Walden to the Fourth Power: Understanding Walden from the Ground Up

Walden the Place

There is a crying need to bring together individuals from disparate disciplines, institutions, and sectors for the sharing of existing information on the Walden Ecosystem, for the integration of that information, and for the planning of future research. To those ends I propose a one- or (preferably) two-day interdisciplinary symposium for ecologists, geologists, soil scientists, biologists, hydrologists, limnologists, interested lay persons, and others, on the structure and functioning of the Walden Ecosystem (roughly, “Walden Woods”). Papers would be presented by specialists in the various fields who have a direct, working knowledge of Walden gained through original research on the Ecosystem; panelists in the various disciplines would discuss, interpret, and integrate the information presented; and, through infradisciplinary and cross-disciplinary “break-out sessions,” the same experts/specialists would develop a coherent, interdisciplinary description of the Ecosystem. They would also identify and recommend future research needs. The overall result would be a deeper understanding of the characteristics of the Ecosystem and how it functions (its “dynamics”).

The information presented and generated at such a symposium would increase our understanding of the Walden ecosystem amd would be of inestimable value to government agencies and private land-preservation organizations in devising a unified, coherent, and scientifically based management plan for the Ecosystem.