Environmental Commentary: "Super Pests"

One of the unexpected consequences ("side-effects") of industrial agriculture's widespread and continuous use of synthetic pesticides during the past 68 years has been the emergence of more and more pesticide-resistant pests.​

Pesticides are a "selection agent" in evolution. In rapidly reproducing organisms, which most pests are, pesticides kill the vulnerable genotypes and favor the resistant ones.  In this way, pesticides drive evolution toward populations of survivors.​

Just as indiscriminate continuous use of our most effective antibiotic drugs in medicine and animal agriculture has resulted in antibiotic-resistant bacterial pathogens, so has pesticide use resulted in more than 500 species of arthropod "pests" (mostly insects and mites) and plant "weeds" developing resistance to one or more pesticides.​

Industrial agriculture is based on extensive monocultures. Monocultures necessarily require pesticides. Pesticides select for better pests. ​

Rachel Carson, in Silent Spring, stated that 'every pesticide selects for its own failure.'​

While this sounds like it would be a caution sign for pesticide use, it actually turns out to be an incentive for agrochemical companies to continue to develop and market new formulations. This is sometimes called the "pesticide treadmill." One pesticide leads to another and another, etc.​

Small-scale, diversified farming involving more human care and fewer chemical toxins promotes greater landscape diversity and thereby benefits from a large array of natural "pest" predators and controls.​

This illustration is from my 1992 FoxSense book of environmental editorial graphics. Not much has changed, except we now have a few more generations of pesticide and improved pests.​

​"Pesticide Resistance" from FoxSense​. © Fred Montague

Environmental Commentary: "Sphere of Cubes"

The prospect of continual conversion of natural environments into human settlements and engineered projects has always been of interest and concern to me. ​

This illustration-- an obvious overstatement-- is from One Earth.  It is a limited edition artist's book that I printed on my 1913 letterpress.  There are three sections to the book: "Harmony," "Hurt," and "Hope." The "Sphere of Cubes" is from the second part.​

Of all the drawings, this one is the most disturbing to me because it depicts an Earth fully dominated by human artifice.  While this is undoubtedly impossible, it is nevertheless unsettling as we watch wild places continue to disappear under the expanding footprint of progress.​

Even though the book appeared more than twenty years ago, my politically incorrect use of the word "man" in the caption was intentional-- just as it would be if I wrote it today.  The domination of Nature, in my view, continues to be most securely rooted in the Western culture, masculine gender-role stereotype.​

​"Sphere of Cubes", a page from the artist book One Earth​. © Fred Montague

Gardening: The Garden Book

Whether you are planning your garden, starting seeds in trays on the windowsill, building raised beds and compost bins, or physically staking out the garden, you will find useful information in my gardening handbook-- Gardening: An Ecological Approach. ​Readers appreciate the book both for its wealth of gardening information and for its aesthetic value. The book is hand-lettered and features detailed pen-and-ink illustrations throughout. Its unique approach includes valuable information on ecology and environment applied to gardening as well as a hands-on guide to preparing soil,  planning a garden, starting seeds, and caring for specific crops. 

​"Starting seeds", an illustration from the hand-lettered and hand-illustrated book Gardening: an Ecological Approach​. © Fred Montague

Environmental Science Classroom: Human Population IV

Region-By-Region

​The page shown below was a perennial assignment in my Global Environmental Issues classes. Students were asked to use the Population Reference Bureau's current "World Population Data Sheet" and complete the demographic characteristics for each of the world's continents/regions. I have filled them in for you.

It is only part of the population picture to know, as we have shown in the past three population blog posts, the the human population is increasing.​

Because of a quirk of geography and rate of development, population growth is uneven.​

Here are the questions I asked with respect to this assignment.​

Which continent/region...​

... is the most populous?​

... has a stable population (currently not increasing nor decreasing)?​

... is the youngest (i.e. has the greatest potential for future population growth)?​

... has the highest NI (rate of increase)?​

... has the shortest population doubling time if current birth and death rates continue?​

... ​has the highest TFR (total fertility rate or average number of children per woman)?

