R3 Ecology’s New Paradigm What Does it Offer Designers and Planners?

Pond Ecosystem - Google Images

by H. Ronald Pulliam and Bart R. Johnson

Pulliam and Johnson share a number of beliefs throughout this excerpt, comparing and contrasting the beliefs of today to those of the past. For example, it was once thought that an ideal ecosystem was one undisturbed, that all ecosystems would strive for harmony and succeed in maintaining that state, nowadays they focus on how intermediate levels of disturbance are vital for ecosystems because it encourages growth and change on all sides, a “patch update” or “meta rework” of sorts.

The shift in thinking the authors allude to wildly impacts how we view the design world, no longer can we assume that the nature we hack away will strive to come to harmony with the abomination of metal and rock we’ve chosen to erect in their absence. But we’re human, and as such our nature is to develop. In the past development required the domination and removal of nature, going forward it is imperative that we integrate nature, both flora and fauna, into our design. Pulliam and Johnson call this out through promoting the use of fragmented nature (ex. Parks and federally protected land) as well as corridors to allow nature to not be uprooted by our design but rather share their regions with us. Within my design I’m guilty of the former, doing my best to bend the site to my will in regards to cultural context, sustainability, or whatever lofty ambition that project may hold. Going forward, planning the integration of nature, a symbiotic relationship rather than that of making a fortress to guard against the pests (invertebrates) and varmints (mammals).

Questions:

Can individual project development be considered “intermediate level disturbance”?

Can you think of a keystone species for your hometown/region?

What are some “unpredictable events” that you’ve personally experienced?

Are those caused by nature or a result of human interaction?

Is your region a sink or a source habitat?