The inspiring documentary film, E.O. Wilson—Of Ants and Men, showcases biologist Edward Osborne Wilson’s passion for preserving the biodiversity of our natural world. E.O. Wilson not only values the fascinating creatures (particularly ants) that he comes across during his research and in his daily life, but he also takes action and participates in the Gorongosa Restoration Project at Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique, Africa. The destruction of Gorongosa demonstrates the call for us—Homo sapiens—to realize how critical it is to concern ourselves with protecting the very ecosystems that have molded us into the complex species that we are; according to E.O. Wilson, “We adapted over millions of years to wild environments…We really need them” (CITE?). The better effort we make to understand that we are a part of this large, interdependent ecological community, the better equipped we become in not only being …show more content…
Leopold would most likely approve of the work being done to preserve Gorongosa National Park and would agree with Wilson in that nature is our home and we should treat it as such, but Leopold, unlike Wilson, argues that it is our moral obligation, and not just our pleasure, to respect nature. Additionally, Wilson seems to focus specifically on the plants and animals that make up an ecosystem, but Leopold extends his focus to non-living components such as soil and water because they are instrumental in maintaining the integrity of land communities. Leopold might urge Wilson to make sure that he is not simply educating people at Gorongosa, but really help them genuinely understand land ethics. This way, humans can evolve a sense of praise and approval for preserving the integrity and beauty of the biotic community (262), and social disapproval for doing the exact
In the movie Antz, power, conformity, and social inequality played a big role on its plot, characterization and theme. The movie had representations from the collectivism point of view, the political principle of centralized social and economic control and individualism.
Although Leopold’s love of great expanses of wilderness is readily apparent, his book does not cry out in defense of particular tracts of land about to go under the axe or plow, but rather deals with the minutiae, the details, of often unnoticed plants and animals, all the little things that, in our ignorance, we have left out of our managed acreages but which must be present to add up to balanced ecosystems and a sense of quality and wholeness in the landscape.
In my generation, I am able to catch what is relatively the tail end of this slow extinction. And to be quite honest, I had not devoted a moment of thought to this phenomenon until I read Leopold’s passages. In fact, I am always the first one to compliment a new highway project that saves me five minutes of driving or even a tidy farmstead as I pass. Now, more than ever, my thoughts are in limbo. It was just last week when my dad pointed out an area off the highway that displayed miles of slowly rolling cornfields. His reaction was to the beauty of the countryside. Mine was to question his. I found myself thinking about all of the hard work that created that beauty, and then how much more beautiful it was fifty, a hundred, or even two centuries ago. Only the mind’s eye can create this beauty now, and that is exactly why Leopold’s concerns are validated.
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J. Baird Callicott is probably most famously known as an advocate for Aldo Leopold's The Land Ethic (1949.) The Land Ethic is an environmental ethic which Callicot strongly posits is a holistic and non-anthropocentric ethical theory. In other words, The Land Ethic should, if Callicotts position is correct, be an ethical theory that places collectives, as opposed to just individual living things, as having intrinsic value. It should also be an ethical theory that does not focus on, or allow, Homo sapiens to be considered the only “things” as having moral significance. The Land Ethic, originally sketched out by Leopold is a very concise, yet intricate, piece of literature and Callicott has written many pieces of literature which attempt to explain, unfold, apply and defend Leopold's Land Ethic. The purpose of this essay is to, as clearly and precisely as possible, provide an explanation as to what The Land Ethic consists of, with both references to Leopold and several of Callicot's literatures. Following this an identification of any problems that can be extracted from the theory will then be juxtaposed with Callicott's attempt to defend The Land Ethic and remedy these issues. Finally, after the presentation and analysis of The Land Ethic a decision will be made as to whether The Land Ethic is, what Callicott claims, truly an adequate non-anthropocentric environmental ethic.
In order words, Nature is beautiful in the more simple way, but at the same time if nature starts to recognize danger or the feeling of dying, she will defend herself. Humanity need the use of ethics and humility at the same time in order to have a good ecological environment. During “Thinking Like A Mountain” Leopold describes the intricate of a mountain’s biomes and the consequences of disturbing their ecological balances, describe specifically with a wolf and a deer. Leopold use the wolf and the deer as an example of how human treats nature. Referring to the wolf way of think, “he has not learned to think like a mountain” like humanity has not learned to think in the way that Mother Nature want us to think (140). Leopold describes how “a land, ethic, reflects the existence of an ecological conscience, and… Reflects a conviction of individual responsibility for the health of the land” giving an exact example by having a group A and a group B (258). Group A describes what one needs when on the other hand, group B “worries about a whole series of biotic side-issues” (259). By having this two groups being described, humanity today is like the group A, when one really need to change their way of mind and start to be like the group B. Society needs to use the ethics with humility in order to conserve the health of the natural
In terms of numerical abundance, size and species richness, ants are a prominent group in many terrestrial ecosystems. Ants also occupy higher tropic levels and often used specialized niches; suggest that they may be good bio-indicator of various environmental parameters (Majer, 1983).
