The essays which compose Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There have been written in a time span of over thirty years, some dating back to the 1910’s. Therefore, the work could rather be seen as a collection of essays than a monographic book. Additionally, Leopold writes about such a diversity of places and species, that the work as a whole seems to be very fragmented.
However, this style of composition is not as randomized as it seems at first glance. Instead, as a whole, the essays of A Sand County Almanac form the structure of an ecosystem with interdependent parts supporting and challenging each other.
In this paper, I will first explore Leopold’s own definition of an ecosystem as he describes it in the subchapter “The Land Pyramid”. Then, I will demonstrate that A Sand County Almanac mirrors the complex structures of such a system.
Table of contents
1. Introduction
2. Characteristics of an Ecosystem
3. The Ecosystem of A Sand County Almanac and Sketches Here and There
3.1 Pyramidal Structure
3.2 Chains of Dependency
3.3 Complexity, Cooperation, and Competition
4. Conclusion
5. Works Cited
5.1 Primary Sources
5.2 Secondary Sources
- Quote paper
- Susanne Hefekäuser (Author), 2007, The Land Pyramid as Philosophy and Structure in Aldo Leopold's "Sand County Almanac", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/197026
-
Upload your own papers! Earn money and win an iPhone X. -
Upload your own papers! Earn money and win an iPhone X. -
Upload your own papers! Earn money and win an iPhone X. -
Upload your own papers! Earn money and win an iPhone X. -
Upload your own papers! Earn money and win an iPhone X. -
Upload your own papers! Earn money and win an iPhone X.