Re: Why is the plough the most deadly weapon of extinction?

Emily,

Agriculture, with the help of the plough, has converted much of the 
ecosystems of the earth into production systems for monocultures of plants 
that serve one species, man.
My own state, Illinois, before European settlement, was estimated to be 
about 80% covered with a very biodiverse prairie. This prairie was rich in 
animal and plant species which over many years created the rich, deep 
soils that are Illinois' most valuable resource. 
Because of man and agriculture, less than 1% of that prairie now survives. 
Nuclear weapons could not have done a more thorough job.
Most of the surviving examples of prairie are in tiny plots around 
cemeteries and along railroad lines. These tiny plots don't serve well the 
plants and animals that once thrived in them.
Today most the Illinois has been converted into monocultures of corn and 
soybean fields. These fields require large inputs of labor and chemicals, 
in the form of fuels, fertilizers, herbicides, and pesticides and are very 
unstable ecosystems. Conversely the prairie required no inputs from man to 
function in a very stable fashion.
There are many good books exploring present-day agricultural concerns by 
Wes Jackson, Eric Freyfogle, Wendell Barry and many others.
Two examples you might find interesting are "The Unsettling of America" by 
Wendell Barry, and "The New Agrarianism" by Eric Freyfogle.
If you want to explore this area further, please contact me. 
j-paxton@uiuc.edu