The Final Part of The Project
Human Intervention on The Site
Humans influence the site I surveyed in many ways. I would say that nearly every aspect that makes this site function is because of human intervention. Of course there are some aspects of the site where other things like animals, insects, weather conditions, and other human actions such as the pollution from the road nearby can have an influence on the site. I am not sure to what degree the cherry orchard has been landscaped as I was not here when it was first created, but I think the landscape has always been flat as the rest of the area near me is also flat. The most obvious landscaped feature that comes to mind would be the mound like rows that the cherry trees sit on. Another feature would be the removal of the weeds that grow every summer. There are always weeds that grow in between those rows of cherry trees and they must be cut in order for the trees to grow well and so the trees can be well maintained.Another very noticeable landscaping feature is when the trees must be trimmed because the growth of the branches is almost reaching the opposite row of trees. When this happens the dead branches and leaves are all over the ground until they are dried up, then the branches are picked up. The leaves are left there to decompose. Lastly, I am not sure if this counts as landscaping, but I wanted to include it as I feel that it is a very important part of the cherry orchard's future development. There are times when trees must be removed and new ones come in to replace them. There are also times when a tree must be grafted so it can grow bigger or have a different cherry fruit to it (there are three fruits - yellow cherry, small red cherry, and big dark red cherry).
Human Pollutants to The Site
The local climate is definitely affected by humans because there is a road here that is used when you want to evade some of the traffic of the US 101 highway going south. There are a lot of cars that pass here every day and sometimes a line of cars piles up because so much people use that road. The same road is also used by semi trailer trucks because there is a food packing facility that uses that same road. Other influences are the highway that is close, and also the highway ramps that are nearby. There are two gas stations as well, the Chevron and Shell stations, but those are farther from the site. There is also a train that is somewhat closer to the site. If I had to pinpoint what affects the animals that could have been on the site I would say it is the train and the traffic of the road.My Personal Impact to The Nature of The Site
I have personally affected the nature that could have been on the site as well to some degree. Let me explain, one day my parents had gone to church and I let them use my car to drive there. When they were coming back they had gotten to the point where the road curves and in the middle of the road there was a deer trying to cross. This was all recorded on my car's front camera and when I had reviewed the footage I’m not sure if the deer was eating something in the middle of the road because it had been there but when it saw the car it froze and well my dad hadn’t reacted in enough time and he struck the deer. The deers antler had broken off and I’m assuming he was left with a bad impact injury. The deer didn’t die on the spot, but this is a human effect on nature that I thought is very important because this will always happen to many more deer or other animals such as squirrels that try to cross. The most common animals that get runned over here are squirrels, raccoons, and skunks.The “Life Cycle” of The Cherry Orchard
I have witnessed the usual routine changes to the cherry orchard throughout the semester. It is really more of a cycle that keeps repeating itself if everything is well maintained so the cherry orchard can go through those stages. During the spring the trees begin to grow flowers and they bloom. While there are flowers there are also lots of bees that come here and sometimes bees have to be added and some bee boxes are brought in so they can pollinate all the trees. After that stage the trees begin to fruit and by this time the animals are more active because of all the fruit that the cherry orchard has to offer. Once the fruit is fully grown it must be picked. There is always some fruit that remains though and all of that fruit drops to the ground and decomposes there. After that stage the summer weeds begin to grow a lot and the orchard can be covered in various types of weeds that grow real tall, and all of these must be cut. Once they are cut the fertilizer is added to the trees. After some time the trees must be trimmed if the growth has expanded too much to other rows. By that time fall is almost here and then the leaves on the trees begin to turn orange, and eventually in the winter the trees have no leaves at all. Once the winter passes the cycle repeats all over again, and this can be done as many times until the cherry orchard no longer gives fruits since the sole purpose of it is to get fruits.The Barn Swallows That Never Came Back
Something that I thought would have happened again but didn’t happen would be the barn swallows that had set up nests on the side of the house one year that I was here. I thought it would happen again because the cherry orchard seemed like a good place for fruits and bugs, but maybe the barn swallows had learned that they would be attacked by the house sparrows and that’s why they didn’t come here again. I think the barn swallows were driven away instead of being affected by other changes such as migration routes, the climate, or the state of the cherry orchard.Is This Site Natural? My Closing Thoughts
My definition of nature would be a place that has not been impacted by humans. A natural place where the randomness of nature can create an environment where anything can happen due to other living or inanimate things that aren’t human. This place may be affected but it will never be affected the same ways that humans do it. I feel that in comparison to the cherry orchard, nature will never be a good comparison because the cherry orchard is a controlled state of nature. It is like keeping a bird in a cage and to me I don’t feel that the cherry orchard is really natural at all. It is not natural to encounter a huge field of fruit trees, all in symmetrical rows with maintenance done to those trees all year long, and without having other animals, insects, or diseases severely affect those trees. Most of the cherry orchards' survival is because of human intervention and I feel that nature is the opposite of that. Nature didn’t need us in order to begin existing, and if left undisturbed it never has needed anyone in order to recuperate. Nature exists in its purest form and that’s a place where things occur because of other natural things, sort of like several chain reactions or life cycles that are contained in an environment created by nature. We are a byproduct of nature, but our effects do not make our environments natural anymore as those were never byproducts that nature could produce by itself. With all that said I do not believe that the cherry orchard fits my personal opinion of nature. There are far too many human interventions that directly affect the site or human changes around the site that do not make the overall place count as a part of nature. There may be aspects of nature still left or parts that come and go, but in my opinion it will never fully be a part of nature.