West Marin Citizen 08-02-2012
Letter to the Editor
Estero ecology
EDITOR:
In his brief piece in favor of elimination
of the DrakesBay Oyster Farm, Russell
Ridge (Citizen, July 26, 2012) nicely
articulates the fundamental misunderstanding
of ecosystem dynamics underlying
his argument.
With all due respect for the linear,
closed system dynamics assumed and espoused
by Mr. Ridge (after all, most of us
who received our early ecological training
in the 60’s and 70’s were taught within
that framework), that view of ecosystem
dynamics is both outdated and, quite
frankly, wrong. Ridge evokes the Second
Law of Thermodynamics to support his
argument that plankton is a limited and
limiting resource within the Estero. But
modern ecosystem theory recognizes that
the Second Law simply does not apply to
open, dynamic systems, of which Drakes
Estero is an archetypical example. Indeed,
open to inputs from both sky and sea, the
Estero, rather than being limited by a
fixed quantity of energy and nutrients, has
essentially an unlimited potential for selforganized
complexity, including enormous
biomass production and
biodiversity potential.
That same misunderstanding of ecosystem
processes underlies the 19th Century
“human-free wilderness” conviction of
our moribund NPS administration and
other opponents of the oyster farm. Under
this archaic paradigm, any human involvement
with the imagined “wild” is
necessarily negative. It is impossible,
within that outmoded framework, to conceive
of ecosystem complexity and productivity
increasing under enlightened
management. Yet efforts now underway
to restore oysters to San FranciscoBay
offer a pertinent example of how shellfish,
as ecosystem engineers improve water
quality, add to structural diversity in the
estuarine system, and play a critical role
in enhancing ecosystem biodiversity, resilience,
and productivity.
A reasonably accessible introduction to
modern ecosystem theory is Fritjof
Capra’s, Web of Life. If Ridge et al. would
make the effort to understand the non-linearity
and self organizing complexity of
living, open systems like Drakes Estero –
and, indeed, the Earth herself – perhaps
we could begin to move beyond the dangerously
constrained limits of the current
debate toward the realization of a truly
dynamic, productive and sustainable future
for our community and our beleaguered
planet.
Jeff Creque
Petaluma
Drakes Bay Oyster Company & the National Park Service. Watch the video, "THE FRAMING OF AN OYSTER FARM" at http://vimeo.com/52331881 