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SYSTEMS  -  AN IMPORTANT ATTITUDE IN CONSERVATION 

 

By Dave Rushworth

 

In the focus from General to Particular there are the diminishing concepts of - Global ; Continental ; National ; Provincial : Territorial ; Community ; Species ; Family ; Individual and Function (or Niche).   Within all of these groupings there is the operation of SYSTEMS.

 

Let us put that in more familiar terms : - World ; Africa ; South Africa ; Limpopo ; Low Veld ; Hoedspruit ; Human ; Strauss ; Lynette ; Reporter / Editor.  Rather like we would address a letter to some person in a far off place, except the other way around.

 

Folk in a 'United Nations' capacity would probably think Globally.  Leaders of the (OAU) A.U., E.U. etc would think Continentally. Heads of Governments would think Nationally or Provincially. Local Government and Mayors - Territorially or Communally and so on.

 

As farm or game reserve owners or operators we would be interested from a Territorial level down to Individual or Species level.

 

To categorise it in ecological terms - the Low Veld is our ENVIRONMENT ; the Blyde / Oliphants is our HABITAT ; Hoedspruit is our COMMUNITY (consisting of various Species) ; and the FUNCTION of each individual is their NICHE within that Community.

 

Within each of these divisions there are SYSTEMS operating.  Without these Systems nothing would work.  COMMUNITIES are groups of individuals that LIVE or STAY together.  Within Communities there are various NICHES (places) or FUNCTIONS (jobs).

These Functions or Niches operate together in SYSTEMS which are groups of Functions that HAVE TO WORK TOGETHER.

 

If you remove any part of a System it will stop working.  If the System continues working then that item was not part of the System.

 

Consider, for example,  a watch on your wrist.  It is a System for telling time. If you remove the strap and put the watch in your pocket, it can still tell you the time. So the strap is a convenience, the same as a safety pin is to a brooch watch, but it is not part of the System for telling the time.  Remove the hands of the watch, or the batteries, the watch will stop and the System for telling the time would fail.  They are parts of the System.  Put the watch on a table and walk away (remove yourself from the System) and you have destroyed the System as the watch can not tell the time by itself.  You are part of the System to tell the time.

 

We need to be able to identify SYSTEMS in the animal and plant Communities on our farms or game reserves.

 

Far too often, managers and operators in conservation focus on the Species level, even with an understanding of Communities.

Animal Species are introduced and removed without any consideration of their part in the Eco-Systems. It is a 'Zoo' mentality.

 

Understanding the working of Systems is important in Financial, Industrial, Agricultural, Ecological and all other disciplines.

'George' is a postman.  'John' is a motor mechanic.  I don't like 'Johns' on my reserve.  I prefer 'Georges'.  I get rid of John and replace him with George, not understanding Systems and Niches or Functions. Suddenly none of my motor vehicles are in running order because a postman is not able to repair them. By going for Species, without considering their Function I have unwittingly destroyed a very important System. The same thing happens often in Eco-Systems when we have a Species attitude to conservation and introduce or remove a species without regard to the Function of that species.

 

It doesn't matter if we don't have, for example, White Rhino (or any other species of animal) - IF -and ONLY IF -we can duplicate every FUNCTION carried out by a White RHINO; - not just replace the use for rhino horn, hide or meat. We have to be sure we can duplicate accommodation for all the ecto- and endo- parasites a rhino carries; duplicate the mobile perch and food for Oxpeckers; duplicate something that can push tracks through thick, thorny scrub; duplicate something that can develop mud wallows and deepen water holes (pans); something that 'mows' pastures in an unselective way, without pulling out the grass roots.  The list is almost unending.  UNLESS we can duplicate every function of a White Rhino,  we can not afford to be without them. It is more the FUNCTION rather than the SPECIES that is important in maintaining diverse Eco-Systems.  All Species have their own particular NICHE (Function) and are therefore important in their own right in sustaining diversity but it is the NICHE rather than the SPECIES that maintains the working of SYSTEMS.

 

As conservation 'managers', try to look beyond Species to the Functions of the Species - for a Species may be functional in many more than one system within your area.  Like people, watch what they do and in what they become involved. - "By their Fruit you shall know them" !      -      Through thoughtful observation     -    DEVELOP  A SYSTEMS  ATTITUDE.