I think that in this chapter Leopold is showing the reader how the different people see the land and the things in and around that land. He also tells us that even the conservation commission feels impelled to kill animals and birds to help the production of a lesser species.
I believe that nature and its natural resources are here for us to use, but the management of these resources should very careful and make sure that will have these resources forever. I also believe that people are not a separate part of the community. Leopold ideas sound better to me for example, we are part of the community, global issues (from his observation over the years), etc.
Leopold’s view is a glorified dream at best. While most people do acknowledge the need for some type of ecological consciousness, the one illustrated by Leopold is far from probable. Today’s society is overrun with the desire for speed and convenience, and driven by competition. Asking the busy world to stop, step backward, and work the concerns for such things as soil, rocks, or oak trees into its contracts and agreements is a foolish notion. It has come to be that to most individuals, the sight of a city skyline that is bustling with business and life is just as pristine as the sight of a natural forest.
In his book ‘Small is Beautiful’, E.F. Schumacher contemplated the theory that during our battle with nature, alleged success for humans may in fact have unforeseen consequences, due to the complex relationship that humans and ecosystems possess. In 2005 the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA) published a set of prominent reports, which indicated just how reliant humans are on natural ecosystems. They also demonstrated how we are destroying the planet’s biodiversity, along with the ecosystems upon which we depend.
The situation the Amazon rainforest is in exhibits the wise statement of the Mr. Lovelock. If the Amazon keeps being cut down, it will do more bad than good for humans. We shall lose countless ingredients for helping treat impending diseases like cancer and AIDS. We shall also be losing the many rare and exotic plants and animals as well as the lush green trees who provide many of the natural gases in our atmosphere. To keep harming the rainforest will be to harm the plants and animals, hurt the innocent native people, and destroy the enviroment. No person in their right mind would want these consequences. But unfortunately, this is the doom for humans if we don’t stop the desecration of not only this rainforest, but countless other natural sites of the Earth.
Hölldobler graduated from the University of Würzburg. He studied biology and chemistry, and his doctoral thesis was on the social behavior of male carpenter ants. Hölldobler has three main theoretical and experimental contributions: sociobiology, behavioral ecology, and chemical ecology. His study subjects are usually insects even more specifically it is ants. Hölldobler now works at Arizona State University where he and his research team explore the behavioral mechanisms that underlie communication and division of labor systems in ant societies. They also investigate on how ants communicate with other colonies to regulate territories. Throughout his career Hölldobler has won many awards for his contributions to biology. Wilson is a biologist and researcher; his links in biology go with sociobiology and biodiversity. Wilson also a theorist believes in consilience and biophilia. He is also an author; and a naturalist who believes in conservationism. In biology he specializes in the study of ants and he is considered to be the world’s leading authority. Wilson first started at the University of Alabama for his studies of biology. He then he got his doctorate in biology at Harvard University. Just like Hölldobler; Wilson has won many awards. They together won the Pulitzer award for this book “the Ants”. If you were to ask for my opinion if they are the right people to write a book; I would say that their credentials prove to us that they are more than capable of writing this book.
Everyone must have asked these questions once in their life, why are ants so important or interesting to the world and life? Well, ants help in a lot of ways; they scatter seeds from place to place allowing more plants to grow all over the land, they pollinate and protect our plants and flowers and they dig galleries and tunnels that increase the nutrients in our soil. Ants have mutualistic relationship with several organisms likes other animals and plants. Ants can also be used as a pesticide for crops, because they keep unwanted harmful insects off the corps and the corps do not have to be sprayed with any deadly chemicals; which makes using ants as a pesticide organic and safer for the environment. Allow me to get more into detail; here are some more interesting facts and jobs that ants do to help us.
The history of national parks, their establishment and propagation, demonstrates all three of these intervention principles. Until the early 1800s, the American public viewed nature and the wilderness as something to tame or overcome. Thanks in large part to artistic movements which portrayed unsettled lands as beautiful, public opinion evolved and gave rise to the moral imperative of preservation. In 1864 political, ethical, and economic reasons for intervention furnished momentum to legislation regarding Yosemite Valley; a California senator sponsored a bill which was eventually signed in to law by President Abraham Lincoln and would transfer national lands to the State for “preservation” and “public use, resort, and recreation” (The National Parks, 2005, p. 12-13). In this case, the ethical reason for intervention (land preservation) was largely supported by the American public and the contemporary shift in public opinion, additionally rendering it a political reason for intervention. As for economic reasons for intervention, the land was recognized as a n...