Chapter 8 of the Rambunctious Gardens by Emma Marris talks about the concept of the designer ecosystem. Designer ecosystems are created to make the habitat better than it already is. Their main goal is to make the area thrive most efficiently and effectively. Restoring areas to their original baseline is a lot of work, especially because at the end of the day, the area will not be 100% identical to its baseline. “The organisms and the relations between them that have emerged from millions of years of natural selection are likely going to outperform anything we cobble together in our computers, whether the goal is spaces for recreation, management of energy and nutrients, protection of biodiversity, or provision of services” (130). An example of this designer ecosystem is using large boulders to maximize the output of plant and animal communities in streambeds. Another example was sinking old ships to provide places for coral reefs to live. The thought behind designer ecosystems is that human involvement doesn’t always have to be thought of as a bad thing. In these situations, human involvement is actually helping the ecosystems exponentially.
Chapter 9 is titled “Conservation Everywhere” and spoke about how conservation should be taking place everywhere, not just in secluded national parks such as Yellowstone. With the Yellowstone, the goal was to create corridors in order to allow for more space for the larger animals. Marris says, “Rewilding, assisted migration, and embracing some exotic species and novel ecosystems may seem like disparate strategies, but they are all at some level about making the most of every scrap of land and water, no matter its condition” (page 135).” Through connectivity with nature, will scientists be able to bring about some of the best ecosystems. “Ideally, reserves should be scientifically designed to achieve conservation goals agreed upon by interested parties while being sensitive to the needs of the people who now live or once lived on the sites in question (page 138).” Marris tries to expand on her idea that conservation can everywhere by stating that “project of conservation is not just defending what we have, but adding lands to our portfolio and deepening value of the lands in play (page 135).” Regular people can help connect with nature by allowing nature to take over their garden. This process may not look pleasing to the eye, but this type of gardening creates a much more diverse as well as rambunctious feeling. To sum up, Marris says that since it is impossible to return nature back to a pristine wilderness, people should live in harmony with nature. After all as she states, “plants and animals are all around us, in our backyards, along roadsides, in city parks (page 150).”
