Nature’s Ways: All Being Equal

Cape Cod - Daylight is creeping up on us. It’s here earlier in the morning and it stays longer in the afternoons. Soon it will be the Vernal Equinox, the first day of spring, the day when the hours of daylight equal the hours of night. Once that day has passed the scale will be tipped and each day will have more and more light spilling out of it until we reach the summer solstice.

So much of life seems to be about finding balance. Certainly we humans talk about balance in our own lives all the time and we come by that talk pretty naturally I think. Nature seems to be all about balance. In order for a species to flourish and succeed there must be a good balance of food, water, space and shelter. Too much or too little of one or another and the balance can be thrown off and the species itself will suffer.

Humans have caused a lot of the imbalance we see now in the natural world. Here on the Cape there are many examples of populations of animals or plants either growing or shrinking due to many factors. Some animals, like box turtles, diamondback terrapins and piping plovers are suffering population decimations due mostly to habitat loss. Quite simply we have taken over their spaces. We want their beaches, their woodlands, their marshland streams for our own recreation and pleasure. We are the top predator here and there are lots and lots of us. We have thrown these ecosystems out of balance and these smaller animals are the big losers. Sadly, few of us seem to care and the balance keeps tipping toward extinction for these creatures that were here long before us.

Plants and animals from other areas and even other lands arrive here as hitch hikers in ship ballast or produce packaging. Others are brought in by an illegal exotic pet trade and still others are brought in by well meaning citizens who just want something pretty for their garden or aquarium. These non-native species may do very well, mostly due to the fact that they have no natural predators here. As they thrive they often out-compete native plants and animals and a balance that has survived centuries of fine tuning can be destroyed in a matter of years. The recent die off occurring in our marshes due to the feeding habits of an alien crab is a good example of an ecosystem going out of whack very quickly and dramatically.

Politicians and educators remind us it takes the whole village to raise a child. In that village is a level of diversity, wisdom and challenges far too big for one small family to even attempt to achieve by itself. Young people are mentored by many knowledgeable and willing adults throughout their childhood and adolescence allowing them to learn far more than they would from just their parents. Nature is the ultimate village, offering us diversity and wisdom on such a complex level that it staggers the human mind to even try to comprehend it all. Each piece of the puzzle is vital to the well being and balance of the whole.

As the balance of the light and dark comes together for this one moment it seems timely to remember that the balance of the world, of our communities, of our little spit of sand and sea is in our own hands.