Landscape in Motion

For those of you wondering what on earth historical ecologists do, here's a great article from the San Francisco Chronicle: "Historical Ecologists Map a Changing Landscape", by Eric Simons.

Robin Grossinger , historical ecologist , is quoted saying: "Each generation kind of loses the knowledge of what this place was like, and we find ourselves 200 years later with very little knowledge of what was there... So very basic things like octopuses in tide pools catch us by surprise."

So basic, indeed.

Simply understanding that a landscape is not static, but systems continually in motion, is a critical first step for anyone concerned with landscape restoration. Historical ecologists basically search for evidence and an understanding of a place's layered natural heritage, amid/despite human interventions. Whereas, we cultural landscape historians try to read this "unwitting autobiography," as Peirce Lewis wrote, in the sense that landscape is a reflection of culture in every way.