, from yard plants, or even from domestic relationships. Relationships between humans and other species are beneficial; we co-inhabit urban and rural areas and share, on many occasions, symbiotic or commensal relationships.

 

The large positive impact other species have on humans is often unrecognized, even in parks. Aforementioned, upkeep of the park is managed to support its appeal at a healthy, populated basis, but nature also conducts maintenance within its own biota. Every visit, including October 12 and 13—my final days to my mandala, was filled with dragonfly-like creatures that zoomed about, completely disregarding my presence. Further investigation pointed me towards damselflies, more specifically the familiar bluet – Enallagma civile. These fascinating creatures are electric blue and look convincingly like dragonflies. Unlike dragonflies, whose eyes meet at the top of their head, damselflies are much smaller, their eyes are separated, and their wings are held together on their back when they land. Although slightly unknown, damselflies prove extremely beneficial to most people's sentiments towards certain bugs. Their diet is largely gnats and mosquitos, something most people would be grateful for if they were knowledgeable of the impact damselflies make on our comfortable lives. The mandala contained a swarm of hundreds of damselflies and one can only appreciate the park maintenance these creatures provide for our comfort by controlling mosquitos and gnats. It's obvious that this is a small example within thousands of beneficial services creatures, small and large offer, which coincidentally provide a more desired living situation for humans. Efforts towards sustainability and preservation of creatures should be infused into the social systems of humankind. Turner and Berkes (2006) assert an emphasis on cultural and social practices defining the importance of conservation in humanity, instead of the widely believed notion that conservation stems from a reaction against “catastrophic consequences.” The depth of conservation versus the depletion of resources can also be traced back to belief systems and “establishing a competency over a period of time.” Potential of traditional ecological knowledge regarding resource management and conservation is important to recognize and incorporate into Western society. Looking at the world from a holistic approach would create an opportunity to witness the importance of these factors. Flora and fauna contribute many positive functions for that are not being properly sustained for the benefit of both humans and other species in large areas of the world. Ecological understanding, as explained by Turner and Berkes, offers theories and notions that would spread “attributes embodied within traditional ecological knowledge” for the betterment of sustainability and conservation. These ideas run parallel with Haskell's approach in The Forest Unseen, Haskell seeks to create a relationship between nature and humankind rather than to reinforce our habit of living outside of and extracting from nature. Spreading these ideas into the households of Western societies would encourage everyday people to consider these goals, which are relevant within their daily lives.

 

The natural world is a well-functioning, self-sufficient system that adapts and develops to preserve itself, while humankind pushes the boundaries and tests the earth's own sustainability. Many argue humans' greed is pushing too hard and that sooner rather than later the damage will prove irreversible. The focus of conservation and sustainability should be on incorporating traditional societies' resource management and share the progress with other species in a symbiotically beneficial process. Embodying these practices and goals has the potential to kick start a new order and allow species to flourish in their ecosystem, supporting the natural benefits flora and fauna provide. The damselflies in the mandala offer an important example in which our species can appreciate their biological function of eating undesirable insects. On the other hand, a damselfly sneaking its way into a home of a person, for shelter, food, etc., would probably end up killed by the homeowner; nature is well-liked until it closes its distance to us. Animals are adapting to our modification of the world, for instance the ducks and squirrels utilizing urban areas; it is important for humans to consider adapting to the other species' needs as well. It would behoove members of western societies to take a step back and examine the potential of traditional societal practices and to accept other species as cohabitants on this planet rather than resources or disturbances.

 

References:
"Aphanostephus Ramosissimus DC." USDA PLANTS. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Oct. 2013.

Drees, Bastiaan M., and John A. Jt. Jackman. "Damselfly." A Field Guide to Texas Insects. Houston, TX: Gulf, 1998. N. pag. Web. 11 Oct. 2013. https://insects.tamu.edu.

Haskell, David George. The Forest Unseen: A Year's Watch in Nature. New York: Viking, 2012. 158-59. Print.

Niemelä, Jari. "Coupled Relationships between Humans and Other Organisms in Urban Areas." Urban Ecology: Patterns, Processes, and Applications. Oxford [England: Oxford UP, 2011. N. pag. Books.google.com. 3 Feb. 2011. Web. 11 Oct. 2013.

