[APWG] Ecosystem Preservation Management Restoration Conservation Re: PCA: 2011 Request for Proposals for PCA NFWF Grant Program

[Wayne Tyson]

[Note: Since I am subscribed only to the APWG and Ecolog-l lists, this 
"reply to all" message will probably be confined to those two. I do not 
object if anyone wishes to forward this post to the other lists. WT]

All:

I am not interested in applying for grants (I am "retired"), but am quite 
interested in the subject and in participating to the extent that I might be 
useful to those who work in this area or in areas that overlap.

In my many decades of working in the applied area of ecosystem restoration I 
spent about fifteen years learning through failure. To put it as briefly as 
possible, the simplest (but multi-faceted) lesson that Nature finally got 
through my thick skull was that "methods" that have any objective outside 
the matching of habitat/environmental conditions with the requirements of 
the species adapted to them and vice-versa are prescriptions for failure. 
Conversely, changes in habitat/environment will cause changes in ecosystem 
(the living component) composition and dynamics over time. The nature and 
timing of management actions (or inaction) are important in sequencing 
events that are transitional and transformational [Note: These terms are 
used for the sake of brevity more than "accuracy."].

As an example of a practical matter, this means that cultural conventions 
like agronomy and horticulture are technical minefields (as it were); while 
they have elements in common with ecology, their practices, methods, and 
"philosophies" must largely be discarded in favor of finding out just what 
is actually going on in the ecological context. Plant-soil water relations, 
for example, are the same with respect to basic principles, but are quite 
different in their application to agronomic and horticultural practice than 
they are to ecosystem analysis and management. Time, timing, and 
change/interactions are important considerations that are often left out, 
causing "failures."

Finally, ecosystem "management" and "restoration" are more illusory than 
real; that is, "we" do not actually "restore" or "manage" ecosystems--they 
are inherently unmanageable. We do, however, affect ecosystems in 
significant ways. The direction of our influence upon living systems is ours 
to choose, but Nature always bats last.

I invite criticism or discussion.

WT


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Olivia Kwong" <plant at plantconservation.org>
To: <native-plants at lists.plantconservation.org>; 
<apwg at lists.plantconservation.org>; <mpwg at lists.plantconservation.org>; 
<rwg at lists.plantconservation.org>; <sos at lists.plantconservation.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2011 11:54 AM
Subject: [APWG] PCA: 2011 Request for Proposals for PCA NFWF Grant Program


>
> This message is being cross-posted to all lists hosted at
> lists.plantconservation.org.  Please share it with anyone that might be
> interested in applying for a grant.
>
> http://www.nps.gov/plants/nfwf/
>
> The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) is soliciting proposals
> for the 2011 Native Plant Conservation Initiative (NPCI) grants cycle. The
> NPCI grant program is conducted in cooperation with the Plant Conservation
> Alliance (PCA), a partnership between the Foundation, ten federal
> agencies, and more than 275 non-governmental organizations. PCA provides a
> framework and strategy for linking resources and expertise in developing a
> coordinated national approach to the conservation of native plants. Since
> 1995, the NPCI grant program has funded multi-stakeholder projects that
> focus on the conservation of native plants and pollinators under any of
> the following 6 focal areas: conservation, education, restoration,
> research, sustainability, and data linkages.  In 2011, NPCI is 
> particularly interested in projects that focus on and benefit eastern 
> North American early successional habitat, prairie coteau grasslands, sky 
> islands grasslands, deserts, Gunnison sage-grouse, southeastern grasslands 
> (especially longleaf pine forest), seabirds, shortgrass prairie, and 
> Colorado River fishes.
>
> The deadline for pre-proposals is June 30, 2011.  See
> http://www.nps.gov/plants/nfwf/ for more information about the grant
> programs including the full request for proposals.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> PCA's Alien Plant Working Group mailing list
> APWG at lists.plantconservation.org
> http://lists.plantconservation.org/mailman/listinfo/apwg_lists.plantconservation.org
>
> Disclaimer
> Any requests, advice or opinions posted to this list reflect ONLY the 
> opinion of the individual posting the message.
>
>
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