Discourse Language Management
Abstract
Discourse is the type of language in a particular field. The discourse for natural resources is no different than knowing the discourse for nursing, agronomy, or teaching. Every field has its own language and parts to study. The natural resource field has many types of discourse. Some of the major forms of discourse discussed are taxonomy, wildlife management, forestry or forest management, and ecology. Taxonomy is the science of classification, and is used to come up with names for a variety of different beings, such as plants, animals, birds, and fish. Wildlife management is used to manage our global wildlife for protection of a certain species or for the betterment of our ecosystem. Management can also be used in a form of recreation. Forest management is a growing concern all over the world due to a rapid amount of clear cutting going on. The future looks bleak if we don't come up with a way to control and manage our forests and also protect them from parasites and disease. Ecology is the largest part of the natural resource discourse, because it combines everything into one large part. Wildlife, forests, and knowing the taxonomy of all these and how to manage our resources, along with how to preserve our ecosystem is becoming the number one issue in natural resources.
Discourse of Natural Resources
TYPES OF DISCOURSE
Discourse is the communication that brings a profession together. It can be an argument, speech, or just a conversation. The discourse for the natural resource field is made up of many different parts. Taxonomy, wildlife management, forestry or forest management, and ecology are just a few important parts in the natural resources field, and they are also various types of discourses. Knowing these parts of natural resources will give you much more knowledge of the profession and its discourse.
Taxonomy is a big part of natural resources. Taxonomy is the science of classification. It is made up of different kinds of taxonomic units called taxa, which are arranged in some hierarchical structure and usually related by some sort of relationship characteristics. It is important for one to understand taxonomy because of all the millions of species names out there that need to be classified. Taxonomists have made great improvement in the recent years in the biodiversity pattern along with the ecosystem process. Yet the process of gaining more knowledge about our environment has been slowed due to a few key reasons. (Byrne, Kim et al. 2006) Current strategies are more global than local; we only know about twenty percent of the species on earth, and lack of on-site data just to name a few. (Byrne, Kim et al. 2006) Scientists are proposing that there should be an open access web system for naming animals or searching for animal names, they believe that it is vital for taxonomy moving into the twenty-first century. Sources like books are hard to access which adds to the complexity and conflicts with the progress of taxonomy. (Polaszek et al. 2005) The idea is not new, in fact one already exists for bacteria, and another was proposed for the plants, but was rejected due to less taxon and already a very good system in place. (Polaszek et al. 2005) Taxonomy is a growing topic in the natural resource field and it is becoming more important for new employees to learn this type of discourse when getting into your career.
Wildlife management is another very important part of natural resources, and the aspect of knowing your wildlife goes very well with knowing your taxonomy of the different species. But the management part of wildlife is a major concern in our ecosystem, and is becoming a problem that needs to be taken care of.
Many people have an interest in attracting and supporting wildlife on their land. The basic principal to this is managing your vegetation, which is done by creating food and cover that is suitable for the wildlife in your area. (LeBlanc et al. 2007) You can also change the habitat to make different species leave the area. Important habitat plans to consider are the different types of plants that provide food and cover, along with how far it is to travel for water. Habitat diversity is essential for promoting wildlife on your land. Any kind of action or non-action affect how animals come and go from your property, and it is a difficult task in considering how and what you need to do all of this. Wildlife does not respect property lines, so therefore if they can find resources that are safer and easier to get at, they will. (LeBlanc et al. 2007)
Wildlife management includes planning, setting goals, proving habitat elements, and just plain old waiting. Wildlife is very specific to their needs and also has different requirements throughout the year, for perfect management techniques you must meet these needs year round. Managing wildlife is a growing interest among Americans, people enjoy watching wildlife out their windows, hunters also use this technique of management to get their desired trophy animals they are after. The job of a wildlife manager continues to gain importance, and thus being able to understand management techniques is a great thing to know when entering the natural resource field.
