EPOCH III: AGRICULTURE, LARGE-SCALE SETTLEMENT, APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY AND THE ART OF PERMACULTURE
A. PLANTS AND TREES AND THEIR ENERGY TRANSACTIONS
Learning Objectives: In this unit you will learn to identify trees and plants and come to an understanding of their significance in the landscape. You will begin to delineate the uses of plants and trees for food, medicine and utility. You will observe trees in their natural environment, and through observation, find methods to employ them as windbreaks, shelterbelts, habitat for animals, and companions for other plants that contribute to health and increased yields. Guilds, basic biology, basic botany, affects of weather on vegetation, interactions with animals, and the processes of various habitats and ecosystems will be discussed.
1. The biomass of plants and trees: observe trees in the landscape: what are they doing?
2. Wind effects: discuss flagging, windbreaks, shelterbelts, turbulence, planting patterns, etc.
3. Temperature effects: temperature gradients form forest to field: note differences and affects in terms of types of vegetation and their growth patterns and specific needs
4. Vegetation and precipitation: how does vegetation affect precipitation patterns?
5. How does vegetation interact with rain?
6. Cosmic and subtle influences on vegetation (what are these influences?)
7. Discuss frost movement and settling in the landscape and how trees affect this
8. Discuss the condensation that happens in the forest (accounts for fifty percent of water supply to the ground)
9. Guilds: plant and animal communities (what are these and can you name one?)
10. Biology (field walk)
a. Animals and plants in the landscape
1. What animals and plants live here?
2. Are they natives or alien?
3. How do they affect, change and color the landscape?
4. Identify plants and trees using field guides
b. Interactions: how do they interact with their own species and with other species?
c. Habitats, biomes and bioregions: why do we study these and how does the farm or garden fit in into these designations?
d. Ecology:
1. What is involved in mapping the eco-framework of the local environment?
2. Is the site an ecosystem unto itself?
3. How can the site and local ecosystem work together in a healthy form?
4. Plant and animal communities: guilds
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