Note: The data in the tables are as of mid-year 2012. Russia is part of Europe. Immigration and Emigration are not considered.​

​The geography of human population growth. © Fred Montague

Environmental Science Classroom: Sun-Earth-Moon Perspective

Once in a while it is fun (and necessary) just to stand back and say, "Wow!" ​

This happens sometimes when we consider simple facts in a narrative that, when transposed into a graphic representation, alters our sense of perspective.​

Consider the following.​

The sun's diameter is about 870,000 miles.​

The Earth's diameter is about 8,000 miles.​

Therefore, the sun's diameter is about 109 Earth diameters.​

The radius of the moon's orbit around the Earth is about 240,000 miles.

Here's the amazing (to me, at least) conclusion.  If the Earth were placed at the center of the sun, the moon would be orbiting a little more than half way out to the sun's surface. Consider the sun's size this the next time you see the moon in the night sky.​ And the sun is just a medium-sized star.

​Sun-Earth-Moon Perspective. © 2013 Fred Montague

Environmental Science Classroom: Human Population III

Economists, demographers, and other social scientists divide the 200 countries of the world into two groups-- more-developed countries (MDCs) and less-developed countries (LDCs). This distinction is based primarily on a country's degree of industrial and technological development and its per-capita gross national income. ​

The table below (from www.prb.org) compares a few of the demographic traits of these two "worlds" (as of mid-year 2012).​

Of particular importance in understanding future population growth are the following.​

1.  "rate of increase" is the annual growth rate of the population.​

2. "doubling time" is how many years are required for the population to double in size. It is not a "prediction," but rather a projection of growth based on an unchanging current rate of growth. Doubling time historically has been used to comprehend very rapid rates of growth.​

3. "% of population under the age of 15" indicates the size of the population from which future population growth will occur. It indicates population "growth momentum."​

4. "predicted 2050 population" is the U.N.'s prediction of population size in 2050.​

If you do the math, you will find that 96% of the 2.566 billion people added from now until 2050 will be in less developed countries. But, before you jump to embarrassing conclusions, consider that well-intentioned people in MDCs brought this population increase about.  More about this in future posts.​

See also "Human Population I: Size and Growth" (13 February 2013) and "Human Population II: Billion-by-Billion" (25 February 2013).​

​Human Population III. © Fred Montague

Garden Notes: Priceless Seeds

Here's a portion of a page from Gardening: An Ecological Approach.​  ​I am always amazed by what can grow from a typical garden seed packet.

​Carrots, an excerpt from Gardening--An Ecological Approach. © Fred Montague

From the Sketchbook: A 3-step Value Scale

Depicting abstract ideas or realistic images in drawings and paintings often employs a system of values. In pen-and-ink drawings, value (or tone) can help evoke the illusion of light (bright or dark), the illusion of color, the illusion of depth (in focus or out of focus), and texture (surface details).​

Shown here is one of many of my sketchbook pages where I experiment with ways to show values in an ink drawing. The simplest system is simply black and white (light and dark). The next simplest is a 3-step method with an intermediate middle gray (shown here). In a more complex work, there can be gradual blending of marks to approximate a wide range of tones.​

Your assignment:  Try a 2-step example, then a 3, a 4, a 5 a 15.  Have fun.​

​A value study from the sketchbook. © Fred Montague

Environmental Commentary: "The Great Global Chemistry Experiment"

The page below (from my 1992 FoxSense book) describes the chemical consequences of the industrial progress we have chosen (or acquiesced to) . Widespread dissemination of synthetic toxics distinguishes our modern times.  ​

Since 1992 we have added many more formulations and categories: BPA, problematic substitutes for previously banned toxics, VOC's (volatile organic compounds), POP's (persistent organic pollutants), and many more. Some of the chemicals we now regulate in the U.S. we continue to manufacture for export. We then import finished manufactured products and agricultural produce to complete what environmentalists call the"circle of poison."

The lab report (in 200 years) will be interesting.​

​"The Great Global Chemistry Experiment" from Fred Montague's Foxsense​. © 1992 Fred Montague

Wildlife Textbook: "North American Bovids"

The mammalian family Bovidae includes cattle, sheep, and goats.  In North America there are five species in four genera of wild bovids. The page shown below outlines the basic distinguishing characteristics for these interesting animals.​

​Bovidae, a page from Wa-Maka-Skan. © Fred Montague

From the Sketchbook: A Page of Fishes

A good way to combine the study of natural history, drawing, and biology (form and function) is to make sketches on page after page of the plants, animals, and microbes that you are interested in.  This is great practice for honing your identification skills and your sketching skills.

