If you have been a regular reader of my blog site, you may have noticed a recent subtle change. You now rarely see the words “Connections in Nature”. Increasingly, I use the the expression “Web of Life” to portray what this web site is all about. In truth, I have struggled to find a good way to describe the interconnectedness of Nature in my writing. For me the term “Connections in Nature” has always...

“Land, then, is not merely soil; it is a fountain of energy flowing through a circuit of soils, plants, and animals. … The circuit is not closed; some energy is dissipated in decay, some is added by absorption from the air, some is stored in soils, peats, and long-lived forests; but it is a sustained circuit, like a slowly augmented revolving fund of life. … When a change occurs in one part of the circuit, many other...

I wish to share with you the wisdom of three people who will inspire you and help you think about the impact of an interconnected Nature on your life and the lives of all other human beings. I have mentioned each of these people separately in other posts. But, their messages have much more power when presented as a whole.   Rachel Carson was an early pioneer in advancing the idea that everything in Nature is interconnected. In her...

Each summer, I take a break from a structured life and roam in Nature throughout the United States. I have a special fondness for visiting tall-grass prairies where vast expanses of grasslands speak to me in the soft voice of moving grasses, gentle winds, and the sounds of birds. It is here that I experience a profound solitude and a deep connection with Nature. The prairie is also where I experience what has been lost and what is being...

In a recent post , I emphasized the idea that Nature is dynamic and changing even when humans are not impacting the environment. But yet, we see humans see resilience where Nature’s changes appear to be pretty stable and predictable. The sun rises and sets every day. The four seasons of the year each have generally predictable climates. The forests, meadows, and lakes that we visit appear to be pretty much the same from year to year....

My two previous posts, Visualizing Connections In Nature and The Architecture of Biodiversity, described Nature as a highly interconnected network of life where the energy that is necessary to live is passed from one organism to the next. These networks, called food webs, imply an equilibrium that could be disturbed by change resulting from mankind’s uninformed interference.   While this picture is true, it is incomplete. The...