Turner, Nancy J., and Fikret Berkes. "Coming to Understanding: Developing Conservation through Incremental Learning in the Pacific Northwest." Human Ecology 34.4 (2006):495-513. Web. 11 Oct. 2013.

18X My Length: The Easement by My House

Lydia Agenbag
Art History Major - University of North Texas

Day 1

I have placed my Mandala in a house-sized patch of grass, called an easement, between my two neighbors’ houses across from my home. It doesn’t receive regular maintenance so it is mainly covered with weeds and wildflowers. Although it has rained recently, the ground is still pretty dry and the grass isn’t very green, more brown and crispy. I’m actually not sure if there is anything but weeds here. I’m not seeing much insect activity, even though it’s about 6:46 in the evening when I presume that many insects start to become active. This neighborhood is newly built within the last two three years. Before, it was mostly grassland used for cattle grazing. Now it’s a busy thriving neighborhood. Currently on my street, alongside the easement are a couple of young girls riding their motorized toy car, and another young girl following them on her scooter. Their parents are congregating in their driveway a couple of houses down, most likely wondering what I am doing. It seems to me that there is more activity in my neighborhood than in my mandala.

 

Day 2

I just saw a grasshopper tonight. I wasn’t able to see much detail, but it did have black stripes on its hind legs, and it blended well within the weeds and dead grass with its tan and brown coloring. He is jumping in and out of my mandala, and I keep hoping he won’t jump onto me. It is pretty impressive how far and high he can jump. The hopper went from the center of the mandala to about ten inches out from the ridge. I estimate its jump was a foot and a half long, which is remarkable considering its body is about two inches long and a half inch wide. Other than the new intruder, I don’t see any notable difference in my mandala. It will likely rain tomorrow, so I am expecting to encounter more insects other than the grasshopper and mosquitoes. What is nice about coming out in the dark, like I am tonight, is the lack of direct human interaction; just the hums of air conditioners and the random annoying barks of dogs. What is inconvenient is the attraction of mosquitoes to my flashlight. I am very curious to why insects are attracted to light, especially moths and mosquitoes. As I shine my light on my paper while I write, mosquitoes are constantly pestering me. 

Day 3

Today it rained a bit. I was hoping it would have caused some drastic change within my mandala. Maybe it would make the ground moist, exposing more insect life. Unfortunately the ground is still dry, and hard, which I can especially perceive since I decided to sit on the ground today to look closer into my mandala. I did notice that some of the leaves of one of the weeds have been munched on slightly. I wonder if each piece of grass or leaf has a distinct taste to an insect. Do insects even have taste buds? What if a caterpillar had a craving for a leaf of an oak tree instead of a mesquite tree or elm tree? Do they select their homes on types of trees that taste the best? I’ve also heard theories that mosquitoes have preference for healthy skinnier people, because unhealthy and overweight people have less appealing and bad tasting blood. I wonder if you can actually test the preferences of insect tastes for certain things. I haven’t mentioned yet that I am using a bright pink hula- hoop to delineate my mandala. I hope that the color of my hula-hoop doesn’t deter living things away, and that no one steals it. It didn’t seem to bother the grasshopper much yesterday, but that was the only insect I’ve really seen. Another thing I am curious about if bugs can see color. We know from studies that dogs are color blind, but are insects too? 

Day 4

Again I am visiting the mandala late at night. Surprisingly enough, tonight there are some people out and about, especially since it is a Sunday. The weeds do seem to be a bit greener than the last few days because of the rain we are having. I have tried to identify some of the weeds, some I already automatically know from maintaining our yard, like crabgrass. Now after doing some research on the different types of weeds, I see my mandala in a new light. I actually see all the different types of weeds within the small space of the circle. I’ve counted maybe five or six different kinds all fighting for this area. I find it funny that these different weeds can survive together but other grasses cannot compete alongside them. Why can some grasses (weeds) thrive but not others? I kind of feel bad for weeds; they receive such a negative response because they are unattractive. Most people will go out of their way to kill weeds, even using harmful chemicals, just to make their lawn aesthetically pleasing. In fact such chemicals harmed my dog when it was younger. When he was younger he had a tendency to chew things, mostly anything he saw. About the time we got the dog, my parents had planted some rose bushes in the backyard of our home. They had covered the bottom of the rose bushes with woodchips that were treated in pesticides and weed-killing chemicals. When we as a family were gone, our dog had chewed and may have swallowed some of those treated woodchips. When we came back we found him deathly sick with blood in his feces. My parents had to rush him to the hospital for emergency care, which cost them a lot of money. Every since then my dog has had a very sensitive stomach and we have had to take him a couple of times to the vet to treat his stomach. All this time and money my parents spent on our dog could have been prevented if they had taken the time to check the ingredients the mulch or have not even used it. The most interesting thing is the root of the problem was caused by the need to make a yard aesthetically pleasing. Perhaps sometimes letting nature be can really be beneficial and perhaps more appeasing than if it was manipulated. 

