Group discusses ecological interdependence
With his long white hair and broad mustache, it’s not hard to guess where “Buffalo Bruce” McIntosh got his nickname.
Unlike his namesake, he didn’t bring a Wild West show, instead a lesson in the importance of ecological interdependence.
“It doesn’t take much to stop natural processes,” said McIntosh, an ecologist based in the Sandhills, near Chadron. “Every living being is both prey and predator. Man’s intrusion into natural environments upsets the system’s equilibrium.”
About 20 people gathered at Lincoln’s Unitarian Church on Sunday morning for a forum led by McIntosh, and most attendees were church members. The topic – “The Continuing Saga of Prairie Dogs v. Nuclear Power in Nebraska,” sounded fit for a room full of Ph.D.’s.
Instead, McIntosh kept his message simple: preserve and protect native Nebraska.
He highlighted two Nebraska case studies to illustrate the interconnectivity of the environment and the importance of protecting natural cycles: the aspen and the prairie dog.
“An aspen stand is all one being, it’s all connected, shares the same root system,” McIntosh said.
Quaking aspen “stands,” a large grouping of trees, nurture more flora and fauna collectively than any other ecosystem in the state, he said. These stands can only exist near water. Three of these systems are in the Sandhills, one in the Pine Ridge forest between the Niobrara and White rivers in northwest Nebraska.
The trees depend on naturally occurring forest fires for regeneration. McIntosh said that too much fire suppression has caused aspen stands to die out.
“Because of fire suppression, we have heat intensive fires,” he said, referring to the Pine Ridge forest fire that threatened Chadron in 2006.
These fires burn so hot that the process of natural regeneration below ground is burned up, rather than kick started, as a natural forest fire would do.
“The aspens do not regenerate like they would in a normally occurring forest fire,” he said. “You can’t reproduce nature.”
It isn’t just the plants that suffer when natural environments are upset by human intervention, McIntosh said. While some people consider prairie dogs a menace, particularly to farms and ranches, he said these animals are part of the environmental puzzle and cannot be removed without altering the whole system.
“Prairie dog towns are like 100-acre amoebas. When they stagnate, degradation occurs. Prairie dogs rototill 300 or 400 acres.”
McIntosh said they aerate land, keeping it from getting too compact from animals like bison.
“When rain comes down, it goes through the aerated land to recharge the aquifer, in a naturally occurring process. People complain about drought, but still poison these creatures.”
Like any organism, McIntosh said, the prairie dog is both prey and predator.
“Eliminate prairie dogs, and you eliminate predators that depend on them for food, like burrowing owls or ferruginous hawks.”
McIntosh periodically takes groups of volunteers into the woods to put his teachings into practice on camping and preservation outings.
James Howe, of Goehner, has worked with McIntosh before to preserve natural environments. On a recent trip, Howe and others cut cedar trees to encourage aspen growth.
“It seems like an anomaly to cut down trees to preserve them,” Howe said. “The fires used to control the cedars naturally, but now they don’t.”
Fire suppression is to blame, McIntosh said. Too many cedars blocks out other species.
Steve Larrick, a church member and Green Party Senate candidate, attended McIntosh’s presentation as well. He said McIntosh’s message was an integral part of the Green Party platform and reflect his priorities as a potential lawmaker.
“There is a growing awareness of these issues,” Larrick said. “People realize global warming is real and has real consequences for Nebraska. It’s beneficial for the community to start on the right path with infrastructure that supports a healthy environment, rather than retrofit later.”
McIntosh said education is the key to preservation, especially in teaching the importance of population control to prevent further human encroachment on natural habitats.
“Conservation can’t save us; education will.”
Reach Lisa Munger at lmunger@journalstar.com.
Unlike his namesake, he didn’t bring a Wild West show, instead a lesson in the importance of ecological interdependence.
“It doesn’t take much to stop natural processes,” said McIntosh, an ecologist based in the Sandhills, near Chadron. “Every living being is both prey and predator. Man’s intrusion into natural environments upsets the system’s equilibrium.”
About 20 people gathered at Lincoln’s Unitarian Church on Sunday morning for a forum led by McIntosh, and most attendees were church members. The topic – “The Continuing Saga of Prairie Dogs v. Nuclear Power in Nebraska,” sounded fit for a room full of Ph.D.’s.
Instead, McIntosh kept his message simple: preserve and protect native Nebraska.
He highlighted two Nebraska case studies to illustrate the interconnectivity of the environment and the importance of protecting natural cycles: the aspen and the prairie dog.
“An aspen stand is all one being, it’s all connected, shares the same root system,” McIntosh said.
Quaking aspen “stands,” a large grouping of trees, nurture more flora and fauna collectively than any other ecosystem in the state, he said. These stands can only exist near water. Three of these systems are in the Sandhills, one in the Pine Ridge forest between the Niobrara and White rivers in northwest Nebraska.
The trees depend on naturally occurring forest fires for regeneration. McIntosh said that too much fire suppression has caused aspen stands to die out.
“Because of fire suppression, we have heat intensive fires,” he said, referring to the Pine Ridge forest fire that threatened Chadron in 2006.
These fires burn so hot that the process of natural regeneration below ground is burned up, rather than kick started, as a natural forest fire would do.
“The aspens do not regenerate like they would in a normally occurring forest fire,” he said. “You can’t reproduce nature.”
It isn’t just the plants that suffer when natural environments are upset by human intervention, McIntosh said. While some people consider prairie dogs a menace, particularly to farms and ranches, he said these animals are part of the environmental puzzle and cannot be removed without altering the whole system.
“Prairie dog towns are like 100-acre amoebas. When they stagnate, degradation occurs. Prairie dogs rototill 300 or 400 acres.”
McIntosh said they aerate land, keeping it from getting too compact from animals like bison.
“When rain comes down, it goes through the aerated land to recharge the aquifer, in a naturally occurring process. People complain about drought, but still poison these creatures.”
Like any organism, McIntosh said, the prairie dog is both prey and predator.
“Eliminate prairie dogs, and you eliminate predators that depend on them for food, like burrowing owls or ferruginous hawks.”
McIntosh periodically takes groups of volunteers into the woods to put his teachings into practice on camping and preservation outings.
James Howe, of Goehner, has worked with McIntosh before to preserve natural environments. On a recent trip, Howe and others cut cedar trees to encourage aspen growth.
“It seems like an anomaly to cut down trees to preserve them,” Howe said. “The fires used to control the cedars naturally, but now they don’t.”
Fire suppression is to blame, McIntosh said. Too many cedars blocks out other species.
Steve Larrick, a church member and Green Party Senate candidate, attended McIntosh’s presentation as well. He said McIntosh’s message was an integral part of the Green Party platform and reflect his priorities as a potential lawmaker.
“There is a growing awareness of these issues,” Larrick said. “People realize global warming is real and has real consequences for Nebraska. It’s beneficial for the community to start on the right path with infrastructure that supports a healthy environment, rather than retrofit later.”
McIntosh said education is the key to preservation, especially in teaching the importance of population control to prevent further human encroachment on natural habitats.
“Conservation can’t save us; education will.”
Reach Lisa Munger at lmunger@journalstar.com.
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