My visit to the High Line
When Emma Marris talks about the “Rambunctious Garden,” she stresses the concept of “creating more nature” by avoiding the notion that the only areas that can be appreciated as nature are those that are as pristine as they were long ago. In an interview for her book, Rambunctious Garden, Marris shows viewers a patch of land between two roads that many might not consider to be “nature”. She opposes this view throughout her book, however, and stresses the importance of appreciating the nature that surrounds us, whether that be “pristine wilderness” or not.
A bumble bee sits on a plant that resembled bluebonnets parallel to the Chelsea Piers Sports and Entertainment facility.
The patch of land Marris shows us in her interview is comparable to the High Line as both areas are surrounded by urban, industrialized structures and have been managed by humans. I have a new found appreciation for such places as the High Line that are only made possible through human intervention. Prior to recognizing the High Line as one of these places, I was skeptical regarding the concept of “selective maintenance” that is so necessary in these places (Statler). I now recognize the true beauty and wonders of such places that, without human intervention, would not be able to host such vast biodiversity as the High Line does. The High Line is a prime example of Marris’ approach to what can be classified as nature. Even though the High Line does not look identical to, nor remotely close to, what it looked like thousands of years ago, it is still a place where one can observe nature.
A honey or killer bee found north of the Diller-von Furstenberg Sundeck
Although approximately 50% of the Highline’s species are native and this aspect is not essential for Marris’ classification of a place as nature, the majority of the High Line’s characteristics are parallel to Marris’ perspectives. One such parallel idea is the idea that “the factors and forces involved with community development at the High Line may be similar to the factors and forces associated with primary succession” (Statler). Marris brings up the concepts of assisted migration or rewilding that also contribute to natural cycles such as growth from grass to shrubs and trees. Humans have had a significant impact throughout the High Line’s history, both during its time as a railway and now through the “Friends of the Highline’s” maintenance of the park.
After my eye-opening visit to the High Line, my opinions regarding human intervention were further reinforced by Statler’s paper. I was pleased to learn that “the High Line may have one of the highest levels of species richness (38.8 sp/ha) of any temperate zone urban environment in the region,” (Statler), despite not being untouched
The above image shows what look like Eastern Boxelder bugs near 17th street on the High Line
or unaffected by humans. Human intervention, on the contrary, may be among the factors that have enabled the region to be so diverse. According to Statler, “several factors may contribute to the high vascular plant species diversity on the High Line,” ranging from “human visitation” to “trampling and soil compaction” as their combined influence “may account for the multiplicity of everchanging habitats which may account for high species diversity on the High Line” (Statler).
Upon first being introduced to human maintenance of nature, I was skeptical of the concept.
What appears to be a honey bee and a fly near the walkway that extends out from the High Line to provide a scenic place to stand (middle of High Line)
After revisiting the High Line, a place I enjoy bringing visitors from Sweden, a country where nature is often as rambunctious as Marris describes it as, I recognized that a favorite place of mine is indeed one of these places that are only made possible through the human intervention that Emma Marris describes in Rambunctious Garden.
