The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World

by Robin Wall Kimmerer

As a botanist, I know that there is guidance from the world of fields and forests. Plant communities are changing and replacing one another all of the time, in a dynamic mosaic we know as ecological succession. Far from the stereotype of the “forest primeval,” plant communities are constantly in flux. From a bird’s-eye view, the “unbroken forest” is in fact a patchwork of stands of different ages and experience. Fires, landslides, floods, windstorms, outbreaks of insects, disease, and disasters of human origin disrupt the green blanket in unpredictable ways—and yet with a somewhat predictable response. Oftentimes a major disturbance that clears the former forest creates a gap, with full sun, disturbed soil, and plenty of resources, since the previous inhabitants are now gone. Such places are colonized by fast-growing species in high density, trying to take advantage of the transitory conditions. These pioneer species are opportunists, with traits that consume resources, crowd out others, and reproduce like crazy. It’s all “me, me, me,” investing only in their own exponential growth with no regard for the future, their relatives, or longevity. Sound familiar? It’s a field of fast-growing weeds, or a stand of aspens. It’s as if Euromericans, in the age of colonization and displacement of “old-growth cultures” are behaving like colonizing plants after a massive disturbance, dominating the landscape. But those colonizing plants find they cannot continue this rate of growth and...