No this isn’t the iris of a deeply attentive cyclops, its the graphic illustration of the relationship between species as illustrated by the Muir Web project envisioned by Eric Sanderson, an ecologist that works with the wildlife society at the Bronx zoo. He became interested in creating an accurate representation of what New York looked like 400 years ago, right down to the beavers and bogs, and this tool helped him understand the relationships. His hard work produced “the Manhatta Project” which was exhibited at the Museum of the City of New York and is featured in this month’s National Geographic.
The article begins with a discussion of the mysterious arrival of Jose, remember him? He was the beaver outside the Bronx zoo that was named after congressman Jose Serrano who pushed through 15 million in federal funds to support the river’s cleanup. I wrote about his appearance last year when his positive effect on birdlife was noted in Audubon magazine.
The article goes on to describe the Manhatta Project in detail, of which the creation if the Muir Web tool was just one piece. The idea is to better understand our ecological heritage and know what Henry Hudson saw when he first looked at Manhattan. The project has sponsored a flurry of attention, and the teaching curriculum is available online here. It even references our good buddy Bob Arnebeck.
Computer Generated Image (top) by Markley Boyer, Photograph by Robert Clark
Of course you’ve already guessed my favorite part of this article. Take a look at author Peter Miller’s description of a certain familiar landscape engineer.
Consider a beaver that lived at Times Square in 1609. If you grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and lifted him out of the web, you’d find lines connecting him to a slowly meandering stream, to the aspen trees he ate, and to the mud and twigs he used to build a lodge. Not only that, you’d also find lines to the bobcats, bears, and wolves that depended on him as prey and to the frogs, fish, and aquatic plants that lived in the pond he helped to create. “The beaver, it turns out, is a landscape architect, just like people,” Sanderson said. “You need him to flood the forest, which kills the trees that attract the woodpeckers that knock out cavities that wood ducks use for shelter.” Lifting a beaver out of the web disrupts scores of other residents, which demonstrates how important it can be to think about an ecosystem as a network.
Well gosh that’s nice to read in National Geographic, but frankly the city of Martinez figured that out all by itself! Go find your own copy because there’s a beaver graphic in there that will blow your mind!
