07-Essential Ecological Processes-S39-PDC-2025

A. Succession

- Bare land → grasses → shrubs → trees → mature forest.

- Design Application: Accelerate succession with pioneer species, agroforestry. Syntropic agroforestry

“A forest grows on a fallen forest” Geoff Lawton

B. Decomposition - nutrient cycling

- Fungi, bacteria, and detritivores break down organic matter into nutrients.

- Design Application: Composting, mulch, no-till gardening.

C. Water Cycling

- Evaporation → condensation → precipitation → infiltration.

- Design Application: Rainwater Harvesting, Keyline Design, Ponds.

D. Pollination & Seed Dispersal

- Animals, wind, insects, and water spread life.

- Design Application: Plant for pollinators, seed-saving, wildlife corridors.

E. Stacking

• Nature is 3-dimensional, stacking in both time and space

• Design Application: Food forests outperform monocultures every time

F. Symbiosis

• Nature is typified by mutually beneficial relationships

• From the lichen to the nitrogen-fixing root bacteria, or the mycorrhizal net.

• Design Application:

G: Elements in systems perform multiple functions

• Create an interlocking web of functionality by selecting those elements that offer multiple functions

• Design Application: Trees offer shade, build soil, create habitat for other elements whilst producing yields of their own, e.g. fruits, timber, leaves.

• Question: Can you list some of the many functions of the Moringa tree?

H: Support key functions with multiple elements.

• The key to building resilient systems is to build in redundancy

• Identify the essential functions of your designed system, and reinforce with multiple strategies

• Design Application: Function = Water catchment.
  Elements - water tanks and gutters, swales and soakaways, check dams, berms and banks, remediation of gullies and rills. Ponds, dams, and key lining, contour planting with deep-rooted plants and trees, such as Vetiver hedges. Forestation of higher slopes, controlled grazing, pathways and field boundary placement. etc.

• Edges - Unique circumstances can arise at the edges. The edge is the frontier between one system and another

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Conclusion

Nature is the ultimate teacher. By observing and mimicking its principles, patterns, and processes, we can design systems that are not just sustainable but regenerative.