Golden Rule(s)

Regarding animals (not pets?)

The more there is, the more there will be—

Or, the more animals, the more animals (e.g. dead grasslands without grazers vs. happy grasslands with grazers).

Regarding aquatic systems:

The more plants, the more everything—

The more plants, the cleaner everything.

(e.g. Westlake’s two trends:  toward removing “non-native” birds and removing aquatic vegetation in a cockeyed attempt to clean up the lake.  It results in nothing but ugly algae.

Two approaches to clean water:  sterilization (poison all life) vs. more plants and animals of all kinds.

The sterilization approach further alienates people from nature.  The “more” approach attracts and binds people with nature, e.g. kids feeding ducks, “native” or not is better than kids being preached at by politically correct “experts”.

Another Golden Rule:

Where there is food, something will come along to eat it e.g. nutrients in lake:  either algae or a whole, rich web of life.

Another way of seeing food chains:

Visualize food in the chemical form (in soil or water) vs. in the organismal form (e.g. rainforest or healthy marsh).