ABSTRACT
Systems ecologists recognize the courage of builders who reach beyond their normal horizons to learn from the world surrounding the built environment. How might knowledge of ecological processes help us better harmonize the life cycles of buildings with the dynamic ways in which the environment builds and recycles structures? Ecologists have waged a similar battle for the past half-century to draw the attention of natural scientists from molecules to cells to organisms to populations to communities to landscapes to the biosphere. Specialists and generalists eternally implore one another to reset their sights and focus anew. The challenge of assessing how an activity fits within the environment is both easier and more difficult. It is easier because far more people genuinely want to understand the environment now that a series of crises (climate change, acid rain, ozone hole) have brought the consequences of human endeavor home to them. It is more difficult because closer scrutiny shows a far more complex picture than originally imagined, to the point where surprise and uncertainty appear unavoidable. Science may not deliver the certainty (“the smoking gun”) that many feel is necessary to act on, but it can help us frame our questions and our activities in much more intelligent ways as we examine our dynamic and complex biosphere.
