See below for a number of links to the topics we will be covering in lecture. In class, there was a question about the percentage of oxygen in the atmosphere, and what we know about the processes involved. Check the book if you are interested. The Nitrogen cycle will function in both. The Nitrogen Cycle does not have a value system, but we do.
Rivers have relatively little value.
The boreal forest has relatively little value. At least we cut the forests and dam the rivers without hesitation, and these actions must certainly reflect our value system. The weakness of the central constructs of contemporary ecology results because ecology compounds its single failings. Operational impossibilities spawn tautological discussions that replace predictive theories with historical explanations, testable hypotheses with the infinite research of mechanistic analysis, and clear goals for prediction with vague models of reality. The resulting melange obscures appropriate research and attainable goals with sloppy, ineffective activity.