It's always best to sketch from living organisms, but it's not always possible. There are hundreds of excellent resources, especially field guides, to work from.​

For the example below, I used a pencil for a light sketch and then finished each with a fine-point pen.​

Have fun.​

​A page of fishes. © Fred Montague

Gardening Notes: Seeds or Seedlings?

This is the time to begin planning the season's gardening activities. One set of choices we have involves whether we buy, trade, or save seeds and plant them or whether we buy seedlings ready to transplant from the local garden center. Here are some considerations.

Planting your own seeds indoors to set out as transplants later.​

Advantages:  There is a greater choice of varieties from seed catalogs and even from the hardware store seed rack; buying seeds is more economical than buying seedlings; your seedlings will be available at times when commercial seedlings might not be; and there is a sense of satisfaction in the whole operation.​ Some garden plants, of course, can only be planted as seeds (carrots, beets, etc.) because they are difficult to transplant.

Disadvantages: Growing seedlings from seeds requires an appropriate space, patience, and attention (which may not all be disadvantages).​

Buying seedlings at the garden center.

Advantages: You have "instant plants."​ You don't need a seed-starting work area nor do you need to do the work.

Disadvantages:​ The choice of varieties may be limited, the expense may be greater than if you grew them yourself; you may not have seedlings (for succession or fall planting) when you need them.

Refer to the "Deciding What to Plant" section (pp. 174-175) of my book Gardening: An Ecological Approach.​

Environmental Science Classroom: The Human Population II

​The notebook page shown below depicts the growth, billion-by-billion, of the human population.  From the earliest traces of Homo sapiens in the anthropological record, it took 150,000 to 200,000 years for the population to grow to one billion (in 1800).

The table shows the year that the population added each billion and the number of years it took to do so. The peak growth rate seems to have occurred during the last 35 years.  This is where the slope of the graph is the steepest and where the intervals to add a billion people are the shortest.​

Demographers (including the UN) predict the population will grow to 9.6 billion by 2050 and perhaps 10-11 billion by 2100.​ 

No one, except a few wildlife biologists, are predicting that the population will "level off" in the near future. Wildlife biologists are thinking that in the next 37 years we will add another 2.5 billion people, 35% more than now, but we are not likely to increase the productive surface of the Earth by 35% to provide them with the resources (on a per-capita basis) that the 7.1 billion current residents of the planet have. Wildlife biologists often use a term called "carrying capacity."

The growth of the Earth's human population truly defines our times.​

Refer to the blog on Wednesday, February 13, 2013 for "The Human Population I" (Current Size and Growth Rate).​

Wildlife Textbook: Mammalian Dentition

This page from my wildlife textbook Wa-Maka-Skan depicts the dental patterns and tooth structures for three families of North American mammals. The beaver represents the Family Castoridae, of which it is the only member. The family Castoridae is among other families included in the Order Rodentia (the Rodents). The rodents include mice, squirrels, muskrats, chipmunks, rats, and other gnawing animals. The coyote skull is typical of all of the wild dogs (Family Canidae). And the white-tailed deer skill shows the teeth characteristic of all of the members of the Deer Falmily (Cervidae), except the elk which have two upper canine teeth.

An animal's teeth, among other adaptations, reveal its place in the ecological community.  There are many habitats in North America, and every habitat has many niches. The types of teeth indicate the animal's food habits and methods of acquiring the materials and energy to live and reproduce.

The beaver gnaws on willows, aspens, and other stream-side trees to feed on the living tissue of the inner bark. The white-tailed deer, a browser, typically feeds on the edible portions of trees and shrubs, grinding the plant tissues into fine pieces to nourish the microbes in its rumen.  The deer then digests the microbial products. The coyote's teeth are adapted to killing other animals (mice, rats, rabbits, etc.) and shearing them into pieces to be swallowed.

These are just three example from three families of mammals. There is great diversity in the natural world, and many more species and families to learn from.

