The Land Ethic Aldo Leopold Dr. Green

Ethical Community How are these borders determined? Narrow Borders –Odysseus could hang his slaves because they were his property Wider Borders –Slavery is no longer considered ethical How Wide Should the Borders be Drawn?

What Is Ethics? Philosophically –a differentiation of social from anti-social conduct Ecologically – limitations on freedom of action in the struggle for existence

Evolutionary Change Free-for-all competition replaced with cooperation as individuals develop interdependencies –Biological symbioses

Stages of Evolution Relations of individuals –Code of Moses Relations within society –Individual to society in the Golden Rule –Society to individual in democracy Relations to nature –Still treated as property

Assumptions of Ethics that the individual is a member of a community of interdependent parts –Instincts tell one to compete for a place in the community –Ethics tells one to cooperate

Land Ethic The land ethic enlarges the boundaries of the community to include –Soils –Waters –Plants –Animals

The Biological Pyramid Members –Predators –Birds and rodents –Insects –Plants –Soil Relationships—food chains –Stability from highly organized webs of connections –Energy flows Evolution –Slow

Status of Humans Two views –Conqueror of the land-community Land is commodity Self-interest is primary –A member and citizen of it who must respect to total community Land is a biotic systems with economic and non- economic elements

Humans Division found in –Forestry –Wildlife management –Agriculture

Why Humans Must Change Conquering is self-defeating The conqueror claims to know –what makes the community work –what and who is valuable –what and who is worth-less It always turns out that he knows neither, and this is why his conquests eventually defeat themselves. –Systems are too complex to be known fully

Need for a Land Ethic Most members of the land community have no economic value Without economic value, they are not considered in our calculations –Fabricate economic value—songbirds –Eradication of predators—wolf Noncommercial trees Entire biotic communities—bogs, marshes etc. Those that are eliminated are needed for the healthy functioning of the ecosystem

Civilization and Environment Environment sets the possibilities or civilizations –Kentucky and bluegrass –Southwest With livestock progressive erosion With plants and irrigation, the Pueblo culture Plant succession constrains civilizations

Ecological Health Consists in the capacity for self-renewal

Human Intervention Changes are induced too rapidly Changes produce unpredicted and often untraceable readjustments Depletion of –Energy storage, i.e., soil –Cover—erosion –Water

Problems Can the land adjust? –Yes Western Europe Japan Northeast US –No Asia Minor North Africa South America Southwest US

Problems Can less intrusive means be developed? –Keep populations below the carrying capacity –The less violent the man made changes, the greater the probability of successful readjustment in the pyramid. –Violence, in turn, varies with human population density A dense population requires more violent conversion.

Requirements of a Land Ethics Organisms have a right to continue Preserve the integrity, stability, and beauty of the biotic community

Alternatives Government regulation –Problems become too large, too complex, or too widely dispersed to be performed by government. Private self-interest –Conservation has failed to conserve Land Ethic –An ethical obligation on the part of the private owner is the only visible remedy for these situations.

Impediments to a Land Ethics Improper education –Ecological training is scarce Outgrowing the land

Jared Diamond Collapse Causes of collapse –Environmental damage –Climate change –Hostile neighbors –Interdependencies –Social response

Environmental Damage Deforestation Soil exhaustion Water scarcity Over-exploiting resources Environmental impact Introduction of new species Over-population Environmental toxicity through pollution Induced climate change Energy shortage

Future Problems Natural resource problems –Habitat exhaustion –Food –Ecological diversity –Soil exhaustion Pollution –Chemical –Alien species

Future Problems Ceilings –Energy –Water –Photosynthetic capacity Population –Size –Impact