Forestry or forest management is another growing theme in natural resources. Managing forests is becoming a very big issue, especially if you believe in global warming and all those greenhouse gases being put into our air. Wood is also becoming a very important resource as you can tell from all the rainforests being cut down daily.
There has been a decrease in new housing projects, which has really affected the demand for lumber and cutting operations. (Dolbeck et al. 2008) This is causing lumber mills and industries to shut down or slow down production all over the country, which has also impacted workers to either, go on strike or be laid off due to pay. There also has been a decrease in demand for paper and pulp products which has also affected the lumber industry. The economy is really slowing down and is behind the drop off of wood projects.
Insects and disease is another concern amongst forest managers, and the two are usually combined in some form or another. Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan are really being affected by many different types of insects; the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) is on full alert for these invasive insects. Michigan is really struggling with an insect by the name of the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB). The USFS has introduced a small Chinese wasp that only feeds on the Ash Borer.(Daly et al. 2007) The Ash Borer is also wreaking havoc in Wisconsin and Minnesota; in fact it is a major problem for our nation's lumber industry. The EAB is a tiny Asian beetle that was discovered in the upper Midwest about 2002, and is thought to have traveled in wood imported from Asia.(Daly et al. 2007) The larvae feed on the inner bark of the tree and in large concentrations they eventually kill the tree. The wasps that are being released in Michigan are the EAB's natural enemy back in China, and they have little to no impact on the ecosystem around them along with not being a threat to humans.
Forests are one of the nation's fastest growing sections of natural resources. As we continue to cut down our forests at the rate we do, forest management becomes a bigger issue because we must maintain our forests. Forests are very sensitive and are easily attacked by insects or disease, and in many cases both.
Ecology wraps all of these different types of discourse into one big one. It brings in our forests, wildlife, and their taxonomy. Knowing all of this and putting it into the big picture of ecology and the ecosystem can really give you a great understand of natural resources and in fact, that is what natural resources is all about.
Ecosystems can be easily damaged by either natural or human disturbances, but recover normally. Ecosystems also can be severely damaged to a point where they will never be the same, and in that case we as humans must keep that to a minimum. There are three main factors to ecosystem stability; recovery, resilience, and reversibility. (Grunbaum, McLeod, Palumbi 2008) A marine ecosystem is a very fragile system that takes time to recover. Marine systems are often disturbed by water movement throughout the day either natural or during bad weather. Humans also can have a strong impact on marine ecosystems by motorized water vehicles, swimming, or just plain pollution. It can take several years for a marine ecosystem to recover because most of them are space limited and have other living creatures growing on or around them and they may never come back. Marine systems are some what resistant, but removal of a top predator for example could alter the system dramatically, causing its resistance to disturbance greatly. (Grunbaum, McLeod, Palumbi 2008) Finally, reversibility is very different in marine systems because they are so fragile that most of the time when they do recover, they are never one hundred percent the same.
The study of ecology and our ecosystem will be a big part of our future and it brings everything you learn in the natural resource field together into one subject. If there is one major discourse you must know about natural resources, it is ecology.
Resources:
Byrne LB, Kim KC. 2006. Biodiversity loss and the taxonomic bottleneck: emerging biodiversity science. Ecological Research. 21 (6): 794-810.
Daly P. 2007. Other Michigan trees threatened. Grand Rapids Business Journal. 25 (44): 8.
Dolbeck A. 2008. Valuation of agriculture and forestry industry. Weekly Corporate Growth Report. 1472: 1-12.
Grunbaum D, McLeod KL, Palumbi SR. 2008. Ecosystems in action: Lessons from marine ecology about recovery, resistance, and reversibility. Bioscience. 58 (1): 33-42.
LeBlanc JW. 2007. Managing vegetation to encourage or protect wildlife. Western Farm Press. 29 (12): 22.
Polaszek A. 2005. A universal register for animal names. Nature. 437 (7058): 477.
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