[Terrapreta] termites

[Tony Lovell]

Gordon and fellow readers

One of the most relevant quotes for the whole global warming issue is by the
American author Tom Pynchon from his novel Gravity's Rainbow - 

"If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don't have to worry
about answers." 

 

Gordon's comment that "any remaining termites would probably succumb to
predatory ant attack - given time, with very few termites around, the
natural vegetation in the area would flourish" ignores a fundamental natural
law - the Law of Succession - which states that a species moves into an
environment when conditions are right for its germination/establishment, and
moves out of that environment when conditions are no longer suitable for its
reproduction. What has happened in the area "infested" with termites is that
the environment has degraded below the level at which alternative carbon
cyclers can function which is why they moved out in the first place.

Critically important - The termites are a symptom of this degradation, and
not the cause of it.

The right question is "why are the termites here in such numbers, and what
is their purpose in this environment?" They are here as carbon cyclers to
allow the carbon and other elements trapped in the plant material to
re-enter the natural carbon cycle.

The critical step to successful reintroduction of higher level carbon
cyclers is to first move the environment back to and then through the level
at which grasses will establish. Unless and until this is done the
environment will remain at the level suitable to termites, and termite
numbers would quickly regenerate to at least pre-vacuuming levels. In almost
all situations the answer is to increase biodiversity by adding a species or
two - rarely does reducing biodiversity by removing a species genuinely and
sustainably restore an environment.

 

In the environments that Gordon refers to we can also consider the concept
of Brittleness - this is a term used by Allan Savory to describe the
evenness of distribution of humidity in an environment on a scale of 1 to
10. At 1 (non-brittle) we have a rainforest where it is always humid, and at
10 we have a true desert (brittle) where there is effectively zero humidity.
http://managingwholes.com/brittleness1.htm

In a non-brittle environment plant growth is fairly even throughout the year
and plant matter is decomposed and recycled mainly by microbes and rotting,
herbivores are found in small family groups, and predators are solitary like
jaguars and ocelots. In a brittle-tending environment plant growth is rapid
during a short growing season (the wet season) and this build-up of plant
matter is then decomposed and recycled mainly within the guts of large
herbivores, these herbivores are found in massive herds, and the predators
are pack-hunters like lions and wolves.

Some 2/3rds of the planet's surface is brittle-tending, and these are the
areas where desertification is rampant.
http://managingwholes.com/desertification.htm

In the brittle-tending environments of the planet the only way to do this
economically and on the scale needed ( over 5 billion hectares) is to use
the very tools that caused the degradation in the first place - grazing
animals - but in a fundamentally different way. Only properly planned
grazing and herding management can successfully address desertification on
the scale now occurring around the globe - and rather than just costing
money it can boost productivity and reinvigorate the rural communities.
http://www.soilcarbon.com.au/case_studies/index.html

Take care

Tony Lovell

 

Soil Carbon (Australia) Pty Ltd

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