"Mammalian Dentition", a page from Wa-Maka-Skan. © Fred Montague

Environmental Commentary: "Identify This Trend Line"

Unfortunately, this "trick question" is still generally relevant, even after 21 years.

FoxSense: Identify This Trend Line © Fred Montague

Gardening Book: Add Some Color

Whenever I visit with friends about my gardening book, I always encourage purchasers to use some colored pencils or watercolors and make the book their own.

Some are reluctant for fear of "messing it up" or making a mistake. Here's an idea: make a photocopy of the page you'd like to color and try different approaches.

In the example below, I used colored pencils for the paths, stones, and soil, and I used watercolors for the plants. Be careful with markers, since they might bleed through to the other side.

Just have fun.

"Free Spirit Garden", excerpt from Gardening: An Ecological Approach © Fred Montague

New Work Available: "Good Words" Woodcut

The "Peace Earth Wonder" woodcut is the first in a new series. This signed, deckle-edged print is 10.5" x 8.5" overall; the image is 8" x 5.5".

For a limited time, purchasers of Gardening: an Ecological Approach or any print, woodcut, or drawing in the gallery will receive this signed woodcut with my compliments.

Peace Earth Wonder  •  © Fred Montague

free with purchase  •  image 8 x 5.5  •  print 10.5 x 8.5

Edition size: 88  •  status: available

Environmental Science Classroom: "The Human Population I"

The population fact sheet shown below outlines the calculation of the current (2012) growth rate of the global human population.

This is the first in a series intended to illuminate various characteristics of the "people phenomenon."

Garden Notes: Germination

As another garden season approaches, the thoughtful gardener might consider the basic conditions required for most seeds to germinate. 

This review is especially important when we plant seeds indoors in pots or in flats.

While warmth is generally not a problem indoors, the interacting characteristics of soil moisture (watering) and soil aeration are always tricky.

The key is a seed-starting medium with optimal texture--some larger particles (sand or perlite) to create air spaces between them and organic matter and smaller particles (e.g., silt) to hold soil moisture.

Water the pots and flats by placing them in a tray of lukewarm water. Make sure there are drainage/uptake holes in the bottoms of the planted containers.

When the surface of the soil in the pots is moist, remove them from the tray of water. Bottom watering prevents seeds from being disturbed as they might be if watering from above.

Repeat the watering process as the flats or pots dry out. Until the seedlings emerge, keep the soil surface just moist. 

When the seedlings emerge, be careful not to overwater them.

If you aren't sure about what the seedlings and soil are telling you, plant enough containers so you can try different approaches.

Experiment, Learn, Enjoy.

Environmental Science Classroom: Recommended Reading (The Long Thaw)

David Archer is professor of geophysics at the University of Chicago. His 2009 book The Long Thaw: How Humans Are Changing the Next 10,000 Years of Earth's Climate, places our current human-caused climate event in the context of the Earth's geologic record. This short, well-written, and sometimes amusing account carefully explains the inadvertent, yet significant, climate impacts of our actions that vaporize a long-buried geological resource (fossil fuels) and in short order release its combustion products into the atmosphere.

Here are Archer's first two sentences (and a fragment) in the prologue:  "Global warming could be one of humankind's longest lasting legacies. The climatic impacts of releasing fossil fuel CO2 to the atmosphere will last longer than Stonehenge. Longer than time capsules, longer than nuclear waste, far longer than the age of human civilization so far."

The book's contents.

 Prologue: Global Warming in Geologic Time. Chapter 1: The Greenhouse Effect. Chapter 2: We've Seen It with Our Own Eyes. Chapter 3: Forecast for the Century. Chapter 4: Millennial Climate Cycles. Chapter 5: Glacial Climate Cycles. Chapter 6: Geologic Climate Cycles. Chapter 7: The Present in the Bosom of the Past. Chapter 8: The Fate of Fossil Fuel CO2. Chapter 9: Acidifying the Ocean. Chapter 10: Carbon Cycle Feedbacks. Chapter 11: Sea Level in the Deep Future. Chapter 12: Orbits, CO2 and the Next Ice Age. Epilogue: Carbon Economics and Ethics.

The 180-page paperback version's ISBN is 978-0-691-14811-3.