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Published on Visualizing Ecology (http://www2.evergreen.edu/visecowinter)

Kruger david, steve's group

David Kruger  

            Clements Climax theory is very utopian in its ideals. It suggests that the most stable equilibrium of plant formations arise in effect of certain geographical situations. His climax ideal is reached only when untouched by human hands. When man messes with nature the climax often disappears.

The stability granted by these climax states appears necessary when viewed in light of the dust bowl. When man brought first plough then tractor to the Midwest we drastically changed that natural form of climactic stability. “By 1925 it was clear, according to Vance Johnson, that ‘mass production had reached the plains” (pg 229).

The abusers of the plain lands in Oklahoma were “a shifting mass of tenet farmers” (pg 224). These farmers were easily persuaded by the economic forces of production during the First World War. “President Woodrow Wilson and his secretary of Agriculture urged Kansas to plant one million more acres to win the war… in 1918 the nation harvested 14 million more acres of wheat then in the previous years” (pg. 228).  The flux in the economy that asked for surplus grain was a shifting and unstable trend that had drastic environmental effects. The events that occurred in Oklahoma were economic depravity and environmental disturbance went hand in hand would replay it self through out history for years to come.

A good ten years after the war money was once again funneled into the area demanding more surplus. This time the surplus demanded was conservation and the government was creating jobs and purchasing commodities to help restore the environment. This practice would be interesting in application for the years to come. I think if an economy were to be based upon protecting the environment it would be most beneficial in a world where industrial hazards are omnipresent in some of the poorer areas around the world.

Aileen Milliman - Week 3 Clements › [0]

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