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Communicating Shades of Green
by Ian Parnell, February 9, 2007
As an ecologist who specializes in resource management I’ve experienced firsthand the many ways people think about sustainability. For many of them, this includes feeling frustrated and overwhelmed. I’ve thought a lot about how to make the transition to sustainability more practical, less overwhelming, and maybe even a little fun. I knew whatever approach I came up with had to accommodate peoples’ different levels of environmental awareness and capability for change. As an ecologist I naturally thought about this problem from an ecological perspective and I found what I was looking for in the concept of "ecotype". Bear with me while I get a bit technical.
In ecology, an ecotype is a population of a species more adapted to its local environment than other populations of the same species. An example is a bird, the common yellowthroat, a species of warbler with at least fifteen ecotypes, each breeding in different regions of North America. Each particular yellowthroat ecotype is more adapted to the climate, geography, habitat and food found in its core region than are the other yellowthroat ecotypes. More... |