Day 5

I have learned a number of things recently about the grasshopper I encountered, due to much research. I’ve learned that there are many grasshopper species, more than I ever expected. Most seem to be a major pest in many areas causing a lot of destruction to plants wherever they go. I have been able to narrow the species of the grasshopper in the mandala down to one of two kinds. It could be a Carolina grasshopper, Dissosteira carolina, or a migratory grasshopper, Melanoplus sanguinipes. The generation of a grasshopper tends to be one a year, living as eggs during the winter. They spend most of spring and early summer in six stages of molting; finally develop into adults by mid to late summer, and finishing out their lives after 40 to 60 more days. It makes sense why I haven’t seen many grasshoppers within my mandala and outside of it. The one I did see must have been a late bloomer, or may have been lucky and had a longer lifespan than others. I have also learned that they are a menace to farms, eating away at crops such as corn, soybeans, and rice. Also different types of grasses are a major target as well, thus explaining why grass is so lacking in my mandala. Ways to reduce grasshopper populations is by using them as fishing bait or as food for animals such as frogs and lizards.

Until I read Nancy Turner and Fikret Berkes article “Coming to Understand: Developing Conservation through Incremental learning in the Pacific Northwest”, I didn’t realize how important my observations and connections to the living things in my mandala were. Within their article Turner and Berkes emphasize how these relationship can affect how we treat ecology, “Perceived kinship with other life forms, even trees and other plants, lead to a different way of treating those beings”(7). I completely agree with this, because before I started this project I didn’t really give much thought to things such as weeds, or grasshoppers. Now as I’m interacting with these things and really turn my attention on them I will definitely react to them in a different way than I have done before. I notice even today when I found a grasshopper at work, I wasn’t frightened by it nor did I try to kill it, but instead I tried to see its distinctive markings and identify its species. Now I am not sure if it will really matter if I can identify different types of grasshoppers, but I do know that my being more self aware of nature surrounding me will be beneficial.  

One of the key ideas that I can relate to in Turner and Berkes article is the definition of “ecological understanding”. “Incremental learning of individuals and groups and elaboration of environmental knowledge as a result of detailed observation and experience of variations in nature and leading to a sophisticated understanding of the ecosystem in which they dwell”(3). Through reading of David Haskell book “The Forest Unseen: A years watch in Nature” I have gained a more “sophisticated understanding” as Turner and Barker describe it, especially for ticks. Before, I had a huge aversion to ticks, especially due to a close family friend being seriously ill from a tick bite, but as I read Haskell’s quick lesson and grail comparison, I gained a new respect for the tick. Haskell helps the reader understand the tick’s “quest behavior” of seeking blood, by comparing it to the Knights of the round table “giving the animals a measure of Arthurian nobility, tempering our disgust at their bloodsucking habits”(118). The reason why it is beneficial to understand a tick’s habits is because it helps prevent tick bites and the spread of diseases they carry. Haskell continues throughout his book to teach his readers a better understanding of the natural world he encounters in his own mandala, showing that just taking a few minutes to look and observe helps change one’s worldly perspective.

At first the idea of having to sit five different times for fifteen minutes staring at a piece of grass seemed like a daunting, boring task. Even the first day of my observation really felt like a hassle. By the second day of my observation, I began to open my mind and truly give all my effort into this project and I am grateful that I did. I mainly found myself comparing insects and plants to humanistic characteristics to try and understand them, which is how I gain the respect I did for them. As I watched that grasshopper jump 18x longer than his body length, I tried to imagine myself jumping 18x my body length, which would be equivalent to a football field. The idea of me being able to jump across an entire football field is incredible and completely impossible. Overall this project was a great learning experience for me, widening my outside idea of life and teaching me to be more observant and understanding than I was before.

References

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

 

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