Biology in the 90s focused on concepts of organisms and competition for environmental resources. A better paradigm to understand ecosystems is as a community of organisms. Sometimes though, organisms are so inter-dependent it almost seems archaic to still view them as separate. Take yourself, for example, you’re made up of individual cells. Are you a community of organisms or are you one organism?
To me, this scene illustrates this very concept: The trees, that weren’t coppiced, are so very obviously connected. More recent research has proven that trees can communicate with each other via root systems where a carbon isotope enabled researchers to see conversations and how nutrients were shared. In fact there is a grove in Utah of 47,000 genetically identical trees (Pando) that share one root system – it is a single organism – indeed, the world’s largest.
Look at the moss on the trees (commensalistic symbiosis) or the leaves that will decay and provide nutrients back in the soil. The woodland is a biological symphony of interdependent complex processes. Perhaps it is no wonder that those of us who so strongly value the natural world conclude this orchestra must be conducted by Gaia – in whatever cultural interpretation you call her.
When you realise the distinction between organisms are just convention – products or our current understanding or perspectives; inevitably you start to question the existence of boundaries between self and other. Am I and the tree truly separate? Humans depend on trees for oxygen and directly or indirectly for food. And trees, well they need humans for their care as custodians of this planet. We are on and the same. Only, people don’t always live up their end of the bargain.
I shot this photo at the Devil’s Punchbowl in Hindhead. The site is a beautiful testament of how we can preserve natural areas and yet accommodate human activity as the A3 road was tunnelled underground to reduce impact on wildlife.